I invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14. The Gospel of Mark, as we are making our way through this book, and this morning we are in chapter 14 in God's providence. We land on this particular section of the institution of the Lord's Supper on the very day that we're having the Lord's Supper. You should see that. I think that's pretty special. Mark chapter 14, and that's found on page 1081 in your pew Bible. I'm going to read beginning at verse 1 to set the context, and we will read through verse 25. This is the word of the Lord. It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him. For they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people. While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor. And they scolded her. But Jesus said, Leave her alone. why do you trouble her she has done a beautiful thing to me for you always have the poor with you and whenever you want you can do good for them but you will not always have me she has done what she could she has anointed my body beforehand for burial and truly i say to you wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will be told in memory of her now our text then judas iscariot who was one of the twelve went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them and when they heard it they were glad and promised to give him money and he sought an opportunity to betray him and on the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrificed the passover lamb his disciples said to him where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover. And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready there. Prepare for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening, he came with the twelve, and as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They began to be sorrowful and say to him, one after another, is it I? And he said to them, it is one of the twelve one who is dipping bread into the dish with me for the son of man goes as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for that man if he had not been born and as they were eating he took bread and after blessing it broke and gave to them and said this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said to them this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many truly i say to you i will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when i drink it new in the kingdom of god may the lord bless the hearing of his word we had a beautiful example uh given to us last week and i've read this morning of this woman uh maria bethany this woman who represents everything we should be what she did was so meaningful jesus said wherever this gospel is preached what she has done will be told as a memorial to her that is such a remarkable statement i i just cannot get over in the gospels where do you have that kind of response of jesus to that kind of degree wherever in the history the gospels preached her came right of course after the all of it discourse didn't it and she was held out for us as an example of what it means to to watch he had just said watch and then he shows us a woman watching she rightly saw that the true temple was his body she was concerned about the right temple they were concerned and devastated about the fall of the earthly temple and she all along had been listening to what jesus was saying sitting at his feet this was the mary that that this temple would be destroyed and rise again the third day disciples had no alarm about that. She was concerned. She saw the whole thing. She saw the whole story. As a matter of fact, this was Mary Bethany. She saw what Jesus did for Lazarus. She saw in her brother's story, Jesus's story, didn't she? Here was presented to us a watching saint and a believing saint, and what was so remarkable about her is that she purposely had come beforehand to anoint Jesus's body for burial a common criminal never had that right afterwards so she knew she came believing that she had to anoint this body because this body was going to die it's it's a remarkable section she believed the promises she believed the gospel she believed in the resurrection she believed the gospel and in this extravagant moment she takes everything that she has and she she pours out over his head and we know that there were tears that came with this that over his head this alabaster blaster flask a very expensive expensive ointment right over his head purposely knowing what she was doing here was the true poor man on earth this was the one who uh was rich and for ourselves became poor and she saw it this was the poorest man they had had it all wrong she saw what he had become for her the others didn't the others didn't everyone is standing there watching her with her tears anointing and wiping his his hair with with her tears thousands of dollars poured out in an extravagant act as she gets criticized. Why this waste? They're all standing there trashing her. We know from the Gospel accounts it was Judas who led this charge. We can put it all together. He didn't care about the poor, of course. John's Gospel tells us he was taking off the top of the money bag. He was a thief essentially the entire time. This cross thing snapped him. There's no way I'm going to go through this. This has not paid out. So in complete contrast to this woman, here