Sunday, February 25, 2007
Mark 14:12-25
This morning we
embark on a new sermon series in which we will explore 24 Hours That
Changed the World. Each week we
will examine a significant moment from the last twenty-four hours in the life
of Jesus. This morning we join Jesus
and his disciples at 6:21 p.m. as they gather for supper on Thursday evening.
Of all the Gospels,
Mark gives us the most specific day and time indicators throughout the whole
last week of Jesus’ life. Sometimes he
simply tells us it was morning. Other
times he notes the specific hour something occurred. In our passage today he tells us that it is “the first day of
Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb is sacrificed”… then he notes a
transition in our reading by saying, “When it was evening.”
I have included a specific time on each sermon to help us focus our studies – some are listed that way in Mark. Others I have chosen based on the text, as I did this morning by specifying 6:21 p.m. from the text which simply says, “when it was evening.” I believe it will help us solidify these events more concretely in our minds.
We pick up the story
on Thursday of the last week; listen again as Mark writes, “On the first day of
Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is to be sacrificed.” (v. 12) The timing of this is a very important key to understanding the
significance of the events recorded at the Last Supper. For Jews, the story of the
Passover is the most significant story in their history with God.
Passover was a most holy day for Jesus and all Jews because it celebrated God’s great deliverance of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. You can read the story in the Book of Exodus, which recounts these events. Moses has been called by God to go to the Pharaoh of Egypt and request the release of God’s people, the Jews. Pharaoh refuses. After a series of plagues the Pharaoh continues to refuse. Finally God tells Moses to tell the people that there is going to be another plague – this time much more serious. The angel of death is going to visit and take every firstborn child from every household, except where there is the blood of a lamb smeared on the doorposts. Every Israelite family is given specific instructions as to how to slaughter a lamb and smear the blood. The angel of death will pass over those houses so marked and the children will be spared.
At midnight, the story recounts that the LORD does just that. Exodus 12:30 recounts, “Pharaoh arose
in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a
loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the
night, and said, ‘Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD, as you said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you
said, and be gone.” (v. 30-32)
After more then four hundred years in slavery,God has heard the cry of his people and has delivered them from the land of Egypt and is taking them to a land flowing with milk and honey. During the celebration of the Passover, every Jewish family retells that story as the defining story in their history as a people of God.
It is that story that is being retold on this night between Jesus and his disciples. There are special foods eaten to remind them of this story. There are four cups of wine that are passed around from which all drink to help them tell this story.
The preparations have been made when we pick up the story in verse 17 as Mark says, “When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ (v. 17-19) Here in the midst of a most festive celebration, remembering God’s great saving act, there is going to be a betrayal.
Moreover, not just one – there will be one betrayal, but then another in the form of a denial and finally all of those gathered in this room will desert Jesus. Yet, I get ahead of myself in the story. Jesus leaves the disciples asking themselves, “Is it I? Surely, not I.”
The question hangs in the air as the meal continues. After the early parts of this ritual meal have led the people through the recounting of the exodus story, they eat any remaining bread. It is probably at this point when Jesus takes the bread, as Mark tells us in verse 22 and “after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’”
Then it is time for the third cup of wine, which was the cup of thanksgiving. Mark recounts, “Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant [or new covenant], which is poured out for many.’” (v. 23-34)
What just happened?
What is Jesus doing? This is
not part of the ritual of the Passover meal.
Jesus has just infused this ancient meal with new meaning and
significance for his disciples. Exactly
what Jesus meant by tying his life and death to these ancient symbols has been
widely discussed and debated for centuries now. Let it suffice to say this morning that Jesus is offering
himself – this is my body, this is my blood.
And, that he is offering himself in the context of a covenant that ties God and the people of God together. In that we need God’s help, and the covenant affirms that God is here to help, to deliver, to save us, if you will – even in the face of our betrayal.
Now most of us will never face powerful government hostility in which our faith is tested or our connection as followers of Jesus is tested in any way that would lead to our death or imprisonment. Yet, this story serves as an archetypal story in the Gospel in that it represents the difficulties of discipleship that we all face. Any one of us, and probably all of us, have in one way or another betrayed, denied or deserted Jesus.
