The Last Passover

[0:00] I was just going to go over to Mark chapter 14, Mark chapter 14 this morning as we continue on through the book of Mark here, as we see that reality of who Jesus is.

[0:12] And the Gospels reveal to us all those things about Jesus, who he is, and more importantly, or just as importantly, what he has done for us.

[0:23] You know, it's important to realize what Jesus has done, and as Mark continues to record these days in this last week of Jesus' life, we find here that it's now come to Wednesday morning as Jesus and his disciples once again begin to head towards Jerusalem.

[0:43] And we know that it was the day of preparation for the Passover meal, and the disciples began to wonder where they were going to celebrate it.

[0:54] You know, it was one of those things, it was not if, it was the when. They understood that Jesus was going to celebrate the Passover because it was his custom. It's just what he did, and as we understand, as we've seen him walk through this last week, we've come to this day that's very critical because we see that transition between what we talked about last week with Judas and the chief priests and the scribes doing the plot to kill Jesus, and how all that went together, the different motivations that people have in that, and even how we have to watch our motivations about things.

[1:34] And then we're going to see here today, Jesus, as he begins talking about here the last Passover, Passover is what we're going to kind of call it, because this is the last one that he celebrates before he goes to the cross.

[1:47] And there's some important things that happen at this event. But we need to understand the things surrounding it and the things going on with it, because we know that from last week had been just the right time for everything to come together and to understand how this was happening there.

[2:07] And we know that Judas was looking for that convenient time to turn Jesus over to the scribes and the chief priests. That convenient time.

[2:18] And all this was working and doing and coming together, and now we find it was the day of preparation to celebrate such a key event in Jewish history, because oftentimes we just talk about the Passover.

[2:30] But, you know, when we look and understand, we're going to talk this morning a little bit, because the Passover was a key memorial in Jewish history.

[2:42] It was key to everything that they did. It happened at the beginning of the year. It was the religious festival that kicked off everything of their calendar.

[2:52] It was the one that focused upon what God had done for them as they came out of Egypt. Because remember, it was instituted the night that the Israelites left out of Egypt after they had had the death angel pass over them because of the blood of the Lamb.

[3:15] And we'll talk more about that as we get into the message here this morning. But we find here that as Jesus is doing this, let's pick up in our account here on chapter 14.

[3:25] If you found chapter 14 in your Bible, let's stand together in honor of reading of the Word of God here this morning. And we'll pick up in verse 12 here this morning. And it says, And he said, And he senteth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water.

[3:56] Follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, you shall say to the good men of the house, The master saith, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?

[4:07] And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There make ready for us. And his disciples went forth and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover.

[4:22] Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we come before you this morning. Lord, we're thankful for your Word. Lord, we're thankful for even the picture that we see here within the Passover, the picture of your redemption for us.

[4:37] Lord, help us to see and to understand, and to grab a hold of and to make personal the reality of what it declares to us. And Lord, as we pray you just have your hand upon each heart, each life here today.

[4:50] Lord, just help us to focus upon your Word and what you would have for us as we prepare for the message here today. Lord, and we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen.

[5:02] May be seated. Amen. You know, we see here that the time of this happening was the 14th day of the month. And we know that because it was the day that the Passover was to be killed.

[5:14] We know from a Jewish history that the calendar was laid out. It was Wednesday that this was taking place in that the 14th day of the month.

[5:25] And when they were ready to kill the Passover, Passover, and they were going to kill the Passover lamb to make ready for the meal that was a part of the celebration. You know, and this was the main feast of the religious year for the children of Israel.

[5:40] Because we see here, as we begin here, it says the first day of unleavened bread when they killed the Passover. Now, we see here, and we talked about this last week, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a time here.

[5:54] It's talking about here this period of time from the time that they chose the lamb, how they observed the lamb, how the lamb was slain, and then the feast that followed the seven days afterwards where they would not eat of any leavened bread.

[6:10] All this was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. When they talk about that, each one of those is a separate thing, but they talk about it because it all happens in sequence. It all happened in a flow and set and calendared out every year.

[6:24] These things took place, and we see these things coming together with the Passover being prepared, but we see the focus of the Passover because notice here that the lamb was the important part where they killed the Passover.

