THE PASSOVER MUST BE KILLED
Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. 8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? 10 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
The fulfillment of the Passover is a glorious and marvelous matter! For it celebrates the death of the firstborn in Egypt of the enemies of the Lord in order to release the peoples of God from their bondage. But, at the same time, that death must not have its effect on the Lord’s people. And no one but Christ, the very Lamb of God, can accomplish this! Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
But the most marvelous thing about it all is the fulfillment of the physical passover in the realm of Christ’s spiritual kingdom in this present church age. 1 Corinthians 5:7 For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: He is the complete fulfillment of all scripture! John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Therefore he is that Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! 1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
And here in our passage we have record of the only earthly Passover over which the Lord officiated. For God is the only priest who can sacrifice the holy Lamb of God! Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And as it is his first occasion to officiate over the Passover, he also plainly states that this is his very last! For we read in verse sixteen of our text, I will not eat any more thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. This is the strongest part of the reason that he had such a great desire to partake of it now! It was hereafter to be changed over from the Jewish Passover to the Lord’s Supper for all believers. For it is only in Christ that this ordinance can be kept for ever! Exodus 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. For he shall ever be the Lamb upon the throne! Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
And the owner of the house where it was to be held, in his upper room, was the last host of the Lord Jesus on earth. But he was the first host to the new testament church in it’s observance of this ordnance to be held thereafter, in remembrance of Him!
The first thing we note in our text is that the Lord waited until the final hours before the time of the observance of the Passover for its preparation. And then he only instructed but two of his disciples as to how to determine where it was to be held. This was done because he wanted no interruption from Judas, bringing the temple guards to arrest him until this was established. Consider these verses: John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.
For Judas had agreed to betray him at a time when there was an absence of the multitude around to witness. Luke 22:4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. 5 And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6 And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. And in this upper room, with usually a stairway on the outside of the house for its private entrance, would have been a very good place for him to do so.
And to these two disciples, the instructions were a bit vague, having to be carried out without much detail, so therefore by faith! For Peter and John were told to go among the swelling masses in Jerusalem at Passover time to find “a man” – just one man! That would be like looking for a needle in a hay stack! But there was one clue as how they would distinguish him among such a massive crowd – he would be bearing a pitcher of water. So they were to look for a man who was not ashamed to bear that which was mostly considered to be a woman’s burden!
For such was the image that the Lord would have to represent himself, in that which he was about to do. He wanted a man walking openly amidst the masses of Jerusalem, bearing a woman’s burden, for he would soon be THE Man, seen by all Jerusalem bearing his Bride’s, -that is, the church’s burden of sin! John 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And notice how the Lord designed for this man to meet them, and how they were to respond to him. He would be a man to “meet them.” Then they were to “follow him!” So this means he was coming towards them, requiring them to turn around and go in his direction. It would do all the disciples of Christ well to turn from their ecclesiastical mindset and follow the example of such an humble man! 1 Peter 5:5 Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
And such an humble man he was. For he provided for his master and others that to which he was not himself invited! And this was made clear to him in their invitation which the Lord gave them for him. Reread this invitation: And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? Verse fourteen of our text clearly states, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. There were no ‘ordinary disciples’ with him! There was none of those later gathered in that upper room after his ascension as listed in Acts 1:13,14. There was not this goodman of the house invited to show respect for his allowing our Lord to use this choice chamber. But where was this goodman to observe Passover for himself and family? We don’t know. Maybe it was downstairs in the family’s living area. – Again. We don’t know. But what we do know is that it was most certainly not in this guestchamber with the Lord!
What an unselfish servant this goodman proved to be of the Lord. Here he again reflects the character of his master. For he was willing to provide for others that which would not be allowed for himself. The Lord Jesus provided the intercession by his mediation between the church and his Father. But when he cried, the Father forsook him! Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
O my soul! What a Savior is He!
And did you realize that that word, “guestchamber” is the same word translated “inn” in Luke 2:7? When he was born, there was no room for him; no guest chamber for his birth. But there was one provided for him at his death! The world, which was made by him, never wants him to live with them, but always ready to represent him as dying on a cross! Be careful, dear soul! The friendship with this world is enmity with God, and proves that the Father’s love is not in one’s heart! James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
But why was none invited but the Lord, and the twelve apostle with him? It was such a serious matter to establish, what was once a Jewish ceremony into the Lord’s Supper that was to be an ordinance of the new testament church, that only the chief corner stone, with the twelve foundations could attend. (See Ephesians 2:20). This was to assure all from this day forward that it was a matter of the Lord’s origin, and not just the beginning of another religious tradition. Listen at the Apostle Paul giving this ordinance to the church at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: For he would not give to them the instruction for this ordinance without first making them know that it came by direct revelation to him, as an apostle, from the Lord Himself!
But if there was the twelve apostles present, does that mean Judas was there? Yes. Judas was there at this first supper. And this is exactly where he met his doom! John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
For it is dangerous to the well-being of ones soul to partake of this unworthily! 1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Judas ate and drank damnation to his soul!
And afterward the Lord washed all their feet in order to show the spirit of his kingdom, which was the spirit of servitude! This is a strong part of the Jews turning against him to crucify him. They were ready to reign with him in an earthly kingdom right then. But they were not ready to work with him as a servant! Matthew 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
You did notice that it was then that Satan entered into him, didn’t you? Judas went to hell with clean feet, but with a vile heart! 1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And that is the way with many who use religion to clean up their lives, becoming more moral, but who do not become spiritually righteous! Cleansing the soul of immoralities without acquiring, by grace alone, the righteousness of God is demon bait! Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
Pastor Gene Breed
February 6, 2015
