Andy Davis preaches a verse by verse expository sermon on Matthew 26:17-30. The main subject of the sermon is the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.
Introduction
What an awesome scripture this is. Back in 1950, Winston Churchill wrote a history of World War II called The Hinge of Fate. He was one of the major players as the Prime Minister of England. Doesn’t that just draw you in? Don’t you want to read a book like that, especially by Churchill? I’m not a believer in fate, another word for that would be luck. I don’t believe in a universe that’s out of control, that no one has any idea where it’s going, and that there’s no great pilot to it. I believe in a history that has a meaning, it has an alpha, and it has an omega, and every letter in between has a purpose. We’re at the hinge of history as we come to Matthew 26:17-30. What do I mean by that? For centuries before this night that we’re studying, God had drawn His people, His chosen people, the Jews, into a pattern of life that was under the heading of the Old Covenant. The Laws of Moses and the Old Covenant, and all of their celebrations and their religious festivals were commanded by the Old Covenant.
And I say to you, that as Jesus gathered there that night with His disciples to celebrate one more time the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that was the last time in history that God was pleased to accept that Passover lamb, that physical lamb and its bloodshed. No more, for the rest of history, would God accept animal blood. You’ve been with me on the journey through the Book of Hebrews, you know what I’m talking about, I’ll go back into some of those scriptures again to remind you. But that was it, that night, when that lamb was killed, and its blood was shed, and Jesus drew together to celebrate in the old pattern and with the Old Covenant stipulations one last time. He stood at the hinge of history. He spoke words that just bring chills to me as I contemplate it. He points to a New Covenant in his blood, his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and in that I stand and proclaim the Word of God to you today, in the forgiveness of the New Covenant and the shed blood of Jesus.
The Hinge of History: Jesus the Sacrificial Lamb
We’re at the hinge of history as we look at the transition from the Old Covenant to the New. For centuries, the Jews used the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the twin festivals, to look back at the Exodus of the Jews from bondage, from slavery in Egypt, under Moses. They look back at that great exodus, and they remember the mighty things that God had done. But I believe that that Exodus itself, in space and time, that actual event in history, and the religious observances that followed in the Law of Moses, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, were all just types and symbols of a far greater exodus, a far greater salvation and deliverance that Jesus would work eventually. They were looking back, but those by faith perhaps understood they were looking ahead to a Savior yet to come.
For us, we look back at both events. We look back at the first Exodus and all that was celebrated at that time, how God led the Jews out of bondage, out of slavery through Moses, passing through the Red Sea. How before in the tenth plague, the angel of death passed over all of the houses where that unblemished lamb, its blood had been shed and hyssop branches were dipped into the bowl and the blood was painted and applied on the door posts and the lintels of the Jewish homes. The Angel of Death saw that blood and passed over. The clear implication is that any first born in that house, if there had been no blood, would have died and died justly under the wrath of God. Instead, the Jewish first born were delivered, but yet there was not a home among the Egyptians that there was not wailing. From Pharaoh who sat on the throne down to the lowest handmaid, everyone lost someone. There was grief and there was wailing that night. The Jews then passed through the Red Sea, and they were delivered. We can look back on those events, but we look back to a far greater exodus, a far greater deliverance, and that is the one worked by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who is greater than Moses. Moses was a servant in all God’s house, but Jesus is a son over God’s house, He is our Savior, He is our deliverer. We look back at that, and we do it every time we celebrate the Lord’s supper, and so we stand at the hinge of history.
We’re going to go through this passage and not make a lot of comments. We’re just going to try to understand the text and what it says. Then for the second half of the sermon, I’m going to draw out lessons and applications from these rich verses.
I. The Preparations for the Passover
Let’s begin in verses 17-19, looking at the preparations for the Passover. The text says, “On the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?'” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, my appointed time is near, I’m going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'” So, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
Now we come to the Feast of Unleavened Bread again, and the celebration of Passover. How did they relate to one another? Really, they were two festivals in one, both pointing back, as I said, to the same time in redemptive history. The Feast of Unleavened Bread involved the eating of bread made without yeast. It represented bread eaten in haste, not the kind of bread you eat for pleasure or comfort. Yeast makes pastries rise, makes fluffy bread rise. Unleavened bread isn’t for pleasure, just for nourishment, and it was eaten in haste because they had a journey to travel. They were leaving where they’d been living for centuries, and they were moving on to a promised land. It’s a bread symbolic of our status in this world as aliens and strangers, this bread eaten in haste. Not bread eaten for pleasure or for taste, but rather bread eaten to sustain us on our journey as we make our pilgrimage to heaven. This feast would last eight days.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. The lamb would be slaughtered, according to the law of Moses, a lamb without blemish or defect. At that time, Jerusalem would have been filled with people. Josephus gives us an indication that perhaps there were as many as two million people, pilgrims that had come from all over the Roman world to celebrate these twin festivals of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. The feast that they were celebrating had elaborate rituals which involved many elements, all of which needed preparation. After sunset on the first day of the feast, the household would gather together in a home to eat the Passover lamb, which by then would have been sacrificed and roasted with bitter herbs. The head of the household would begin the meal with a prayer of thanksgiving for the feast and for the wine, praying over the first of four cups of wine. A preliminary course of greens and bitter herbs was generally followed by a young boy in the house who would ask the questions of that night, laid out in the book of Deuteronomy, questions about the meaning of all of this. “What is the meaning of all this?” Then the head of the household would explain the symbolism and recount the history of the exodus. Then the people would sing the first part of the Hallel, perhaps Psalm 113, and then the second cup of wine would introduce the main course, the Passover lamb, followed by third cup, the cup of blessing, accompanied by another prayer of thanksgiving, and then all the participants would sing the rest of the Hallel, probably Psalm 114, and probably drank the fourth cup of wine at that point. Thus, you can see the preparations for all of this would have been extensive. There would have been a lot of details that they would have to look after to be sure everything was ready.
Therefore, Jesus gives directions for the disciples to make preparations. He explained to them very plainly in Luke 22, how much he desired to have this meal with them. That moves me, and it melts me. Luke 22:15-16, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you that I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” He wanted to sit at table with them, they were his friends, and He yearned to have that time together with them. In John 17:24 it pointed to a far greater desire that Jesus has, of which that is just merely the symbol, and how He prays in John 17, “Father, I yearn, I desire that those whom you have given me be with me where I am, and see my glory, the glory because you love me from the foundation of the Earth.” That’s the deeper desire. Jesus yearns to be with us forever. He yearns to not just sit at the table with us once on one particular evening, but forever and to have fellowship. The disciples initiate the question, “Where should we go to make preparations?” But Jesus, He’s already way ahead of them, you will never get ahead of God and your service to God. He’s already ahead of you, we’re going to talk more about that at the end of the sermon, but He’s way ahead of the disciples on preparations for the Passover. He is the God who goes ahead of us, as He says in John 14, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you, for I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me so that you also may be where I am.” He is the God who goes ahead and prepares things, so Jesus replied in verse 18, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him the teacher says, ‘My appointed time is near, I’m going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'” A particular man has been selected as the host for the Last Supper. What an awesome responsibility that is, what an incredible role to play in redemptive history. A certain man, that’s all we’re told here in Matthew. We’re also told Jesus’ poignant statement, “My appointed time is near.” there’s a time that was set out, it was appointed, it was part of God’s eternal timetable, and that time has come. Eternity steps into time with Jesus, and that moment has come. Four times in John’s Gospel He says, “My time has not yet come.” Four different times, He says, “My time has not yet come.” Well, now the time has come, He says here in the text, “My appointed time is near,” and so the hour has come. Luke gives us more details about this. Now, you may be fretting, you may be practically minded, you say, “A certain man? There’s two million people in the city. How are we going to know where to go? Many, many pilgrims are renting rooms and preparing and getting ready.” He’s got it covered. Be anxious for nothing. The Lord knows exactly what he’s doing.
You get more details in Luke 22, 7-13, “Then came the day of unleavened bread in which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” That first day of the feast, Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” They asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you, follow him to the house that he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them, so they prepared the Passover. Now this, friends, is just weird. I want to try to make it come alive to you. Suppose someone told you, “Drive to Raleigh, and as you’re driving around the inner Beltline, as you come to exit 10B, you’ll take that ramp. As you go down, you’ll see a blue pick-up truck driving by, follow it.” That would scare me actually, if I saw that happening, wouldn’t it? “Just drive and follow him, he’ll lead you right where you need to go.” Is history really that choreographed? Is it really that orchestrated, friends? It’s more choreographed and more orchestrated than that. This is the God who holds atoms together by the power of His sovereign will. He has tremendous attention to detail. He is meticulous. He knew that there would be several million people and they needed to know where to go, “Follow the guy with the jar of water.” More on that later. The Passover lamb was sacrificed at that point. It is the perfect picture of Christ now reaching its fulfillment, by the shed blood of the Passover lamb. The firstborn of Israel was delivered from death by the angel of the Lord, and for centuries the Jews had commemorated that deliverance by slaughtering one lamb after another. One lamb after another, a river of blood.
The annual repetition of those sacrifices taught a very poignant lesson. Hebrews makes it very plain what that lesson is. In Hebrews 10:1-4, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves.” For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For then the worshiper would have felt cleansed for his sins and would no longer have felt guilty for sin. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, so the endless repetition taught this final lesson of the animal sacrificial system. Remember, all sin deserves a death penalty. The death penalty can be paid by a substitute, but the substitute never has been and never will be an animal. It’s all symbolic. It points toward those beautiful words John the Baptist said, when he pointed to Jesus as he began his public ministry to Israel, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one sacrifice, Christ has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
We see the obedience of the disciples, but far greater the obedience of Christ. The disciples did everything that the Lord told them to do, praise God for that. But more importantly, Jesus did everything the Father told him to do. It is by his obedience I find my salvation, His perfect submission to the law of Moses, how He was born of a woman, born in the fullness of time, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. You see? He stepped into time under the law of Moses, and He stayed in that right to the end of His life. He perfectly obeyed the laws of God, and that perfect righteousness to God’s holy law is now my righteousness, and yours too, if you believe in Christ. It is in that obedience I stand now, and none other. Jesus is obedient. It says in Philippians 2, “Even to death on a cross”, that’s how obedient He was, right to the end. Do you not see the courage in Jesus in even going to Jerusalem, the courage in going to be the Passover Lamb? He knew full well what it meant, “Until it finds its fulfillment in my Father’s Kingdom.” He knew that none of his sheep would make it into his father’s kingdom if He didn’t shed his blood for them.
