Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / The Passover
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Let us pray. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread,
- 0:05Speaker 1: and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to
- 0:08Speaker 1: the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body.
- 0:14Speaker 1: Matthew 26, 26 Because you value service to others above all,
- 0:22Speaker 1: I thank you, Jesus, that even at the Last Supper,
- 0:25Speaker 1: you chose to wash the feet of your disciples. In
- 0:30Speaker 1: the midst of your most trying time, you did not
- 0:33Speaker 1: focus on yourself, but placed the focus on serving others.
- 0:40Speaker 1: As this truth is illuminated before me, I will make
- 0:44Speaker 1: sure that this same character trait will remain in me,
- 0:48Speaker 1: even in the midst of my own trials. I will
- 0:52Speaker 1: not take my eyes off of your commission to love
- 0:55Speaker 1: and to serve one another. When others around me seek
- 1:00Speaker 1: to betray me for simple pleasures, I thank you that
- 1:04Speaker 1: their betrayal is the prerequisite to my promotion. Whether it's
- 1:09Speaker 1: the last supper or the last dance, I will cherish
- 1:13Speaker 1: each moment I get to break bread and fellowship with
- 1:16Speaker 1: my loved ones as you did, Jesus. I will remember
- 1:21Speaker 1: that loving and leading others is what legacy is all about.
- 1:28Speaker 1: Your Passover will not pass over my heart, but will
- 1:32Speaker 1: be planted deep so that you will be able to
- 1:35Speaker 1: grow and flourish beautifully in my life. In Jesus' name.
- 1:43Speaker 2: Amen.
- 1:46Speaker 1: Thanks for making prayer a priority in your life. To
- 1:49Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life, stay tuned for The
- 1:52Speaker 1: Bible in a Year, brought to you by Bibleinayear.com.
- 2:06Speaker 3: In our last story, Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem,
- 2:10Speaker 3: the place where he would make his final sacrifice. There
- 2:14Speaker 3: he told several parables. He made a fig tree with it,
- 2:18Speaker 3: flipped over the tables of corrupt money changers in the temple,
- 2:22Speaker 3: and told a parable about a landowner whose son was killed.
- 2:26Speaker 3: In this story, we will learn how Jesus is preparing
- 2:29Speaker 3: the disciples for his death through a Passover meal. and
- 2:33Speaker 3: how Jesus identifies the one who will betray him as
- 2:36Speaker 3: inspired by the Gospels.
- 2:41Speaker 2: I'm so glad you joined us on the Bible in
- 2:43Speaker 2: a Year podcast today. But before we get to today's episode,
- 2:48Speaker 2: I want you to know that I would absolutely love
- 2:50Speaker 2: to send you my daily devotional that will give you
- 2:54Speaker 2: fresh encouragement every single morning and day. From the moment
- 2:58Speaker 2: we wake up to the moment our head finally hits
- 3:01Speaker 2: the pillow, There are thousands of things demanding our attention.
- 3:06Speaker 2: But it's in the midst of all this crush and
- 3:08Speaker 2: hustle and bustle that you and I need peace and
- 3:11Speaker 2: truth in God's Word. That's why I want to help
- 3:14Speaker 2: you spend time each day growing in God's life-giving, life-changing
- 3:19Speaker 2: Word by sending you my free daily email devotional, PowerPoint Today.
- 3:25Speaker 2: So visit jagram.org to sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional.
- 3:31Speaker 2: That's jagram.org. We're so grateful for the millions of people
- 3:38Speaker 2: who have downloaded this app and are taking this journey
- 3:41Speaker 2: through the Bible with us. In our last episode, we
- 3:45Speaker 2: heard a teaching from Jesus about the importance of bearing fruit,
- 3:49Speaker 2: and we saw how the Lord was zealous to protect
- 3:51Speaker 2: His house and get rid of those who were hindering worship. Today,
- 3:56Speaker 2: we'll join Jesus and His disciples for an important and
- 3:59Speaker 2: memorable meal in the as they celebrate the final Passover
- 4:02Speaker 2: feast just hours before Jesus is handed over to be crucified.
