Grace to You Weekend

John MacArthur: For fifteen hundred years since the Exodus, Passover has been celebrated without a break. This is the final, legitimate Passover because the next day, the one who was the true Passover Lamb, Christ our Passover, would be slain. And the reality would come, the substance would come, and the symbols and the shadows would cease.

Phil Johnson: Welcome to Grace to You Weekend with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I am your host, Phil Johnson.

You've heard of missing the forest for the trees. In other words, it's possible to get so bogged down with what's right in front of you that you miss the big picture. You fail to see how the parts make up an even grander whole. And with that in mind, we're continuing John MacArthur's series called The Divine Drama of Redemption.

Based on Mark's Gospel account, it's a high altitude look at the Easter story and Christ's saving work on behalf of sinners. If you're a new believer, it will give you a helpful overview of the details surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection. And even if you're familiar with how Christ paid the penalty for sinners, this study can give you a fresh perspective on the story of redemption. So now, here's John MacArthur with today's lesson.

John MacArthur: Well, let's turn to the Word of God, Mark 14:17. When it was evening, He came with the twelve. As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me." They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, "Surely not I." And He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl."

"For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it and gave it to them and said, "Take it. This is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

This Passover is monumental. For fifteen hundred years since the Exodus, Passover has been celebrated at that time of year by the Jews without a break. This is the last Passover. This is the final, legitimate Passover. This marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new.

It is not only the last Passover, it is the first communion. Our Lord Himself makes the transition, taking the components of the last Passover and redefining them as the elements of His table. The Old Testament is over and the New Testament has come.

Passover was a very simple memorial. It looked back to the Exodus in Egypt. The final plague, you remember, in the book of Exodus, was the slaying of the firstborn in every family. And the only way that you could avoid the angel of death coming by and killing your firstborn was to sacrifice a lamb and spread the blood of that lamb on the cross-piece and the side pieces, the wooden pieces of the door. And where the angel of death saw that, he passed by. Hence, Passover.

What that said was that protection from the judgment of God, deliverance from the wrath of God requires death. And requires, listen, the death of an innocent substitute. That's what the sacrificial system communicated. Very simple. That deliverance from sin's judgment, from divine wrath, can be provided by the death of an innocent substitute. But no lamb ever satisfied God.

That is why millions of them had been slaughtered through those 1500 years. But now, this would be the last legitimate Passover because the next day, the one who was the true Passover Lamb, 1 Corinthians 5:7, Christ our Passover, would be slain. And the reality would come, the substance would come, and the symbols and the shadows would cease. The slaughter of these lambs had gone on for centuries. But now, only one more day.

At exactly the hour of slaughter on Friday afternoon, the true Lamb would die. The veil in the temple would be ripped from top to bottom, and the system of sacrifice, the Levitical system, would come to its final end. And it would be ended not by Judas, and not by Herod, and not by Caiaphas, and not by the Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin, and not by the Romans. It would be ended by God who offered up His own Son as His perfect sacrifice.

And now again, it's Thursday evening. Peter and John have gone to make preparations. The disciples, as Thursday began, you remember, said, "Where are we going to have the Passover?" There's thirteen of us. Where are we going to have the Passover? And the Lord answers the question by sending Peter and John, Luke tells us that in Luke 22:8, to find a man carrying a water jar and follow him. And the Lord had obviously set it up, and he will take you to the place.

They went to the place, Peter and John, and never left. So eventually, they all arrive. That's what we see in verse 17. It was evening of that Thursday, and He came with the twelve. He actually came technically with ten, the other two remaining there, and they were all together. And again, we don't have a fixed chronology, but this evening then begins when evening begins at the setting of the sun and runs past midnight. It is a long meal.

Into that evening, the four gospels fit the following components: the Passover meal itself, the exposure of Judas, the action of Satan, the confrontation of Peter about his denial, the discussion among the apostles about who of them will be the greatest, the unparalleled act of washing their feet, the teaching of John 13 to 16, which includes the promise of the Holy Spirit and persecution, and all other resources that will be made available to them, the prayer of Jesus in John 17, and some other warnings to the apostles. All of that occurs and is woven in and around the events that go on for many hours at the Passover. Again, the components are crucial, the sequence is not.

Let's just break it up into two parts: the final Passover and the first communion, okay? Let's look at the final Passover, verse 17. Now this night is a monumental transition. I can't emphasize that too much. The old is gone, the new has come.

In verse 17, we pick it up that He came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at the table and eating, stop there just long enough to say, this is not a quick lunch, this is not a fast meal. They reclined, and when they wanted a prolonged meal, that's what they did. Their heads would be at the table, their feet reclining away from the table. They didn't put their feet under the table as we do, we sit in a chair, put our feet under the table. They were on some kind of a reclining couch of some nature with feet away from the table and their heads toward the table.

