The Lord's Passover

THE LORD’S PASSOVER

An Exposition of Mark 14:12-26

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: October 10, 2021

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Turn to Mark 14. In a moment I'm going to read verses 12-26. We are really walking with Jesus through Holy Week – something that we do on an annual basis when we come to Palm Sunday and Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (in the months of March/April). But here we are in the month of October, and we are in the thick of Mark's gospel, on the eve of Jesus’ arrest and trial and crucifixion. The passage that we're going to look at today is a very powerful and sobering passage in which the Lord shares a sacred meal with his disciples. So let me go ahead and read Mark 14, beginning with verse 12.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says,

¹² 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?” ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ 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?’ ¹⁵ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” ¹⁶ And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 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.”

²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:12-26)

This is God's Word, and it is for our good. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your clear and sanctifying Word that you have spoken for our good. Father, I pray this morning that we wouldn't just hear these words with our physical ears, but that there would be spiritual understanding and spiritual insight into the riches of the gospel. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE PASSOVER IN EXODUS 12

God is sovereign over all things, which includes time. God is sovereign over time. Even so, we can really struggle to surrender the understanding and use of our time to the Lord. One of the complicating things for us is that we live in a very paganized world. As you think about the days of the week and the months of the year, many of them are named after pagan gods or pagan emperors or a pagan festival. And we do life with those pagan day-names and pagan month-names very much on our mind. And yet, for God's people – particularly Israel in the Old Testament – God had a particular timetable for his people.

The beginning of verse 12 – “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb” – takes us all the way back to Exodus 12, and the institution of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And it says there in Exodus 12 that the Lord told Moses and Aaron that the month in which God was going to rescue his people out of Egypt, that month would “be the first month of the year for you” (Exodus 12:2). So Israel's conception of time was that as a new year comes, you immediately gear up to celebrate the foundational act of redemption when God brought you out of the land of Egypt and constituted you as his covenant people. This month – the month called Abib – does not correspond to our January. Instead, Abib corresponds to part of our March and part of our April. And on the tenth day of the month of Abib, the Israelites were to find and secure a male lamb – a lamb without blemish, a spotless lamb – and they were to keep that lamb “until the fourteenth day of this month” (Exodus 12:6). And on the fourteenth day, each household was to kill its lamb. And then they were to take some of the blood and put it on the two sides and on the top of the door frame, and then they were to roast the lamb. And that very night, together as a family they were to eat the roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bitter herbs presumably represented the bitterness of their long years of slavery in the land of Egypt. The unleavened bread represented the fact that they were going to be leaving Egypt in haste, and they did not have time for the bread to be leavened and rise, as they had to make a quick and speedy exit out of the land. And the lamb represented their salvation.

The Lord God said that he was going to go throughout the land of Egypt and strike the firstborn of every man and every beast dead. But when he came to the house of his people the Israelites, and when he saw the blood applied to the door, he would pass over that house because they were protected under the blood. The Passover meant being protected from the judgment of God. The Passover meant being together and enjoying God's gracious provision. The Passover meant being released from bondage. The Passover meant being brought into covenant relationship with the living God. The Passover meant remembering these things: remembering the God who remembered his people; who remembered his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who remembered them in their affliction; who heard their cry and visited them with redemption.

As we go through this message today, I just want us to slow down and ponder the riches of this Passover celebration, because it forms the backdrop for our understanding of the gospel and the new thing that Jesus is doing here.

TWO DISCIPLES PREPARE THE PASSOVER MEAL (v. 12-16)

So, in verses 12-16, at Jesus' direction two disciples prepare the Passover meal. The disciples inquire, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” (v. 12) And, as it happens, Jesus sends two of his disciples into the city of Jerusalem, and apparently there is some pre-arranged plan and some pre-arranged signs where this other man was going to meet them. He would be “carrying a jar of water” (v. 13), and they were to follow him to the house of another man who was evidently a friend of Jesus. This friend made his large upper room available for the teacher Jesus to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples. The two disciples follow these directions and prepare the meal.

