We're going to be reading from Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, I'll read verses 12 through 26 at this time. Mark 14, 12 through 26. The context of this passage is Jesus on his way to the cross and is passed through Bethany and is celebrating the Lord's Supper here. This is the word of the Lord, Mark chapter 14, 12. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover? So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, The teacher asks, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there. The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus arrived with the twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They were saddened and one by one they said to him, surely not I. It is one of the twelve, he replied, one who dips bread into the bowl with 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. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take it, this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he said to them. I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Thus far the reading of God's Word. Amen. I wonder if you've ever received bad news, the weight of which didn't sink in right at first. I remember my grandmother who went to be with the Lord about a year ago received a diagnosis of terminal cancer about a year before that, but it didn't really sink in at first. It did sink in eventually when she was admitted into hospice care and we realized, yes, the end is near. Perhaps you've had a similar experience. I think the disciples have had a similar experience here in the text which we've just read. Jesus, through the Gospel of Mark, has increasingly been making it clear to His disciples that He came to earth to die for His people. But this teaching had not fully sunk into the hearts of His followers. It hadn't become concrete to them. But on the night which our text describes, Jesus links in a very tangible, concrete way one of the most solemn elements of the Jewish religion, the Passover. He links that to His coming death and helps them to understand what He's doing in the Lord's Supper by connecting it to the Passover and also helps them to understand His coming death. So Lord willing, that's what we hope the Lord will do for us as well, to help us understand the Passover a bit as it's referenced here in Mark 14 and therefore to help us understand the Lord's Supper better and to more greatly appreciate the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust in Him more fully. So our two points this morning looking at this transition from Passover to Lord's Supper, first of all, we'll consider the Passover, which is highlighted in verses 12 through 21, and then the Lord's Supper from verses 22 through 26 or so. In looking at the Passover, let's spend just a moment considering the background to the Passover. The Passover is instituted in Exodus chapter 12. We won't read that chapter now for the sake of time, but let me just make a few observations from that chapter. First of all, the substance of the celebration of the Passover consisted of eating the roasted meat of a sacrificed lamb. And that, along with some other elements, was to be eaten hastily, eaten with unleavened bread to remind the people that they had to leave Egypt in haste before the bread could rise. It was also eaten with bitter herbs to remind the people of their suffering in Egypt. It's interesting that the wine is not instituted in Exodus 12. That was introduced sometime after. Interestingly, Jesus still uses the wine in the celebration of the Passover as well as the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Now, just based on that very brief introduction, I think there's two observations that we can make about the Passover which will also help us to understand the Lord's Supper. First of all, the Passover was a solemn ordinance commemorating the people's deliverance. A solemn ordinance commemorating the people's deliverance. Well, deliverance from what, we should ask ourselves? Deliverance from what? Well, certainly the Passover was a solemn commemoration of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. It was a celebration of the Lord's delivering them, which we know in the New Testament serves as a type of our deliverance from the bondage that we have formerly to sin. But also, we need to understand that the Passover is a celebration of the people's deliverance from the judgment of God. From the judgment of God through shed blood. Those who were not covered by the shed blood of that Passover lamb would fall to the judgment of God. And this becomes very important as we will consider momentarily how the Lord Jesus fulfilled the Passover. So, a solemn ordinance commemorating the people's deliverance. A second observation is that the Passover was a covenantal meal. It was a covenantal meal. God specifically says in Exodus 12, where the Passover is instituted in verse 43, that no foreigner shall eat it. No foreigner shall eat it. Now, this is certainly not a racist prohibition. What it's saying here, so God is not opposed to foreigners, of course. He shows special mercy to foreigners, to outsiders in the Bible. But what he's saying is that those who are outside of the covenant community of the church were not permitted to share in this supper, in this meal, because it celebrated their corporate deliverance, their deliverance as a body, the body we understand of Jesus Christ. Now, a foreigner could take part in the Passover meal only after, in the case of a male he had by circumcision, become a member of the church and thereby also bring his family into the covenant community. Exodus 12, verse 48 makes that clear. So a covenantal meal, I think this sheds some light on why we as a congregation and as an assembly of congregations have a historical policy of fencing the communion table. We hope to celebrate the Lord's Supper today, but we don't invite just anyone who walks through the doors to celebrate this supper. Why? Well, not because we're trying to be mean, not because we're trying to be exclusive or keep people away, but because we see this meal as a sacred meal celebrating the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ reserved for the people of God. So there is a reason why we fence the table, but I think we should also see in that approach something of an invitation, right? Just as in the Passover, no foreigner could participate until he had come into the covenant