Early in this celebration, in this sequence, our Lord says something that I think is important for us to hear. In Luke 22:15-16, He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." The language is very, very strong. Literally, He says, "I desire with a desire." That's emphatic in the Greek. This is a very strong passion. I must celebrate this Passover with you before I suffer. This has to happen for all the reasons that I told you. Not only because it's right, because it's commanded by God, but because He must make this transition.

He must end an era. He must bring to a completion an entire system and launch a new one. And He must lay out all the promises upon which every believer through all of redemptive history draws. And He must tell them of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and He must confront their sin, and He must give them a lesson on humility. And all these things are so compelling. He knows that He can't die until all of this is clearly delineated to them and the Holy Spirit will bring it back to their memory in the future, and they will write it down, and it will be inscripturated, and we will follow that instruction and cling to those promises. This has to happen before He dies. He understands the urgency of this hour.

Now back to Mark. We'll move a little faster. As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me." Somewhere in the middle of this Passover, this last Passover, Jesus says, "One of you will betray Me." One of you. When Jesus said, "One of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me," that was outrageous. When you had a meal with someone, that was safety. That was friendship. You didn't violate the person you were having a meal with. Unthinkable in the Jewish culture. One of you?

Well, they had no idea it was Judas. Verse 19, "They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, 'Surely not I.'" John 13:22 says they were doubting of whom He spoke. They had no clue. For three years, Judas had been the most clever of hypocrites. When they preached, he preached. When they talked about the kingdom, he talked about the kingdom. When they prayed, he prayed. When they listened, he listened. Apparently, when they healed, he was out there healing. In their shock and disbelief, they had no clue.

Well, the disciples, verse 22, began looking at one another at a loss to know which of them He was speaking. And there next to Jesus was John, the one whom Jesus loved, He always calls Himself like that. Simon Peter says to John, "Ask Him, ask Him, ask Him." John said, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus then answered, "That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel." So now we know they're at the point where they're ready to dip the bread and give it to him. So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."

As wretched and foolish as Judas was, as much as he operated on his own evil, wretched desires, he did not function outside the plan of God, nor did he alter the plan of God or thwart the plan of God or adjust the plan of God, for verse 21 says, "For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him." And it is written of Him that He will be betrayed by a familiar friend, that He will be betrayed by one who lifts up his heel against Him, who also takes bread with Him. He will go the way it is written of Him.

Every detail, the details of His crucifixion in Psalm 22, the meaning of His crucifixion in Isaiah 53, the detail of Him being pierced in Zechariah 12:10, the details of His resurrection in Psalm 16, and other features of Old Testament prophecy, all pre-written. That is why when Paul preaches the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3, he says, "Christ died according to the Scriptures," next verse, "and rose the third day according to the Scriptures." Everything was laid out in Scripture.

Our Lord was not killed at the whim of Judas or Pilate or Caiaphas or Herod or the Sanhedrin or the Romans or even Satan, but by God on God's timing and in God's manner. Still, verse 21 says, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. Because God used Judas in His plan, does not exonerate Judas. In case you wondered, God will use every human being who rejects Him to accomplish His own purpose in His own plan, and none of them will be exonerated because our sovereign God overrules for His own ends and His own glories their choices.

If you think that, if anyone thinks that they can thwart the purposes of God by acting against Christ and against His church and against the Gospel and against God Himself, that is a fool to be sure, for God orders everything according to His own purpose. At this point, the record tells us Judas left, and he went to get his money and to tell the leaders of the Sanhedrin where they could find Jesus in the Garden later. And now the eleven remain, and the Lord instructs them on His table.

We come to verse 22. While they were eating, He took some bread. At some point in this Passover, pretty high drama by now. He blesses it, which is what went on as they ate. They blessed the cup, they blessed the bread, they blessed the lamb, they blessed the whole event. He broke it, gave it to them and said, "Take it. This is My body." He broke it, that's so that they could all share it. It was baked as a unit of some kind. He broke it. That's not symbolic because not a bone of His body was broken, John 19:36 says, as it was prophesied. Broken only to be distributed, it was given to them. "Take, eat."

Then He said, "This is My body." That's new. The bread of the Passover had never been anything but a memorial to the Passover itself in Egypt, and the unleavened bread which they baked for that Passover meal. This is all brand new. In fact, Luke adds this, Luke 22:19. "This is My body which is given for you, do this," and here are the keywords, "in remembrance of Me." That explains what this act means. It is remembrance. It's nothing more. By it we remember that He was bruised for our iniquities, that He was chastened for our peace, that He was wounded for our transgressions, Isaiah 53, Galatians 3. He was made a curse for us, that He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that He bore in His own body our sins on the cross. All of those things that the New Testament talks about. It is simply remembrance.

