BACKGROUND:Jesus and his disciples had been together long enough to celebrate Passover several times. Apparently, despite the gloominess of Jesus’ predictions and the tension of constant scrutiny by the religious leaders, the disciples tried to keep a semblance of normality. They asked Jesus for instructions about Passover. His response indicates that he had planned their itinerary in advance.
The Passover took place on one night and at one meal, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was celebrated with it, continued for a week. The first day of the feast was technically the day after Passover, but the two were often equated. Thus, this was either Wednesday night (the day before Passover) or Thursday of Jesus’ last week (the night of the Passover meal). The highlight of the festival was the Passover meal, a family feast with the main course of lamb. The sacrifice of a lamb and the spilling of its blood commemorated Israel’s escape from Egypt when the blood of a lamb painted on their door frames had saved their firstborn sons from death. This event foreshadowed Jesus’ work on the cross. As the spotless Lamb of God, his blood would be spilled in order to save his people from the penalty of death brought by sin.
Jesus’ disciples assumed that they would eat the Passover meal together with Jesus. However, the meal had to be eaten in Jerusalem, so the disciples asked Jesus where they should go in order to make preparations.
The two disciples Jesus sent were Peter and John. Whether Jesus had supernatural knowledge in this instance or if he had made arrangements in advance is unclear. It seems that in this instance this room had been reserved previously and kept secret—none of the disciples knew where they would eat this meal. Jesus already knew that Judas would be looking for an opportunity to betray him without crowds around, so Jesus may have made these arrangements and kept them secret.
The two disciples were dispatched in the morning from Bethany to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal. Jesus told them that as they entered the city, they would meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Ordinarily women, not men, went to the well and brought home the water. So this man would have stood out in the crowd. This may have been a prearranged signal, or Jesus may have supernaturally known that this man (most likely a servant) would be there and would lead them to the right house.
The owner of this home was probably one of Jesus’ followers. He knew exactly who the Teacher was and probably knew the disciples by sight. Tradition says this may have been Mark’s home, so this would have been Mark’s father. Many homes had upstairs rooms large enough to accommodate Jesus and his twelve disciples. As before, when two disciples went to get the donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem, these two disciples found everything just as Jesus had said. The preparations for the Passover would have included setting the table, buying and roasting the Passover lamb, and making the unleavened bread, sauces, and other ceremonial food and drink that were a traditional part of every Passover meal.
On that evening (Wednesday or Thursday), Jesus arrived in Jerusalem with the twelve disciples. The meal was not to be eaten until after sunset and was supposed to be finished by midnight.
As Jesus and the disciples were eating, Jesus spoke the stunning words, “One of you will betray me.” The betrayer was one of his own chosen twelve disciples, one with whom the meal was being shared. Jesus’ words caused quite a stir among the disciples. They had heard Jesus tell them three different times that he would soon die, but that one of them would actually betray Jesus saddened them greatly.
Although the other disciples were confused by Jesus’ words, Judas knew what he meant. Apparently Judas was not the obvious betrayer. After all, he was the one the disciples trusted to keep the money. So the disciples asked Jesus who the betrayer was; “I’m not the one, am I?” each one asked in turn. Matthew records that even Judas asked this question.
Jesus would indeed be betrayed and would indeed die as he had already told his disciples. His death would not occur merely because of the betrayer, for the Son of Man had to die to complete God’s plan and fulfill Scripture.
Luke wrote that “Satan entered into Judas Iscariot” before he went to the religious leaders. However, Satan’s part in the betrayal of Jesus does not remove any of the responsibility from Judas. In God’s sovereign will and according to his timetable, he uses sinful men. But that doesn’t excuse their sin. All people will be held accountable for their choices and actions. Whatever Judas thought, Satan assumed that Jesus’ death would end Jesus’ mission and thwart God’s plan. Like Judas, Satan did not know that Jesus’ death and resurrection were the most important parts of God’s plan all along.
John records that upon this pronouncement, Jesus told Judas to “hurry. Do it now” . Then Judas went out into the night. He was not present for the remaining words Jesus spoke.
Jesus and the disciples were eating the bread, and Jesus took the loaf of unleavened bread, asked God’s blessing on it, and broke it. Jesus told the disciples to “Take it, for this is my body.” His words “this is my body” symbolize the spiritual nourishment believers obtain from a personal relationship with the Savior.