JESUS EATS THE PASSOVER MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES (v. 17-26)

The Meal

With the preparations complete, Jesus then eats the Passover meal with his disciples. Notice the emphasis on eating the Passover meal. In verse 12: “eat the Passover”. In verse 14: “where I may eat the Passover with my disciples”. In verse 18: “as they were reclining at table and eating”. And in verse 22: “as they were eating”. So it is very evident here that they are eating the Passover meal. They haven't just gathered together late at night in an upper room to have a little piece of bread and a sip of wine. They gathered together to celebrate a meal that was most profoundly an act of worship.

This meal was not an ordinary meal. In Exodus 12, the Passover is referred to as “a night of watching” (Exodus 12:42), “a memorial day” (Exodus 12:14), something to be kept “as a feast to the LORD” (Exodus 12:14). Leviticus 23 identifies the Passover as one of “the appointed feasts of the LORD” and one of “the holy convocations” (Leviticus 23:4, introducing Leviticus 23:5-8). All the people of Israel were to keep this feast, household by household, at the same time.

The Sobering Announcement

So you have to understand that there is this beautiful act of worship and fellowship and remembering taking place, when all of a sudden the celebratory and worshipful tone is interrupted by the Lord's sobering announcement: “[One] of you will betray me” (v. 18). Think about this. You are gathered around in an intimate setting – I don't know if anyone else was present besides Jesus and the Twelve. But at the very least there were thirteen men gathered together in this intimate, solemn act of worship to the Lord, and all of a sudden the news breaks that one of the men there is a traitor.

William Lane wrote, “Jesus’ generosity in sharing this sacred meal with his intimate friends thus stands in contrast to the hypocrisy of the traitor”.[1] We know that the betrayer’s name is Judas from Mark 14:10-11, which we looked at last week. Think about the contrast between Jesus and Judas. Jesus is generous and embodies faithful love. In contrast, Judas breaks faith. Jesus truly keeps the Passover feast, but Judas conspires with the corrupt religious leaders and looked for an opportunity to betray the spotless lamb.

It's interesting, isn't it, and sobering, that it wasn't obvious to the other eleven disciples that Judas was a traitor? It wasn't obvious to them. Judas had played a good game. There seems to be at least some measure of doubt in the disciples’ hearts. It says in verse 19, “They began to be sorrowful and say to him [Jesus] one after another, “Is it I?” Do you hear their question: “Is it I?” And Jesus says, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.” (v. 20) They were participating in a profound act of fellowship and friendship – sharing life together, sharing a sacred meal together, sharing worship together. But one friend who dips the bread into the dish with Jesus will betray Jesus.

The Psalms Prepared Us for this Moment

The Psalms had prepared us for this moment. I am going to read some selections from Psalm 41 and Psalm 55. What you will see is the tragedy and grief and heartache of betrayal, and yet at the same time you will understand that the righteous one remains confident that the Lord will deliver him. If any sermon text demands a lot of time in the Old Testament, it is a passage like this (Mark 14:12-26).

Psalm 41:9 says, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” That is the tragedy and the heartache. But here is the confidence. The next four verses say:

“But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.” (Psalm 41:10-13)

We also see the same kind of dynamic in Psalm 55. In verses 12-14, you hear the tragedy and the heartache. But then in the verses that follow, you hear the righteous man’s confidence in his God, who will deliver him. Listen:

“For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in the throng.

Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.” (Psalm 55:12-15)

 And then look at verses 20-23:

“My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
His speech was smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.” (Psalm 55:20-23)

You can see this same dynamic of trust and tragedy in Mark 14:21. Jesus says at the beginning of verse 21, “For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him...” Everything that is happening – the plot, the betrayal, the arrest, being rejected by the elders and the scribes and the chief priests and being delivered over to the Gentiles, and suffering many things, and being crucified – all of this is happening according to plan, according to God's script. Jesus knows that his suffering will achieve the redemption of his people. Jesus trusts the Father! At the same time, there is tragedy and warning. After saying “For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him”, Jesus then says, “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.” (Mark 14:21)

The Single Most Important Issue

I really would like you to let this sink in. It is very risky to be born. It is better to have never been born, than to be born and walk away from Jesus. It is better to have never lived, than to live and reject, betray, and oppose the Prince of life. It is better to have never opened your eyes in this world, than to see with the eyes in your head but to be blind to the glory of God shining forth in the face of Jesus. It is better to not exist, than to exist in unbelief, idolatry, disobedience, and sin. It is better to have never had a beating heart, than to have a heart that doesn't love Jesus.