[6:45] The Passover, what they killed was a lamb, and we're going to look at what those things were here in just a little bit, but the Passover lamb was slain. It was a meal, and that required preparation.

[6:58] And we see here that just as the meal, that preparation was required, so the disciples said, Hey, Jesus, we know you haven't said anything about where we're going to eat the meal this year because the way this is asked, it's like it was an expectation.

[7:14] In other words, they said, you know, before we knew what was going on, this year we don't seem to know. You know, but we know that you got this in store, and so the disciples come and ask, and we know from Luke 22, it tells us specifically that it was Peter and John that were the specific ones heading this up, and they were the ones that inquired about the need for the meal, and they knew it was the day that the Passover lamb was to be killed because it commemorated something very important, because it commemorated the night that God, the death angel of judgment in Egypt, passed over all those that had blood applied upon their doorposts.

[7:56] You know, we understand that that was the tenth plague there in Egypt, and we find that Exodus 12 tells us about that preparation of what the disciples and Jesus were considering and looking at there.

[8:11] And so I encourage you to go over to Exodus chapter 12 here this morning for a moment, because if we're going to talk about the feast of the Passover, one thing we need to understand, what are we talking about? You know, it gets talked about a lot.

[8:24] You know, you hear the term Passover, but what does it mean? What was involved in it? Because it's important to see the picture of what's taking place here, to know what was in it.

[8:36] And it's important to see how it applies, and the picture that we see here applies for us even today. Because here in Exodus 12, it declares for them all the requirements for the preparation.

[8:49] It talks about the preparation. It talks about the participants. It talks about the process. The preparation of the meal and the purpose of the meal. And we see here it was the beginning of another feast that lasted seven days, the feast of unleavened bread, where leaven would be removed from the household during the duration of the feast.

[9:11] Now we understand as we look at leaven in the Old Testament, and even in the New, you'll find it equates to sin. It's a picture of how it impacts the whole of the person.

[9:22] You know, when we understand that sin doesn't just impact one part, it impacts all. Just like leaven or yeast, when you put yeast in a loaf of bread, there's none of it exempt.

[9:35] It affects all of it. It's that picture that we see here. But the regulations here for the Passover are found here in Exodus 12.

[9:45] Let's just take a glimpse at what's going on here, because as we look here in verse 3 of chapter 12, it says, And then in verse 5 we find, And so we see here that the first thing they had to do was choose a lamb.

[10:42] You know, they had to choose a lamb, and then they had to prepare the lamb by watching and observing to make sure it was without blemish. You know, they had to make sure it met the requirements.

[10:54] You know, to know that everything was in order. And then on the 14th day they would kill it in the evening. And they would do so, we see here in verse 7, back in Exodus it says, And so we see here they would take some of that blood when they were preparing the lamb, and they would take, and the Bible says that they would dip it in hyssop, and they would put it on the doorposts, and put it over, and they had that blood on the outside of the doorpost.

[11:28] And we're going to see that picture, and what that did for them here in just a moment. But we find here that then they're supposed to take the lamb and roast it with fire.

[11:39] Verse 8 tells us here of that. Look here in verse 8, it says, And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

[11:51] You know, and so we see here there's some things that they have. They roast with fire, and they serve it with unleavened bread, and the bitter herb. Now, the bitter herb, how many like horseradish?

[12:03] That's the bitter herb, you know. It does have a different twang to it than most, you know. People like hot things, but horseradish has a distinct taste.

[12:14] And it's a bitter root. But we're going to see here, that also represents the bitterness that they had as they were captive there in Israel. Or in Egypt, and as Israel was preparing to come out.

[12:27] And we see here that there was a way they were supposed to eat it. Watch this, because this is unique, because here's the evening meal. Most of the time you think about the evening meal, it's like you kind of are winding down, you're kind of settling in, but it tells them that they're supposed to eat it.

[12:41] Look here in verse 11, how they're supposed to eat. They're supposed to eat it prepared. It says, And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.

[12:54] You know? So in other words, you're not going to get in trouble for eating fast. You know? Yeah. Ever growing up, have kids come to the table and they're like scarfing it down and mom's going, slow down!