The celebrations in the Christian church (Communion, Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper) have first a sharing of bread (including a repetition of Jesus’ words, “This is my body”), and then a sharing of wine (including a repetition of Jesus’ words, “This is my blood, poured out for many”).
As with the bread, Jesus spoke words in figurative language. “This is my blood” means “This wine represents my blood.” Jesus’ blood, poured out on behalf of sinners, sealed the covenant between God and his people. In later manuscripts, the word “new” has been inserted before “covenant.”
What did Jesus mean by a “new covenant”? In Old Testament times, God had agreed to forgive people’s sins if they would bring animals for the priests to sacrifice. When this sacrificial system was inaugurated, the agreement between God and human beings was sealed with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8). But animal blood did not in itself remove sin, and animal sacrifices had to be repeated day by day and year after year.
Jesus instituted a “new covenant,” or agreement, between humans and God. This concept is key to all New Testament theology and forms the basis for the name of the New Testament portion of the Bible. Under this new covenant, Jesus would die in the place of sinners. The old covenant was a shadow of the new, pointing forward to the day when Jesus himself would be the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. Rather than an unblemished lamb slain on the altar, the perfect Lamb of God was slain on the cross as a sinless sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven once and for all. Those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and believe in him receive forgiveness. Now all people can come directly to God through faith because Jesus’ death has made us acceptable in God’s eyes.
Again Jesus assured his disciples of his victory over his imminent death and of a future in the Kingdom of God. The next few hours would bring apparent defeat, but soon they would experience the power of the Holy Spirit and witness the great spread of the gospel message.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Easter makes all the difference. Good Friday shows how much Jesus loves each and every one of us. The gruesome beatings. The mocking He endured. The shameful things done to him that he endured. The walk down the Via Delarosa – the road of sorrows. Then Calvary. The cross. The spikes through His wrists and ankles. He endured all of this because some one had to pay the penalty for our sin. I am blown away by that kind of love.
Good Friday (It was good for everybody except Jesus) was all about Hi love for us. Easter is all about His Power. Easter is the proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be. Let’s just face it, Jesus made some outrageous claims when He was here on earth.
He said things like, "I'm God.... I'm perfect ... I'm the only way to heaven ... I'm the Savior of the world... " In John 11:25, Jesus says "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though He dies." That’s pretty bold don’t you think? Here’s my point;
A lot of people try to make Jesus a good teacher. Folks, a good teacher would never say that. I could go out and teach people in the Valley all kinds of good moral truths and they'd say, "Mike’s a good teacher". But if I started calling myself God you wouldn't think I was a good teacher any more. You would think I was nutty. So, Jesus was either who He said He was or He was the biggest liar who ever lived. Easter- the resurrection – it proves Jesus is God – and what will you do with that?
Several weeks ago I ran across an old Time magazine from 1993. The cover says, “Los Angeles: Is the city of angles going to hell?” I don’t know if the city of angels is going to hell or not. I'm more interested in knowing am I going to heaven. If I were to go over to the Stone Ridge Mall this afternoon and ask people, “If you were to die tonight and you are to stand before God and God said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?” what would you say?
Most people would say, “I think so… I hope so… I guess I am… I want to go… I hope and wish that I am…” Friends, hoping and wishing and guessing isn’t good enough. I need to know this for sure. Only a fool would go all through life totally unprepared for something you know is inevitable. The mortality rate in the world is now one hundred percent – I don’t know if you’ve heard that or not. We’re all going to die at some point. The question is what’s going to happen after I die?
Today I want to help you settle this basic issue. You can absolutely, confidently for sure know that you’re going to heaven when you die. This Easter we’re going back to the basics and settle this issue so that nobody here when you leave, you won’t have any doubt in your mind you’re going to heaven when you die.
Vince Lombardi, the famous NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Superbowl’s. Every year he would start training camp by holding up a football and saying, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Back to the basics.
So today we’re going to go back to the basics. We’re going to look at the most famous verse in the Bible. It’s one that everybody’s probably heard of. It is the most important, famous verse in the Bible. John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
What we’re going to do today is take this verse apart phrase by phrase so that when we finish today you don’t have any doubt in your mind that you know you’re going to heaven. There are three keys, three phrases in this verse.
