Commitment to Truth

Cedrick Brown: As a reminder, Luke chapter 19, verse 10 says this: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost." You read that verse, very short and concise. The reality is that there are people who presumably think they have found themselves or they are found, or they don't need Him. They are not sick. He came for the sick. So, I am sure there are people in this room or under the sound of my voice who will hear even after this Sunday that I am not sick. I really don't need Him. But I believe there's this necessity for all of us to be at a place that we always need Him and realize that we are absolutely, positively lost without Him.

In so, He faced a group of people, religious leaders at that time of His day who didn't really think that they needed Him. Matter of fact, they didn't even recognize Him as the Messiah, as the Chosen One, to come and take away and wipe away all their sins and set things straight once and for all. They questioned His teaching. He was greatly misunderstood. And you would think at this juncture of His ministry and time here on the earth was that He got the worst of it all. But believe it or not, in the coming hours, He will receive and experience His greatest trials, meaning Jesus.

So, when we look at Luke chapter 22, Jesus begins to face His greatest trials and challenges as He pursues to be this compassionate Savior for the lost. He is yet to receive His greatest challenge. And in route to the cross, Jesus starts to, listen to this, one of the 12 began to betray Him. A guy He's been walking with and serving with for three straight years is now about to betray Him. And in His humanity, He finds Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, even contemplating is there another way besides the cross. He says, "Father, if you can just let this cup pass from my lips," three times.

But also in His humanity, He says, "Nevertheless, let not my will, but your will be done." So, in route to the cross, there are so many life lessons and so many things that I believe Jesus taught His disciples, so many kingdom truths that I believe that we can grab ahold to today. Again, as He's navigating His way to the cross, today, I would like to give you just three simple, specific truths that my hope is that we should never, ever forget. And that's Luke chapter 22, beginning with verse 1. It says this: "Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put him to death, for they were afraid of the people."

And listen to verse 3: "And Satan entered into Judas, demon possession, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began seeking a good opportunity to betray him to them apart from the crowd. Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread, in which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us so that we may eat it.' And they said to him, 'Where do you want us to prepare it?'"

Remember the last time we talked about during the Palm Sunday, He wanted the donkey and His knowledge and wisdom, His omniscience kicked in and He says, "Go, there's a donkey, and you're going to find it here, and they're going to say this and they're going to do that." Listen to what happens again. "They said to him, 'Where do you want us to prepare it?' And he said to them, 'When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house that he enters.' Now, that's pretty crazy. A total stranger, just follow him into his house. Which, again, communicates Jesus's authority over all creation.

"And you shall say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large furnished upper room. Prepared it there. And they left and found everything just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover. Verse 14 says: "When the hour had come, he reclined at the table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he said, 'Take this and share it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.'

"And when he had taken some bread and given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' First communion service. In the same way, he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying me is with mine on the table.' So, as He is preparing the table, He is saying that someone, this person, meaning Judas, his hand is also reaching for something. 'For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.'

"And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to betray this thing." So, imagine that. You're sitting at the table, the 12 with Jesus, and Jesus is, out of the blue, saying, "Hey, there's somebody at this table who's going to betray me and rat me out." And now they began to talk among themselves, "Well, who could it be?" And there arose a dispute. Now, again, I always like to remind you, no change of scene. So, they go from, "Okay, who's going to betray Jesus?" to this. "And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be the greatest." So, they went from "Who's going to betray Him?" to "Who's going to be the greatest?"

That is so much like us. Sitting at the table with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, you're talking about who's going to betray and then in the next sentence, who's going to be the greatest among us? Who among us first is going to betray Him? And who's next among us who's going to be the greatest? "And he said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not this way with you. But the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Well, logically, the one at the table because you're serving me. Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.'"

Three clear truths. The first is found in verses 1 through 16. Jesus Christ, we should never forget and always acknowledge, is that He is the final Lamb Himself. There's nothing else that's needed but Him. He says, "I have earnestly desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer." Now, the Passover story real quickly is this. It's one of the main and foremost Jewish holidays. Why? It's because the word Passover is derived from the Hebrew word "Pesach," which means Passover. Now, when the children of Israel were in slavery, there were ten plagues that began to happen. And ultimately, God bestowed these plagues upon Egypt and Pharaoh to the point that it got to the 10th plague and Pharaoh was still rebellious. He would not let His people go.