[13:06] You know, it was the one time a year that you got to eat all the lamb they wanted and nobody told them to slow down. Because they're to eat it in haste. And there was a reason for that because they were supposed to be ready to go.

[13:18] They were supposed to be ready for what was to come and ready to be and prepared for that. But I want you to see one quick note here. We'll get back to this in a moment. But at the end of verse 11, I want you to see here that even though God gave the Passover to Israel to celebrate, there's an important phrase because it is the Lord's Passover.

[13:38] It's not ours. It's not yours. It belongs to the Lord. Because it's the Lord's picture that He puts into it. It's what God is going to do for us because this is the Lord's Passover.

[13:53] But let's break this down just a moment because let's explain here what's happening. Let's stop here for a moment and look at the importance of what's happening with this meal.

[14:03] Because it's easy to see the details and the ritual of the event. You know, sometimes people get caught up in ritual and detail and we miss what's involved in it.

[14:14] You know, we are people that like repetition. Now most people, I don't like things to be... You like things the same.

[14:25] You know, people feel comfortable when they know what's going to happen. When there's consistency, there's comfort that comes. We like that consistency. We like the fact that, hey, I know pretty much what's going to happen.

[14:39] You know, a surprise now and then is fine, but most of the time we like when we know and have stability. And part of that is in our ritual and even our worship sometimes. It can become just stiff and it becomes just something you do.

[14:55] You know, it's like coming to church on Sunday morning. Well, we're going to come and Brother Miles is going to lead us in some songs. You know, you'll sing them. You might belt them out.

[15:05] You might just sit there and mumble to yourself whatever level you're at. You know, it's like, just to remind you, you're supposed to take a joyful noise unto the Lord. Amen? Everybody sings well? You know, joyful noise is a requirement because that joyful noise is something that ought to come from the heart out.

[15:23] When we sing, it's not just process. When we sing songs to begin with, but you know, it's easy for that to become process, become ritual.

[15:37] And we get caught up, this is my expectation of church. This is the expectation that we think. But I want you to know that it has more involved than just the expectation of the repetition.

[15:52] The children of Israel were to do this every year. And very easily, it could become just something we do instead of something that has a meaning, something that has an impact.

[16:03] Because God didn't give this to the children of Israel for no reason. It was a memorial, it was to remind them to slow down and to consider what God has done.

[16:20] And even today, I think we need to be careful we don't fall into ritual. Now there's nothing wrong with having order and things put together, but we've got to be careful that in our mind it isn't just something we do, but it's something that we come to honor the one who came and died for our sin.

[16:39] Because the Passover was reminding them that there was a Redeemer. That God cared. And we're going to see here in this, even in this, the picture that is there because it's not just a ritual of the event, it was so much more.

[16:54] Because it is a picture of what was about to happen before their eyes just hours from then. Israel back in Exodus chapter 12, when they celebrated the Passover, there was going to be some major things happening in just a few hours.

[17:10] They were going to be set free. When we consider this event from Mark chapter 14, in a matter of a few hours, there was going to be some major changes. Things were going to alter history.

[17:22] Because when Jesus went to the cross, He set us free from sin. There was a big thing going to take place. The Passover pictures those things, but notice this feast, there was a focus about this feast.

[17:39] The focus was centered about the Lamb. The Lamb was the central picture of the Passover. Everything we read here in Exodus focuses on it.

[17:51] You know, look at verse 3 for a moment. Because as we look here in verse 3, I want you to see and grab a hold of this this morning. Because here in verse 3, right at the end of the verse, it says, a Lamb for a house.

[18:04] I want you to see this progression. It goes from a Lamb. Then we find in verse 4 it goes to the Lamb. And then you go on down into verse 5, and it makes it a little different because it says, your Lamb.

[18:18] Your Lamb. It moves from, you might say, a generic idea of a Savior to the identification of a Savior to the reality that you need a personal relationship with the Savior.

[18:36] You know, that's a progression we even make today when it comes to our relationship with God because we first have to recognize that He is. To recognize that God and God is there and not just that Jesus is the Savior.

[18:51] You know, there's many people today that would tell you that yes, Jesus is the Savior. But if you stop there, you stop short because Jesus isn't just the Savior. He needs to be your Savior.

[19:05] Just as when they celebrated the Passover, it had to be your Lamb. The benefits didn't happen because your neighbors did it. The benefit happened because you did it.