The woman that we pondered last week in the first part of Mark 14 – the woman who took a year's salary worth of ointment and poured it over the head of Jesus in a great act of devotion – she loved the Messiah. But Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, had no such love. Blessed forever are those who love Jesus the Messiah, God's beloved Son. But Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 16: “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.” (1 Corinthians 16:22) Listen! I speak to all of you – young and old, great and small: the single most important issue in your life is to make sure that you love and keep loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure that you have a love for Jesus that goes down deep, that has staying power, and that bears fruit in actually following him.

So Jesus and the Twelve are having this Passover meal, and now the shadow of treachery and betrayal hangs in the air. It is a somber scene.

More Reflection on the Passover Meal

Moving ahead to verses 22-26, I want to reflect a little bit more on the Passover meal.  Verse 22 begins, “And as they were eating” – so the meal continues. Now, I have to be honest, we do not know the exact details of the meal and of the conversation that Jesus and his disciples had. But we really should understand that they were really eating a meal together – a meal laden with theological significance – and it was an overt act of worship. I already mentioned that the Passover meal involved roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. It also involved multiple cups of wine. And it may also have included greens and stewed fruit. And at various points throughout the meal there would have been words of blessing and thanksgiving, such as: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has created the fruit of the vine. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

At some point in the Jewish observance of the Passover, it was common for them to recite the Hallel Psalms – that is, the Praise Psalms – which are Psalms 113-118. Earlier in the meal, they would recite Psalms 113, 114 and 115. And then at the end of the meal, they would recite Psalms 116, 117, and 118. Knowing about this practice helps us to understand the mindset of humble worship that was taking place in this moment. Let me read some selections from these Psalms.

From Psalm 113

“Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people” (Psalm 113:2-8)

From Psalm 114

“When Israel went out from Egypt,
    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became his sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.” (Psalm 114:1-2)

From Psalm 115

“O Israel, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.

The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;
    he will bless the house of Israel;
    he will bless the house of Aaron;
he will bless those who fear the Lord,
    both the small and the great.” (Psalm 115:9-13)

At some point during the meal, they may have called to mind the promises of redemption that God had given to his people, Israel, in Exodus 6, where the Lord says: “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6:6-7) I will bring you out. I will deliver you. I will redeem you. And so he did.

In Exodus 12, as Moses was preparing the children of Israel for the long haul, Moses said,

“You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service [the Passover meal]. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” (Exodus 12:24-27)

So, they would have remembered the sacrificial lamb. They would have remembered being sent out of Egypt, and the exodus through the Red Sea, and the formation of a covenant with the living God at Mount Sinai.

The New and Better Covenant

Now at some point in the meal – we don't know exactly when, but at some point in the meal – Jesus pivots. He pivots from the old to the new. Out of the rich soil of remembering God's gracious redemption toward Israel in the past, he redefines the meaning of the bread and the wine. Can you imagine him perhaps first looking up and saying, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth,” and then he looks around at his beloved disciples and he says as he breaks the bread, “Take; this is my body.” (Mark 14:22) Jesus is saying, in essence: I am the Redeemer. I am the Deliver. I am the Savior. I am giving myself and my life to you. In fact, my body will be broken in order to nourish and restore you. And then he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mark 14:24)

It is remarkable that in the face of his own suffering and death, Jesus sees the good purpose of God in bringing about a new and better covenant. If you read from Exodus 12 and onward all the way up into Exodus 24, you have the original Passover. And Pharaoh tells Israel to get up and get out, and off the children of Israel go. And, of course, the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, and the Lord delivers them through the Red Sea, and eventually brings them to Mount Sinai and gives them the law. And then, in Exodus 24, the Book of the Covenant is read, and there is sacrifice, and blood is splashed on the altar and blood is splashed on all the people. And a covenant is formed and ratified between the living God and the children of Israel.

