So open with me to Mark chapter 14, as we've been continuing through the gospel of Mark. Paul didn't think I could do it, but I covered, what, 62 verses last Sunday, which I wouldn't recommend anyone do. But I wanted to look at the whole chapter and what is taking place, the large movements in the gospel of Mark. And we are gonna focus in on a few verses this morning, verses 22 through 25, as we look at the Lord's Table, what I've titled The Last Passover. And it is the great job of the preacher, his main task when he brings God's book, is to preach the gospel. is to remind all of us, even though we are Christians, to remind us, as Paul did to the Romans and the Corinthians, of what is the gospel, the good news for wretched sinners. So the preacher's job is much like a server at a restaurant. That's why I think it's really good for pastors before they're pastors to work at a restaurant. Because you work with people, and your main job is to bring the meal to the table unchanged, hopefully. and warm, and that is the job of a teacher or preacher of God's word, is we're not the chef, we don't make the meal, we don't design it, God has already made it in his word. Our job is to bring it to your table, unchanged and unaltered for you and for the glory of God. And so I hope your palate is ready to taste this morning, and you literally will taste the bread in the cup, that you're ready to taste the word of God. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Yes, even in the midst of some chaos in the world, the Lord is still good. I want you this morning to look at the gospel. All that I'm going to say this morning is concerning the gospel. I'm going to create nothing new for you. The preacher isn't to design some whiz-bang sermon out of some creative idea that he conjures up, but I'm just to bring you the Gospel, the Word of God. So I want you to behold this morning the Lamb of God, which we will do at the Lord's table, but we will do here in the pages of Scripture first. to behold the Lamb of God who did once and for all take away our sins, and who did once and for all rescue us from slavery. Your job this morning is to behold. Your job is to see, to hear, to examine, to meditate upon the gospel, upon the Lamb of God Himself, Your job is to savor Him, to taste and see that the Lord truly is good, and what better place to see the goodness of God than in the gospel itself? That is our job. That is your job. And the gospel is just as new and relevant as it was 2,000 years ago. We might call it the old gospel, but the old gospel message is still as relevant today as it was in the first century, and it always will be. And it's a good, humbling task for us. When we come before the gospel, we are humbled by what we see. We're reminded, including the Lord's Table, that there is the reality that we are sinners, and we stand in need of God's mercy and grace, and yet we also see the glory of Jesus Christ in giving his life for us. Charles Spurgeon said, we have reasons for almost anything, but we have no reasons for pride. And that's true, right, when we stand before the cross. We have no room to boast. We can't boast in anything we can do or anything we have done in life. We boast in what the Lord himself has done. Our text this morning is chapter 14, verses 22 through 25. Let me read it for us, and then we'll dive in. And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to them and said, This is my body. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank of it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. 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. So Mark's narrative here of the Lord's Supper is short, it's shorter than some of the other gospel accounts, but we find great treasure here in his short passage as well. This short narrative, interestingly, is placed, as I said last time, it's placed in between or in the middle of the dissolving of the 12 disciples. You have before this passage, You have Judas has plotted to betray and turn in Jesus for his arrest. But then afterwards you have the whole narrative of Peter, how Peter slowly falls apart from falling asleep in the garden to eventually a three-fold denial of his master. So Mark 14 is a disappointing chapter. It's a darker chapter. as Mark gives it to us here, and we see literally the 12 disciples disintegrate. They fall apart. These men, James and John, the sons of thunder, and Peter, the rock, and you have Simon, the zealot, and you have these great men, it seems, who all eventually fall apart. All those closest to Jesus leave and forsake Jesus. Everything from falling asleep to forsaking Him. And they eventually all flee and leave Christ. Even though they had vowed they will be with Him, they will fight with Him. With courage, even Peter saying, even if they all leave you, Lord, I will never leave you. Peter was willing even to give his own life for Christ. And