[19:21] your participation in that. It would have been kept, this Lamb was kept for four days before it was killed and it was intentional because also you'll find that, I don't know about you, but it's pretty clear that this is something that the family kept, the Lamb, close to them to observe it for four days.

[19:41] Now, I don't know about you, but when something hangs out at your house, especially, you know, like a one-year-old Lamb, everybody thinks it looks kind of cute, you know, and it's kind of cuddly and, you know, everything looks kind of good, but the problem is here that it begins to form an attachment.

[19:54] It's amazing. Have you ever taken, brought a pet home and how quick do you attach to something? An animal around the house? I mean, you attach to it, especially the children. And here they have this Lamb that's close and they're observing and it becomes real personal on the fourth day when the Lamb had to be slain.

[20:13] It became very personal, the reality of what was happening because this Lamb was important. It pictured for us a personal Savior.

[20:26] Jesus Christ is not just a Savior. He's not just one among many. He is the Savior and His work is only accomplished in your life when He is your Savior.

[20:37] Today, I encourage you to make sure that He is your Savior. not a ritual Savior, not one that just goes through process of salvation, but one that's a reality that says He is my salvation.

[20:52] He is the one that paid the price for my sin. Because we see here that the Lamb also in Exodus chapter 12, verse 5, speaks specifically about this Lamb being without blemish.

[21:04] You know, this Lamb here that we're going to look at as a celebration as they prepare, everything was pointing to the one they were going to celebrate it with. When the disciples said, where are we going to make that we can celebrate their Passover with you, your Passover, you know, the one that is there at points to Christ.

[21:25] You know, we see here that Jesus was without blemish. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 5 it says, and you know that He was manifest to take away our sins and in Him is no sin.

[21:37] I want you to understand Jesus was without sin. He paid a price for you and I that He did not deserve. The picture of the Lamb in the Passover, the Passover Lamb took something that it did not deserve.

[21:52] It was a substitute for you. The Lamb was not guilty of anything, but yet the Lamb paid the price. They were to take the blood of this slain Lamb and it was to be placed on the doorposts of the house.

[22:07] The family was to eat the meal and remain in the house until morning. What a wonderful depiction of what the shed blood of Jesus Christ does. You know, the only thing that will keep you from the judgment of God is the blood of Jesus Christ.

[22:22] When they put the blood on the doorpost, the Bible tells us that the death angel passed over. That death angel was God's judgment. The plagues in Egypt were God's judgment upon the gods of Egypt.

[22:36] That was that final judgment where they lost the firstborn. That firstborn would be killed if they did not have blood on the doorpost. You know, we see here that it was the judgment of God.

[22:50] You know, look over into Romans chapter 5 for a moment. Romans 5 and verse 9 says, As much more than being now justified by what? His blood. We shall be saved from what?

[23:03] Wrath through Him. God's wrath is God's judgment. If He is your Savior, His shed blood now allows God to move His judgment from you.

[23:20] He literally passes over your sin because your sin has been covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. Because notice here, the lamb is to be roasted with fire.

[23:31] Fire here represents God's judgment. Just as God's judgment was poured out upon Egypt, God's judgment was taken upon the lamb. God's judgment was upon the lamb.

[23:43] And while we could speak so much more about this Passover lamb, it's a clear reminder that only by what Jesus Christ did for you that God's judgment can be turned away.

[23:56] You know, we see this picture of the lamb that God's judgment was there. You know, look over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 says, So He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.

[24:16] You know, it's only by what the lamb represents and what the lamb did, what the lamb took, and we see this picture from the Old Testament now being moved literally into the new because it now changes because the lamb is no longer the little critter that runs around.

[24:33] The lamb was walking among them. John chapter 1 talks about John the Baptist when he saw Jesus and said, Behold, what? The lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

[24:46] Jesus is the lamb in the Passover. And we're going to see this play through as we begin looking here. So as the disciples asked Jesus about this very important event, look back into Mark chapter 14 as we get back where we started this morning because let's look at this again in light of that.

[25:11] It says, In the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, His disciples said unto Him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?