II. Prediction of the Betrayer
Now, in verses 20-25 we come to the prediction of the betrayer. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve, and while they were eating, He said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to Him, one after the other, “Surely, not I Lord.” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi.” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.” The Passover Feast is going on, this intimate fellowship Jesus is having with those he loved the most, this last time he’s having with them that He said He yearned for. Jewish law said that Passover could not begin until the lamb was sacrificed, and that at twilight. So now it’s evening and they’re reclining at table, a scene of peace, a scene of fellowship, a scene of togetherness before the storm of anguish and wrath and blood and death is going to come the next day.
They are together having this time, and Jesus unfolds his mind and his heart now to His disciples, and He pours it out and lets them know what He’s feeling. Jesus has deep sorrow over this betrayal, it’s not recorded here in Matthew, but it’s very real. It is recorded for us in John 13:21, “After He said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.'” This betrayal bothers Jesus, He is filled with grief over betrayal by Judas. Jesus was called “a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering,” and here He was deeply distressed, troubled in spirit over the betrayal by Judas. Verse 23, I think, focuses on the intimacy of the fellowship, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” The issue here in Matthew, I think, is not so much of identifying who it is as it is with the sop, that piece of bread that’s handed in John’s Gospel to Judas. When he took it, Satan entered into him. But here I don’t think it’s a matter of identification at that point, I think He’s saying, “The one I shared this kind of intimacy with, the one I shared this kind of friendship with is going to turn me over to my death. He’s going to sell me, so that I would die. Someone here sitting at this meal with me is going to betray me.” The sharing of a meal shows intimacy, a kind of friendship together. Psalm 41:9 predicted this pain of Jesus, “Even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared my bread has lifted up his heel against me.”
Betrayal can only be done by a close friend. Betrayal can’t be done in the absence of an existing relationship, but please understand, there is no surprise here now. Don’t misunderstand. Jesus isn’t surprised by this betrayal. He’s known all along it was going to happen. He knew it before the foundation of the world. He certainly knew it much earlier in the Gospel accounts. In John chapter 6, He talks about eating my flesh and drinking my blood and saying that many of Jesus’ followers went away and no longer followed him. Jesus turns to the twelve and said, “What about you? You don’t want to go away, too, do you?” Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus answers with the doctrine of election, “Have I not chosen you, the twelve? And one of you is a devil.” This a very important statement. It is not one of you will become a devil later, one of you is a devil now. Judas never believed in Jesus. He never loved him. It wasn’t a transformation that came over him. Jesus knew who he was. As a matter of fact, in all the Gospel accounts, whenever Judas is introduced, he is immediately tagged the one who would betray him, and that, I think just is a symbol of how it was never a surprise to Jesus from the very beginning.
Judas has astonishing wickedness here, and the disciples all respond with humility and deep concern. They’re very sad and begin to say to him, one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” Deeply moved, deeply troubled about it, Judas doesn’t join at that moment, but he waits a moment later and asks about himself. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, “Surely not I, Rabbi,” he says. Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.” None of the other eleven had marked him out as the betrayer. After Judas did take that sop, that piece of bread, and Satan entered into him, Jesus then gives them a sovereign command. “What you are about to do, do quickly.” So, Judas goes out. At that moment, the other eleven thought he was going to buy more supplies for the feast. The depth of the hypocrisy, how much the actor can act, how much they can look good on the outside, but inside full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In verse 24, we come to the mystery of all mysteries, really in Scripture, the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, especially as it comes down to the reprobate, the one who will, in the end, be lost, the one who, in the end, will be condemned. Verse 24, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man, it would be better for him if he had not been born.”
III. The Blood of the New Covenant
We’ll get into that more fully later. In verses 26-30, we have The Last Supper, the blood of the covenant, focused on while they were eating. “Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take and eat, this is my body,’ then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.’” In verse 30, “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Here we have at last the Old Covenant in its final act, its final moment. Why do I say that? Because I say that the moment Jesus said it is finished, and when the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the Old Covenant was done forever. It has been supplanted by a better covenant, a superior covenant by which we stand in God’s sight.
They are fulfilling the ritual, the Passover Lamb has been slaughtered, the symbolism looks back, but now Jesus supplants it. He takes it over. He takes the bread, He gives thanks, He breaks it and gives it to them with these amazing words, “Take and eat, this is my body.” Now, the feast, the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was instituted for symbolic and spiritual reasons, Jesus takes those symbolic and spiritual reasons over and points to a new covenant, a new reality, the lessons of our Exodus now. The lessons of our salvation are going to be fulfilled in his physical body, very physical here. You could touch it, you could break it, you could hear it broken, you can maybe smell a little more once it was broken, you could chew it, you could swallow, it’s very physical here.
Then he does the same thing with the cup. He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” With these words, Jesus inaugurates the symbolism of the New Covenant, which we have celebrated ever since in the Lord’s supper. This New Covenant is about to be fulfilled in his blood, the blood of the covenant here, symbolic language they would have understood from the sacrificial system, which across this hinge of history is now rendered obsolete, obsolete forever. They would have understood the symbolism, but now he’s identified a new blood, and therefore, a new covenant. That’s the logic that the author of Hebrews gives us. Because of this, we must have a new covenant, because the old covenant could not have sustained these truths, so He identifies it very powerful here in Matthew, “my blood of the covenant.” It’s focused on him, “this is my blood of the covenant.”
The Centerpiece of the New Covenant: The Forgiveness of Sins
The centerpiece of the New Covenant, and this is the great good news of the Gospel, is the forgiveness of sins, that our sins may be forgiven, that we may stand before God forgiven, holy, and blameless in his sight. It is for that that the blood was shed. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out,” He says, “for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” It’s not focused anymore on just the Jews. The barrier, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile has been removed forever, and there is now one new man, and that one new man is a Christian or a believer in Jesus, not Jew or Gentile any longer now, but follower of Christ, from both the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus’ blood is shed not just for the Jews, but for many, for people from every tribe and language and people and nation all over the world.
He shed his blood for all of the Elect, and God knew who they were, knew them by name, each of them from the tribes of the world. This is the significance of the body and blood of Jesus. This is precisely why the son of God became man. This is why He took on a body that we celebrate at Christmas time. This is the purpose, the end result of the incarnation, his body and his blood, given for us for the forgiveness of sins. Then He speaks of a future fulfillment in verse 29, “I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Oh, the sweet word here is that word “anew.” There’s a new reality coming, a new heaven, a new earth, a New Jerusalem, a New Covenant, we ourselves made new. If anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. Jesus is going to feast with us, He’s actually going to sit down and eat with us. Isn’t that mysterious? He’s going to have a body, a resurrection body after his death, after his blood is shed, He’s going to have a body, and so will we. We will sit at the table, and we will feast with him forever in his father’s kingdom. Many will come from the East and the West and will take their places at that feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. We don’t have these words in Matthew, but we have it in Luke, how this was established as a timeless memorial until He should come back. Luke 22:19, “He took bread and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” It was a clear command given. The apostle Paul picks up on it in 1 Corinthians 11, so we have the ordinance of the Last Supper, and we do it consistently in healthy church life as a memorial to him, a Spirit-saturated reality-filled memorial. We don’t believe in transubstantiation, we don’t believe the actual body and blood of Jesus are there, but the physicality of it reminds us of his actual death on the cross, needfulness for our forgiveness, and that someday we will live with him forever in heaven.
IV. Lessons and Applications
Application of the Establishment of the New Covenant
That’s the text. Now, let’s look at some applications. Can there be any better application from this text or any text than this: Come to Christ, repent and believe, for the forgiveness of your sins. It was for this that He came, it was for this that He died, that sinners like you and me should find forgiveness. I’m not speaking in the abstract now; I’m speaking very practically. Why are you here right now? How did you get here? Did someone invite you? Did you just walk in? Are you a member? Do you know for certain that your sins are forgiven? Do you know that you are a sinner? Do you know that the law stands against you, that you will not be able to survive judgment day? The same meticulous God I spoke about a moment ago, in brief and I’ll speak more in a moment, He sees everything you’ve ever done, every careless word you’ve ever spoken. Are you ready to face the one who has eyes of blazing fire? Are you ready to face him? Do you know that your sins are forgiven? If you don’t, then I would urge you, while there’s time, flee to Christ, trust in him. You just have to believe in him, you don’t have to do anything, you don’t even have to make a physical pilgrimage anymore, you just have to believe. Trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins and understand the lesson of the physicality of this, of Christ’s physical body. Colossians 1:22 says, “But now God has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in a sight without blemish and free from accusation.” By Christ’s physical body. You are reconciled to God and made friends with him. Understand then the lesson of the blood. The wages of sin is death. Our sin deserved death penalty. Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness.” Hebrews 10:4, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Romans 3:25, “God presented him as a propitiation, a sacrifice of atonement, turning away his wrath through faith in his blood.” Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Blood, blood, blood, and blood. Four blood verses. It is by the blood of Jesus that we are forgiven. Trust in that, and in that alone. This is the Gospel, this is Jesus, the Son of God nailed to the cross for sinners like you. This is the essence of the statement, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Flee to Christ.
Secondly, worship Christ as He is revealed here in this text. Worship him. I believe that God crafted the whole Gospel for one central overriding reason, and that is the praise of his glory. That we should be for the praise of his glory. What does that mean? It means study his attributes as He reveals them and give him honor and praise for them. I want you to see that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. How is the Son the radiance of God’s glory? Do you not see the love of God shining forth in Jesus here? Do you not see the courage of Jesus, do you not see his compassion for us and his mercy? Do you not see the justice of God and that the cross cannot be averted, He can’t avoid it? Do you not see the sovereign wisdom of God in the old covenant, the new covenant and redemptive history, and the hinge, the hinge of history here and the turning of it, and the fact that the blood of bulls and goats had to roll the play, but not the role of actual forgiveness, and now it’s been fulfilled in Jesus and how now we can understand all this? Worship him, worship him like they do in heaven. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom, and strength, and glory and honor and praise. They stand around the throne, it says in Revelation 5, four living creatures and twenty-four elders. They have a harp and golden bowls full of incense and they are singing a new song, “You’re worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Worship him.
Thirdly, stand in awe of God’s preparations and do your part. What do I mean by that? This text shows the extensive preparations made for the Passover. Passover itself was extensive preparations made for Jesus’ death. God is a preparing God. As I was thinking about this application, I was thinking about those little work projects that children do, like at Lowe’s or Home Depot or whatever, where they lay out everything needed, the little hammer and the little pegs and the little… And you get to make a… I don’t know bird feeder or something like that, you know what I’m saying, it’s all there. You got a little dollop, Elmer’s glue, a little packet of glue and everything. It’s all laid out for you to do your work. I’m not minimizing, I’m not, not at all. It says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in them.” He’s going ahead of you getting your work projects ready. He’s already there, the room is all set up, you have a job to do, do it and by you doing whatever good works God has ordained for you to do, the kingdom advances. People are saved. Other Christians are strengthened in their faith. You use your spiritual gifts. Do you have a ministry? Are you using your spiritual gifts? This church needs every member to have a ministry. This church needs you to use your spiritual gifts, do your part, but as you do your part know that Christ has already gone ahead of you. He’s prepared you for the works and the work is for you.