#1. You Must Recognize God’s Love. “God SO loved the world…”
If you want to go to heaven the first thing you’ve got to do is recognize God’s love. God says I don't want you to recognize it intellectually. I want you to recognize it emotionally. I want you to experience it. God’s love for you is an amazing kind of love. We talk about love all the time. We throw the word around – “Hey! Love ya man!” in that manly macho kind of way.
But we don’t go around saying, “I so love you.” ( If you did you’d probably get some weird reactions) But the Bible says God SO LOVED the world. That phrase, so loved, it means His love is extravagant. It’s lavish. It’s beyond comprehension.
God so loves you on your good days and on your bad days. He so loves you when it’s raining. He so loves you when it’s shining. He so loves you when you do the right thing, and He so loves you when you do the wrong thing. And Folks, God didn’t just say He loved you. He showed it. A lot of people say it but they don’t do anything about it.
He showed it. He showed it in the most expensive way. He sacrificed His Son. He proved it. When Jesus Christ stretched out His arms on the cross to die for us He was saying to you, I love you this much.
Good Friday (It was good for everybody except Jesus) was all about Hi love for us. Easter is all about His Power. Easter is the proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be. Let’s just face it, Jesus made some outrageous claims when He was here on earth.
He said things like, "I'm God.... I'm perfect ... I'm the only way to heaven ... I'm the Savior of the world... " In John 11:25, Jesus says "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though He dies." That’s pretty bold don’t you think? Here’s my point;
A lot of people try to make Jesus a good teacher. Folks, a good teacher would never say that. I could go out and teach people in the Valley all kinds of good moral truths and they'd say, "Mike’s a good teacher". But if I started calling myself God you wouldn't think I was a good teacher any more. You would think I was nutty. So, Jesus was either who He said He was or He was the biggest liar who ever lived. Easter- the resurrection – it proves Jesus is God – and what will you do with that?
Several weeks ago I ran across an old Time magazine from 1993. The cover says, “Los Angeles: Is the city of angles going to hell?” I don’t know if the city of angels is going to hell or not. I'm more interested in knowing am I going to heaven. If I were to go over to the Stone Ridge Mall this afternoon and ask people, “If you were to die tonight and you are to stand before God and God said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?” what would you say?
Most people would say, “I think so… I hope so… I guess I am… I want to go… I hope and wish that I am…” Friends, hoping and wishing and guessing isn’t good enough. I need to know this for sure. Only a fool would go all through life totally unprepared for something you know is inevitable. The mortality rate in the world is now one hundred percent – I don’t know if you’ve heard that or not. We’re all going to die at some point. The question is what’s going to happen after I die?
Today I want to help you settle this basic issue. You can absolutely, confidently for sure know that you’re going to heaven when you die. This Easter we’re going back to the basics and settle this issue so that nobody here when you leave, you won’t have any doubt in your mind you’re going to heaven when you die.
Vince Lombardi, the famous NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Superbowl’s. Every year he would start training camp by holding up a football and saying, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Back to the basics.
So today we’re going to go back to the basics. We’re going to look at the most famous verse in the Bible. It’s one that everybody’s probably heard of. It is the most important, famous verse in the Bible. John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
What we’re going to do today is take this verse apart phrase by phrase so that when we finish today you don’t have any doubt in your mind that you know you’re going to heaven. There are three keys, three phrases in this verse.
#1. You Must Recognize God’s Love. “God SO loved the world…”
If you want to go to heaven the first thing you’ve got to do is recognize God’s love. God says I don't want you to recognize it intellectually. I want you to recognize it emotionally. I want you to experience it. God’s love for you is an amazing kind of love. We talk about love all the time. We throw the word around – “Hey! Love ya man!” in that manly macho kind of way.
But we don’t go around saying, “I so love you.” ( If you did you’d probably get some weird reactions) But the Bible says God SO LOVED the world. That phrase, so loved, it means His love is extravagant. It’s lavish. It’s beyond comprehension.
God so loves you on your good days and on your bad days. He so loves you when it’s raining. He so loves you when it’s shining. He so loves you when you do the right thing, and He so loves you when you do the wrong thing. And Folks, God didn’t just say He loved you. He showed it. A lot of people say it but they don’t do anything about it.
He showed it. He showed it in the most expensive way. He sacrificed His Son. He proved it. When Jesus Christ stretched out His arms on the cross to die for us He was saying to you, I love you this much.
