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Messiah’s
last meal - a Passover Seder; remembering Messiah
by eating matzah and drinking wine; the New Covenant;
betrayal.
This was
the Son of God’s last week on Earth before His
arrest, sufferings, trials, death, burial and
resurrection, and Yeshua, who was a prophet, knew
it. He knew that He would die, overcome death,
leave the planet, ascend to Heaven, which is a
very real place, and then return to Earth to establish
the Kingdom of God for 1,000 years here on Earth.
Rabbi
Yeshua is the Most Important Person who ever lived.
This is Messiah’s last week, and arguably the
most important week of human history. We are in
the most important week, and getting to the most
important events connected to the most important
day in the life of the Most Important Man who
ever lived!
Without
these most important events, we would never be
able to be reconciled to the God from whom the
whole world is estranged. We would never be able
to enter the Kingdom of God. We could never have
eternal life. The life of every human being who
ever lived would be a complete disaster and end
in total failure and absolute catastrophe!
These
important events are connected to a very special
season - Spring, and to a very special holiday
in the Spring - Passover. Passover is an annual
celebration of the supernatural rescuing of God’s
people from slavery to the powerful and evil nation
of Egypt. That first Passover forms a prophetic
background to this greater Passover and greater
Lamb who provides a greater deliverance, a greater
rescue and salvation from darker and more powerful
forces than those of Egypt!
Now
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called
the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests
and the scribes - the experts in the Torah,
were seeking how they might put Him to death;
these leaders had already decided to kill
the young Rabbi from Nazareth. They did not believe
He was a good teacher or a good man. They did
not believe He was the Messiah. But, Yeshua’s
popularity among many of the people had kept them
from openly carrying out their plans. For they
were afraid of the people.
But, many
adversaries don’t give up easily, and if public
arrest followed by execution wouldn’t work, a
quiet betrayal might. And, the ultimate Adversary
of all, who is a real being, a real fallen angel,
was also at work behind the scenes, to kill the
Son of God. And Satan entered into Judas who
was called Iscariot - Judah, the man from
Kiriot, belonging to the number of the twelve.
And he went away and discussed with the chief
priests and officers how he might betray Him to
them.
They
were glad and agreed to give him money. Money
is almost always a good incentive to get someone
to do something, or reinforce a person’s determination
to do something. And, it helped. So he consented,
and began seeking a good opportunity to betray
Him to them apart from the crowd.
Then
came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which
the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed - and
special preparations needed to be made for this
first day of Passover. And Yeshua sent Peter
and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover
for us, so that we may eat it”. A place where
they could eat a Passover lamb needed to be prepared.
A lamb had to be obtained and sacrificed at the
temple. The lamb needed to be cooked. Bitter herbs
and matzah and wine and water needed to be procured.
They
said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare
it”? Either through prior preparations or through God’s providence, Yeshua
knew where and how the preparations for obtaining
a room would take place. And He said to them,
"When you have entered the city, a man will
meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him
into the house that he enters. And you shall say
to the owner of the house, 'The Rabbi says to
you, "Where is the guest room in which I
may eat the Passover with My disciples”?' And
he will show you a large, furnished upper room;
prepare it there”. And since Yeshua was always
right, everything happened exactly as He had said
it would. And they left and found everything
just as He had told them; and they prepared the
Passover.
Everything
had been prepared. A spotless Passover lamb, a
male in the prime of its life, had been sacrificed
at the temple. Its blood been poured out in the
temple. The Greater Passover Lamb had also been
prepared. The Son of God and the Son of Man was
in the prime of His life. He too was uniquely
spotless, a righteous and good and holy Man who
always did the will of His Father, and resisted
all temptations and never, ever sinned. His body
was ready to be sacrificed. His blood was ready
to be poured out to make ultimate atonement for
all of mankind!
When
the hour had come, He reclined at the table
(as is traditional at Passover), and the apostles
- His special representatives who He would
send into the world - with Him. And He said
to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat
this Passover with you before I suffer; for
I say to you, I shall never again eat it until
it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God”. Messiah
knew that He was only hours from dying. He knew
this was His last meal. These men were His closest
friends and most loyal followers. They had sacrificed
much to be with Him. He really wanted to share
His last meal, a special Passover Seder, celebrating
God’s goodness and victorious saving power, with
these special men, before His time of suffering
and death. This Passover reminder of God’s help
and the support of these faithful men must have
brought comfort and some strength to the young
Rabbi from Nazareth.
"I
have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer; for I say to you,
I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled
in the kingdom of God”. The One who is rightly
called Immanuel knew that He was about to suffer
and die, but He also knew that death would not
be able to hold Him! Death would not be the end
of His story! He would be vindicated! He would
rise from the dead! He would be honored before
God and the angels, with every creature bowing
and acknowledging that Yeshua is Lord! He would
live forever, enjoying an even greater Passover
celebration in the very real and wonderful Kingdom
of God! And, so will we - if we remain loyal to
Him!