Fourthly, stand in awe of God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. Recent theologians, like Clark Pinnock and Greg Byrd have questioned God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. What do I mean by that? Does God really know everything that’s going to happen down to the detail ahead of time? Answer, yes, he does. Absolutely, he does. They question this, I think, because of their overwhelming commitment to their perspective on human free will. They say that if a human being is truly to have free will, God cannot know ahead of time what that person will do. He can guess, he knows your habits, but he’s just a guesser still in the end. According to them then nothing is foreordained, or else people cannot have free will and cannot be held responsible for their decisions. The extreme version of this view is called Open Theism. They’re leading proponents of it. Pinnock says God just simply limits himself and thus cannot know the future. If he didn’t limit himself, he could, but he chooses to limit himself and not know the future. Greg Boyd says that God knows aspects of the future that can be known, including some apparently free will decisions. His is more nuanced, more complex, but he’s still saying God ultimately cannot know those many decisions. There are many parts of the future he does not know. That’s what “open” means. It’s open, it hasn’t been written yet. We’ll get to that in a moment. Life is free flowing but good things will come. Really, really good things. I think of this view as the ultimate, you know how if life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, God is the ultimate of that. Life is constantly handing God lemons and he’s just excellent at making lemonade. That’s their view. And God is able to take all of the bad lemons we hand him and he’s able to navigate through and get good things done. Is that the God of the Bible? It’s beyond me to wrangle in detail with these two men and all that. The Bible does teach the exhaustive foreknowledge of God over human free will decisions. How in the world did Jesus know there would be a specific guy carrying a jug of water at that particular moment? There are millions of people in the city, but Jesus made identification so that the two disciples going to make preparations would know who to follow. He’s not just showing off, but He’s helping them. But suppose the guy decides to carry a basket of figs or instead a jar of wine, or suppose he trips and falls, and it breaks or something like that, then the identification is gone, they won’t know who to… If this was a woman picking up and carrying it, they won’t follow her because he said a man with a jar of water. The open theist would say that’s the kind of thing God can’t know, but Jesus apparently knew it, and He knew it certain enough to give directions based on it.
This becomes even more telling in the case of Judas’ betrayal, as a vital spiritual decision that must be free on Judas’ part. “Jesus didn’t really know whether Judas would betray him,” but clearly Jesus did know ahead of time that Judas would betray him and said that it had been written in Scripture in the Book of God’s sovereign plan, Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Jesus said plainly, while they’re eating, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me,” not some of you might betray me, or three of you will betray me, or any of that. He knew very well, not only that it would happen, but who would do it. In verse 24, “Then the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.” What does that mean, “written”? I think there are two books here, two books, there’s God’s book in heaven, and that’s exhaustive down to the atomic level, and then there’s Scripture’s book of prophecy, which just gives us hints about the heavenly book. Psalm 139 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” What book is that? The heavenly book. There’s a book of eternal life in which the disciples are told, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you and your name. But I’ll tell you rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven.” That heavenly book is God’s exhaustive detailed plan. So, in the small things such as the carrying of a water jar and in large things, the betrayal of the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver, everything is exhaustively known ahead of time. Jesus tells it to them ahead of time, so that [John 14], “When it does happen, you will believe and not be disturbed, but you know I predicted it plainly.”
Fifth, we come to the hardest piece of meat that I’ve ever preached from this pulpit and probably ever will preach. Scripture divides roughly into milk and meat. Milk is easy, simple concepts to understand doctrinally, and meat are those things that are harder. I don’t doubt for a moment that not all of you will be able to follow me where I’m about to go, maybe you’ll be able to follow later. But I’m willing to ask some questions here about Judas that bring us to uncomfortable places, and I think it is to the glory of God to go there. My fifth emphasis has to do with the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Let’s talk about Judas, and let’s do the best we can to understand the mystery of the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. At the root of the debate between those who focus primarily on human free will, commonly called Arminians, and those who generally emphasize God’s sovereignty in human salvation, commonly called Calvinists, is the problem of evil. How do we understand the problem of evil? If God is so good and all powerful, why then is there evil in the universe?
The classic Arminian answer to this question runs like this, “God created the world good and only desires good things. Secondly, because God allows people free will and God never interferes with free will, to some degree, God’s hands are bound by our free will decisions. Evil happens in God’s universe, but it’s not his fault because people are just using their free will and God will not interfere with those decisions.” Why not? Because if God ordains something and brings it to pass by his sovereign power, they argue that man is not responsible, that’s how they argue. There is no way they say that a human decision can be ordained by God, and then for God to hold a human responsible for that decision. If God decrees that man do something and a man does that thing that God decreed, then the man is off the hook, so they argue. Not so much “the devil made me do it”, but really, you’re saying God made me do it, so how can you hold me responsible for that? Since that would make God in their view the direct author of evil, this cannot be. God cannot hold people responsible for decisions that He has decreed. Therefore, God didn’t decree them ahead of time. That’s how the argument works. Now, look at verse 24. What do you do with verse 24? Talk about a monkey wrench thrown right into the gears of all of that. Jesus said, in verse 23, “The one who dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me, the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” So, both are taught here, the Son of Man will go, as it is written about him. So, it’s written, and it is done. It’s not just God predicting, it’s God decreeing, you see. It’s not just predicting; the writing is God’s. The Son of Man will go according to the plan, the sovereign will of God, but woe to the man by whom He goes. How do you put those two together in this scheme I just laid out? They don’t fit. “It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Let me ask one question. If it would have been better for Judas not to have been born, then why was he born? Think about it. You may say I’d rather not think about it, but I’m asking you to think about it. In Psalm 139 and verse 13, it says, “For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Did God knit Judas together in his mother’s womb? Would we want to go so weird theologically, it’s amazing the lengths people will go to avoid this, that say, “Oh, God knits the good people together, but he doesn’t knit the bad people together.” There’s no scriptural evidence of that at all. God knits people together. He’s the knitter. He knit you together, He created you, He created your inmost being. Let’s go back then to Judas. What was God thinking when he was knitting Judas together? Open theists will say he was hoping for the best. “I sure hope you don’t do what I think you’re probably going to do. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” While He was giving Judas a brain and hands and fingernails and a liver and a circulatory system and all that, while He was doing that, was He not mindful of Matthew 26:24, which hadn’t even been spoken or written yet, but He knew was coming? “Woe to this one that I’m knitting together, woe to this one that I’m knitting together.” It’s hard to figure this out, but we don’t find refuge in false doctrines, that’s not where we find the refuge. God knew exactly what Judas would do, and He knit him together. Romans 9:22-23 says that God knits together in the wombs of their mothers, not just the one person, Judas, but all the people that end up in hell, He knits them together in their mother’s wombs, knowing full well what’s going to happen with them. He knows exactly what’s going to happen. Paul goes even beyond where I’ve gone up to this point. It says, “What if God choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory, even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?”
So, God gives them for the benefit of the objects of his mercy. That’s the logic here. The answer is, God knit him together in his mother’s womb, not because it would be better for Judas—it wasn’t better for Judas— but it was better for God and his glory, and it was better for us, the Elect, that He did it. I know it’s hard, but this is what the scripture teaches. God did it to teach us what we deserved, we, the Elect, we who have been chosen contrary to what we deserve. We, who are sinners, every bit as much as Judas and Hitler and all the others. You say, “Well, I wouldn’t do something like that.” Are you so sure you wouldn’t do those things? We know the evil in our hearts. We didn’t deserve to be chosen, we didn’t deserve to be saved, it’s by grace alone that we’re going to get in heaven. His will is thoroughly perfected on that doctrine and to God alone will be the glory for our salvation, “from Alpha to Omega, to God alone be the glory.”
We’re not settling for bad theology here. We’re going to say that when it comes to Judas and Herod and Pontius Pilate and Annas and Caiaphas, and all of them, not just Judas, as Peter said, “Jesus was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death.” They’re wicked and they’ll be judged for their wickedness. Judas was wicked and he was judged for his wickedness, but it was ordained by God, that’s as far as I can go. I don’t know how to put it any closer, anything beyond that. He is not the author of evil, because God doesn’t tempt anyone to do sin ever, but each one is tempted when by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
Sixthly, we should hate the hypocrisy of betrayal. Do you see the sadness and the weeping in Jesus concerning Judas, not in Matthew, but in Luke or in John? He’s troubled in spirit by this. This perhaps is the greatest mystery of all of this issue. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, He weeps over these vessels of wrath. It’s difficult for me to understand that He’s the one that ordained it, and yet He weeps over the decisions they’ve made, and we should hate it and weep it, too, and not betray as Judas did.
Finally, embrace the Lord’s Supper in spirit and truth, though I’ve not the time now to preach a whole sermon on the Lord’s Supper. As a congregation, let’s come into the Lord’s Supper expectantly. Let’s embrace that when we obey his command, “Do this in remembrance of me,” that we will be richly fully blessed, not by transubstantiation and thinking we’re actually eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus, but by recognizing that in space and time, 2000 years ago, his body was broken and his blood shed for us, so that we might have forgiveness. Then as you actually hold that bread and drink that cup, you understand that your physical body will someday, if we’re not the last generation to die, the Lord will raise you up physically and someday you will drink and eat anew with Jesus and the father’s kingdom.
Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the richness of your word, for the power of it. Lord, I pray that these meditations on your sovereignty and our responsibility would heighten our sense of humility at how much you work contrary to our nature to save us and would give us a tremendous boldness in witnessing and evangelism to know that you have power to take this Gospel to the elect and they will hear. God take these words and press them now into our hearts, we pray in Jesus’ name.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
This is the account of the last time that God was pleased for His people to celebrate the Old Covenant feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. God ordained these twin feasts to commemorate the events of the Exodus, the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. These were two feasts in one… and they came to be seen together; the Passover was celebrated only on the first day of the combined feast… with the slaughter of the Passover Lamb. The first time that was done was on the dreadful night of the Exodus from Egypt, the night of the tenth plague, when all the firstborn of Egypt were killed by the angel of the Lord. But the Jews were delivered from this death by the substitution of the Passover Lamb. When the Lamb (a lamb without blemish or defect) was killed, its blood was drained out and collected, and the people dipped hyssop branches in as paintbrushes and painted the blood on the doorposts and lintel of their houses. When the killing angel SAW THE BLOOD, he PASSED OVER those houses and did not kill the firstborn.