[25:22] You know, they understood this Passover, this last Passover that was going to be celebrated. And you say, Well, there's been people that have celebrated the Passover since then, but you know, the Passover since then have not had the meaning.

[25:36] Because everything in the Passover has been fulfilled. Jews continue to celebrate the Passover today. You know what they do? They miss the obvious. They miss the picture of who Jesus Christ is, that He was the Lamb.

[25:49] And we're going to find here as we go through this in the coming weeks that Jesus takes this feast to the Passover memorial and takes it and refocuses it to a different, slightly different memorial.

[26:04] It's really kind of the same memorial. It's just you're looking at it from a different perspective. Because Jesus takes and changes it because it's His. Because it moves from looking forward, because here, we're going to talk about this next week as He institutes the Lord's Supper.

[26:24] The Lord's Supper is not about looking back. The Lord's Supper is about looking forward. It's a memorial for what's been accomplished but what He's going to do. It helps keep us focused and reminded.

[26:36] Just like the Passover kept the Jews focused on the Messiah that was to come. The Lord's Supper to a believer is a time that we stop and we reflect and consider what Christ has done for you.

[26:47] It's the reason we don't take it just flippantly. We'll talk about that in the coming weeks. That's a whole other one to get into here on that. I want you to understand that God's judgment required that the lamb be killed in order for Him to pass over.

[27:03] Look back over into Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9 and we see here this. It says, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood.

[27:14] Without shedding of blood is no remission. I want you to understand that the blood required the blood was required in the sacrifice.

[27:27] Everything they did pictured what Jesus Christ did for us. When we see this picture here that the shedding of blood was required, you know, people today don't like the idea the blood is needed.

[27:37] You know, we sang about the blood this morning, you know, and you think about those words, you know, hopefully you can look back at what you sang this morning and said, you know, that holds a little different punch because the blood of Jesus was essential for our salvation.

[27:52] But let's look here at the rest of this. Let's see what happens here. Notice in verse 13, And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and we already know that that was John and Peter.

[28:03] But look at the lodging problem and how He's going to solve this. Because look at what Jesus tells them here because this is one of those passages is it's like, why did Jesus so coy about His statement here?

[28:17] Because this is really kind of ambiguous. I mean, this is worse than getting directions from some people where they tell you, well, if you go down here to the stop sign and you go right and then you turn left at the big tree and then that'll take you down the street where you'll see the gas station and then you turn right at the gas station, that takes you down to the mall you know.

[28:44] I always love telling people, well, you go west and they'll look at you like, what? You know. But I want you to see here that Jesus could have gave very specific directions to this house.

[28:57] But I want you to see what He did in its place. And I think there's a reason we can discern from Scripture why Jesus presented it to His disciples this way.

[29:09] But notice what happens here. And He saith in them, notice He says in verse 13, Go ye into the city. I'm pretty sure John and Peter were probably like, okay, we're heading that direction.

[29:23] And then Jesus, look what Jesus tells them. He says, And there shall you meet a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. Now this is one of those, I guarantee you, that we kind of miss this cultural element here.

[29:36] Because understanding some Jewish culture here is critical. Because to us, how would He figure out which guy it was? You know, how many people in a city the size of Jerusalem at the time would be carrying water?

[29:48] You know? I mean, you could think, man, there could be lots and lots. It would be like going downtown and then Lincoln and saying, you know, in our minds, you know, go downtown and find somebody carrying a water bottle and follow them.

[30:03] you would look at them like you are crazy. But when we understand culturally here what Jesus is telling them, the uniqueness of what He's saying, it helps us grasp because in the day of Jesus, there was something that happened.

[30:22] Number one, men didn't carry pitchers of water. Women carried pitchers of water. If a man was to carry water, it would be in a skin.

[30:36] You know, kind of like a soft-sided water jug. That was the normal for a man to carry. A woman would carry a pitcher of water.

[30:49] Now, so when Jesus said, you're going to, when you enter the city, you're going to see a man, a servant in this case, carrying a pitcher of water. So, understanding that changes what Jesus is telling them, isn't it?

[31:03] Because this man, even though he's going to be one among many, is going to have something unique that would have stood out in the crowd to them. It was something that they would have looked at and said, yep, I'm pretty sure he's it because he's carrying a pitcher of water.

