Jesus’ Last Passover
Passover was one of the most important Jewish
festivals. It was a family event like
Christmas or Thanksgiving is to us but with huge religious meaning. It was Jesus’ last Passover with His
disciples. One of the family, He
announces, will betray Him. And Judas
goes out into the darkness to collect his 30 pieces of silver. With the treasurer gone—presumably to buy
some necessities for the feast or to give the customary alms for the poor who
may not be able to afford the Passover meal—the disciples take no more notice
of his absence. Their focus is on their
Leader Who plays the part of the Passover Host.
He takes them through the familiar re-telling of the redemption from
Egypt at the instruction of Moses. The
bitter herbs remind them of the toil in Egypt while the thick fruit paste of
charoset reminds them of the mortar they used to set the mud bricks made
without straw. The salt water dip
recalled their tears in the house of bondage.
The roasted lamb that has been slaughtered earlier that afternoon at the
temple reminded them of the innocent life that was given so that their
firstborn sons might live as the death angel sought the blood marks on the door
posts and lintels of the sleeping Egyptians and Israelites.
The Afikomen
But Jesus made a most surprising comment about the
unleavened bread that he had broken and hidden in the napkin as was the custom—the
sacred bread called the afikomen—which
means “He who is to come.” He
distributed it to His disciples saying, “This (afikomen) is my body!” Even
today, the Jewish Passover continues to maintain this ritual of the afikomen without realizing it was
fulfilled in Jesus’ death. Jesus is our
Passover Lamb—our substitute—so that we may be redeemed from bondage to sin as 1 Corinthians 5:7 affirms. And He is
yet to come again to redeem the world for those who trust in Him. Just as the Israelites had to trust that the
blood of the Passover lamb would protect them so also, we must trust our
Passover lamb as our afikomen—the
Redeemer to come.
The Cup of Redemption
As the disciples partook of the afikomen, Jesus took a cup of wine—the customary final cup of
redemption—and blessed it and passed it round saying similarly, “This is my
blood of the covenant poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” The latest manuscripts of Matthew insert the
word “new” before “covenant” to ensure that the reader would understand that
Jesus was thinking of the “new covenant” prophesied by Jeremiah in which the
law was promised to be written on our hearts.
While the new covenant is superior to the old (just as a thermostat is
superior to a thermometer), still the oldest manuscripts of Matthew simply have
“covenant” by itself. This makes sense
when we realize that God was able to forgive sins in the past, present, and
future regardless of which covenant it was committed under—all because
of the death of Christ. God’s provision
of forgiveness always hinges on Jesus’ sacrifice.
Forgiveness of Sins
What’s the big deal with forgiveness of sins? Can’t God just issue a pardon and be done
with it? It’s not that simple. Sin is anything that strays from the way of
righteousness which is the path of life where God is. This is why any and every sin leads to death.
While some sins are farther off the mark
than others, this isn’t horse shoes. All
sin is deadly and must be actually dealt with.
Only the blood of the perfect lamb of God could provide a solution that
theologians call “propitiation.” This word is hard to pronounce and harder to
spell but it is the only reason we can have confidence before a holy God. Jesus blood poured out for us provides “propitiation” which means that Christ
fully met and fully satisfied the righteous requirements of a holy God on our
behalf. And thus, we can have forgiveness of sins. They have been dealt with completely on the
cross. This is the subjective side. The solution must be also applied
objectively. This is where faith is
needed. An antidote for sin is now
available but it must be taken by each one of us!
Fulfillment of the Promise of Passover
Your Bible (like mine) may have a paragraph title for this
pericope that says, “Institution of the Lord’s Supper” but, in the gospels,
only Luke makes that connection between this last Passover and the Lord’s
supper where Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Matthew and Mark seem to be thinking very
much in the moment. For Matthew, it is
the fact that Christ is now fulfilling the promise of Passover. There will be no more need of an annual
Passover lamb because the perfect Lamb has been presented. Hebrews tells us this sacrifice was given
“once for all.” There is no more waiting
for the Lamb of God to appear. God has
provided for Himself a Lamb just as he promised Abraham when Isaac was spared. This is why he says in vs 18 “My time is at
hand. I will keep the Passover at your
house with my disciples.” Right here. Right now.
As the Church we are not under the old covenant but the new covenant which
covers all who trust in Him. But, in the
moment, Matthew records, we are seeing the fulfillment of that old
covenant. Jesus said in the Sermon on
the Mount: “I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.” We follow a promise-keeping God!
Forward Progress
Jesus’ final words around that table were more forward-looking. “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” The next benchmark for us is when our
redemption is complete and we share in His glory in the promised kingdom. We were justified and freed from the penalty
of sin. We are being sanctified and
freed from the power of sin. And we will
one day be glorified and freed from the presence of sin. Our redemption is a done deal from God’s
perspective outside of time but for us it is a work in progress in this window
of time that we temporarily dwell in. And we look forward to its completion
when Jesus returns.
Song of Redemption
With that, the meal was over and the last thing they did was
to “sing a hymn.” Passover customarily
ended with the singing of Psalm 115 through 118 (called the Hallel).
It includes these closing words in Psalm 118 (ESV):
Save us, we
pray, O Lord! (In Hebrew, this is Hosanna!)
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
You are my
God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Jesus is going to His death.
They have just had their last Passover with Jesus. Someone is about to betray Jesus. And here they are – singing—with Jesus—about salvation and
sacrificing a lamb on the altar! Reminds
me of this description of Jesus in Hebrews 12:2. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (ESV) Joy
in the midst of the worst moment of Jesus’ life!
Journey to the Oil Press
And then they take an evening stroll out of the city,
crossing the Kidron brook which would have reeked with the blood of thousands
of slaughtered lambs at this time. They
picked their way along the dark path to an olive garden called Gethsemane
(meaning “oil press”). It was likely
straight across from the now sealed Golden Gate.
So it was on the way to this olive garden that Jesus had
some words with His eleven disciples before going to prayer with Peter, James,
and John. He told them that He knew they
would “all fall away” this night “because of me.” One of them would betray Him and all
of the others would abandon Him. He knew
this and yet he did not denounce them or try to change them. It was simply what He knew would happen. He pointed out that it was predicted in
Scripture (in Zechariah 13:7) that the Lord will strike the Shepherd and the
sheep will be scattered. Scattered but not
shattered! He added a note of
encouragement: “After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” He knew what they would do tonight but He
also knew they would seek Him in Galilee.
(Later, in chapter 28, we learn that He specified a certain mountain in
Galilee for the rendezvous.)
Think of the evil we have already been involved with. Never mind the evil that we may yet
commit. Jesus knows all of it. And He still loves us and is still committed
to us. He still has plans for us!
Regarding their predicted scattering, Peter said, “Oh
no! Not me, Lord. The others might but not me!” Notice that all of the disciples said
the same thing! This isn’t just bigmouth
Peter! But Jesus also gave some details about
Peter that weren’t in Zechariah’s prophecy.
“You will deny me three times before the rooster crows.”
Jesus already knows us inside and out. We can’t hide anything from Him. And He is always waiting for us on the other
side.
In our next time, we will look at what Jesus did at
Gethsemane in light of the coming temptation to scatter and fall away—a
temptation that all of them would experience—even Jesus!
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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