So also the Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorated the eating of bread without yeast, eaten in haste… the bread of travelers about to set out on a journey, without time for yeast to rise and give a more comfortable bread… eaten in HASTE as a picture of a people who are aliens and strangers, moving to a new home, the Promised Land. Over time, the yeast became a symbol of evil, of wickedness, that the people of God had to get rid of from their houses and their lives.
For centuries, the Jews had been celebrating this… remembering that night of deliverance from slavery by the power of God. Every generation of God’s people were reminded by this feast to LOOK BACK at the Exodus.
But this night, Matthew 26:17-30, was the LAST TIME God would ever be delighted in the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb and the eating of the Unleavened Bread. Jesus that night stood at the HINGE OF HISTORY… as He proclaimed the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New… a New Covenant in His blood.
This New Covenant would be INFINITELY COSTLY… it would be initiated by an act of betrayal so base that we still are revolted by it two thousand years later… the betrayal of Judas. This New Covenant would be INFINITELY COSTLY, because the blood of the perfect Son of God would have to be shed to purchase its blessings.
This morning, we stand at the HINGE OF HISTORY as we study these words. One last time in the Old Covenant, and the proclamation of the New
In that New Covenant we STAND FORGIVEN of all our sins, LOOKING BACK on a greater Exodus—the deliverance of the people of God from the true slavery—slavery to sin and death.
I. Preparations for the Passover (v s. 17-19)
Matthew 26:17-19 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
A. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, Explained, Now Fulfilled
1. What was the “Feast of Unleavened Bread”? How Did It Relate to Passover?
a. One of the three times/year pilgrimages to Jerusalem
b. In some sense TWO festivals in ONE… “Feast of Unleavened Bread” involves the eating of
c. As I just mentioned, the Feast of Unleavened Bread looked back on all the events of the Exodus… and especially the night that the Jews had to eat unleavened bread, eaten IN HASTE
d. The Feast would last eight days
e. On the first day, the Passover Lamb would be slaughtered by the Law of Moses
2. How Did the Jews Celebrate It? [cf. D.A. Carson, Matthew, in EBC]
a. Jerusalem filled with people
b. Josephus… maybe as many as two million pilgrims around the time of Jesus
c. The Feasts had an elaborate ritual involving many elements all of which needed preparation
d. After sunset, the “household” would gather in a home to eat the Passover Lamb, which by this time would have been roasted with bitter herbs
e. The head of the household would begin the meal with a prayer of thanksgiving for that feast day and for the wine… praying over the first of four cups
f. A preliminary course of greens and bitter herbs was generally followed by a boy in the house asking the questions in the Law of Moses, “What is the meaning of all this?”
g. The head of the household would then explain the symbolism and recount the history of the Exodus
h. Then the people would sing the first part of the Hallel—Psalm 113
i. Then the second cup of wine introduced the main course—the Passover Lamb—followed by a third cup, the cup of blessing, accompanied by another prayer of thanksgiving
j. Then the participants sang the rest of the Hallel—perhaps Psalm 114—and probably drank the fourth cup of wine
k. THUS the preparations needed for all of this were extensive
B. Jesus Gives Directions for the Preparations
1. His earnest desire (Luke )
Luke 22:15-16 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory
2. The disciples initiate the question: WHERE SHOULD WE GO TO MAKE PREPARATIONS
3. BUT Jesus is way ahead of them!! He has already arranged everything unbeknownst to them
John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
4. What Matthew says:
Matthew 26:18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'”
a. A particular man has been selected as their host for the most significant meal in human history
b. Note Jesus’ poignant statement: “My appointed time is near…” This is the day and hour of His death, planned out from before the Foundation of the Earth; a day referred to multiple times of which it was always said
“My time has not yet come” (John 2:4, John 7:6, John 7:30, John 8:20)
But now HIS HOUR HAD COME!!!
5. Luke’s amazing account of Jesus’ astonishing foresight
Luke 22:7-13 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” 9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. 10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” 13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
ASTONISHING FORESIGHT OF TINY DETAILS!!! More on that theme later!!
C. The Passover Lamb: The Perfect Picture of Christ Now Reaching Its Fulfillment
1. By the shed blood of the Passover Lamb, the firstborn of Israel were delivered from death by the angel of the Lord
2. For centuries, the Jews had commemorated that deliverance by slaughtering one lamb after another… the annual repetition teaching one central lesson:
Hebrews 10:1-4 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming– not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
3. Now at last the fulfillment of that image was about to come true:
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Hebrews 10:14 by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
D. The Obedience of Christ AND the Disciples
1. The disciples did everything Christ told them to do
Matthew 26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
2. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, Jesus did everything the Father told Him to do… the Law of Moses required the Passover Feast, and Jesus OBEYED THE LAW to the nth degree… His perfect obedience to the Law is the righteousness imputed to us
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
II. Prediction of the Betrayer (vs. 20-25)
Matthew 26:20-25 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
A. The Passover Feast Is Going On
1. Jesus’ intimate fellowship with those He loved the most
2. Jewish law said the Passover could not be eaten until after sundown; the Passover lamb was slaughtered at twilight
3. Reclining at table… a scene of peace and fellowship before the storm of wrath and anguish and death
B. Jesus’ Deep Sorrow… Not Recorded Here but Very Real
John 13:21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”
1. Jesus was called a “Man of Sorrows” in Isaiah 53… thoroughly acquainted with grief
2. Here, He was deeply distressed, “troubled in spirit” over the betrayal by Judas
3. This was deeply painful to Jesus
4. Vs. 23 focuses on the intimacy of the fellowship
Matthew 26:23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
5. The issue is not so much a SPECIFIC person at that point, but more like, “Someone who has shared a meal with me will betray me.”
6. The sharing of a meal shows tremendous intimacy; Psalm 41 captures this in prophecy:
Psalm 41:9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
7. Betrayal can only be done by one who was formerly close, formerly a friend
8. BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND… no surprise here:
John 6:70-71 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
C. Judas’s Astonishing Wickedness
1. The disciples all respond with humility and deep concern
Matthew 26:22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”
2. The other disciples were all deeply troubled, and humbly wondered if it would be them… this is an appropriate self-awareness in which you see your own sin
3. Judas does not join in at this moment… but waits a moment later to ask about himself…
Matthew 26:25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
4. None of the other Eleven knew it was him… he hid his wickedness very well; as a matter of fact, in John’s Gospel, when Judas takes a piece of bread to identify him as the betrayer, SATAN ENTERED INTO HIM and Jesus commanded him: “What you are about to do, do quickly.” Judas then left to betray Jesus… at that time, the disciples thought he was leaving to buy more supplies for the feast
5. Hypocrisy of this wicked man!! Constantly hiding his love for money and thievery and unbelief and wickedness from everyone but Jesus… as we just saw, Jesus knew he was a devil (not WOULD BECOME a devil!)
D. The Mystery of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
III. The Blood of the New Covenant (vs. 26-30)
Matthew 26:26-30 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 30 ¶ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
A. Old Covenant Fulfilled
1. This is the final act of the Old Covenant… an astonishing moment in history
2. The Passover lamb has been slaughtered, they are eating its meat
3. The unleavened bread has been passed around
4. These actions were all SYMBOLIC… yes, they LOOKED BACK to the events of the Passover and the Exodus… but more than anything, every Passover that had ever been celebrated including the first one symbolized the true Passover, the true Exodus, the true salvation that Jesus was about to work
5. In order to teach this vital lesson, He shocks the disciples while they were eating
B. New Covenant Established
1. He takes the bread, gave thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them
2. Then He speaks these amazing words:
Matthew 26:26 Take and eat; this is my body.”
3. The Feast was instituted for symbolic reasons, to teach spiritual lessons
4. But now the Lessons are going to be FULFILLED in His own body
5. The bread is identified as Jesus’ body and they were eating it!!
6. Next, He does the same with the cup:
Matthew 26:27-28 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
7. With these words, Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant, about to be fulfilled in His blood
8. The “blood of the covenant” is symbolic language they would have understood from the animal sacrificial system…
9. But now, He has identified a NEW blood (His own) and therefore a NEW covenant… “MY blood of the covenant…”
10. And the centerpiece of this New Covenant is TRUE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
11. This blood would be poured out for MANY in the world, not just for the Jews
C. The Significance of Christ’s Body and Blood
1. This at last is the very purpose of the INCARNATION!!
2. It was for this very reason that Christ took on a human body
3. By His actual physical body and physical blood, the wrath of God would be atoned for and the forgiveness of sins established
D. The Future Fulfillment: Final Salvation = Feasting Forever
Matthew 26:29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
1. The key word: “anew”… the NEW WORLD that is coming
2. The key concept: He would DRINK after His resurrection!! Jesus would have a physical body after His death
3. AND He would enjoy a feast with them forever in the Kingdom of His Father
E. The Lord’s Supper Established: “Do This In Remembrance of Me” (more in a moment)
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
IV. Lessons and Applications
A. Come to Christ!!! Understand the Body and Blood… and Trust Him
1. The centerpiece of the Scripture: the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for sinners
2. The Old Testament sacrificial system pointed toward it
3. Christ’s actual death fulfilled it
4. Understand the lesson of Christ’s body:
Colossians 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
5. Understand the lesson of the BLOOD
Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death
Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 10:4 it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Romans 3:25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
6. This is the gospel: Christ’s body was nailed to the cross, and His blood flowed unto death to pay the penalty for sinners
7. This is the essence of the statement:
Matthew 26:28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
8. The OLD COVENANT is gone forever… The NEW COVENANT era has been opened in the blood of Christ
a. The Old Covenant was an era of the external Laws of Moses and of ceremonial sacrifices in the blood of animals… no true forgiveness of sins, but only a PROMISE of a final sacrifice that would come later
b. The New Covenant is written in the blood of Jesus… shed for sinners, promising complete and total forgiveness of sins and a whole new life, a life in the Spirit
9. Believe in this! Trust in Him!!! Receive forgiveness of sins
B. Worship Christ as He Is Revealed Here
1. The gospel was crafted in the mind of God before the foundation of the world for one reason: THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY
2. Jesus Christ is the perfect display of God’s glory… and especially in the cross
Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
3. Worship Him!! Let your heart melt and be elevated at the attributes of Christ on display here… His supernatural knowledge and detailed preparations; His courage in going into Jerusalem specifically to die for us; His love in earnestly desiring to eat the feast with us—not just on one given evening in history, but for eternity in the New Jerusalem; His power in orchestrating all these events exactly according to God’s plan; His humanness in the pain of the betrayal with Judas; His wisdom in establishing the Lord’s Supper; His grace in giving His body and shedding His blood for us