yet we saw last time all of those resolutions and vows just fell apart. They were all revealed to be vain. The disciples are revealed to be cowards. They were empty words, fruitless followers. They were driven by fear. And when the shepherd was struck, they all fled as Zachariah had told us. None were willing to give their life for Christ. But there was one in their midst who was willing to give his life for them. And that is the Lamb of God. And that is Mark's focus here in the middle of chapter 14. Behold, the Lamb of God here in the middle of A dark chapter. In verse 22, it says, as they were eating, he took bread. After blessing it, broke it and gave it to them and said, take this is my body. Mark says, he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. The focus here is not on the disciples, certainly. And by the end of the chapter, you're disappointed with them entirely. Unlike we said last time, you see yourself in the disciples. This is a reflection of us. We would do no better than the 12. But the center of attention is whom? Christ, He's the one who perseveres. He's the one who continues to go forward to the cross, and He's the one that will die for them. And so in the midst of an unfortunate, dark chapter here, we have a gem. We have a glorious passage to look at. It's like having a diamond with a dark background so that this small little section here in the Lord's table radiates in Mark's chapter. So we have no reason for pride because we're gonna sit at the table with the Lord Jesus and we're just like the 12. We are just fearful as they are and yet we see how glorious Christ is. I wanna look at two things this morning and keep it fairly simple. And it's really a response to the Lord's table. And the first is this, behold the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. It says after breaking the bread, Jesus says to them, take this is my body. and even in the breaking or the tearing of the bread would be a vivid illustration there of what's to happen to him, that he's gonna give of himself, he's gonna be broken. Paul adds in 1 Corinthians 11, 24, which is for you. Take this is my body, Paul adds, which is for you. He does this for these men here who will forsake him, but he does it for you, he does it for I. Yes, his body. his being, his whole person will be broken on our behalf. And Jesus here immediately changes everything. And this is what he's done through the whole gospel. Jesus continues to transform everything he encounters. Not only earlier did Jesus change preaching itself, now they said, here's a man who preaches with authority. Not only does Jesus alter the angelic realm, he had taken dominion on the angels casting out demons. He's altered the angelic realm. Not only does Jesus change the health and the physical well-being of the people that he encounters, sometimes through touch, sometimes through word, sometimes close, sometimes far away, people are healed and changed radically. Not only does Jesus transform a bad day on the Sea of Galilee, changing the storm and the stormy sea there, he makes it a holiday at the beach. He transforms everything. Not only then does he start to transform the messianic expectations of the disciples, but now in a simple statement, he transforms Passover. He changes Passover completely this night with the 12. He starts to bring the Old Testament to an end. And though they did not understand this at this time, it would be their last Passover for the Lamb of God had come in their midst and was about to give His life for them. Everything were starting to change. And it wasn't going the way of their own messianic expectations, was it? It seems every day they had to have their expectations change. That kind of sounds like our life, doesn't it? As God unfolds our life, we have many expectations and God changes them. And he does that for the disciples and for Israel itself. So behold, we have the Lamb of God here. who takes away our sins once and for all. And he does so, he begins so, by transforming Passover, since he is the Passover lamb. He was sacrificed even before the foundation of the world, and yet, here tonight with his disciples, he's celebrating his imminent death. He knows what must happen, although they don't fully grasp it yet. He knows why he has come. He has not come to be served, Mark chapter 10, but he has come to serve and give his life as a ransom. Now, it's been a long time for Israel. Changing Passover is a big deal. It's been 1,400 years since Moses and the Exodus. That's a long time for tradition for a part of the law here to celebrate Passover every year a Jew would tell you probably even today the most significant part of the whole year is Passover and the the Feast of Unleavened Bread it's it's a long celebration there and not just one night but all week And there is no leavened bread to be found if you celebrate Passover in Israel. When we did