Although
the Torah does not command wine to be drunk at
Passover, drinking the fruit of the vine, which
makes human beings happy, had over time become
a Jewish tradition and part of the Seder. And
when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said,
"Take this and share it among yourselves;
for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit
of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God
comes”.
For those
who enjoy drinking, sharing a glass of wine with
friends can be a very enjoyable experience. It
brings a sense of closeness and pleasure. I think
this was that kind of moment. But, as good as
that glass of wine was, shared among the Rabbi
and His friends, an even better time of sharing
an even better glass of wine awaits Messiah, and
us, in the future - in the kingdom of God. That
time of sharing a glass of wine together won’t
be marred by the unpleasantness of betrayal, suffering
or death - only unending peace and happiness!
I am looking forward to drinking some really great
wine with Messiah and with my friends in the Kingdom
of God. How about you? Trust Him, remain faithful
to Him and His mission in good times and bad times,
and prove that you are one of His loyal friends,
and you will!
Drinking
wine at Passover is a tradition - not one of God’s
commandments. But, eating matzah is a command.
We eat unleavened bread at Passover to remind
ourselves that when we left Egypt, we needed to
leave very quickly. We left in haste. Matzah is
called the bread of affliction, and it reminds
us that life in Egypt, and also the beginning
of our exodus from Egypt, was difficult. We also
eat unleavened bread to remind ourselves to rid
the cycle of sin from our lives.
I am sure
the disciples were thinking about these things.
They must have been surprised when their Rabbi
gave this special bread additional meaning that
pointed to Himself. And when He had taken some
bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it
to them, saying, "This is My body which is
given for you; do this in remembrance of Me”.
I want
to make several observations about this very important
ceremony. First, the Lord was speaking symbolically
- not literally. He was not telling His disciples
that the matzah was literally His body. We know
that for sure, without question, because His literal
body was with them and separate from the bread.
The bread was not His body. His body was not the
bread. This is symbolic language - not a literal
statement of truth. This is reinforced by the
words: Do this in remembrance of Me. This
is a reminder of the Son of God, a memorial of
what He did for us by means of His life and death
and resurrection. Therefore, there is no absolutely
basis to conclude from the statement - this
is My body - that the matzah is the literal
body of Messiah, or that the bread was ever intended
to or can turn into the literal body of the Son
of God. That is ignorance and foolishness!
Second,
when Messiah indicated that the bread was His
body, the bread was matzah. Throughout the
Special Writings, leaven is repeatedly used as
a symbol of sin. The unleavened bread used here
tell us that Messiah resisted every temptation,
and unlike all other human beings, never yielded
to sin. He never did the least little thing wrong.
Because He was sinless, He alone, of all human
beings, could overcome the very real and powerful
forces of sin and death that have dominated and
destroyed humanity! And, when we are joined to
Him by our faith, we can too!
Third,
when we eat physical bread, the bread is absorbed
by our bodies and gives us strength. Bread gives
strength to the body and sustains human life.
This ceremony of eating this special bread is
an expression of a greater reality, a greater
eating and a greater union with a greater bread.
Eating the bread of this ceremony is an expression
that we know who Yeshua is, that He is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and our Lord and Savior and King
and Kinsman Redeemer and Elder Brother. Eating
the bread of this special ceremony means that
we have genuine faith and confidence in Him. We
believe in Him, and we are part of Him, and He
is part of us. When we know who Yeshua is, and
we trust Him, His sinless life is shared with
us. We absorb more and more of His life and goodness
and strength, and that will enable us to overcome
sin and temptation. It will enable us to continue
serving God on a daily basis throughout our lives.
And, as we continue eating the bread throughout
our lives, and by that I mean believing in Him,
and getting close to Him, we will continue absorbing
strength and power from Him, and like the One
we are part of, and who is part of us, we will
eventually completely overcome sin and death!
We will live forever in a completely sinless and
holy condition! How cool is that?
Along
with the bread, Messiah took a cup of wine, and
gave it new meaning that pointed us to Himself,
and what He has done for us. And in the same
way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying,
"This cup which is poured out for you is
the new covenant in My blood”. According to
Jewish tradition, four cups of wine are drunk
during the Passover meal - two before the meal
and two afterward. Wine makes happy the heart
of human beings, and is a symbol of happiness.
We drink wine at Passover because we are so happy
that the Lord rescued up out of the miseries of
slavery in the powerful Egyptian empire. After
He took us out of that misery, the Almighty made
a new covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai. The
leaders of Israel had a meal on Mount Sinai, in
the presence of God, eating and drinking and celebrating
Israel’s new covenant with God.
Through
Yeshua, by means of what Messiah came and did
for us, God was making a new and better covenant
with the Jewish people. The mediator of this new
covenant was not Moses, but the prophet and priest
and leader who was greater than Moses - Yeshua.