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) says, “God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love…He sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where some dopey guy did crazy things to show a girl he loved her? It’s kind of embarrassing – an kind of awesome – at the same time. But then it turns tragic – the girl rejects his overtures or worse doesn’t even recognize them. You know what happens? In the story, you get kind of mad at the girl. You think – “what a jerk” How could she be so cold to someone who is crazy in love with her?
Well, in the story of Easter, Jesus is that guy who is crazy in love – and He’s in love with you. That is God’s love for you. So here’s the first step to heaven. I’ve got to recognize God’s love. Nobody’s ever going to love me as much as God does. So recognize His love.
#2. You Must Receive God’s Gift. “He GAVE His only begotten Son…”
This doesn’t say He sent a good man. It doesn’t say He sent an angel. It doesn’t say He sent a prophet. It doesn’t say He sent a moral leader, an ethical leader. It says He sent His Son. He cared enough to send the very best. God came to earth in human form. His name was Jesus Christ.
Why did He come to earth? Let’s go back to the basics again. This is a football! Let’s go through the basics of life this morning. I don't want anybody to misunderstand it. Basic number one: nobody’s perfect. Everybody want to agree with that? The Bible says it like this, “All have sinned.” We’ve all done it. We’ve all sinned.
In America, when you break man’s laws you pay man’s penalty. In Heaven, when you break God’s laws you pay God’s penalties. The Bible says, “All have sinned,” and it says, “The wages of sin is death.” That means I deserve to be punished for the things I’ve done wrong in my life. That’s the bad news.
Here’s the good news. Everything you’ve ever done wrong in life it’s already been paid for. That’s what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He took my sin and your sin. In fact all the sins you haven’t even committed yet. Things you’re going to do wrong net week, next month, next year. Stuff you haven’t even thought up yet.
This is one of the most amazing verses of the entire Bible. Romans 3:24-25 (MB) “Out of sheer generosity God put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin.”
Here’s the thing. Heaven is a perfect place and you’re not. And neither am I. If God let imperfect people into heaven, it wouldn’t be perfect any more. So somebody’s got to pay the penalty for my sin, my mistakes and missteps. God, in His love, said “I’ll send my son to pay the penalty.”
If there were any other way for you to get into heaven besides Jesus Christ coming and dying for you God would have done it. But it was the only way. And folks, this means you can’t earn your way to heaven. You can’t work your way to heaven. You can’t buy your way into heaven. It’s just a gift. It’s a free gift. But you have to receive it.
The third step to knowing for sure you’re going to heaven is to…
#3. You Must Respond to God’s Offer.
First you recognize God’s love – God so loved the world. Then you receive God’s gift – that He gave His only begotten Son – that’s Jesus. Then you respond to God’s offer. God’s made an offer to you. It’s an incredible proposal. He says this “That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s a pretty incredible offer.
Notice who this offer is to. The Bible says the free gift of eternal salvation is offered to everyone. Titus 2:11 (LB) says, “The free gift of eternal salvation is offered to everyone.” Colossians 3:11 (LB) says, “One's nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all.”
How do I accept God’s offer of eternal life in heaven? By trusting Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to trust Jesus Christ? It means to commit yourself to Him. It means you begin to trust God in every area of my life. I begin to trust Him with my finances. I begin to trust Him with my relationships. I begin to trust God with my future and my dreams and my ambitions. I trust God with my talent. I begin to trust God with my problems. I learn to trust Him in every area. That’s what it means to really believe.
Folks, I don’t care what your background is. You may be Catholic. You may be Protestant. You may be Jewish. You may be a Muslim background. You may be Hindu or Buddhist or Baptist or Mormon or Methodist. It doesn’t matter to me what religion you are. All those religions - it’s not how you get to heaven.
The truth is, you can summarize all religions in one word – DO. Everybody has a different to do list. One religion says you do these five things. Another religion says you do these ten things. Another one says no, you do these fifteen things – then maybe God will like you. Then maybe God will accept you.
The difference between religion and salvation through Jesus Christ, salvation is all based on the word “DONE” It’s already done for you by Jesus on the cross. So, you have a decision to make – will you receive Him or reject Him?
John 1:12 (NIV) of the bible says this - “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” This Easter, ask yourself - who in your life needs a personal relationship with Christ? Will you pray for them? will you invite them to Easter Sunday morning at COV, so they can hear the gosple (good news)?
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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