many of our adventures there, we could make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with crackers. It didn't work really well because all of Israel has changed. It's significant that they celebrate this time. and we'll go into those details of what Passover was about. So again, as I said last time, the northern Jews, the Galilean Jews, celebrated Passover on Thursday, Nisan 14, but you had the southern Jews in the area of Judea celebrated it on Friday, Nisan 15. And so you have here Jesus and these disciples celebrating Passover on Thursday night, and then you have Jesus is to be the Passover on Friday. Amazing how God brings all this together. The lamb comes and he gets to celebrate Passover on one day, yet he is Passover the next day. And what an amazing thought that Jesus has come to fulfill the law. And Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law perfectly, in every detail. Even here, He recognizes and celebrates Passover according to the book of Exodus. And yet, the next day, everything changes as He fulfills the Old Testament Law, becoming the Passover Lamb. This celebration was done in remembrance. We do the Lord's Table in remembrance. The Jews would do this in remembrance because of God's glorious salvation and rescuing the Hebrews from Egypt. Passover celebrated this. It celebrated Israel's deliverance and protection, not just from Egypt and their control, but from the angel of death, from that tenth and final plague, as you read in Exodus, as God brought judgment upon Egypt. For Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews leave their country, And after warning and warning and warning and plague after plague, the final one came, which would be that God would remove the firstborn, take the life of the firstborn from each home in Egypt. A scary thought, no doubt. Israel was given instructions though. by the mercy of god that each household would be spared by sacrificing and unblemished lamb they were then to cover their door post and lentil there their house with blood exodus twelve verse seven says And then God instructed them to roast the lamb and to eat it. They were to do so in haste because they were going to make a quick exit soon. They were even to do so dressed and ready to go, ready to leave, ready to be freed from Egypt's slavery. It's a different world that we grew up in, isn't it, than the Jew would have grown up in. And it would have been done each year in remembrance of God's salvation. In fact, you could ask a Jew, what is the single most significant event in the Old Testament? Of course, don't say Old Testament. They won't think it's old. In your scriptures, and they'll tell you the Exodus. The Exodus is that great event. Even as you read your Old Testament, how often does the author or the people in the narratives focus on the rescue from Egypt, and especially the psalmist? So this is quite significant, and it's quite the celebration that God freed them from slavery. This would begin around the twilight hour time. It would last probably until midnight. So it became a long celebration there. You would eat dinner all evening. I know that sounds good to some of you. You'd just keep eating. But that's what they would do. They would prolong the celebration. Jewish tradition here, too, would require at least 10 men to be present, no more than 20 men to be present in order to conduct the Passover. And so you have here in your story Jesus with the 12 disciples. You have 13 men. There may have been a few more. Some still think John Mark, the guy that ran away with no clothing, might be present. No more than 20, at least 10 are represented here. We have 13 at least. And here's what's to take place. Let me give you the narrative. First, there would be a prayer of thanksgiving to begin the celebration. Then it would be followed by the first cup of wine. They would then wash their hands for the meal. This wasn't just simply a, you know, we live in an age of, you know, sanitation and make sure you have your hand sanitizer. This wasn't just for physical cleansing. This was to represent holiness. They were taking this time to be serious and holy about what they were celebrating. It symbolized cleansing. Then they would eat the bitter herbs and break the unleavened bread. They would dip the bread into a paste that was made of fruits and nuts. And that really began the meal. Then they would sing likely two of the Hillel Psalms. The Hillel Psalms are Psalms 113 through 118. And so likely they would sing Psalm 113 and Psalm 114. here at this point, followed by a second cup of wine. Then they would eat the roasted lamb, which was the main course of the meal. Again, so this is being stretched out over a long period of time, a lot of discussion. Maybe we could learn the 21st century. It's good principles here. Don't rush your meal. God brings people together as he has created food. and it was a time