4. WORSHIP HIM!!! (Like they do in heaven…)
Revelation 5:8-9 the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
C. Stand in Awe of God’s “Preparations”… and Do Your Part!
1. The first part of this text shows Christ ordering His disciples to go and make the extensive preparations needed for the Feast
2. But we also saw how the Lord had gone ahead of them in His sovereign power and had prepared a place for them to stay… He spoke of “a certain man” and of how they were to say “The Lord’s time had come”
3. Christ MAKES PREPARATIONS… He goes ahead of us and sets everything up
4. All of the Old Testament’s rituals—sacrificial system, cycle of Feasts, etc.—were evidence of Christ going ahead of us to prepare us for the true sacrifice
5. Christ’s preparations are perfect, and nothing is missing
6. And yet, He includes US in those preparations… He gave commands to the disciples to finish the preparations, to do what was necessary
7. A beautiful picture of Christ and us WORKING TOGETHER to achieve God’s perfect plan
8. So… DO YOUR PART… Christ goes ahead to prepare good works for you to do; it is for you to do those good works every day
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
D. Stand in Awe of God’s Exhaustive Foreknowledge
1. Recent theologians have questioned God’s exhaustive foreknowledge, His ability to know decisions made by people
2. They say this because of an overwhelming commitment to their view of human free will
3. They say that, if a human being is truly to have free will, God CANNOT KNOW ahead of time what that person will do… He can guess, but He cannot know
4. According to them, nothing is foreordained, or else people cannot have free will and cannot be held responsible for their decisions
5. This view is called “Open Theism”: Clark Pinnock and Greg Boyd are leading proponents of it; Pinnock says God limits Himself and thus cannot know the future; Boyd says God knows the aspects of the future that can be known, but some of the future (that determined by free will agents) cannot be known at all… so God is not ignorant of the future simply because IT CANNOT BE KNOWN
6. It is beyond me to wrangle in detail with all that these two (and others) say about these topics… it would be confusing and take a great deal of time to work through the nuances… but let’s simply say this: THE BIBLE TEACHES THE EXHAUSTIVE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD OVER FREE HUMAN DECISIONS
7. In the preparations for the Feast, Jesus speaks of a certain man that they will meet going into the city, one carrying a jar of water
Luke 22:10-12 “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
8. The reason for this identification is underscored by the fact that there might have been a couple of million Jewish pilgrims in the small city of Jerusalem… it would have been CRAMMED with people!!! The “man carrying the jar of water” is for IDENTIFICATION purposes, so the disciples would know who to follow to what house that had been prepared
9. How did Jesus know that there would be a man carrying that jar of water?? What is the man decided not to carry it after all? What if he decided to carry a basket of figs, or a jar of wine, or go empty-handed? The open theists would say that such a free will decision is beyond the scope of what God can know
10. This becomes even more telling in the case of Judas’s betrayal… that is a vital spiritual decision that MUST be free on Judas’s part, and therefore that CANNOT BE KNOWN ahead of time
11. BUT clearly, Jesus knows ahead of time that Judas will betray Him, and says it has been written (in Scripture, and in the “book” of God’s sovereign plan)
Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Matthew 26:21 And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
[Not, “I have a hunch that one of you MIGHT betray me…”; Not, “Three of you will betray me…” No… ONE of you WILL betray me]
Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.
Scripture predicted the betrayal, and God’s sovereign plan wrote the betrayal in his “book”… it is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN to happen!!!
12. So, in SMALL THINGS (the carrying of a water jar) and in LARGE THINGS (the betrayal of the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver), everything is EXHAUSTIVELY KNOWN AHEAD OF TIME by God
13. As a matter of fact, Jesus links the proof of His deity to His ability to predict the future
John 14:29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.
John 16:4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.
14. God did the same thing in Isaiah… several times in Isaiah 40-49, God challenges the idols to a contest, and the task is simple: PREDICT THE FUTURE… but only God can do this:
Isaiah 43:9-12 Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed– I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
Isaiah 45:21-22 Declare what is to be, present it– let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
15. SO… God knows the details of the future
E. Wrestle with the Mystery of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
1. Let’s talk about Judas, and let’s do the best we can to understand the mystery of the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility
2. At the root of the debate between Armininians and Calvinists is the question of the problem of evil… if God is so God and so all-powerful, why is there evil in the universe??
3. The classic Arminian answer to this question runs like this:
a. God created the world good and only desires good things
b. BUT God allows people free will, and God never interferes with free will; so to some degree God’s hands are bound by our free will; evil happens in God’s universe, but it’s not His fault because people are just using their free will and God WILL NOT interfere with those decisions
c. Why not? Because if God ordains something, and brings it to pass by His sovereign power, they argue, then man is not responsible
d. There is NO WAY that a human decision can be ordained by God AND for God to hold man responsible for that decision… if God decrees that man do something, and man does that thing that God decreed, then man is OFF THE HOOK… not so much “the devil made me do it” but “God made me do it”…
e. Since that would make God the author of evil, then this cannot be… God CANNOT HOLD PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE for decisions that He has decreed
4. YET, in verse 24, it is clear that Judas’s betrayal of Jesus is BOTH decreed by God AND Judas is responsible for it
Matthew 26:23-24 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
a. BOTH are taught: “Son of Man will go just as it is written about him” is a statement of divine decree… as Yul Brenner said as Pharaoh in “The Ten Commandments,” “So let it be written, so let it be done.”… the WRITING is not mere prediction, but God’s purpose, God’s will
b. AND the statement “Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he’d never been born.” CLEARLY Judas is held responsible for what he did to Jesus… the word WOE means a prophetic condemnation for his sin…
c. So Divine sovereignty and human responsibility go together
d. You may not understand how to reconcile them, but just because you can’t reconcile them doesn’t mean that you should drop half of what the bible teaches
5. Let’s go beyond this: look at Jesus’ statement, “It would be better for him if he had not been born”… it immediately begs that question, “Then WHY WAS HE BORN????” and more specifically, what was God’s role in his birth?
6. Scripture teaches this about God’s role in birth:
Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Job 10:10-11 Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, 11 clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?
a. Did God do that to Judas? Of course He did!! Only God CAN knit together a human being in his mother’s womb
b. So, what was God thinking the whole time He was knitting Judas together in his mother’s womb? Open theists would say God was doing it HOPING FOR THE BEST, perhaps even NOT KNOWING what Judas would do in the future:
7. BUT there is a better, more biblical answer: God knew EXACTLY what Judas (and Hitler) would do, and knit them together in their mother’s wombs anyway;
8. Jesus said “It would be better for HIM if he’d never been born”; but clearly it was better for GOD that Judas was born… Judas would play a role in redemptive history that God wanted played… AND God also held Judas RESPONSIBLE for the role that he played
9. This extends to other evil people as well… like Hitler:
Take the case of Hitler’s birth:
Boyd argues this: If you claim that God foreknew exactly what Hitler would do, and he created him anyway, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the world must somehow be better with Hitler than without him. Think about it. If God is all good, and he always does what is best, and if God knew exactly what Hitler would do when he created him, we must conclude that God believed that allowing Hitler’s massacre of the Jews and many others was preferable to his not allowing it. And so, he argues, clearly God did not know what was coming with Hitler. He created him, but he didn’t see it coming; therefore, he’s not responsible for what Hitler did, and therefore the world is not a better place—God has not brought good out of evil.
10. Romans 9 teaches that God knits together in the wombs of their mothers people who are vessels of wrath for a very clear purpose:
Romans 9:22-23 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath– prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even US…
11. So, God creates vessels of wrath like Judas so that He can put the riches of his mercy on display to us, His elect children
12. So, it was not BETTER FOR JUDAS that God knit him together in his mother’s womb, but it was BETTER FOR US
13. Do not settle for BAD THEOLOGY on the problem of evil people and why they were ever born… God knew exactly what they would do, ordained it as part of His sovereign and complex plan, and then holds each person responsible for what they have done
14. The clearest example of this is in the cross of Christ itself… we tend to think of Hitler’s holocaust of six million Jews as the greatest display of human wickedness in history, but actually, it was the death of Jesus… the only truly innocent man that has ever lived!! But the Bible teaches that all of the wicked decisions of men like Judas, Herod, Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate were foreordained by God:
Acts 2:23 [Jesus] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 4:28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
15. God ORDAINS wicked actions for GOOD PURPOSES, and then holds people accountable for their role
F. Hate the Hypocrisy of Betrayal
1. Despite all of this discussion, we should not minimize the PAIN of this betrayal
2. Jesus highlights that someone close to Him, someone who has SHARED HIS FOOD is going to betray Him
3. The greatest pain of our sin against Jesus is the PERSONAL ASPECT of it, the fact that we have sinned against LOVE
4. We should see a lot of Judas in our own ongoing career of sin after we’ve come to faith in Christ; no, I’m not saying that our sins are as bad as Judas’s or exactly like Judas’s… but there is SOME SIMILARITY in the sense of betrayal Christ must feel at our loving Him AND loving sin
5. We have SHARED MANY THINGS with Christ… we have spiritually sat at table with Him in the Lord’s Supper, we have received His Spirit in our hearts, we have united our souls with Him, and yet we have also still sinned
6. In all of our sin, there is a sense of BETRAYAL OF LOVE
7. We should learn to HATE that betrayal and increase our sense of loathing for it so that we sin less and less
G. Embrace the Lord’s Supper in Spirit and in Truth
1. This passage depicts the facts behind the establishment of the Lord’s Supper as an ongoing spiritual experience of the Church
2. When Jesus said of the bread, “This is my body” and when He said of the wine, “This is my blood”, He was establishing 1) a theological truth of the NEW COVENANT and the forgiveness of sins in His death; 2) an ongoing pattern of worship for generations of the church to follow
3. That this was meant to be a permanent pattern is more clearly established in Luke and in 1 Corinthians 11
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
4. The Lord’s Supper, sadly, has been the ground of much needless controversy in the history of the church
a. Early on, some in the church thought the statement “This IS my body, This IS my blood” is to be taken literally… this is the doctrine of REAL PRESENCE
b. In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic church married this idea with the Aristotelian concept of substance and accidents to come up with the idea of transubstantiation… that the essence of the bread and wine BECAME the body and blood of Jesus, but it still tasted like bread and wine
c. The Protestant Reformation came to reject transubstantiation, but some still held onto real presence; others (like Zwingli) reduced the Lord’s Supper to a bare memorial and went too far the other way, so that they celebrated the Lord’s Supper only four times a year
d. John Calvin proposed a middle way… not real presence, but a spiritual presence… that God has promised to bless the observance of the Lord’s Supper with a special measure of His presence and His grace through the Holy Spirit
e. So, Christ doesn’t descend to us in the Lord’s Supper, but the Holy Spirit in some sense does give us a foretaste of heavenly joy… looking forward to the time when these words are fulfilled:
Matthew 26:29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
5. So, we partake in the Lord’s Supper BY FAITH, not expecting a real presence of Christ’s body and blood, but a real experience of Christ spiritual by the word and by the Spirit
6. Just as we are not denying the omnipresence of God when we understand these words
Exodus 3:5 God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
So we understand that Christ is omnipresent throughout the universe, BUT ALSO SPECIALLY PRESENT in the Lord’s Supper