And the 10th plague was what? That the firstborn in all the land, which also included the children of Israel, would die. So, think about that. There was no differentiation from the Egyptians and Pharaoh and his people and their land, and it was no differentiation because you are here. And it's kind of like today. Because you live in this sinful world, the consequences is what? Death. But there's this need for a covering. So thus, Passover, the word Passover comes from, again, that can You, God, can this death angel pass over us? And the only way it was possible was that there's a need for shedding of blood.

So, the differentiation was this. You are all in Egypt together and there's a mutual circumstance and outcome that's going to happen to all of you. But you must choose to slay a lamb, take its blood, and smear it on your doorposts so that anyone in your house will not die but will be passed over. That's the same gospel message today, that you will not receive what you justly deserve because of your sin. You will be passed over because of the blood of the Lamb that is smeared over your doorposts, or you could say the doorposts of your heart.

So, when you look at this story, over 400 years of slavery in Egypt and 3,500 years or so ago, the children of Israel, or the Hebrew people, or the Jews of today, still celebrate this, still today. Now, there were some key elements in this Passover. It was a roasted lamb, or "z'roa," which was the central sacrifice which was roasted over fire, not boiled. Why? Because they had to leave in haste. It's kind of like, "Hey, can we wait for the baked chicken in the oven, or can we just deep fry it real quick?" The other was unleavened bread, or "matzah." In other words, because they couldn't wait for the yeast to cause it to rise, they had to eat and travel in haste.

And then lastly, bitter herbs, or "maror," which is simply this. It was something like horseradish, or some used romaine lettuce, and it represented the bitterness of slavery. All of it great significance, but none of it is relevant without the Lamb. You don't slay the lamb like He told you to slay the lamb, you can have your lettuce and your horseradish and your matzah, death was still knocking on your door. Hebrews chapter 9, verses 11 through 14 helps clarify Christ as the final Passover Lamb. It says, "But when Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

"For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled for sanctifying for the cleansing of the flesh, in other words, you use it for the cleansing of flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Once and for all. And again, Luke chapter 22, verse 16 reminds us: "I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom." Thus, Colossians chapter 1, verse 13 through 20 makes a little more sense. We find Christ the Lamb of God, His blood that rescued and transferred us into this kingdom.

It says, "For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." If you skip to verse 19, it says, "For it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him, I say, whether things on earth and also in heaven." You see, Jesus is the final Lamb of Passover. He washes us clean once and for all and He gives us entrance into His kingdom. We can never forget this. There's no need for any other sacrifice for you. He's the final Lamb.

Secondly, we find nestled within verses 17 through 23 is that Christ is always to be remembered. But remember for what? You find in verses 12 through the first part of 21 is that Christ is this sacrifice that we should always remember. We should always remember His sacrifice. Again, nestled within Hebrews chapter 10 now, it says this: "For the law, since it was only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, could never by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near."

Think about this for a minute. First of all, when pre-Christ, before His finished work, you had to approach this high priest and he then made sacrifices for you year after year, over and over and over again, year after year. Think about how laborious and frustrating and how much guilt you have to carry 364 days of the year. Verse 2 says in Hebrews 10: "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sin. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sin year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

"Therefore, when he comes into the world, meaning Jesus, he said, 'Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, meaning God has not desired this, but a body you have prepared for me. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book, it is written of me to do your will, oh God.' After saying the above scriptures, it says this: 'Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law. Then he said, behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this, we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.'"