- 4:07Speaker 2: In his final moments with these men, Jesus will give
- 4:10Speaker 2: them one more demonstration of his servant's heart and call
- 4:14Speaker 2: them to follow his example. So, let's listen prayerfully and
- 4:19Speaker 2: carefully to God's word.
- 4:24Speaker 3: Jesus, as he had several times before, began to prepare
- 4:28Speaker 3: his disciples for what was going to happen to him.
- 4:31Speaker 3: The Passover was two days away, a celebration and ceremony
- 4:36Speaker 3: of God's provision and protection. God would continue to provide
- 4:41Speaker 3: and protect, only this time he would do so through Jesus. Jesus'
- 4:46Speaker 3: popularity grew, and his influence with the people became greater
- 4:50Speaker 3: than the influence of the high priest and the religious lawmakers.
- 4:54Speaker 3: His teachings of love, Self-sacrifice and personal devotion undermined their
- 5:00Speaker 3: message of dogma, obedience, and legalism. Their jealousy and anger
- 5:05Speaker 3: ran deep, and their pursuit of power was threatened by Jesus.
- 5:10Speaker 3: So in the dark corners of Jerusalem, they began a
- 5:13Speaker 3: plot to destroy him. Little did they know, they were
- 5:17Speaker 3: but players in a cosmic rescue mission to redeem all mankind.
- 5:22Speaker 3: Satan was also plotting. and had already won over the
- 5:26Speaker 3: heart of one of Jesus' disciples, Judas Iscariot. Unbeknownst to Judas,
- 5:32Speaker 3: his selfishness and greed was being used as a tool
- 5:35Speaker 3: in the hands of the enemy. Judas sought out the
- 5:38Speaker 3: religious leaders and partnered in their schemes to kill Jesus.
- 5:43Speaker 3: Judas gave them information on where to find them and
- 5:46Speaker 3: offered aid when the time was right. In return, Judas
- 5:50Speaker 3: received 30 pieces of silver, a wicked transaction. That would
- 5:55Speaker 3: eventually be too much for Judas' heart to bear. The
- 6:00Speaker 3: day of Passover had come, and Jesus sent Peter and
- 6:03Speaker 3: John to get things ready for a Passover feast. When
- 6:07Speaker 3: they inquired about where they would hold the meal, Jesus
- 6:10Speaker 3: answered and said, Go into the city to a certain
- 6:13Speaker 3: man and say to him, The teacher says my time
- 6:17Speaker 3: has come. I will keep the Passover at your house
- 6:20Speaker 3: with my disciples. And so they did. and the man
- 6:24Speaker 3: opened up his home, as Jesus said. There was an
- 6:28Speaker 3: upper room for Jesus and his disciples to celebrate Passover.
- 6:32Speaker 3: Jesus entered with his disciples, contemplating what God was about
- 6:36Speaker 3: to do to him and through him. His disciples began
- 6:40Speaker 3: making themselves comfortable, ready to unstrap their sandals and clean
- 6:44Speaker 3: up before the feast. Jesus, as Gentile slaves would do
- 6:48Speaker 3: in that time, removed his robe and wrapped a towel
- 6:51Speaker 3: around his waist. then bent over to wash his disciples' feet.
- 6:56Speaker 3: Leaning over the puddles of dirt and grime, getting wet
- 6:59Speaker 3: with the filthy water, the Son of God washed his followers' feet. Peter,
- 7:05Speaker 3: astonished by what was happening, shouted, Lord, why would you
- 7:09Speaker 3: wash our feet? Jesus, knowing Peter's confusion, said, What I
- 7:14Speaker 3: am doing you do not quite understand, but trust me,
- 7:18Speaker 3: in time you will. Peter said, still confused and flustered
- 7:23Speaker 3: that his teacher and master would be washing grimy feet, said,
- 7:27Speaker 3: You shall never wash my feet. It is below you. Jesus,
- 7:31Speaker 3: now sternly looking into Peter's eyes, said, If you do
- 7:35Speaker 3: not let me wash you, you will have no part
- 7:38Speaker 3: in me. Peter, after hearing this, insisted that Jesus then
- 7:42Speaker 3: wash his whole body. Jesus spoke literally for a moment, saying,
- 7:48Speaker 3: You are already clean, he said. I just need to
- 7:51Speaker 3: clean your feet because you have been walking all day.