7. Come to the Lord’s Supper EXPECTANTLY by faith!!
Introduction
What an awesome scripture this is. Back in 1950, Winston Churchill wrote a history of World War II called The Hinge of Fate. He was one of the major players as the Prime Minister of England. Doesn’t that just draw you in? Don’t you want to read a book like that, especially by Churchill? I’m not a believer in fate, another word for that would be luck. I don’t believe in a universe that’s out of control, that no one has any idea where it’s going, and that there’s no great pilot to it. I believe in a history that has a meaning, it has an alpha, and it has an omega, and every letter in between has a purpose. We’re at the hinge of history as we come to Matthew 26:17-30. What do I mean by that? For centuries before this night that we’re studying, God had drawn His people, His chosen people, the Jews, into a pattern of life that was under the heading of the Old Covenant. The Laws of Moses and the Old Covenant, and all of their celebrations and their religious festivals were commanded by the Old Covenant.
And I say to you, that as Jesus gathered there that night with His disciples to celebrate one more time the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that was the last time in history that God was pleased to accept that Passover lamb, that physical lamb and its bloodshed. No more, for the rest of history, would God accept animal blood. You’ve been with me on the journey through the Book of Hebrews, you know what I’m talking about, I’ll go back into some of those scriptures again to remind you. But that was it, that night, when that lamb was killed, and its blood was shed, and Jesus drew together to celebrate in the old pattern and with the Old Covenant stipulations one last time. He stood at the hinge of history. He spoke words that just bring chills to me as I contemplate it. He points to a New Covenant in his blood, his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and in that I stand and proclaim the Word of God to you today, in the forgiveness of the New Covenant and the shed blood of Jesus.
The Hinge of History: Jesus the Sacrificial Lamb
We’re at the hinge of history as we look at the transition from the Old Covenant to the New. For centuries, the Jews used the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the twin festivals, to look back at the Exodus of the Jews from bondage, from slavery in Egypt, under Moses. They look back at that great exodus, and they remember the mighty things that God had done. But I believe that that Exodus itself, in space and time, that actual event in history, and the religious observances that followed in the Law of Moses, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, were all just types and symbols of a far greater exodus, a far greater salvation and deliverance that Jesus would work eventually. They were looking back, but those by faith perhaps understood they were looking ahead to a Savior yet to come.
For us, we look back at both events. We look back at the first Exodus and all that was celebrated at that time, how God led the Jews out of bondage, out of slavery through Moses, passing through the Red Sea. How before in the tenth plague, the angel of death passed over all of the houses where that unblemished lamb, its blood had been shed and hyssop branches were dipped into the bowl and the blood was painted and applied on the door posts and the lintels of the Jewish homes. The Angel of Death saw that blood and passed over. The clear implication is that any first born in that house, if there had been no blood, would have died and died justly under the wrath of God. Instead, the Jewish first born were delivered, but yet there was not a home among the Egyptians that there was not wailing. From Pharaoh who sat on the throne down to the lowest handmaid, everyone lost someone. There was grief and there was wailing that night. The Jews then passed through the Red Sea, and they were delivered. We can look back on those events, but we look back to a far greater exodus, a far greater deliverance, and that is the one worked by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who is greater than Moses. Moses was a servant in all God’s house, but Jesus is a son over God’s house, He is our Savior, He is our deliverer. We look back at that, and we do it every time we celebrate the Lord’s supper, and so we stand at the hinge of history.
We’re going to go through this passage and not make a lot of comments. We’re just going to try to understand the text and what it says. Then for the second half of the sermon, I’m going to draw out lessons and applications from these rich verses.
I. The Preparations for the Passover
Let’s begin in verses 17-19, looking at the preparations for the Passover. The text says, “On the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?'” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, my appointed time is near, I’m going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'” So, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
Now we come to the Feast of Unleavened Bread again, and the celebration of Passover. How did they relate to one another? Really, they were two festivals in one, both pointing back, as I said, to the same time in redemptive history. The Feast of Unleavened Bread involved the eating of bread made without yeast. It represented bread eaten in haste, not the kind of bread you eat for pleasure or comfort. Yeast makes pastries rise, makes fluffy bread rise. Unleavened bread isn’t for pleasure, just for nourishment, and it was eaten in haste because they had a journey to travel. They were leaving where they’d been living for centuries, and they were moving on to a promised land. It’s a bread symbolic of our status in this world as aliens and strangers, this bread eaten in haste. Not bread eaten for pleasure or for taste, but rather bread eaten to sustain us on our journey as we make our pilgrimage to heaven. This feast would last eight days.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. The lamb would be slaughtered, according to the law of Moses, a lamb without blemish or defect. At that time, Jerusalem would have been filled with people. Josephus gives us an indication that perhaps there were as many as two million people, pilgrims that had come from all over the Roman world to celebrate these twin festivals of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. The feast that they were celebrating had elaborate rituals which involved many elements, all of which needed preparation. After sunset on the first day of the feast, the household would gather together in a home to eat the Passover lamb, which by then would have been sacrificed and roasted with bitter herbs. The head of the household would begin the meal with a prayer of thanksgiving for the feast and for the wine, praying over the first of four cups of wine. A preliminary course of greens and bitter herbs was generally followed by a young boy in the house who would ask the questions of that night, laid out in the book of Deuteronomy, questions about the meaning of all of this. “What is the meaning of all this?” Then the head of the household would explain the symbolism and recount the history of the exodus. Then the people would sing the first part of the Hallel, perhaps Psalm 113, and then the second cup of wine would introduce the main course, the Passover lamb, followed by third cup, the cup of blessing, accompanied by another prayer of thanksgiving, and then all the participants would sing the rest of the Hallel, probably Psalm 114, and probably drank the fourth cup of wine at that point. Thus, you can see the preparations for all of this would have been extensive. There would have been a lot of details that they would have to look after to be sure everything was ready.
Therefore, Jesus gives directions for the disciples to make preparations. He explained to them very plainly in Luke 22, how much he desired to have this meal with them. That moves me, and it melts me. Luke 22:15-16, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you that I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” He wanted to sit at table with them, they were his friends, and He yearned to have that time together with them. In John 17:24 it pointed to a far greater desire that Jesus has, of which that is just merely the symbol, and how He prays in John 17, “Father, I yearn, I desire that those whom you have given me be with me where I am, and see my glory, the glory because you love me from the foundation of the Earth.” That’s the deeper desire. Jesus yearns to be with us forever. He yearns to not just sit at the table with us once on one particular evening, but forever and to have fellowship. The disciples initiate the question, “Where should we go to make preparations?” But Jesus, He’s already way ahead of them, you will never get ahead of God and your service to God. He’s already ahead of you, we’re going to talk more about that at the end of the sermon, but He’s way ahead of the disciples on preparations for the Passover. He is the God who goes ahead of us, as He says in John 14, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you, for I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me so that you also may be where I am.” He is the God who goes ahead and prepares things, so Jesus replied in verse 18, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him the teacher says, ‘My appointed time is near, I’m going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'” A particular man has been selected as the host for the Last Supper. What an awesome responsibility that is, what an incredible role to play in redemptive history. A certain man, that’s all we’re told here in Matthew. We’re also told Jesus’ poignant statement, “My appointed time is near.” there’s a time that was set out, it was appointed, it was part of God’s eternal timetable, and that time has come. Eternity steps into time with Jesus, and that moment has come. Four times in John’s Gospel He says, “My time has not yet come.” Four different times, He says, “My time has not yet come.” Well, now the time has come, He says here in the text, “My appointed time is near,” and so the hour has come. Luke gives us more details about this. Now, you may be fretting, you may be practically minded, you say, “A certain man? There’s two million people in the city. How are we going to know where to go? Many, many pilgrims are renting rooms and preparing and getting ready.” He’s got it covered. Be anxious for nothing. The Lord knows exactly what he’s doing.
You get more details in Luke 22, 7-13, “Then came the day of unleavened bread in which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” That first day of the feast, Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” They asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you, follow him to the house that he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them, so they prepared the Passover. Now this, friends, is just weird. I want to try to make it come alive to you. Suppose someone told you, “Drive to Raleigh, and as you’re driving around the inner Beltline, as you come to exit 10B, you’ll take that ramp. As you go down, you’ll see a blue pick-up truck driving by, follow it.” That would scare me actually, if I saw that happening, wouldn’t it? “Just drive and follow him, he’ll lead you right where you need to go.” Is history really that choreographed? Is it really that orchestrated, friends? It’s more choreographed and more orchestrated than that. This is the God who holds atoms together by the power of His sovereign will. He has tremendous attention to detail. He is meticulous. He knew that there would be several million people and they needed to know where to go, “Follow the guy with the jar of water.” More on that later. The Passover lamb was sacrificed at that point. It is the perfect picture of Christ now reaching its fulfillment, by the shed blood of the Passover lamb. The firstborn of Israel was delivered from death by the angel of the Lord, and for centuries the Jews had commemorated that deliverance by slaughtering one lamb after another. One lamb after another, a river of blood.
The annual repetition of those sacrifices taught a very poignant lesson. Hebrews makes it very plain what that lesson is. In Hebrews 10:1-4, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves.” For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For then the worshiper would have felt cleansed for his sins and would no longer have felt guilty for sin. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, so the endless repetition taught this final lesson of the animal sacrificial system. Remember, all sin deserves a death penalty. The death penalty can be paid by a substitute, but the substitute never has been and never will be an animal. It’s all symbolic. It points toward those beautiful words John the Baptist said, when he pointed to Jesus as he began his public ministry to Israel, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one sacrifice, Christ has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
We see the obedience of the disciples, but far greater the obedience of Christ. The disciples did everything that the Lord told them to do, praise God for that. But more importantly, Jesus did everything the Father told him to do. It is by his obedience I find my salvation, His perfect submission to the law of Moses, how He was born of a woman, born in the fullness of time, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. You see? He stepped into time under the law of Moses, and He stayed in that right to the end of His life. He perfectly obeyed the laws of God, and that perfect righteousness to God’s holy law is now my righteousness, and yours too, if you believe in Christ. It is in that obedience I stand now, and none other. Jesus is obedient. It says in Philippians 2, “Even to death on a cross”, that’s how obedient He was, right to the end. Do you not see the courage in Jesus in even going to Jerusalem, the courage in going to be the Passover Lamb? He knew full well what it meant, “Until it finds its fulfillment in my Father’s Kingdom.” He knew that none of his sheep would make it into his father’s kingdom if He didn’t shed his blood for them.