we have this other figure set in front of us who would sell Jesus for 30 shekels of silver, the very price in Exodus 21 of a slave. In some sense, let's be honest this morning, both of these examples are troubling to us. Both. The contrast is intentionally severe. On the one hand, you have the worst unbelief and hypocrisy ever, and on the other hand, you have the greatest demonstration of giving in the entire Bible. The greatest demonstration of giving. So much so that Jesus says wherever the gospel is preached, this is a memorial to her. If Judas was an example of betrayal, she's an example of true love for Christ, isn't she? Where does that leave us? See why I said it's a little bit troubling? Clearly, it's a kind of distressing question maybe to say, how much do I value Jesus? To answer that. That's kind of where we're often left with this passage. We're kind of left in the balance and you could hear that question, how much do I value Jesus? And for some, that question means absolutely nothing. They don't care. There's no interest. That's the spirit of Judas, isn't it? But then there's a sincere follower of Christ, and that's a really hard question to answer. That's a really difficult question to have to face in life. It's a distressing question in many ways, isn't it? I'd like to be a lot more like the woman. But the fact is, is that I'm pretty pathetic. I don't feel like I look too much like her. Do you? I believe this morning this passage addresses the real concern that we see on the heart of his disciples. There's a real purpose in this. And if you had asked all of them after they had been caught up with Judas and this hypocrisy, if you had asked all of them, stopped and said, Listen, you guys, do you think Jesus' life is of much more value than that ointment that she just poured out upon him? I'm sure every one of them would have said, of course. They were caught up in hypocrisy. What did this mean for them? And this is what I want to help you with this morning. Jesus gives an answer to those who are deeply concerned because they know that their response to Jesus is pathetically weak. And Jesus here, in great compassion for them, orders things and gives them something that was meant to help them to know His love for them. We have this morning the institution of the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. It's a fascinating moment that it comes in the midst of all this, isn't it? I don't know how much you've stopped and given thought because we read these forms so quickly and we go through 1 Corinthians 11 and we read that Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread. and we just read right over that. On the night in which he was betrayed. Huh. It would seem to me then that you have to understand to understand the importance of the supper why it would be interjected it was done on the night in which he was betrayed. It's a striking inclusion, isn't it? It moves me because the whole institution was in the midst of betrayal, affliction, persecution. And now we see what Marx is somewhat doing in this text and showing us the distressing circumstance of the institution of the supper in the face of this betrayal. If we could understand why it came in the midst of the betrayal, it'll take on so much more meaning for you. You'll have something to hold on to. Why would He give it on the night in which He was betrayed? As soon as this episode with Mary closes, we have the scene turning and the disciples are really concerned with keeping the Passover. We have a lot of detail here about that, don't we? Where do you want to go, Lord, and keep the Passover? And Jesus begins to give instructions very similar to the triumphal entry. You see that He's Lord over all. He's commanding donkeys that are his and he's commanding rooms that are his, isn't he? He says, I want you to go and find a man carrying a pitcher of water and I want you to follow him. And wherever he goes, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Clearly you see who has all authority, don't you? Then he will show you an upper room furnished and prepared there make ready prepare for us mark goes into some detail here for a moment to set up a scene for us to picture a scene for us mark has set the stage for of something and he tells us in verse 12 how we should read these these details that are given to us in god's providence and in verse 12 we are told that it is the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrifice the passover lamb huh on the very day in history the lamb was slain you should know and appreciate exodus you see how much time we spend in exodus for a reason and working through all of this you see here in god's providence what jesus is is doing here when you look carefully at this initial scene, Jesus has recreated a scene for you. On the first night of the Passover, 11 bread, remember what happened in Egypt? They were to go into the house and blood would go on the doorposts and that Passover lamb would be killed. And then they would eat that night and they would have a great feast that night and it all coincided with the feast of unleavened bread which was the very night they would they would be up they'd be ready to go they would leave egypt in full deliverance because of the blood of this lamb the judgment would pass over