- 7:54Speaker 3: Yet there was a greater metaphor he then communicated. But
- 7:58Speaker 3: not all of you are clean, he said. This he
- 8:02Speaker 3: said concerning Judas. Jesus had already known what Judas was
- 8:06Speaker 3: planning on doing, yet he cleaned his feet anyways. After
- 8:11Speaker 3: Jesus had finished cleaning his disciples' feet, he cleaned himself
- 8:15Speaker 3: and walked back to the table. Do you understand what
- 8:19Speaker 3: I have done to you?
- 8:20Speaker 1: He asked.
- 8:21Speaker 3: I am your teacher, and I humbled myself to wash
- 8:24Speaker 3: your feet, a job only slaves do. If I am
- 8:28Speaker 3: willing to do this for you, surely you can do
- 8:31Speaker 3: this for one another. A servant is not greater than
- 8:35Speaker 3: his master, yet I did this for you. Blessed are
- 8:39Speaker 3: you if you do these things for others. The dinner continued,
- 8:44Speaker 3: and the disciples were celebrating among one another. Yet something
- 8:48Speaker 3: was weighing heavy on Jesus' heart. Truly I say to you,
- 8:53Speaker 3: one of you will betray me, he said abruptly. This
- 8:57Speaker 3: surprised and troubled the disciples. John leaned against Jesus and
- 9:02Speaker 3: asked who it was. Then all of the disciples began
- 9:05Speaker 3: questioning whether it was them or not who would betray him.
- 9:09Speaker 3: Jesus explained that the person who will betray him will
- 9:12Speaker 3: be the one to dip his hands in the bowl.
- 9:15Speaker 3: It was a cryptic and confusing qualifier. Therefore the disciples
- 9:19Speaker 3: were still confused. He then said, It is written that
- 9:23Speaker 3: I will have to go, but the person who turns
- 9:25Speaker 3: their back on me should be cautious. They will have
- 9:28Speaker 3: wished that they were not even born. Judas, at the
- 9:32Speaker 3: other side of the table with deceit in this voice, asked,
- 9:36Speaker 3: Is it me, Lord? The Lord, gazing into the eyes
- 9:41Speaker 3: of his betrayer, simply answered, You have said it. Then Judas,
- 9:46Speaker 3: He gave a piece of dipped bread to Judas and
- 9:48Speaker 3: said to him, Judas took the bread from Jesus and left.
- 9:55Speaker 3: Yet the disciples were still not sure about what Jesus
- 9:58Speaker 3: was saying. They thought that sin was a sin. Judas
- 10:00Speaker 3: was in charge of the money, he was asked to
- 10:02Speaker 3: go get everything needed for the feast and give some
- 10:05Speaker 3: money to the poor. Later in the night, Jesus took
- 10:09Speaker 3: a loaf of bread in his hand, gave thanks to God,
- 10:12Speaker 3: and then broke it into many pieces and passed it
- 10:14Speaker 3: out to the disciples. He said, This is my body,
- 10:18Speaker 3: broken for you. He then took a cup of wine,
- 10:22Speaker 3: gave thanks for it, and passed it to his disciples
- 10:24Speaker 3: to drink. He said, Drink this wine, for this is
- 10:29Speaker 3: my blood shed for you and the remission of your sins.
- 10:33Speaker 3: The disciples partook in what Jesus had offered. Still, they
- 10:37Speaker 3: could not fathom the depths of what Jesus was saying.