community. That it's an invitation. And so, as we celebrate today, we extend an invitation to those who do not yet meet the qualifications that the elders have set forward to celebrate, to think on these things, to meet with the elders, to ask, what must I do to fellowship with this people of God and to share in this blessed meal together? So just a little bit of background to the Passover we see. Now, returning to the text, Mark chapter 14, we see some elements of preparation. Verses 12 through 16. Jesus committed the task of preparing the Passover elements to Peter and John. We learn that from Luke chapter 22. One of the things they had to do was find a location. Now, when Jesus gives them instructions to find a location, he gives somewhat mysterious instructions, doesn't he? He says, you'll find this man carrying something. Follow him into the house. Perhaps Jesus gives this mysterious set of instructions to prevent Judas from finding out ahead of time the location and therefore moving ahead, as it were, with his plans also to prevent the authorities from coming to that place. So he gives these enigmatic instructions to a house which is probably owned by a follower of Jesus. The house, we learn, was furnished. And yet there was still some preparations to be made. That lamb which they would consume together would have been slayed in the core of the temple. They would have then brought the lamb back to the house to roast it. And there were other accoutrements that would have had to have been arranged, not entirely different from what we have here. This leads then to the participation in the Passover, verses 17 through 21. Verse 18 suggests that the meal was progressing according to the prescriptions laid out in Exodus until Jesus shocked everyone with a revelation. With a revelation. He says in verse 18, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me. One who is eating with Me. Now, the Bible says in verse 19 that when Jesus foretold this betrayal, they began to be sorrowful or they were saddened. Now, remember that you know that Judas was going to betray Jesus because you've read your Bibles. But the disciples didn't know that Judas had agreed to betray Christ. They had no idea that one of them was a betrayer. So this comes as a shock. This revelation comes as a shock to them. Remarkably, each of them begins to ask Jesus if that betrayer was himself. Now, you see, the question is asked in the form of a negative. Surely not I. So they don't exactly expect that it's them individually, but they're asking the question. They're saying, is it I? Surely not I. They become despondent, not knowing for sure that it did not refer to them. This, I think, helps us to examine ourselves before participation in the Lord's Supper. We should likewise reflect on this question of betrayal. We could use the words of that great hymn from our Psalter hymnal, asking the question, who was the guilty? That's what the disciples are asking here. Who's the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee. T'was I, Lord Jesus, I was denied thee, I crucified thee. Like the disciples, we shouldn't be so confident in our works, in our life, that we cease reflecting on our sins and seeking the Lord's forgiveness and help through our sins. Well, Jesus begins to answer their questions. Is it I? In verse 20, when he says, it is one who dips bread into the bowl with me. Well, sort of just an introduction to the answer because they were all dipping bread with Jesus. But what Jesus is saying here is a reflection, it seems, from Psalm 41, verse 9, where the revelation is that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend of His. You might know that in this Middle Eastern culture, meals were sacred. We're a sacred fellowship time together. There's nothing more reprehensible in Eastern culture than to injure a host. And, of course, the Passover meal was the height of the Jewish calendar. And yet Jesus says, it's one of my friends. It's one of you who will betray me. Well, John's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 26, helps us understand that Jesus eventually explicitly answered their question. He was prompted by a question from John and he says that the betrayer was the one to whom he would give a morsel of bread. And then that Gospel says that Jesus took a piece of bread and gave it to Judas. After which He told Judas to leave and do what He was committed to doing. After that, verse 21, Jesus pronounces a curse on His betrayer. Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for Him if He had not been born. What a dreadful thing to know Jesus as Judas did. To partake of his ministry. To hear his words of grace. And yet to not submit to his lordship. And we certainly pray that those who are in our midst, perhaps in our families, who know Jesus in a sense, who are somewhat like Judas, and that they listen, even participate in the ministry of Jesus. That they would repent of their sins and not come under the same curse under which Judas fell for failing to repent. Well, at this point, Jesus takes this Passover supper and institutes the Lord's Supper. So we see a transformation as we move to the second point this morning. The Lord's Supper is inaugurated in verses 22 through 26. So, we see a transformation. Jesus makes plain here that the Passover, as it had been celebrated for over a thousand years, was now fulfilled in Him. And He does so by using two simple elements. The most basic elements of a meal, bread and drink. Notice he no longer uses the bitter herbs, perhaps because the bitter herbs would emphasize the people's suffering in Egypt. Christ now just uses this bread and drink. So the bread, he also transforms. The bread, he says, no longer represents the hasty deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, at least not explicitly, but it now represents the body of Christ broken on the cross. Christ's broken flesh then is our deliverance from bondage to our own sinful flesh. He breaks this bread, hands it out and says, Eat. Eat this bread. Eat my body. And then He also takes the wine. We need to remember that the Passover was a celebration of blood, wasn't it? It remembered the shed blood of the Lamb that protected the believers in Egypt. Every year, new blood was shed in the celebration of this Passover. But now, Christ says, this wine is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, verse 24. And notice that