Got to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. And it's done once and for all. Then we have to remember the covenant that He gives. You look at the latter part of verse 20 into verse 22, again, this is in Luke chapter 22. You got to remember the covenant because Hebrews chapter 9, verses 15 through 17 says this to us: "For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant. He's the go-between between a new covenant between God and man. Why? So that since a death has taken place for redemption of transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

So what this is saying to you and remember, you hear me say this all the time, is that the finished work of Christ cares for, it takes care of, past, present, and future. And what this part of the text is saying to you and I is that because of Jesus, those who died in the faith, because it goes on to talk about Hebrews chapter 11, 12, 13, the heroes of the faith, He's saying that those people who died in faith because Jesus Christ died, it goes back and redeems them as well. That's a continuous support that God's covenant with mankind is timeless. We think time because that's just the way we operate. That's the way we need to navigate life.

God is not governed by time. That's why the scripture says one day is like a thousand years. One day in His presence and His court is like a thousand years elsewhere. God is not governed by time. When He redeems someone's heart, He redeems who he was in the past, He redeems his present, and He redeems who you will ever be in the future. There's this covenant. So this first covenant, He says, at the end of the day, there's this eternal inheritance. Verse 16 says, "For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it." In other words, the transaction is not complete in a covenant until one person in the covenant dies. Similar to this, you could spend thousands of dollars to establish a trust for your family that says everything that needs to be in that trust, but the trust is not executed until you die.

Christ executed the covenant. Therefore, that's why He says this: "For a covenant is not valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives." We should always remember that Christ's sacrifice is covenant, and also remember His soon return. Because that's part of His covenant, that He's coming back. Remember His sacrifice. Remember everything that the covenant entails. And He says that He's coming back for us.

And lastly, we find in verses 24 through 28, always be careful to acknowledge that there's no one greater. Remember, they went from "Who's the guy that's going to betray Him?" and then they shifted mid-sentence, "Who among us is going to be the greatest?" Well, He summarized here in these verses that there's no one greater than Me. And I think that's so important to always remember that there was and there is and there will never be no one greater than Jesus. But He then says to them, "You must learn to become the youngest." This word "youngest" is simply this. It's like the one who was recently born. There's something about that because one of the biggest mistakes in a follower of Jesus Christ who begins to mature, to know the Bible, know how to pray, becomes eloquent in many phases of Christianity, becomes successful, becomes influential in the body of Christ, is very easy to forget who's the greater one.

And it's so poignant of Jesus to say, "Hey, guys, you should be acting like little children right now." And when you look at the essence of a little child, a little child just needs, a little child, I have a four-year-old grandson, he had his birthday party, all his friends were over. Right when I walked in, I noticed something from a daddy's perspective. Little man had to use the bathroom. And you know, boys and girls, they make little body gestures when they got to use the bathroom. Instinctively, you know, "You got to use the bathroom." So I say, "Hey, Josh, you have to use the potty?" "No." And he just went back playing. Two hours later, he still hadn't used the bathroom. I'm watching him, just watching him. And I peek in the bouncy house and he's sitting down.

And you know, once they start sitting down and being still, that body starts to move and I'm like, "Hey, you got to use the bathroom?" "No, no, no, Pop, I don't have to use the restroom." And he gets up, runs around. And I call for Big Josh. I say, "Josh, daddy," I say, "Hey, I think you need to take him to the potty. Because at the end of the day, his young mind is just like, 'No, I don't need to do this. I don't need to do this. I don't need to do this.'" But he needed an adult to say, "Boy, you need to go relieve your bladder right now." But he's getting the hang of it, you follow me? He's starting to get the hang of it, but yet he hasn't really got the hang of it.

That's so similar to followers of Jesus Christ. We can mature and grow and know some Bible verses and know how to pray and know how to conduct ourselves and compare ourselves to people and what people aren't doing and what people aren't saying, and we forget that no, don't ever forget that somebody's greater than me, than you, than us. We need to always be reminded to act like a recently born believer. See, Christ could have reminded them potentially in this moment of King David, who was found in the field, the last of his eight siblings. In the Old Testament, he's regarded prominently as a type or a prefiguring of Jesus. In other words, shepherd, king, warrior/conqueror, prophet, suffering servant.