of fellowship. After the Lamb, they would have the third cup of wine, and then they would sing more of the Psalms, Psalms 115 through Psalm 118. And then they'd have a fourth cup of wine to end at. And many say that they would then end that time with one additional psalm or hymn. Many believe Psalm 136. That's the process there that night. A lot to do, a lot of discussion. Oh, I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that night. All the things they were talking about. But interestingly, one of the other gospel writers mentions that in the midst of the Lord's Table discussion, what are the 12 discussing? Who's the greatest of them? Honest sketch, isn't it? These are real men. You know, they're not sitting around talking about, did election happen before the fall? Did election happen after the fall? The things that we like to talk about in our theological circles, they were bragging about who's the greatest. A reminder that the Lord's table is for sinners. and there's no room for pride when we come together. Give thanks, Psalm 136, one says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. They would have sang this as they leave, as they go to the Mount of Olives where Jesus would spend the night in prayer. Give thanks, we should do the same. Give thanks to the Lamb of God. who comes to take away the sins of the world. And this evening as they celebrated Passover, Jesus changed everything. He not only celebrated what they've done for the past, what God did in the past, But Jesus now, in taking this bread and the cup and referencing himself, this is my body, verse 22, verse 23, this is my blood, he now celebrates what he's going to do in the future. I'm sure the disciples were thinking, where is this going? This isn't what we're used to. This isn't part of our tradition. So in the midst of this 1400 year old tradition, the law giver, who's in their midst, begins to change the law. He begins to transform Passover, making it the last Passover for them, at least for the time, and he becomes the Passover lamb to save his people from judgment. This is the gospel, isn't it? We are just meditating on the gospel. And there are four actions by Jesus. He took the bread, he gave thanks, he broke the bread, and he gave it to the disciples. The emphasis on the verbs is Mark telling us who is at the center of this. It's Christ. Christ is the focus, not the 12. but the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the one producing the action. He's the one moving things this direction, as he will, all the way to the cross. And the bread and the cup symbolize him. The bread symbolizes his body. The reference here of body, meaning flesh, is not just a reference to his human flesh, to his body. It's a reference to his entire self is the idea. that he himself will be broken on their behalf. Broken for unfaithful followers. This is really good news. Jesus wasn't waiting for them to get everything together in their life. Otherwise, he would never have given of himself. And then he takes the cup in the same way. This would have been the third cup that he takes at this point that Passover night, he gives thanks here and he gives it to them. And he references this pouring out. This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. This is Old Testament language for giving your life. And it's a violent picture to have your blood or yourself poured out as to violently die. Jesus is telling them what is soon to happen to him for their sake. So not only transforming this evening by revealing himself and what is to take place, but that he will pour out himself for them. He will do so for them. Jesus makes another prediction here. He's made many. Every prediction Jesus makes comes true. every single one because he is perfect and he is God, very God. The Lamb of God has predicted his betrayal already. That's taking place behind the scenes with Judas right now. The Lamb of God has predicted his death numerous times. He does so again here because his life will be poured out for many. Jesus is again telling them, I will die. And then on top of this, he predicts what? His resurrection, maybe you missed it. I missed it in the first reading. Truly I say to you, I will not drink again, that's a good word, again, of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. He's not only saying he must die, he's saying I will resume this later. I will return. Jesus already is trusting the Father. He trusts the Father. The Father will raise Him from the dead. He's confident of that. I love it. Here we have the Lamb of God who has come to rescue sinners who already declares victory. He already knows what's to happen. He's declaring victory before even the cross because He is the Lamb. This is the kind of Lamb we can follow. It might concern us to follow a Lamb. We'd rather follow a lion. A lamb is meek and mild and gentle. And He certainly is a mild and