II. Prediction of the Betrayer
Now, in verses 20-25 we come to the prediction of the betrayer. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve, and while they were eating, He said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to Him, one after the other, “Surely, not I Lord.” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi.” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.” The Passover Feast is going on, this intimate fellowship Jesus is having with those he loved the most, this last time he’s having with them that He said He yearned for. Jewish law said that Passover could not begin until the lamb was sacrificed, and that at twilight. So now it’s evening and they’re reclining at table, a scene of peace, a scene of fellowship, a scene of togetherness before the storm of anguish and wrath and blood and death is going to come the next day.
They are together having this time, and Jesus unfolds his mind and his heart now to His disciples, and He pours it out and lets them know what He’s feeling. Jesus has deep sorrow over this betrayal, it’s not recorded here in Matthew, but it’s very real. It is recorded for us in John 13:21, “After He said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.'” This betrayal bothers Jesus, He is filled with grief over betrayal by Judas. Jesus was called “a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering,” and here He was deeply distressed, troubled in spirit over the betrayal by Judas. Verse 23, I think, focuses on the intimacy of the fellowship, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” The issue here in Matthew, I think, is not so much of identifying who it is as it is with the sop, that piece of bread that’s handed in John’s Gospel to Judas. When he took it, Satan entered into him. But here I don’t think it’s a matter of identification at that point, I think He’s saying, “The one I shared this kind of intimacy with, the one I shared this kind of friendship with is going to turn me over to my death. He’s going to sell me, so that I would die. Someone here sitting at this meal with me is going to betray me.” The sharing of a meal shows intimacy, a kind of friendship together. Psalm 41:9 predicted this pain of Jesus, “Even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared my bread has lifted up his heel against me.”
Betrayal can only be done by a close friend. Betrayal can’t be done in the absence of an existing relationship, but please understand, there is no surprise here now. Don’t misunderstand. Jesus isn’t surprised by this betrayal. He’s known all along it was going to happen. He knew it before the foundation of the world. He certainly knew it much earlier in the Gospel accounts. In John chapter 6, He talks about eating my flesh and drinking my blood and saying that many of Jesus’ followers went away and no longer followed him. Jesus turns to the twelve and said, “What about you? You don’t want to go away, too, do you?” Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus answers with the doctrine of election, “Have I not chosen you, the twelve? And one of you is a devil.” This a very important statement. It is not one of you will become a devil later, one of you is a devil now. Judas never believed in Jesus. He never loved him. It wasn’t a transformation that came over him. Jesus knew who he was. As a matter of fact, in all the Gospel accounts, whenever Judas is introduced, he is immediately tagged the one who would betray him, and that, I think just is a symbol of how it was never a surprise to Jesus from the very beginning.
Judas has astonishing wickedness here, and the disciples all respond with humility and deep concern. They’re very sad and begin to say to him, one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” Deeply moved, deeply troubled about it, Judas doesn’t join at that moment, but he waits a moment later and asks about himself. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, “Surely not I, Rabbi,” he says. Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.” None of the other eleven had marked him out as the betrayer. After Judas did take that sop, that piece of bread, and Satan entered into him, Jesus then gives them a sovereign command. “What you are about to do, do quickly.” So, Judas goes out. At that moment, the other eleven thought he was going to buy more supplies for the feast. The depth of the hypocrisy, how much the actor can act, how much they can look good on the outside, but inside full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In verse 24, we come to the mystery of all mysteries, really in Scripture, the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, especially as it comes down to the reprobate, the one who will, in the end, be lost, the one who, in the end, will be condemned. Verse 24, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man, it would be better for him if he had not been born.”
III. The Blood of the New Covenant
We’ll get into that more fully later. In verses 26-30, we have The Last Supper, the blood of the covenant, focused on while they were eating. “Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take and eat, this is my body,’ then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.’” In verse 30, “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Here we have at last the Old Covenant in its final act, its final moment. Why do I say that? Because I say that the moment Jesus said it is finished, and when the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the Old Covenant was done forever. It has been supplanted by a better covenant, a superior covenant by which we stand in God’s sight.
They are fulfilling the ritual, the Passover Lamb has been slaughtered, the symbolism looks back, but now Jesus supplants it. He takes it over. He takes the bread, He gives thanks, He breaks it and gives it to them with these amazing words, “Take and eat, this is my body.” Now, the feast, the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was instituted for symbolic and spiritual reasons, Jesus takes those symbolic and spiritual reasons over and points to a new covenant, a new reality, the lessons of our Exodus now. The lessons of our salvation are going to be fulfilled in his physical body, very physical here. You could touch it, you could break it, you could hear it broken, you can maybe smell a little more once it was broken, you could chew it, you could swallow, it’s very physical here.
Then he does the same thing with the cup. He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” With these words, Jesus inaugurates the symbolism of the New Covenant, which we have celebrated ever since in the Lord’s supper. This New Covenant is about to be fulfilled in his blood, the blood of the covenant here, symbolic language they would have understood from the sacrificial system, which across this hinge of history is now rendered obsolete, obsolete forever. They would have understood the symbolism, but now he’s identified a new blood, and therefore, a new covenant. That’s the logic that the author of Hebrews gives us. Because of this, we must have a new covenant, because the old covenant could not have sustained these truths, so He identifies it very powerful here in Matthew, “my blood of the covenant.” It’s focused on him, “this is my blood of the covenant.”
The Centerpiece of the New Covenant: The Forgiveness of Sins
The centerpiece of the New Covenant, and this is the great good news of the Gospel, is the forgiveness of sins, that our sins may be forgiven, that we may stand before God forgiven, holy, and blameless in his sight. It is for that that the blood was shed. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out,” He says, “for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” It’s not focused anymore on just the Jews. The barrier, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile has been removed forever, and there is now one new man, and that one new man is a Christian or a believer in Jesus, not Jew or Gentile any longer now, but follower of Christ, from both the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus’ blood is shed not just for the Jews, but for many, for people from every tribe and language and people and nation all over the world.
He shed his blood for all of the Elect, and God knew who they were, knew them by name, each of them from the tribes of the world. This is the significance of the body and blood of Jesus. This is precisely why the son of God became man. This is why He took on a body that we celebrate at Christmas time. This is the purpose, the end result of the incarnation, his body and his blood, given for us for the forgiveness of sins. Then He speaks of a future fulfillment in verse 29, “I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Oh, the sweet word here is that word “anew.” There’s a new reality coming, a new heaven, a new earth, a New Jerusalem, a New Covenant, we ourselves made new. If anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. Jesus is going to feast with us, He’s actually going to sit down and eat with us. Isn’t that mysterious? He’s going to have a body, a resurrection body after his death, after his blood is shed, He’s going to have a body, and so will we. We will sit at the table, and we will feast with him forever in his father’s kingdom. Many will come from the East and the West and will take their places at that feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. We don’t have these words in Matthew, but we have it in Luke, how this was established as a timeless memorial until He should come back. Luke 22:19, “He took bread and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” It was a clear command given. The apostle Paul picks up on it in 1 Corinthians 11, so we have the ordinance of the Last Supper, and we do it consistently in healthy church life as a memorial to him, a Spirit-saturated reality-filled memorial. We don’t believe in transubstantiation, we don’t believe the actual body and blood of Jesus are there, but the physicality of it reminds us of his actual death on the cross, needfulness for our forgiveness, and that someday we will live with him forever in heaven.
IV. Lessons and Applications
Application of the Establishment of the New Covenant
That’s the text. Now, let’s look at some applications. Can there be any better application from this text or any text than this: Come to Christ, repent and believe, for the forgiveness of your sins. It was for this that He came, it was for this that He died, that sinners like you and me should find forgiveness. I’m not speaking in the abstract now; I’m speaking very practically. Why are you here right now? How did you get here? Did someone invite you? Did you just walk in? Are you a member? Do you know for certain that your sins are forgiven? Do you know that you are a sinner? Do you know that the law stands against you, that you will not be able to survive judgment day? The same meticulous God I spoke about a moment ago, in brief and I’ll speak more in a moment, He sees everything you’ve ever done, every careless word you’ve ever spoken. Are you ready to face the one who has eyes of blazing fire? Are you ready to face him? Do you know that your sins are forgiven? If you don’t, then I would urge you, while there’s time, flee to Christ, trust in him. You just have to believe in him, you don’t have to do anything, you don’t even have to make a physical pilgrimage anymore, you just have to believe. Trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins and understand the lesson of the physicality of this, of Christ’s physical body. Colossians 1:22 says, “But now God has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in a sight without blemish and free from accusation.” By Christ’s physical body. You are reconciled to God and made friends with him. Understand then the lesson of the blood. The wages of sin is death. Our sin deserved death penalty. Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness.” Hebrews 10:4, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Romans 3:25, “God presented him as a propitiation, a sacrifice of atonement, turning away his wrath through faith in his blood.” Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Blood, blood, blood, and blood. Four blood verses. It is by the blood of Jesus that we are forgiven. Trust in that, and in that alone. This is the Gospel, this is Jesus, the Son of God nailed to the cross for sinners like you. This is the essence of the statement, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Flee to Christ.
Secondly, worship Christ as He is revealed here in this text. Worship him. I believe that God crafted the whole Gospel for one central overriding reason, and that is the praise of his glory. That we should be for the praise of his glory. What does that mean? It means study his attributes as He reveals them and give him honor and praise for them. I want you to see that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. How is the Son the radiance of God’s glory? Do you not see the love of God shining forth in Jesus here? Do you not see the courage of Jesus, do you not see his compassion for us and his mercy? Do you not see the justice of God and that the cross cannot be averted, He can’t avoid it? Do you not see the sovereign wisdom of God in the old covenant, the new covenant and redemptive history, and the hinge, the hinge of history here and the turning of it, and the fact that the blood of bulls and goats had to roll the play, but not the role of actual forgiveness, and now it’s been fulfilled in Jesus and how now we can understand all this? Worship him, worship him like they do in heaven. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom, and strength, and glory and honor and praise. They stand around the throne, it says in Revelation 5, four living creatures and twenty-four elders. They have a harp and golden bowls full of incense and they are singing a new song, “You’re worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Worship him.