His humble beginnings was in Bethlehem, reigned in Jerusalem. He was a foreshadow of the Christ. David came after Saul, who was chosen because he was taller, more handsome than everybody else. It was all about his external features. David was chosen because God says, "You selected someone for what you see on the outside, but I'm selecting this young guy in the field with the sheep because of his heart." And I think there's something to never forget about that, church, is that that's the innocence of a child, untainted by the world. You know, say silly things, do silly things, spills milk and spits up on themselves and do all the childlike stuff. Now, am I advocating for you to just act childish? No. But there's something about the heart that must remain tender like a baby.

John chapter 13, 12 through 16 lands on this other piece that Jesus describes, and that is the servitude. It's so when He had washed their feet, this is Jesus, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I've done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you're right, for so I am." Think about the humility there. He didn't put in there and by the way, you know what, I'm God. He says, "Hey, you know I'm teacher and I'm Lord, yeah, you should respect me. If I then, the Lord and teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him."

Again, I just want to re-emphasize one of the biggest challenges in the body of Christ, church, is we forget this. Because one should mature as a follower of Jesus Christ. One should know more. One should be caring for those who don't know as much. Discipleship. One should be doing that. But one should never forget that one is always greater than him. And this is a magnificent and timeless reminder that the disciples needed before He went to the cross. Because they all start acting like fools. Betrayed, denied, only one of the 12 was found at the foot of the cross. Only one.

Everyone else hid, ran, like they didn't know Him. So our challenge will be this: when we are in route to experience our cross, when life gets heavy, our obedience begins to be costly to us, when following Jesus feels like suffering, we must remember how Jesus conducted Himself in route to the cross. Because He could have easily bailed out. He could have easily thrown in the towel. He could have easily said, "You know what, I'm just going to wipe all these folks out and start all over" because He did it before. You can't forget why You came. You can't forget Your mission and what you're called to do. What we're called to do, we can't forget when it gets tough, when it gets rough, when people talk about us, when we're betrayed, when we're dishonored. All these things, when we are taken advantage of, we cannot forget what our mission is. And that's to be light and salt in a dark and dying world. That's what we're called to do, church. Don't forget your purpose.

Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much because Christ gives us such a great example in route to the cross of how we should conduct ourselves. He could have easily just thrown in the towel. He could have easily just pressed reboot. He could have easily just crumbled the paper up and started all over again. But He didn't. He finished the task. And God, I pray in the name of Jesus that You would just give us the courage and the reminder to do these very things. God, let us never forget. Let us never forget. Let us always remember Your sacrifice. Let us always remember Your authority, Your Godhead. Let us always be men and women, Lord, to humble ourselves to model the character of Jesus Christ.

If today you feel you need His help, maybe you need His help to live like I communicated today. It's impossible to do it in and of yourselves. But through Christ, if you surrender your life to Him, He will empower you to live for Him. He will empower you to navigate the complexities of life. And He also reassures that there's salvation that awaits you. Today, if this is something that you desire, maybe you're at the end of your rope, maybe you've tried it all, maybe you keep going back, as the scripture talks about how a dog goes back to its vomit, you just keep going back to the vomit. If this is you, this is a great opportunity for you just to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and His promise is that He would exalt you in due season.

But the way you must humble yourself is to acknowledge that you're a sinner. Acknowledge that Jesus Christ did come to die. He was buried, He rose again just for you. Acknowledge that you need Him to be resident in your heart, your life, to live forever, to lead you and guide you through the power of His Holy Spirit. If this is what you want, I would like to just lead you and walk you through a simple prayer that will change your life forever. And you can just say it with me right now. Just say, "Lord Jesus, forgive me because up until this point, I've chosen to live my own life, my own way.

"But I now realize You, Jesus, came to die for me. You were buried for me. You rose from the grave just for me, Jesus. And I also acknowledge that I need You to be resident, present in my life, and I ask You to come into my heart, my life, to rule and reign as my Lord and risen Savior. Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit that I may live for You all the days of my life in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

And for those who know Christ, just know that when you live in this manner, it just builds a platform in your life to represent Jesus in ways that you can never think or imagine. So, I challenge you to lean into this and obey Him in these areas. And as you're in route to your cross, because at the end of the day, in route to your crucifixion, our challenge is to pick up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him daily. Make this your daily prayer. We thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.

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