them and they would face full deliverance now why does this this matter well well think of the scene here for a moment. Jesus has just recreated the entire scene in God's providence, hasn't he? He is the Passover lamb. Then followed the feast of unleavened bread, which meant it was a celebration, that feast, that was meant to celebrate the fact that sin had been dealt with. That's how it's applied in the New Testament. That the old was done and the new had come was a celebration of this he had come down to deliver his people out of the land of egypt and he had come down to to deal with their sin and set them free well his concern is that they know he is doing all this for them as it was done for israel now stay with me you'll see how this all comes together, how does He make them understand that He is doing all of this for them? That He's the fulfillment of everything all that taught us. There's been a struggle in Mark that they have not wanted to see. They ultimately have not wanted to listen to Him say He is pouring out His life, his blood on the cross they have not wanted to hear it hasn't that been the whole struggle in mark haven't we seen this in the gospels and it really uh is the the sort of dilemma of this passage we first and foremost look at mary who teaches us something so beautiful and think well that is how i should be and that is is that true is is mary just the great example for us yes and no yes in the sense of faith no in the sense that she displays something about only what jesus can do there was a message in her for them i would love to look at see i would love to look at mary but i think if we're going to be honest we all struggle with do i have the potential of being a judas i believe that that jesus at this point is pressing them to think through this dilemma through the scene that he's created and now what he's about to do so now on purpose he presents what i see as a distressing proposition absolutely distressing proposition on purpose when evening had come notice that we now get to this important section here in verse 17 and when it was evening he came with the twelve and as they were reclining at table and eating imagine this you're sitting celebrating Passover glorious occasion Jesus said truly I say to you one of you will betray me one who is eating with me huh that ignited something the spirit all wanted us to consider very carefully because it says immediately after this they began to be really sorrowful one by one we know putting the accounts together that they began to ask the question lord I'm not the one, am I? I'm not the one. Jesus steps it up. Steps it up even more so in verse 22. Actually before that, I'm sorry, verse 21. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Whoa. Your supper has just turned pretty gloomy, hasn't it? They are so distressed at this point. He has utterly distressed them on purpose. He has utterly distressed them on purpose that Luke says they all began to fall apart. so much so that they began to argue began to argue about who was greatest and the way you take that is to say they all began to say listen i it can't be me i did more than that guy right it has to be peter what what you hear in them is a bunch of sheep absolutely panicked at this point deep heart-wrenching concern as they're questioning now their own loyalty to jesus that's where this is turned. He has forced them to question their loyalty to him. Hasn't he? It's a test. Completely distressed him. Lord, it's not me, is it? All around the table. All around the table. It's fascinating that the gospel writers at this point do something that you have to stay with and follow, especially in Matthew and Luke. And I believe you should draw this out because they offset another individual. It's interesting in Matthew's Gospel, the disciples say, Lord, is it I? I'm not the one, am I? And then immediately, a few verses later, Judas says, I'm not the one, am I, Rabbi? huh, I'm not the one, Lord. I'm not the one, Rabbi. They're wanting you to see a contrast here. They draw a division here. Jesus says, He who dipped His hand with me in this dish will betray me, the Son of Man. Goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. I'm sorry, that has just evoked in everyone the worst kind of fear ever. I believe at this point, you really do get to the heart of this, what Jesus is doing. If I went around the room today and we're about ready to have the supper and I said in this room, and you were all very intent and believed that these words were so, one of you in this room will betray the Lord of glory and it would have been better if you were not born. What would that create? It's going to test where you are, isn't it? It's going to draw out something, isn't it? It should. You ever feared you could be a Judas? There are a lot of really weak sheep here, starting right here. You know what weak sheep do? They doubt. They're often very sick about their love for the Lord. This would be an absolutely wounding proposition, wouldn't it? Absolutely wounding proposition. It would lead people into despair. This is what happened essentially with the disciples that night. Lord, it's not me, is it? Weak, broken, concerned, but sincere. What are we getting? There's something coming out here, isn't there? They've been saying, we'll go and