Introduction:
Jesus’ last day with his friends was on a holiday. It was a great day to share, filled with traditions, celebrations, reunions, and thanksgiving. Everything about this trip to Jerusalem was familiar. The crowds of people, the bleating of the lambs in the temple court and the long lines at the gates. From the surrounding countryside, the songs of the pilgrims could be heard—the Psalms of Ascents—as even more of God’s people flooded up the slopes leading to the Holy City.
Families were making their preparations—rolling out the unleavened bread for baking, stirring fruit and spices into the sweet charoseth, washing the biter herbs, and setting the table with an extra spot, in case Elijah should come. Little children pestered their parents with all their “whys”, and were delighted to find their questions welcome and answered.
Passover—a time of instruction, when the youngsters in Israel were taught the treasured stories of their heritage. Passover—a feast of celebration for the freedom of God’s people. Passover—a time of thanksgiving for the faithfulness of God. Passover—the last meal for a Man who knew He was about to die.
The First and Oldest Holy Day
*Read with me from Leviticus 23:4-8
The Passover:
Was usually observed in Israel since the eve of their departure from Egypt under Moses—almost 1,500 years. (There were times they ignored this command from God)
It is the oldest of the Old Covenant rituals.
It preceded the giving of the law.
It was instituted before any of the other Jewish feasts.
It was older than the priesthood, the tabernacle, and the sacrificial system.
On this day, every family in Israel commemorated their nation’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt with the sacrifice of the spotless lamb.
The name Passover comes from the idea of the Angel of the Lord passed over their homes and struck the Egyptians with death, and spared the Israelites. Exodus 12:27
The sign that was to be on their door was the blood of the lamb. A perfect lamb whose bones was not to be broken. Exodus 12:13
Four days prior to Passover, each family in Israel was to select a spotless sacrificial lamb and separate the lamb from the rest of the herds until Passover, when the lamb was to be slain. During that final week before His Crucifixion, Jesus Himself would undoubtedly have done this with His disciples, selecting a lamb on Monday of that week.
Exodus 12:5-6 “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.”
Leviticus 22:21 “And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.”
This idea of being spotless and without blemish carries right over into the New Testament.
Ephesians 5:25b-27 The church will be presented to Christ without spot or blemish.
I Timothy 6:14 Instructs us to keep God’s commandments, without spot and blameless.
Hebrews 9: 14 Jesus’ offering was spotless, and His blood cleanses us.
I Peter 1:10 Jesus precious blood was like that of a perfect lamb.
II Peter 3:14 Be diligent to be found without spot and blameless.
Did you know? The Jews of Jesus’ day had two different methods of reckoning days on the calendar. Because of this the Sadducees and the Pharisees killed the lambs at the temple on two different evening.
Historical records of Jesus’ time indicate that as many as a quarter-million lambs were slain in a typical Passover season, requiring hundreds of priests to carry out the task. Since all the lambs were killed during a two-hour period just before twilight, it would have required about six hundred priests, killing an average of four lambs per minute.
The amount of blood resulting from all those sacrifices was enormous. The blood was permitted to flow off the steep eastern slope of the temple mount and into the Kidron Valley, where it turned the book bright crimson for several days. It was a graphic reminded of the awful price of sin.
Of course, the blood and all of those animals could not actually atone for sin.
Hebrews 10:4 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
The lamb only symbolized a more perfect sacrifice that God Himself would provide to take away sins. “The Lamb of God came to take away the sin of the world”, John the Baptist said, but the full meaning of that prophecy was about to be revealed.
Preparing the Last Passover
Early on that Thursday the disciples began their preparation for the Passover. Matthew 26:17 “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?””
According to Luke 22:8 it was Peter and John who were in charge of preparing the Upper Room.
Jesus’ time was now at hand. He was counting down to the moment for which He had come into the world. Jesus knew He had one remaining evening to spend with His disciples, and He would spend it keeping the Passover.
Gathering for the Feast
It would have been about 6:00 pm on Thursday evening when they sat down to the meal. There was a well-established sequence for the eating of the Passover Seder. A cup of wine was distributed first, the first of four cups shared during the meal. Each person would take a sip from a common cup. Before the cup was passed, Jesus gave thanks. (Luke 22:17)
After the initial cup was passed, there was a ceremonial washing to symbolized the need for moral and spiritual cleansing. It seems to have been during the ceremonial washing that “a dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” (Luke 22:24) John records that Jesus “rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
Taking the role of the lowest servant, Christ transformed the washing ceremony into an object lesson about humility and true holiness. External washing avails nothing if the heart is defiled. Pride is a sure proof of the need for heart cleansing.