And you turn over to Jeremiah 31, and God says, “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers… my covenant that they broke” (Jeremiah 31:31-32). God is basically saying: I will make a new covenant with my people and it is not going to be like the old covenant. In this new covenant there is going to be heart transformation from the inside. I will write my law on the hearts of my people. I will be their God and they will be my people. I will forgive all of their sins. (See Jeremiah 31:31-32) And this new covenant was purchased, ratified, and sealed – not by the blood of lambs or goats or oxen, but – by the precious blood of Christ. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mark 14:24) And as the Gospel of Matthew says: “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)

And lest we keep this at too abstract a level, I want you to understand that when Jesus was facing his own suffering and death, what he saw – as the fruit of his suffering, and on the other side of his suffering – what he saw was something very much like this congregation of people who have gathered here this morning. Jesus foresaw real people, who have been brought into fellowship with the living God, who are learning to walk in obedience to God, who are learning to love one another, and who are learning to pray. This is why Jesus died: to bring real people into fellowship with his Father, and to transform their lives, and to make them his faithful representatives on this earth.

Brothers and sisters, we remember the old even as we rejoice in the new. In the old Passover, you were protected by the blood of a sacrificial lamb. In the new Passover, we are protected by the blood of Christ. The old exodus was coming out of Egypt and going through the Red Sea. The new exodus is coming out of the land of sin and death, being rescued from the power of darkness, and being brought into the glorious light of God’s kingdom.

Have you taken his body? Jesus said, “Take” (Mark 14:22). “Take” and eat his body. Take and drink the cup (Mark 14:23-24). Do you understand what this means? You don't have to be your own savior. You don't have to be your own redeemer. You don't have to be your own guilt-remover. In fact, you can't be. You take and eat the broken bread, and you take and drink the shed blood, trusting that Jesus paid it all. And all of the blessings are yours as a free gift through faith.

The Meal Concludes

Moving on to verse 25, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” This was Jesus’ last supper before he died. This was his last celebratory meal. But Jesus sees beyond the crucifixion and beyond the resurrection. He sees a day – a bright, shining, and glorious day in the kingdom of God – when he is supping with the people that he has redeemed. And all of that will come to its ultimate fulfillment at the consummation, at the wedding supper of the Lamb, when we feast forever with him.

Finally we come to verse 26. The very customary conclusion to the Passover meal was to sing a hymn. And that’s what we see in verse 26: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” After sharing the Passover meal together, Jesus and his followers sang a hymn. Once again, they might have sung from the Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118). So I want to conclude by reading a few selections from Psalms 116 and 118.

And keep in mind that the disciples were fickle. We have seen all throughout Mark’s Gospel how dull they were. But know this: Jesus was a perfect worshiper. When Jesus sang, he sang praise and worship to his Father with full understanding and complete trust. Remember this: after the Passover meal and before his suffering, Jesus sang praise and worship to his Father with full understanding and complete trust.

From Psalm 116

^“The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”” (Psalm 116:3-4)

Remember: in just a few hours, Jesus is going to be wrestling with his Father in the garden of Gethsemane. Psalm 116 continues:

“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.” (Psalm 116:5-9)

From Psalm 118

“Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:5-9)

Several verses later Psalm 118 continues:

“ I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has disciplined me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
    the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:17-24)

And Jesus knew that in the perfect wisdom of his Father, he himself would be given over to death, so that all of his dear people might never be ultimately given over to death.

Let us pray. 

Father, we thank you for providing your perfect Lamb, your beloved Son, to come and be our Redeemer. Father, I pray for everyone in this sanctuary and for everyone listening online, that you would work in our hearts an unwavering love for the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that all idols and preoccupations and distractions would fall away in view of the blazing glory and grace of Jesus and his sacrifice. I pray in his name, amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974: p. 503.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Greek Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.