Remembering Jesus - The Last Supper
Mark 14
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
13 So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’
15 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.”
16 So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
18 As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.”
19 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?”
20 He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me.
21 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
22 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”
23 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.
25 I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”
26 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
- For the disciples, Jesus is giving a means to worship and remember a thing that hasn’t happened yet - His crucifixion and death, paying for the sins of all humanity.
- He is giving them a means of worship for an event that hasn’t happened yet, but that goes back to the very beginning of human history and that will sustain His promise to us until His return.
- Why is Jesus’ death on the cross necessary?
Romans 3.23
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
- Going back to Genesis 2-3, we see how we’re all born into sin.
- Adam and Eve, made by God, disobey the one prohibition God had given them:
Genesis 2
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
- In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve eat the fruit and kill themselves - they kill the lives God had made for them and in them. They broke their belonging in God.
Since each took a life that they had no power on their own to restore or create anew, a price must be paid.
In Genesis 3, God addresses Adam and Eve’s brokenness and sin.
Genesis 3.21
And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
- Leviticus 7.11 and Hebrews 9.22 tell us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
- Jesus’ death on the cross pays for our sin forever:
1 John 1
God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
1 Peter 3.18
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.
Hebrews 10
11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.
12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.
14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
1 Corinthians 11.23-26
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread
24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
- Life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.
- What concentrated, powerful worship!
Hebrews 2
9 … by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.
10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
12 For he said to God,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.”
13 He also said,
“I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.”
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham.
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
- Peter’s Testimony
1 Peter 5.8
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.
Luke 22
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
33 Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”
34 But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
- (For more on Spiritual Warfare against our enemy, the Devil, see: Ephesians 6 and 2 Corinthians 10.3-5)
1 Corinthians 11
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread
24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.
32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.
34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
Hebrews 4
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Jude 1
24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.
25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