- 10:41Speaker 3: Shortly after this, Jesus would bring eternal meaning to what
- 10:45Speaker 3: had taken place. Jesus led them in a song of worship,
- 10:49Speaker 3: and then went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Meanwhile,
- 10:53Speaker 3: in another part of the city, Judas gathered over a
- 10:57Speaker 3: hundred armed men to be ready. A clashing of good
- 11:00Speaker 3: and evil would soon commence, and the promises of God
- 11:04Speaker 3: to redeem the entire world from darkness was one step
- 11:08Speaker 3: closer to being fulfilled.
- 11:13Speaker 2: As we have listened to God's word, there is treachery
- 11:16Speaker 2: in the air. The religious leaders had had enough of Jesus.
- 11:20Speaker 2: His popularity and influence were a threat to their power,
- 11:23Speaker 2: and they were very afraid of him. To make matters worse,
- 11:27Speaker 2: none of their attempts to discredit him or trip him
- 11:30Speaker 2: up had worked. They would have to resort to other tactics.
- 11:35Speaker 2: And they found among Jesus' twelve disciples an ally, Judas Iscariot,
- 11:41Speaker 2: the betrayer. who went to the leaders and agreed to
- 11:45Speaker 2: give Jesus up for 30 pieces of silver. It was
- 11:49Speaker 2: Passover time, and the Lord sent Peter to prepare for
- 11:52Speaker 2: the customary Passover feast. Only this meal would be one
- 11:57Speaker 2: that the disciples and history would never forget. You may
- 12:01Speaker 2: know it as the Last Supper. As they gathered in
- 12:04Speaker 2: the upper room of a home for the meal, Jesus
- 12:06Speaker 2: removed his outer cloak, his garments, and wrapped a towel
- 12:10Speaker 2: around his waist. He then poured water into a bowl.
- 12:15Speaker 2: He is now serving his disciples like a slave. I
- 12:19Speaker 2: can't imagine the perplexed looks on the disciples' faces as
- 12:22Speaker 2: it dawned on them what he was about to do.
- 12:25Speaker 2: Here was Jesus, rabbi, teacher, the powerful Lord, taking the
- 12:29Speaker 2: position of a hired servant, a slave. He was about
- 12:33Speaker 2: to wash the feet of his followers. One by one,
- 12:36Speaker 2: the Lord washed their feet, then wiped them dry with
- 12:39Speaker 2: a towel. It was undignified for a man of his
- 12:43Speaker 2: position to do such a thing, at least by the
- 12:46Speaker 2: standards of the world. But Jesus was teaching them another standard,
- 12:51Speaker 2: a greater standard, God's word, God's will. He was demonstrating
- 12:56Speaker 2: that he meant what he said when he said the
- 12:59Speaker 2: Son of Man came not to be served, but to
- 13:03Speaker 2: serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
- 13:07Speaker 2: When he came to Peter, Peter protested. I can't let
- 13:10Speaker 2: you do this, Jesus. Jesus reassured him, saying that though
- 13:14Speaker 2: he didn't yet understand what Jesus was doing, he would
- 13:17Speaker 2: come to understand it later. But Jesus insisted, I can't
- 13:21Speaker 2: let you wash my feet. And Jesus replied that unless
- 13:24Speaker 2: he let him wash his feet, Peter could have no
- 13:27Speaker 2: share in him. So he replied that Jesus should wash
- 13:31Speaker 2: not just his feet, but his hands and his head
- 13:34Speaker 2: as well. Peter is trying to dictate his own terms.