die with him. Has that been on Judas' heart? No, he's been riding on the coattails of this rising star in Israel and it's not paying out. Look at how committed they are. They don't understand it all. As a matter of fact, they're incredibly weak. I mean, you want to talk about a bunch of bumbling fools that Jesus chose. But you could never say they don't care, right? Judas. I wish we could... This is one of the times in the Scriptures where I wish we had an ability to look at facial expressions. Judas. It's not I, is it? I don't know. but something was radically different. He is offset in the Scriptures to show that His concern is nothing like the disciples' concern. He's going to take the supper. He's going to bolt out and betray Him. He takes it. Doesn't ever care to come back and worship at His feet. Doesn't matter. There's nothing born again in this man. There's no life in this man. He despises what Jesus stands for. He despises the cross. He despises everything this Christianity thing represents. And he sits there the whole time walking with Jesus. Doing all the ministry stuff. Why would Christ show me this woman? Why would Christ show them this woman and then show Judas? and then hanging in the balance are these very normal disciples just like us. And I believe that in the midst of this, Jesus wants everyone to know, wants them to know, and wanted every generation to know that it was always, it always had been, it always will be by His strength that He upholds the faint of heart. And it's remarkable that right after this in Luke, Jesus says something that as they're distressed at the table, He begins to turn their utter despair into joy. And He says, you are those who have continued with me in my trials. And understand, you're with me in this cross. And guess what? I assigned you a kingdom. Just as my Father bestowed one on me. Whoa. I'm giving you this. I'm assigning it to you that, here it is, you may eat and drink in my kingdom at my table. So he's ordered the events now to recreate the scene of Israel in the Passover scene to say, as Israel received full deliverance from Pharaoh, so now understand this all in fulfillment it all spoke of me i give this to you it's me don't they need that as a matter of fact just as he's a about to say all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night you know what he's going to say in this very next section peter you're going to deny me three times interesting that's bracketed here by the supper isn't it betrayal and denial these aren't little things these these aren't these aren't little failures i mean think about it peter peter is so distressed by his denial three times when he wished to do what he wanted to do and couldn't find himself to do it that he found himself giving up i'm going back to fishing i can't do this anymore i just can't do it even when he's in the garden and sweating drops of blood and he says just pray they can't even pray and you know how pathetic that your prayer lives are play the pious card like they're strong but you know they're not what you want them to be here's the weakness of jesus's own and all of us at some point maybe even now hear these words and we begin to wonder how in the world are we making it through all this and then you have this reality of betrayal in the midst of this this is utterly distressing I'm not the one. Am I, Lord? I'm not it. Am I? William Perkins once wrote a little dialogue about this. I took it right out of his old works. It's just brief. He has a dialogue between the Christian and the pastor. And here's the Christian. I've lived a long time and the Lord knows how I've lived in the lusts of my filthy flesh. What is my case? Then I feel that I'm a rebellious wretch, ugly in the sight of God. What do I do? Is there any word of comfort from your mouth, O man of God? Minister, tell me one thing plainly. You say you feel no assurance of God's mercy. None. But do you desire with all your heart to feel it? I do. Then don't doubt. You shall feel it. For the man that would have any grace of God tending to salvation if he does truly desire it he shall have it for christ has promised i will give to him that thirst of the well of water of life freely i gather then that if any want the water of life having an appetite for it he shall have enough of it and therefore fear not only use the means which god has appointed to attain faith by prayer and reverent hearing of god's word and receiving of the sacraments you'll see this thing verified in your life it's pretty pastoral isn't it why does christ hold up this woman as a memorial wherever the gospels preach because she poured out everything oh i don't pour out everything but jesus does lord i'm not the one am i he knows their fears he knows their weaknesses he knows all that they're facing and what does he do it's Passover in Providence there's thousands of lambs Josephus says like it's around 256,000 being brought in and slaughtered all these lambs all this blood all over Jerusalem and Jesus then takes the bread and he holds it up in the midst of this now hear it Hear it now, without the form. I fear that we just read this stuff in the form and hear it. Take. Eat. This is my body. For you. And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them. Drink of it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. They