gentle lamb. He's innocent and He will be sacrificed like the lamb. And He urges you who are heavy laden, who are weary and heavy laden, to come to Him. And to look on Him and to trust Him. It is by believing by trusting, by resting in Christ, by believing that He died for you, that you are spared from future judgment, a judgment far worse than the angel of death in Exodus. One must rest in the Lamb alone. One must, by faith, trust in Christ and His sacrifice alone. You cannot trust in your own works. Look at the 12. They have nothing to offer at the table. There's nothing good about them in chapter 14. And yet. These are the ones that Christ died for. We have nothing to offer Christ. No good works. We have no resume to offer him. We must simply trust and lean upon Christ. This is my body, he says, this is my blood poured out for you and faith believes it. Faith takes God at his word. and celebrates it. Jesus not only has died, faith says, Jesus has died for me. I believe this. Maybe like the man earlier in the gospel, I'm struggling with unbelief, Lord. He's honest with God. Maybe that's where you are. Lord, I struggle with unbelief. Let me be honest with you. I believe, yet help my unbelief. Lord, I don't even have the faith, but I want to believe. Cry out to the Lord and He will save you. He will in no way cast you out. John 6. The emphasis here is not on us, it's not on the 12, it's on the Lamb. And there are again verbs here. Eat, teak, take, bless, break, give, say, take. There's a lot of action going on here in this dinner. And the Lord, the Lamb is moving forward to be the sacrifice. He is center stage. and now they are to celebrate him as the fulfillment of the Passover lamb. I mean, Jesus makes some radical claims, doesn't he? He's basically saying, I'm the fulfillment. I am the Passover lamb. The lamb of God offers himself because only the lamb of God can take away sin. So that's your first response, my first response. Behold here. The Lamb of God that takes away our sins. Let me give you one more exhortation. Completing this Passover transformation, behold, secondly, behold the Lamb of God who provides the way of a new exodus. behold the Lamb of God who provides the way of a new Exodus. Some believe that through Mark's entire gospel, he is tracing the history of the Exodus. And there are many arguments, we don't have time for them all, of why some think that, and that may be the case here. that Mark is tracing, in a sense, the Exodus itself in tracing what Christ has done. And we certainly see it here in our text. There is a new Exodus to happen. You have Passover on the eve of Exodus of the great rescue of the slavery in Egypt. Jesus Himself rescues us from slavery. Does He not? Oh, greater slavery than Egypt. This is a new exodus now that will soon occur. A new covenant is to be ratified through Christ. A new and living way, Hebrews 10.20 says, a new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh. This last Passover is attended, as James Edwards writes, by traitors, verse 18, And cowards, verse 50, Edwards says, it's a table not of merit, but of grace. I mean, look at the table. We can look at ourselves, don't look at your neighbor, look at yourself. It's the same kind of table this morning as we approach the table. We're sinners, we're unworthy. Traitors and cowards are sitting with the Lamb of God, and yet he will provide a new, Exodus. We, like them, dine with the Lord as sinners in need of the grace of God. We need deliverance. Just like the Israelites of old, we too are slaves. Paul tells us there, Romans six, we're slaves of sin. Ephesians chapter two, we are dead in our trespasses. We're following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. He says there, by nature, we're children not of freedom, but he says we're children of wrath. What is your inheritance before Christ, before you knew Christ? It was wrath. That's all that was in your future? Condemnation and judgment and wrath. Like Paul says there in Ephesians 2, the rest of mankind. Behold, the Lamb of God who has come to provide a new exodus. Not deliverance now from an enslaving nation, and not then from Rome's dominion over Israel, though that's what the Exodus they wanted, he's come to rescue us from a more powerful enemy, from sin and from death, which every man and woman in the world are enslaved to apart from Christ. Death is a powerful enemy, isn't it? No matter what our technology does, no matter how sophisticated our health and science is, we can never defeat death. And we will never be able to overcome death in this world. Only one man has overcome death, and that is the Lamb of God. He offers Himself, His body and His blood poured out for you. His life in exchange for yours. The condemnation that's due to you is placed upon Himself, if you believe, and His righteousness is given to you. Freedom's given to you. Rescue is given to