Thirdly, stand in awe of God’s preparations and do your part. What do I mean by that? This text shows the extensive preparations made for the Passover. Passover itself was extensive preparations made for Jesus’ death. God is a preparing God. As I was thinking about this application, I was thinking about those little work projects that children do, like at Lowe’s or Home Depot or whatever, where they lay out everything needed, the little hammer and the little pegs and the little… And you get to make a… I don’t know bird feeder or something like that, you know what I’m saying, it’s all there. You got a little dollop, Elmer’s glue, a little packet of glue and everything. It’s all laid out for you to do your work. I’m not minimizing, I’m not, not at all. It says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in them.” He’s going ahead of you getting your work projects ready. He’s already there, the room is all set up, you have a job to do, do it and by you doing whatever good works God has ordained for you to do, the kingdom advances. People are saved. Other Christians are strengthened in their faith. You use your spiritual gifts. Do you have a ministry? Are you using your spiritual gifts? This church needs every member to have a ministry. This church needs you to use your spiritual gifts, do your part, but as you do your part know that Christ has already gone ahead of you. He’s prepared you for the works and the work is for you.
Fourthly, stand in awe of God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. Recent theologians, like Clark Pinnock and Greg Byrd have questioned God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. What do I mean by that? Does God really know everything that’s going to happen down to the detail ahead of time? Answer, yes, he does. Absolutely, he does. They question this, I think, because of their overwhelming commitment to their perspective on human free will. They say that if a human being is truly to have free will, God cannot know ahead of time what that person will do. He can guess, he knows your habits, but he’s just a guesser still in the end. According to them then nothing is foreordained, or else people cannot have free will and cannot be held responsible for their decisions. The extreme version of this view is called Open Theism. They’re leading proponents of it. Pinnock says God just simply limits himself and thus cannot know the future. If he didn’t limit himself, he could, but he chooses to limit himself and not know the future. Greg Boyd says that God knows aspects of the future that can be known, including some apparently free will decisions. His is more nuanced, more complex, but he’s still saying God ultimately cannot know those many decisions. There are many parts of the future he does not know. That’s what “open” means. It’s open, it hasn’t been written yet. We’ll get to that in a moment. Life is free flowing but good things will come. Really, really good things. I think of this view as the ultimate, you know how if life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, God is the ultimate of that. Life is constantly handing God lemons and he’s just excellent at making lemonade. That’s their view. And God is able to take all of the bad lemons we hand him and he’s able to navigate through and get good things done. Is that the God of the Bible? It’s beyond me to wrangle in detail with these two men and all that. The Bible does teach the exhaustive foreknowledge of God over human free will decisions. How in the world did Jesus know there would be a specific guy carrying a jug of water at that particular moment? There are millions of people in the city, but Jesus made identification so that the two disciples going to make preparations would know who to follow. He’s not just showing off, but He’s helping them. But suppose the guy decides to carry a basket of figs or instead a jar of wine, or suppose he trips and falls, and it breaks or something like that, then the identification is gone, they won’t know who to… If this was a woman picking up and carrying it, they won’t follow her because he said a man with a jar of water. The open theist would say that’s the kind of thing God can’t know, but Jesus apparently knew it, and He knew it certain enough to give directions based on it.
This becomes even more telling in the case of Judas’ betrayal, as a vital spiritual decision that must be free on Judas’ part. “Jesus didn’t really know whether Judas would betray him,” but clearly Jesus did know ahead of time that Judas would betray him and said that it had been written in Scripture in the Book of God’s sovereign plan, Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Jesus said plainly, while they’re eating, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me,” not some of you might betray me, or three of you will betray me, or any of that. He knew very well, not only that it would happen, but who would do it. In verse 24, “Then the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.” What does that mean, “written”? I think there are two books here, two books, there’s God’s book in heaven, and that’s exhaustive down to the atomic level, and then there’s Scripture’s book of prophecy, which just gives us hints about the heavenly book. Psalm 139 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” What book is that? The heavenly book. There’s a book of eternal life in which the disciples are told, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you and your name. But I’ll tell you rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven.” That heavenly book is God’s exhaustive detailed plan. So, in the small things such as the carrying of a water jar and in large things, the betrayal of the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver, everything is exhaustively known ahead of time. Jesus tells it to them ahead of time, so that [John 14], “When it does happen, you will believe and not be disturbed, but you know I predicted it plainly.”
Fifth, we come to the hardest piece of meat that I’ve ever preached from this pulpit and probably ever will preach. Scripture divides roughly into milk and meat. Milk is easy, simple concepts to understand doctrinally, and meat are those things that are harder. I don’t doubt for a moment that not all of you will be able to follow me where I’m about to go, maybe you’ll be able to follow later. But I’m willing to ask some questions here about Judas that bring us to uncomfortable places, and I think it is to the glory of God to go there. My fifth emphasis has to do with the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Let’s talk about Judas, and let’s do the best we can to understand the mystery of the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. At the root of the debate between those who focus primarily on human free will, commonly called Arminians, and those who generally emphasize God’s sovereignty in human salvation, commonly called Calvinists, is the problem of evil. How do we understand the problem of evil? If God is so good and all powerful, why then is there evil in the universe?
The classic Arminian answer to this question runs like this, “God created the world good and only desires good things. Secondly, because God allows people free will and God never interferes with free will, to some degree, God’s hands are bound by our free will decisions. Evil happens in God’s universe, but it’s not his fault because people are just using their free will and God will not interfere with those decisions.” Why not? Because if God ordains something and brings it to pass by his sovereign power, they argue that man is not responsible, that’s how they argue. There is no way they say that a human decision can be ordained by God, and then for God to hold a human responsible for that decision. If God decrees that man do something and a man does that thing that God decreed, then the man is off the hook, so they argue. Not so much “the devil made me do it”, but really, you’re saying God made me do it, so how can you hold me responsible for that? Since that would make God in their view the direct author of evil, this cannot be. God cannot hold people responsible for decisions that He has decreed. Therefore, God didn’t decree them ahead of time. That’s how the argument works. Now, look at verse 24. What do you do with verse 24? Talk about a monkey wrench thrown right into the gears of all of that. Jesus said, in verse 23, “The one who dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me, the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” So, both are taught here, the Son of Man will go, as it is written about him. So, it’s written, and it is done. It’s not just God predicting, it’s God decreeing, you see. It’s not just predicting; the writing is God’s. The Son of Man will go according to the plan, the sovereign will of God, but woe to the man by whom He goes. How do you put those two together in this scheme I just laid out? They don’t fit. “It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Let me ask one question. If it would have been better for Judas not to have been born, then why was he born? Think about it. You may say I’d rather not think about it, but I’m asking you to think about it. In Psalm 139 and verse 13, it says, “For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Did God knit Judas together in his mother’s womb? Would we want to go so weird theologically, it’s amazing the lengths people will go to avoid this, that say, “Oh, God knits the good people together, but he doesn’t knit the bad people together.” There’s no scriptural evidence of that at all. God knits people together. He’s the knitter. He knit you together, He created you, He created your inmost being. Let’s go back then to Judas. What was God thinking when he was knitting Judas together? Open theists will say he was hoping for the best. “I sure hope you don’t do what I think you’re probably going to do. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” While He was giving Judas a brain and hands and fingernails and a liver and a circulatory system and all that, while He was doing that, was He not mindful of Matthew 26:24, which hadn’t even been spoken or written yet, but He knew was coming? “Woe to this one that I’m knitting together, woe to this one that I’m knitting together.” It’s hard to figure this out, but we don’t find refuge in false doctrines, that’s not where we find the refuge. God knew exactly what Judas would do, and He knit him together. Romans 9:22-23 says that God knits together in the wombs of their mothers, not just the one person, Judas, but all the people that end up in hell, He knits them together in their mother’s wombs, knowing full well what’s going to happen with them. He knows exactly what’s going to happen. Paul goes even beyond where I’ve gone up to this point. It says, “What if God choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory, even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?”
So, God gives them for the benefit of the objects of his mercy. That’s the logic here. The answer is, God knit him together in his mother’s womb, not because it would be better for Judas—it wasn’t better for Judas— but it was better for God and his glory, and it was better for us, the Elect, that He did it. I know it’s hard, but this is what the scripture teaches. God did it to teach us what we deserved, we, the Elect, we who have been chosen contrary to what we deserve. We, who are sinners, every bit as much as Judas and Hitler and all the others. You say, “Well, I wouldn’t do something like that.” Are you so sure you wouldn’t do those things? We know the evil in our hearts. We didn’t deserve to be chosen, we didn’t deserve to be saved, it’s by grace alone that we’re going to get in heaven. His will is thoroughly perfected on that doctrine and to God alone will be the glory for our salvation, “from Alpha to Omega, to God alone be the glory.”
We’re not settling for bad theology here. We’re going to say that when it comes to Judas and Herod and Pontius Pilate and Annas and Caiaphas, and all of them, not just Judas, as Peter said, “Jesus was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death.” They’re wicked and they’ll be judged for their wickedness. Judas was wicked and he was judged for his wickedness, but it was ordained by God, that’s as far as I can go. I don’t know how to put it any closer, anything beyond that. He is not the author of evil, because God doesn’t tempt anyone to do sin ever, but each one is tempted when by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
Sixthly, we should hate the hypocrisy of betrayal. Do you see the sadness and the weeping in Jesus concerning Judas, not in Matthew, but in Luke or in John? He’s troubled in spirit by this. This perhaps is the greatest mystery of all of this issue. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, He weeps over these vessels of wrath. It’s difficult for me to understand that He’s the one that ordained it, and yet He weeps over the decisions they’ve made, and we should hate it and weep it, too, and not betray as Judas did.
Finally, embrace the Lord’s Supper in spirit and truth, though I’ve not the time now to preach a whole sermon on the Lord’s Supper. As a congregation, let’s come into the Lord’s Supper expectantly. Let’s embrace that when we obey his command, “Do this in remembrance of me,” that we will be richly fully blessed, not by transubstantiation and thinking we’re actually eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus, but by recognizing that in space and time, 2000 years ago, his body was broken and his blood shed for us, so that we might have forgiveness. Then as you actually hold that bread and drink that cup, you understand that your physical body will someday, if we’re not the last generation to die, the Lord will raise you up physically and someday you will drink and eat anew with Jesus and the father’s kingdom.
Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the richness of your word, for the power of it. Lord, I pray that these meditations on your sovereignty and our responsibility would heighten our sense of humility at how much you work contrary to our nature to save us and would give us a tremendous boldness in witnessing and evangelism to know that you have power to take this Gospel to the elect and they will hear. God take these words and press them now into our hearts, we pray in Jesus’ name.