had just been asking, is it I? Lord, is it me? Take. Take. i want you to know i'm here to pour out my life for you that's what the woman should teach you i'm here to pour out my blood for you and i'm giving you a gift now because you've had a hard time accepting this and believing this and i'm giving you a gift now i'm going to confirm this for you i want you to believe this resting in my promises he's he's he's reassuring their hearts now isn't he that's exactly what he's doing he's strengthening their hearts that they would be able now because of their weakness to finally fulfill the psalms which said taste and see that the lord is good um we need to get to the supper but i want to say a few more things you know psalm 133 describes when there's love and unity and peace it's like ointing an oil oil that flows down the beard of Aaron. You have this scene captured right here. It's precious oil upon the head. Okay? Just happened in this scene. Upon this great priest, Aaron. Runs down his beard. Runs down the edge of his garments. It's like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion. For there, the Lord commanded blessing, life forevermore. That's what just happened. That is Psalm 133 in fulfillment. He's unifying and keeping His body in unity, which is one of the purposes of the Supper. Blessing of the anointing of His body has just flowed down to them. Life. Jesus held out these elements and called them to receive the blessing of what He was anointed to do for you. Guess what it was? Die. And that's why Jesus says, you know what you're doing when you partake of this? You're proclaiming my death which flows down to you. My body was anointed for you. By faith, they saw the Lamb of God stepping vicariously into their place and becoming a substitute, taking on their guilt, taking on their punishment. That's what he's doing, that the Father had purpose to forsake his only begotten Son. So that when he would look upon him and pour out his wrath upon him, he would do that for every past, present, and future sin you would ever commit. You ever thought of the implications of that? This is my blood of the new covenant. The blood of the covenant of grace ratified as the body of Christ is broken for you and blood spills for you. They saw visibly in what this woman was pouring out, Christ pouring out Himself. And He says there's a day coming because of this where I'm going to come back again and we're going to do this in glory new in my Father's kingdom. So this, this morning, is an institution of renewal, of strengthening your spiritual lives by faith, of helping you because you are doubting, doubting creatures. And right after this, Peter's going to learn how weak he was, for after he takes the supper, he goes out and denies. But it was never his power by which he was kept. Didn't Peter learn that? It's God's power in Christ for you. Jesus has the ability to keep you. Jesus has the ability to give faith to your heart and keep you. And the Lord gives a spotlight this morning on these weak sheep who are asking, am I going to make it, Lord? Am I going to make it? That's essentially what this is. Am I going to make it? Do you ever ask that? Am I going to make it? Of course you do. They may be weak, you may be weak. They may stumble, you will stumble. You might even deny him. Isn't that something? They may face intense periods of sorrow and wonder about God's love. They may face hardship because of sin and Christ in the midst of all of this instituted something forever to be given and held out to them saying, I want you to eat and drink so that you would know that the body and the blood, my body and blood, as Israel was delivered, is for you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, John 6. When you ask, Lord, I'm not the one, am I? He says to you, eat, drink, believe. don't be unbelieving but believing. And guess what I'm going to do for you? Verse 30, and when they had sung a hymn, they went out on the Mount of Olives. He turned their sorrow to joy. That's what this feast is. They walk out with a little bit of a bounce in their step. I want to see some bounces and steps today when we go out of here, okay? Not too high for some of you. I have poured out all for you, says Jesus. And I'm coming again. I can keep you. I have the power to keep you. And I'll come again and we're going to do this anew in my Father's kingdom. So I come to you with the simple question. Do you believe these gospel promises? Do you desire to be nourished today as Perkins talked about? Do you care? Then come. Come to the table believing and rejoicing that it's by His power and a kingdom that He has assigned to you by His marvelous and wonderful grace and the pouring out of His life. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for these words this morning that encourage us. And thank You for Your faithfulness to Your promises. And in the midst of this betrayal to show us a real power that keeps. And we know the power itself is not in the sacrament. It's Your power. and yet you have taken this means and given it to us when we receive by faith so that by a word and sacrament ministry, your sheep are kept. Help us, Lord. Help us today as we come to your table with believing hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.