you. Eternal life is given to you if you believe on Christ. He comes to rescue us from, in Egypt, we could not escape from. Like the Israelites, they were unable to free themselves, so we are unable to free ourselves from the slavery and the power of sin and death. He comes to deliver us from captivity, from our own trespasses, to cancel the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, Paul says in Colossians, to disarm the rulers and authorities. Makes me think there are rulers and authorities in heaven that have already judged us and condemned us. There is no way to free us from the angelic authorities and powers apart from the Lamb of God. who comes and he disarms them. Disarms them from what? Accusations. And right accusations that we are sinners, that we've broken God's law. He can even disarm them. Paul says, put them to open shame. To free us. He comes to free us from the wrath to come. Worse than the angel of death there in Egypt. The land comes to provide a new exodus. Not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Exodus from inescapable slavery and eternal damnation. And he makes the exodus, not through the waters, but through himself. as His body is broken in two. And we only enter an eternal life through the Son. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. It's through the division of Himself. You know, Jesus, later we saw, he's praying in the garden, take this cuff from me. If there's any other way, Lord. Father, you're the God of infinite possibilities. If there's any other way. And yet, not my will, but your will be done. There is no other way than for the lamb to be sacrificed, for Christ to give his life on our behalf. Rescue from this slavery can only be a divine rescue. We must be rescued from somebody outside of ourselves, who is human, very human, but also God, very God. And that is the Lamb of God. He only is the means of escape from Egypt. He only is the new covenant. Notice verse 24, this is my blood of the covenant. This is a reference to Jeremiah's covenant and Ezekiel's covenant. What is called the new covenant, the better covenant than what? Than the Mosaic covenant. Not like the covenant, Jeremiah says, he made with Israel when he brought them out of Egypt, but one in which he writes the law within on the heart one in which he becomes their God and they his people. As Jeremiah says, one in which he forgives your iniquity and remembers your sin no more. That's a really good covenant. That's the kind of covenant I know you want. And the old covenant too, Moses after sacrificing the animal would sprinkle the blood on the people. Now in the new covenant, it says here, Jesus will pour out his blood for many. Many people, then and in the future, including you. It's by his blood, his death, and blood symbolizes life. He's going to give of his life through death on our behalf. His blood, His sacrifice will ratify the new covenant of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. He is the sacrifice which is split that ratifies the better covenant in which God rescues us, in which He forgives us of our sins. He chooses to no longer remember them. This is a different kind of blood, isn't it? from the Lamb of God Himself, the Passover Lamb. Unlike any sacrifice before, this blood is sufficient for the worst of sinners. For anyone. It's sufficient for the chief of sinners. You may think to yourself, but I am the chief of sinners. Pastor, you don't know what I've done in my life. You don't know what kind of sin I've committed against the Lord. But He died for you. And you can't call yourself the chief of sinners because Paul already did. Paul himself considers himself the chief of sinners because he knows his sin. But the Lord, the Lamb of God died for all sinners, for the worst of sinners, the chief sinner. all who are weary and heavy laden with their own sinfulness, their own burden of guilt upon them that they cannot bear. The sinner that recognizes himself or herself to be a sinner, to be under the condemnation of God. They agree with God about themselves. You're right, Lord, I'm a sinner. I don't deserve anything good. I certainly don't deserve eternal life and fellowship with God. That's the starting point. That is to be poor in spirit, as Jesus says in Matthew, to mourn over your sin. But don't stop there. Go to the Lamb of God and trust in His sufficient work on the cross, which is sufficient for the worst of sinners. This is very good news, isn't it? This is the gospel. He comes to take away our sins. He comes to provide an exodus from slavery and from judgment and condemnation. but not through the waters, rather through himself, as he is broken for us. Jesus not only eats of the lamb, he is the lamb. He not only presides at the feast, he is the feast itself. And in a symbolic ceremony for them to celebrate his death on their behalf, Jesus demonstrates that he lays aside his life