This new and better covenant was about to be made
possible by the death of the Son of God. So, in
a sense, this too was a celebration of a covenant,
maybe a pre-celebration of the actual enactment
of the covenant, but a celebration none-the-less
- a covenant meal enjoyed in the presence of God,
but specifically in the presence of Immanuel -
God With Us; a celebration with the new leaders
of Israel eating and drinking the making of this
new and greater and everlasting agreement between
God and Israel - not on Mount Sinai, but on Mount
Zion!
When Messiah
said: This cup which is poured out for you
is the new covenant in My blood, Yeshua was
not speaking literally. He did not mean that the
wine in the cup was His actual blood, or that
when we drink wine as part of the Lord’s Supper,
that it literally turns into His blood. When He
spoke these words, His blood was literally and
actually in His body. His blood was different
from the cup of wine that they were about to drink.
They did not drink His literal blood. This is
symbolic language. Wine is a symbol of happiness,
and what Messiah is teaching us is that the New
Covenant brings us eternal happiness, an amazing
inheritance, tremendous status and the sons and
daughters of God, and kings and queens of the
new Heavens and the New Earth!
But, bringing
us that eternal joy came with a very high price.
The cost was the blood of the Son of God. It was
His suffering and His death on a torturous Roman
cross and the shedding of His blood that made
the New Covenant possible. But, it was a price
that the Son of God, motivated by a great love
for us, was willing to pay.
The conditions
of this contract are that we must know the Three-In-One
God of Israel; we must know that Yeshua is the
Messiah and the Son of God who came and died and
rose and ascended; we must commit ourselves to
follow Him and live according to His teachings;
God, on His part, will completely forgive all
of our sins. He will give us His Spirit to live
in us in a fresh new way; we will be transformed
from the inside; we will have a new power to live
a life that is pleasing to God; we will have a
greater understanding of the Word of God; we will
live forever. The Lord will be our God, our eternal
Guardian and Protector and Provider; and will
be by His loyal sons and daughters and subjects.
A covenant has terms, and these are the terms,
and the terms were made by the Almighty and All-Wise
Creator God. You must come to God on His terms,
not your terms, and these are the terms of the
New Covenant. Have you entered into the New Covenant?
This new
covenant is a binding and eternal and joyous agreement
that is possible between God and human beings.
It was made first with the House of Israel and
the House of Judah, but later opened up to be
enjoyed by people from all the nations. It doesn’t
matter who you are. The question is, no matter
who you are, have you entered into the New Covenant?
The New
Covenant is real. It is the most important contract,
deal, agreement that you can ever be part of.
Believe me - you want to be part of this New Covenant!
It is vitally important to you and to your eternal
well-being to become part of this covenant. Have
you entered into the New Covenant?
Messiah
alone paid the price of atonement and Messiah
alone made the New Covenant possible. What was
humanity’s contribution? Betrayal and execution!
Betrayal in the person of Judas, and execution
though Jewish and Gentile leaders. In one sense,
Judas represents all of us. Each one of us, at
various times has been a Judas. Each one of us
in various ways - by our thoughts, by our words,
by our deeds, by things we have done that we shouldn’t
have done, and by things that we should have done
but didn’t do - have betrayed the Lord. But
behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with
Mine on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man
is going as it has been determined; but woe to
that man by whom He is betrayed”!
There
are levels of betrayal, and this is very very
serious betrayal. Judas is the epitome, the icon
of betrayal. Judas, who saw so much, and who even
did so much - even miracles, and yet betrayed
the Son of God, the righteous Messiah, the sinless
King of Israel, will be seriously punished for
his lies, his treason, his betrayal. He is perfectly
good and altogether righteous. He is also a God
of justice. Such a supremely good and just being
will not tolerate liars and betrayers.
Yes, Judas
was bad and will get what he deserves. But, what
about you? Are you betraying the Lord, or are
you standing solidly, firmly, with Him on His
side? Through your faith and your life, are you
supporting Him? Or, are you playing both sides?
A betrayer
among the 12 who would work against their Rabbi?
Those 12 men who had been with Him for years,
and heard His great teachings, and witnessed His
many great miracles, and even did miracles themselves?
Those 12 men who heard Peter declare that He was
Messiah? Those 12 men who heard a great multitude
acknowledge the Rabbi from Nazareth as the King
of Israel? Now that they were so close to achieving
the goal of Yeshua taking over the nation of Israel,
one of the 12 was going to betray Him? Who could
do such a thing?
And
they began to discuss among themselves which one
of them it might be who was going to do this thing.
On their own, the 11 disciples weren’t able
to figure out who the betrayer was. Messiah knew
who the betrayer was, and could have exposed him,
but chose not too. Judas’ freewill would be respected.
The plans of the adversaries of Messiah would
be allowed to play themselves out and Messiah
would die, so that the ultimate plan of God for
our salvation could succeed. Fascinating! Deep.
Wise!
Maybe
the disciples couldn’t figure out who would betray
King Messiah, but at the Lord’s final meal, they
could figure out which one of them was the most
important among them!
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