[31:19] But we see here, Jesus tells them to follow this man with a pitcher of water to the place, he says, wherever he goes, ye shall go in and say to the good men of the house.

[31:31] You know, we see here as Jesus is telling them, he says, follow the servant and then go on into the house and we have to understand this is the house of the day.

[31:42] You would have the outer court and you had the different areas of the house and this man having a large upper room that was fully furnished. We know some things. He probably has a man of resource so it probably wasn't a small house.

[31:57] Number one, he had servants. He had all these different things taking place. But we see here that they're supposed to go in and ask or almost instruct the man.

[32:08] It says, the master say it there in verse 14, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? In verse 15, he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared there make ready for us.

[32:24] You know, here Jesus gives these instructions to his disciples. He says, hey guys, take this and go into town and follow this guy holding a pitcher of water and you follow him to whatever house he goes to.

[32:41] Go in, talk to the master and say, hey, Jesus said that you have a room for him. You know, and we're going to see here because I believe Jesus already had this all prepared and arranged with this man.

[32:55] But why would Jesus be so vague in his instruction? You know, it relates to what we talked about last week. What was Judas up to?

[33:06] Judas was looking for a convenient time to sell Jesus out. Jesus didn't, who was standing there when Jesus gave the disciples the instruction.

[33:19] Judas was. So Jesus looks at Peter and John and says, go into the city, follow the guy with the pitcher on his head, follow him to his house, and then we'll meet you there a little later.

[33:32] Judas would have had no clue where that was. Because let's face it, Jesus reveals his knowing of those things, his omniscience, for he knew what was taking place.

[33:49] He knew the heart of Judas. He knew what was already put in place over here. He knew that this man's servant was going to be carrying a pitcher of water, which is one of those that's just kind of, I think, just sort of, it's what took place.

[34:02] And Jesus said, hey, this is what's taking place, I'll take and use that because it's unique to get my disciples to his house. You know, I think as I read this, one thing I was thinking about is the disciples and the amount of faith that they had in his instruction.

[34:20] I mean, most of the time we find that when Jesus, if somebody would tell you something like this, I think most of us would just look at him strange. But we have no record, this wasn't a test of their faith, but Jesus told them and they just followed.

[34:37] Their faith was already in Christ. We asked him where to go and he told us, so let's go. You know, let's get busy, let's do what we're supposed to do. You know, they played, they had a lot of faith in the instructions as they went, even though Jesus didn't reveal all the details, but what he did is he gave them exactly what they needed to accomplish the task.

[35:02] He gave them exactly what was needed to that. You know, and I think this applies in our lives today. Because if you ever know, sometimes people say, well, I'll serve the Lord if God gives me all the details.

[35:14] If God lays everything out in detail, I'll serve him. I want everything laid out. I don't want any unknowns. But you know what?

[35:25] Some days we need to trust God just like Peter and John did to say Jesus has given us what we need to accomplish what he set us out to do.

[35:37] And that Jesus will fill in the difference. You know, over the course of my life, I've learned one thing. Sometimes as I look back, I'm glad I didn't know what was going to happen beforehand. Because what we think is, well, if it's bad, I won't do it.

[35:49] If it's good, we'll do it. It's like, that's not the way life works. You know, the same is true today. We don't always know all the details, but we have to trust him with what we know. We confidently know that he's already has the details worked out.

[36:03] I mean, what an amazing thing to realize that Jesus, when he told the disciples, he said, guys, I already have all the details worked out. Look how all that came together. Jesus said, I have a place.

[36:13] It's already prepared. It's furnished. All they had to do was finish preparing the meal. They had all the furniture set up. They had everything ready. God already had the rest of it in place.

[36:24] What they had to do was trust him by faith to take action on what they knew they were supposed to do. Now, we often quote a very familiar passage back in Proverbs chapter 3. You know, Proverbs 3, and it tells us this in verses 5 and 6.

[36:38] It says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him. And now look at that last part. And he shall do what?

[36:50] Direct thy paths. We hear it, but sometimes we don't process it. Peter and John were living this verse. Consider what they did. They weren't leaning on their own understanding. Their own understanding is Jesus, you know, you could have given us an address.