Jesus makes this declaration about His blood apparently as they're drinking it. You can just imagine maybe some coughing took place as they're drinking this wine and Jesus says, This is My blood. I remember one time when our congregation switched from one wine to another. And I think the second wine that we switched to was a little bit more powerful. And as people drank it for the first time, you could hear coughing taking place throughout the sanctuary. I imagine perhaps something like that took place as the disciples are drinking this wine and as they're drinking, Jesus says, You're drinking My blood. Remember, they were specifically told by God not to drink blood. Now, obviously, we don't believe that they were drinking blood. But the symbolism is powerful, isn't it? God told them not to drink blood because the life is in the blood. Leviticus 17, 11. And now they're drinking it. And Jesus says, that's my blood. Two thoughts, I believe, flow from that. First of all, Jesus is saying, my blood is shed to save your life. There's no remission of sins apart from the shedding of blood. Leviticus 17, 11. And now this blood of Jesus is necessary to cleanse us from our sins. And Jesus is also saying that you need my life in you. If there's life in the blood, you need to have that life in you. He then gives a prophecy in verse 25. As after the bread and the wine have been consumed, He says, Never again will I participate in this. Never again will I drink of the fruit of the wine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying this would be His last earthly Passover. But He's also looking to the future, isn't He? He's saying He would drink of the fruit of the vine again. That, again, is a reference to the fully realized kingdom of God. Jesus is painting a picture here of that wedding feast where he says, I'm not going to drink of this wine again here until I come into the kingdom of God when the feast will be opened for my people to participate in. So if we're trusting in Jesus Christ, we will sit again at a table and drink the new wine of heaven with Jesus Christ. Now, after this, they sing a hymn. Most likely, it was a portion of Psalm 118. This psalm extols the faithfulness of God in the face of tribulation. It urges trust in our God as a remedy to fear. How fitting as Christ and His disciples left the warm, familiar confines of the upper room and approached the garden where he would be betrayed and eventually his body would be broken, his blood shed that they sang a hymn trusting themselves to the Lord. Well, allow me to close by just offering a number of reflections or concluding applications. Three thoughts here as we've looked briefly at the Passover transitioning to the Lord's Supper. First of all, we learn what the Lord's Supper does. We learn what the Lord's Supper does. The Lord's Supper strengthens our faith by combining a physical exercise with a spiritual promise. That's what Jesus is doing. He's taking this physical exercise of the Passover, something that people could taste and touch and feel, and combining it with a spiritual promise. He blessed the bread. He offered a prayer there. He's teaching us that the power is not not in the physical bread and wine, but the powers and the words that Jesus speaks in connection with the elements. When Jesus blesses here, He's proclaiming the Gospel. He's teaching us about His body and blood that we need to receive. We then receive nothing magical from the bread or wine, but we receive Christ, do we not? As He, through the elements, is communicated to us. So we learn what the Lord's Supper does. Secondly, and more specifically, we learn that Christ must be appropriated. Christ must be received. It's not enough to simply study Jesus or to admire Jesus or respect Him or even imitate Him. Jesus is teaching us here that we must feast on Him by faith, believing that in Him, as His life covers ours, that we have everything that we need for body and soul. And the Lord's Supper helps us to do that, helps us to feast on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in Him. And then finally, we learn from this passage how to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Probably you've asked the question at some point in your life, what am I supposed to be doing when I receive these elements? What am I supposed to be thinking about? And of course, there's more answers than what I'll be mentioning here. But I think two things are suggested here in terms of how we celebrate the Lord's Supper. First of all, with respect to thinking about progression of time, we learn that the Passover was a commemoration of the past. It was also a celebration of the present as well as an anticipation of the future. And so it is with the Lord's Supper as well, brothers and sisters, as we participate in the Lord's Supper that we are commemorating the past. We're looking back to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, remembering just what He has done for His people. But we also are celebrating in the present. We're saying, right now as I'm believing in Christ, as I'm receiving His life, I stand right with God. And we celebrate as we partake of the elements in the present. And thirdly, we anticipate the future. We're looking ahead to that time when we, with Christ, will partake of the new wine in the kingdom of God. And then secondly, we learn here how to celebrate the Lord's Supper in terms of, probably there's a better word for this, but in terms of our emotions. That is, what we feel, what we're thinking during this time. And that's the case because the Lord's Supper, like the Passover, is both a solemn remembrance as well as a joyful anticipation. Now, you might feel a little tension between those two words. A solemn remembrance and a joyful anticipation. But when Jesus says that He will drink wine anew in the kingdom of God, what's He implying? He's implying a celebration. Whatever your view of wine is here on earth, what Jesus is saying is there's a time when we'll celebrate together. And that should be a joyful thing that we commemorate, that we're excited about. He's reminding us that there will be a marriage feast in heaven. And this is, then, what we have before us. And what we reflect on in the Gospel is a foretaste, a foretaste of heaven, a foretaste of an eternal fellowship with God, with the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father, with the Spirit in heaven. Amen.