A more likely scenario for us would be like the story one of you sent me the other day.
Late one afternoon the local United Methodist butcher was preparing to close his small, but busy, meat shop. The only item left in the display case that day was one small fryer chicken.
As the butcher was moving the fryer to
store it, one of his regular customers knocked at the shop door. She had an unexpected guest and no meat for
a meal. She asked the butcher if he had
any chicken. He said well only this
one. He retrieved the fryer, placed it
on the scales, and said, "That will be $3.50." The woman said she wanted a larger bird, and
asked if he would check in the back just in case he had another one.
The butcher went to the back of his shop
and looked in the storage.
Nothing. He considered his
options. He only had the small fryer, but
she wanted a bigger one. A bigger one
would bring a little more money and his friend and regular customer would not
leave disappointed. He took the small
fryer, "fluffed up" the wings and legs, returned with it, and placed
it on the scales. This time he said to
his customer, "You’re in luck, that will be $4.85."
Much to his pleasure she said,
“Great!”
Much to his surprise she went on to say,
“I'll take them both!"
Did he betray his friend and
customer? Surely. Did he also betray his faith and therefore
in a very real sense betray Jesus? I
think so. I am sorry to say that I have
betrayed my faith and my Lord on too many occasions. I have compromised my convictions:
I have shared anger, when I could have shared love.
I have shared frustration, when I could have shared compassion.
I have been indifferent when I could have acted for justice.
I have been too busy when I could have demonstrated generosity.
I have been too distracted when I could have been deeply devoted.
But even in the face of the betrayal and denial and desertion that these twelve sharing the room with Jesus embody, he offers them the bread and the cup anyway. He offers himself and his sacrificial love anyway. The bread is broken yet still offered. The cup is poured out and yet still shared.
The Jews are connected to God through this great exodus story and remember it every year with this Passover meal, even to this day. At the end of the meal, they sing from the Psalms known as the Hallel, specifically Psalm 115 – 118. Listen to the tone of these. This is from Psalm 118:
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Then they finish with the Great Hallel, Psalm 136. Think of it as The Great Hallelujah.
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever.
(It goes on to recount the exodus story with the refrain, for his steadfast love endures forever.) Then ends with this:
It is he who remembered us in our
low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
who gives food to all flesh; for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
That is in praise of the God of the first covenant, but Jesus opens the door to all the rest of us pagans and Gentiles; that is, Jesus includes us and everyone who will respond to his invitation to come. The new covenant is based not on the law of God but on the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Mark says, everyone at the table ate the bread and drank from the cup. All of them, even Judas the betrayer and Peter the denier and all the rest who deserted him, were included in the New Covenant.
Our challenge is to extend this offer to others. To not only accept this extravagant offer of steadfast love, but to offer it to others. Next week we will remember this scene again as we celebrate Holy Communion. Who can you invite to come and join us at the table of Christ and therefore connect them to Christ, whose steadfast love endures forever and ever?
Amen and thanks be to God.
Mark 14:12-25
6:21
p.m. – Jesus at Supper 2/25/07
24 Hours That
Changed the __________.
v. 12 For
Jews, this story of the Passover is the most
significant story
in their ______________ with God.
The angel of death will pass ________ those houses so marked…
Exodus 12:30
…God
has heard the cry of his people and has delivered them…
‘…one
of ______ will betray me, one who is eating with me.’
v.
22
v.
23-24
What just happened?
What is Jesus doing? …Jesus is
offering
______________ – this is my body, this is my blood.
…in the context of a covenant…
…and the covenant affirms that God is here to help, to
deliver,
to ________ us… – even in the face of our betrayal.
…one
afternoon the local
United Methodist ______________…
But
even in the face of the ________________…
…he
offers them the bread and the cup anyway.
…the
Great Hallel, Psalm ______.
The new covenant is based not on the law of God
but on the ________ of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Our
challenge is to extend this __________ to others.
Kid’s
Question: What is the New Covenant
based on?