- 13:38Speaker 2: rather than surrendering to the Lord's will. Jesus meets us
- 13:43Speaker 2: where we are, but we must come to Christ on
- 13:45Speaker 2: His terms and not our own. Unless Peter submitted to
- 13:49Speaker 2: the will of Christ, he would not experience the renewal
- 13:52Speaker 2: and the refreshing cleansing that Jesus had to offer. Jesus
- 13:56Speaker 2: then explained to His disciples what He had done. He
- 13:59Speaker 2: was modeling servant leadership and humility. Throughout His ministry, in
- 14:03Speaker 2: both word and deed, Jesus made it clear that God
- 14:06Speaker 2: honored humility and service, putting others above yourself. And now,
- 14:12Speaker 2: as the time for Jesus to leave drew near, he
- 14:14Speaker 2: wanted to drive home this point. In John 13, verse 15,
- 14:19Speaker 2: we read these words from the Lord. For I have
- 14:22Speaker 2: given you an example that you should also do just
- 14:25Speaker 2: as I have done to you. Jesus took time in
- 14:29Speaker 2: his final moments with his disciples to teach them to
- 14:32Speaker 2: be servants. Of all the things that he could share
- 14:35Speaker 2: with them, this was his focus. This, of course, is
- 14:39Speaker 2: a lesson for all of us. We serve the Lord
- 14:42Speaker 2: by serving others. As the meal began, Jesus was troubled
- 14:45Speaker 2: and spoke to the men, saying that one of them
- 14:48Speaker 2: would betray him. Of course, both Jesus and Judas knew
- 14:52Speaker 2: who this was, but the others were puzzled and wondered
- 14:55Speaker 2: who this could be. Jesus broke a piece of bread
- 14:58Speaker 2: and said that the one to whom he handed it
- 15:01Speaker 2: would be the betrayer. And when he handed the bread
- 15:04Speaker 2: to Judas, the devil entered into this man. because now
- 15:07Speaker 2: he had made a choice to betray the Lord, and
- 15:10Speaker 2: the devil was about to use him for this terrible deed.
- 15:14Speaker 2: After Judas left, Jesus turned to those remaining. It was
- 15:18Speaker 2: time for the Passover feast. This was a traditional meal
- 15:22Speaker 2: with each element holding great significance. It takes us back
- 15:26Speaker 2: to when God delivered Israel out of bondage in Egypt.
- 15:30Speaker 2: And that night, Jesus took the meal, breaking bread, pouring
- 15:34Speaker 2: the fruit of the vine, and gave it new meaning.
- 15:36Speaker 2: And this transfers now to the Lord's Supper. The breaking
- 15:40Speaker 2: of the bread would forever be a reminder of his
- 15:43Speaker 2: broken body that he gave his life for us. And
- 15:46Speaker 2: the cup would be remembered as the blood of Jesus
- 15:49Speaker 2: poured out in full for us all. This Passover meal
- 15:53Speaker 2: would remind them and now the Lord's Supper reminds us
- 15:57Speaker 2: of what Christ has done for us in setting us
- 16:00Speaker 2: free from sin. And this is all because of the
- 16:04Speaker 2: cross and what Christ would do when he took our
- 16:07Speaker 2: sins upon himself at the cross. As the disciples took
- 16:12Speaker 2: this sacred meal, they still did not understand what was
- 16:15Speaker 2: about to happen. Soon enough, their whole world would be
- 16:19Speaker 2: turned upside down. Darkness would fall, and Jesus, their master,
- 16:23Speaker 2: would be gone. But God would ultimately win the greatest
- 16:27Speaker 2: victory of all, and these men would lead a movement
- 16:29Speaker 2: that would change the world. Dear God, we thank you
- 16:33Speaker 2: for your word. We thank you how it points us
- 16:35Speaker 2: to Jesus. and your great love for us. We pray,
- 16:39Speaker 2: O God, that we would always remember this, that we
- 16:42Speaker 2: would never forget your sacrifice. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
- 16:49Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
- 16:53Speaker 2: I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. And before we go,
- 16:56Speaker 2: I want you to know that I would love to
- 16:58Speaker 2: send you my daily devotional to give you fresh encouragement
- 17:02Speaker 2: every single day. So visit JackGraham.org to sign up for
- 17:06Speaker 2: your PowerPoint Today devotional. That's JackGraham.org.