for men like this. I find this so encouraging. He lays aside his life for cowards. for the unworthy, for those who forsake him at the time of need. But as James Edwards has told us, it's not a table of merit, it's a table of grace. This kind of table is only a table for sinners. Christ only invites sinners to himself, not the righteous. It's for the unworthy. we find at the last Passover, now the Lord's table, now that it's been transformed, we find mercy and grace for sinners with a once for all sacrifice. And Mark is telling us something profound here. There's a reason he arranges the narratives as I've been showing you through the Gospel of Mark. In placing the Last Supper between betrayal and defection, Mark is telling us that the Lamb of God has died for sinners. This is what he's telling you. It should be clear as the blue sky. The Lamb of God died for sinners. for all those there at the table that night, for us as well today. His sacrifice then is sufficient to inaugurate a new covenant, the covenant of grace where God transforms the sinner from the inside, where he gives him a new birth, where he, Paul says in Titus, regenerates him by the Holy Spirit. It's a sacrifice sufficient to fulfill the Old Testament sacrificial system. Therefore, there is now no need for any more sacrifices. It's a sacrifice sufficient to bring the better covenant so that the old passes away, as Hebrews says. And the new covenant comes as a sacrifice sufficient to rescue sinners from our Egypt. He brings a greater exodus. We might say it this way. The old is gone. The new has come, right? He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the phallus clean. I'm just telling you the same thing I've told you. And it doesn't ever get old, does it? For the Christian, there's no greater joy than to think on what Christ has done for us. It shows his goodness, his love, his mercy. It shows us his justice as well. I know how bad of a sinner you are because I can look at the cross. It took the son of God himself to die for you. That tells me what kind of sinner you are. It tells me what kind of sinner I am. We can't fool ourselves anymore in thinking we're doing well. because the Son of God himself was the one that had to die. What should our response be to all of this? Well, probably a lot of responses, but I would just say Thanksgiving. To have a heart full of gratitude. Psalm 136.1, they would have sung this. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Well, I've invited you to behold the lamb in the word. I want to invite you to behold him in the Lord's table itself, what he transformed that night to be. It's what we celebrated here in the church, our local church, but as a church for 2,000 years. The Lord's Table is a table for sinners saved by grace. And the focus is not on us, is it? You know, when you come before the Lord's Table, we need to make sure to remind ourselves that it's not about us. We have no room for pride as we look at the meek, humble lamb that gave his life for us. And I do remind you, this is for Christians. And it's for Christians who are repentant Christians, not for Christians who are living in sin. Paul tells us to be careful in 1 Corinthians 11 to examine ourselves as we approach the Lord's table. We should get things right with the Lord before we come before the Lord's table. If you're living apart from the Lord's will in your life, then don't partake of the Lord's table. Deal with your sin before the Lord. Go to the Lord today. Don't linger anymore and get things right with Christ. Confess your sin. Seek his forgiveness. Rely upon his grace. Get things right with the Lord. But the Lord's Table is a celebration. It's a treat for us to come before him and to reflect on what he's done. So let's take a moment to pause and to reflect on what he's done, and then I'll pray for us as we go to the Lord's Table. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you've given yourself on our behalf. Lord, we want to humbly approach Your throne of grace. We are struck with a twofold reality, Lord, as we come before You. We see Your great glory and Your grace and Your goodness. That You would save sinners. Lord, we also see our sin. Lord, Yet where sin increased, grace abounded the more or though we see our sinfulness, Lord, we look ultimately to you. And we take our eyes off ourself and we look to you that you are our gracious redeemer. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you were willing to persevere and to go to the cross, though all your friends forsook you and left you. You prayed in the garden alone without the help of Peter, James and John. You you did all of this work apart from our help. Apart from our encouragement. And you gave yourself freely for us and for the glory of your father. What we thank you for the time that we can celebrate and pray that you would be honored. We pray this in your name. Amen.