Jesus says to them in Luke 22:27 “For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” What a great lesson.
After the washing then the meal continued with the bitter herbs—parsley, endive and similar leafy greens. The bitterness of the herbs evoked the harshness of Israel’s bondage in Egypt. The herbs were eaten with pieces of unleavened bread, dipped in a substance called charoseth, a relish made of pomegranates, apples, dates, figs, raisins and vinegar. The charoseth was likened to the mortar used by a bricklayer—and again it was reminiscent of the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt, where they made bricks.
The second cup was passed. This would be accompanied by the singing of psalms. Traditionally, the psalms sung at Passover were from the Hallel—six psalms beginning with Psalm 113. The first two were sung at this point in the ceremony. The roasted lamb would be served next, along with pieces of the bread.
An Ominous Note
It is probably at some point in these early stages of the meal that Jesus sounds an ominous note. “Truly, I say to you, one f you will betray me.” Matthew 22:21
They all start asking, “Is it I?” Turn with me to Psalm 55. This describes the pain of such hypocrisy and betrayal.
Psalm 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who taunts me—then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.”
The eleven apostles besides Judas are appalled. They begin to examine themselves to see if they could be the one to do such a sinister act.
But Jesus knows and Judas knows. Jesus had never been withdrawn from Judas; He had always treated him with the same tenderness and goodwill He had the others. Judas had even been given a place of trust he watched the money. But his life with Jesus was just a charade.
Unmasking the Traitor
In order to keep up the charade a little longer he too asks Jesus, “Is it I” (Matthew 26:25) “You have said it” Jesus replies The remark was made quietly, to Judas alone, or else the other disciples missed its significance, because no one else picked up on it.
Jesus wants Judas to leave and so he says to him, “What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27)
And so Judas leaves. The events in the Upper Room sealed Judas’s decision to betray Jesus that very night. He knew exactly how to do it, because Jesus’ custom of praying with His disciples at Gethsemane was well established. (John 18:2)
A New Feast
This was the last Passover for al time. From that point on, the followers of Jesus celebrated the new Covenant ordinance knows as the Lord’s Supper. And so Jesus took some of the elements of the Passover meal and made them the elements of the communion table.
Jesus took some of the unleavened bread and “blessed it” or gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it and distributed it to the disciples saying, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
After the bread was eaten, He took the cup of wine, again gave thanks, and said, “Drink from it all of you. “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27, 28)
A New Covenant
It is important that Jesus says that this cup was “My blood of the covenant.” This was to be a New Covenant. The shedding of blood always ratified important covenants. There was the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses, all ratified by blood.
The power in this blood was not from His plasma or corpuscles having some supernatural property. The power in this blood came about because of the Atonement He wrought by the shedding of His blood.
Here at the last Passover, when He passed the cup and said it symbolized blood shed for the remission of sins, the disciples would have understood this as a reference to the death suffered by a sacrificial animal. A sacrificed lamb serves as an atoning substitute for sinners.
Christ wanted His disciples to understand what was happening when they saw Him bleeding and dying at the hands of Roman executioners. He was not a hapless victim of wicked men. He was sovereignty fulfilling His role as the Lamb of God—the great Passover Lamb—who takes away sin.
The meal ends. The last Passover is complete. And so sing a hymn. Probably Psalm 118, the last hymn of the Hallel, which was the traditional way to end a Passover.
Conclusion:
And so the disciples prepared to go out into the garden for a stroll in the cool of the night with their Master. Stretching their limbs, settling their super, and spending some time in prayer—that’s all they expected. All the activities of the feast day were winding down. None of them suspected that their long night of fear had just begun.
They stood on the threshold of a series of events that would bring about everything all the previous Passovers had prefigured. The true Lamb of God was about to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.
But this lamb would rise again in three days, and give hope to His people, and Glory to His Father.
“Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” Hebrews 9:22
Aren’t you thankful that He died for you? That His blood washes your sins away?