[37:03] It would be a little easier. They said, No, Jesus gave us what we needed to accomplish the task according to what he has set out and he's going to direct our path. Think of how God directed the path of Peter and John that day.

[37:18] they found the man with the picture and he took them directly to where they needed to be. Why were they where they were supposed to be? Because they were obedient to what they knew.

[37:28] They were obedient to what God had told them. They went to the place where everything was furnished and prepared. You know, this implies that Jesus had already arranged to meet there even though he hadn't disclosed it to his disciples.

[37:41] That's another important thing to realize that God is working in circles and things bigger than yourself. God's got details worked out that are beyond us.

[37:53] But he's got things fitting into place that's going to benefit us. God works through those details. It was furnished and prepared. You know, but why would Jesus keep this from the disciples?

[38:06] You know, and we understood what was happening here. That Jesus wanted to eat the Passover with his disciples and where it was going to be where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples.

[38:18] Look down in verse 14 here in our text. It says, well, it's what Jesus says, where the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. You know, we see here Peter and John went to Jerusalem expecting to find what Jesus had told them.

[38:36] Seeing a man with a water pitcher followed him to his house, inquired to the owner of the room, finding it furnished and prepared and then making the Passover ready. So I want you to understand they had some things to do other than just having a prepared and furnished room.

[38:51] Their job was to prepare the meal that was to come. Part of that preparation was to kill the lamb, to roast it with fire.

[39:02] There were some things that were laid out for them. The plan that God had established came to pass. I want you to understand this morning that God's plan always is fulfilled.

[39:16] People may try to thwart, people might try to ignore God's plan and what God's purpose is, but you know what? God is above those things.

[39:27] God says what He promises will come to pass. He sets forth the course of history. He sets forth those things in a way that will be beneficial in the long term for us and for those who call upon Him.

[39:44] You know, the plan that God has established is for our benefit just like His plan of salvation. The Passover was a picture of His plan of salvation for me and for you.

[39:56] His plan was about to come to fruition. As the disciples were there getting ready to eat the last Passover, His perfect plan was coming together.

[40:08] You know, look what the apostle Paul says. Look over to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 for a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. You know, here Paul's talking about some issues of sin in the church and notice what he says as a believer what we ought to purge out.

[40:26] He says, Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. in the old testament they had a lamb that took god's judgment upon him because of the shed blood of the lamb and today we have the lamb of god who shed his blood for you and me jesus is literally the fulfillment and is our passover lamb his shed blood allows god's judgment to pass over us it's by his sacrifice the blood that was shed for you that you and i can be saved when he's not just a lamb or he's not just the lamb but when he's your lamb you know first peter tells us this first peter chapter one says this but with the precious blood of christ as the lamb without blemish and without spot who verily fordain before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who by him to believe in god that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in god you know the disciples were preparing the last passover that was going to picture the ultimate passover as we're going to look in the coming weeks about what takes place here at this passover but today just as that blood was applied for god's judgment to pass over in egypt it passed over those that acted in faith sometimes we miss the fact that it took a lot of faith to take a lamb something that had never been done before like this and put the blood and apply it on the doorpost of your house they had to act in faith that god's judgment was going to pass over them just like when we accept christ by faith when we trust in what he has done god's judgment then can pass over you and that's by no other than faith in what christ has done look at the end of that verse up there it says that your faith and hope might be where in god not in ritual not in form and function not in liturgies not even in history but that our faith is in god this morning the same is true for you and i has there been a point in time when he moved from the reality of just being a savior to the savior but most importantly has he become your savior that's the critical part to realize the need to be your savior as heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning i encourage you to consider what is jesus to you is he your savior if not i encourage you today this might be the day you call upon him as your savior if you've never understood never comprehended what was needed it's not by works of righteousness which we have done but it's by what he has accomplished and by putting our faith in him what about you today heavenly fathers we come before you this morning lord we just thank you and praise you for the picture and the reality that we can understand what you've done for us lord i pray if there's one here today that has not called upon you as their savior lord we can know about you but there's a difference when we have a connection with you as our savior lord i pray just work mightily upon each heart each life here today maybe we just need to slow down and really consider the reality and just to be thankful

[44:26] thankful for what you've done for us and lord we just ask it all in your precious name amen as heads are bowed and eyes are closed what about you today you