That's the bread. And the cup is the same. When He had taken a cup, a cup, Matthew calls it the cup, Luke, 1 Corinthians calls it the cup, and so does Paul, the cup. That would correspond, I think, to the third cup of the Passover, after the eating and before the final singing. This is often called the cup of blessing. He took the cup and gave thanks. He gave it to them, they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many." Shedding blood was God's requirement to establish a covenant.

Just a quick note, there are a lot of covenants in the Bible. God made a lot of promises. He promised not to drown the world again, that's the Noahic covenant. He gave us the law, that's the Mosaic covenant. He had a priestly covenant about the behavior of the priests. There was the Abrahamic covenant which did promise salvation but no means. There is the Davidic covenant which promises a kingdom and a king, the Messiah and the future kingdom. The new covenant promises forgiveness of sin, salvation, regeneration, a new life. It is laid out in specific in Ezekiel 36, in Ezekiel 37, and in Jeremiah 31. It is a saving covenant. You get a new heart and a new spirit and complete forgiveness. It's all regeneration. That's salvation. That's always been in operation. It's always been in operation, but it was ratified by the death of Jesus Christ.

The old covenant could be written constantly in animal blood because it was only a covenant of promise. It consisted of promise. The new covenant is fully satisfied in the blood of one Lamb, the blood of Christ, because it consisted not of promise, but of fulfillment. Now there's no more need for the symbolic lambs, all we need to do is remember the cross, remember the cross.

Phil Johnson: You're listening to Grace to You Weekend with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. John's current series is titled The Divine Drama of Redemption. Well, thinking about what we saw today about the origins of the Lord's Supper or communion, we received a call some years ago from a listener who had a serious concern about the Lord's Supper, not so much about the specifics of communion, but what God requires of those who want to participate in it. So, let's hear that question now and let's hear how John responded to it.

Guest (Female): This is Sharon and I wondered, I'm trying to live the Christian life, but I, I mess up in so many times and I, well, what are the guidelines to receive communion? I'm really, I want to live the Christian life. I grew up where there were so many regulations and, uh, I think I got a little, uh, confused on different issues. So, please enlighten me. Thank you so much.

John MacArthur: Well, thank you, Sharon. If we had to be sinless to take communion, nobody would take communion. All that the New Testament requires of us when we come to the Lord's table is to examine ourselves. That means you look into your own mind and be honest about whether or not you're cultivating sin, whether you're entertaining sin, whether you're purposely continuing in sin. That is the issue.

Because if you come to the Lord's table sinning with an attitude of hatred or animosity or pride or or anything like that, if you come to the Lord's table with behaviors in your life that are not honoring to God, you will bring judgment on yourself. I don't think people think about how serious a sin it is to come to the Lord's table and say, "I'm going to celebrate Christ's death for my sin," while at the same time holding on to my sin and thus mocking the very act that I'm doing. It's little wonder that the New Testament says you'll bring judgment on yourself.

That doesn't mean you have to come perfect, because no one would ever be able to do that. But you come confessing and repenting. I'm convinced that that is the whole point of the Lord's table in a church, not simply to historically remember the cross of Christ, but personally to confront the sin in our lives.

I think many people assume communion is just a remembrance of the cross. Well, it is that, but it's the remembrance of the cross that looks at the fact that the cross is what the Lord provided to take away my sin, and I can't honor Him for doing that while I'm holding on to that sin.

Phil Johnson: That's right, friend. And what a wonderful reality it is that we can come to Christ and receive fresh forgiveness for our sins because of His sacrifice on the cross. Now, if you want to dig deeper into topics like this, I encourage you to check out the thousands of free resources at our website, gty.org. If you have a question about sin and forgiveness, or the person and work of Christ, or some other biblical subject, you're sure to find a sermon or other study tool that can answer your question. Get in touch today. Our website again, gty.org, and there you can read blog articles, watch Grace to You Television, download all of John MacArthur's sermons free of charge in MP3 and transcript format. And there are over 3600 messages available in our sermon archive, including those from John's current study, The Divine Drama of Redemption. Our web address again, gty.org. And for a one-stop resource for your Bible questions, pick up a copy of our flagship resource, The MacArthur Study Bible. The study Bible has 25,000 footnotes to help you understand what you're reading and help you apply biblical truth to your life. It's available in the English Standard, New King James, New American Standard, and Legacy Standard versions, as well as several non-English translations. To order The MacArthur Study Bible, call 800-55-GRACE, or shop online at gty.org. That's our website, gty.org. Now, for our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace to You Television Sundays on DirecTV Channel 378, or check your local listings for station and times. And then be here next week when John MacArthur continues his look at The Divine Drama of Redemption. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You Weekend.