If you turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 21, Luke chapter 21. As I said earlier, we're going to continue our sermon series in the Gospel of Luke. And after many months, we've made it to chapter 22. After many months, we are finally, by God's grace, we have been able to understand more of Christ and his Gospel as we've gone through this book, this most important book. of inspired scripture. Today's sermon is called, or entitled, The Last Passover and the Kingdom of God. The Last Passover and the Kingdom of God. Let us then focus on chapter 22, verses 1 through 23. Notice that the passage here with the institution of the Lord's Supper. The institution of the Lord's Supper is sandwiched between two texts. With regard to betrayal, Dr. Luke wants us to point out to us that in the midst of this betrayal, there's something Jesus is instituting that will continue to feed and encourage and edify his disciples. And as we'll learn by God's grace in the sermon, the betrayal is all happening according to God's will so that Christ might die for his people. Let us hear then God's word. This is the word of God. Let us heed the word of the Lord and let us hear. the Word of God by His grace. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented and he sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat it. They said to him, where will you have us prepare it? He said to them, Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. And they went and found it just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup, after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed." And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. Thus ends the reading of God's Word. Let us pray. Our Father, our God, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the risen ascended Christ who is our great shepherd. Help us as your people to hear the shepherd of the sheep as he speaks to us this day. You know exactly where we are in our lives and our hearts and our sanctification. We ask that you would provide the meat, the food that we need today as we grow in you. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. I'm going to remind you of the larger context as we've looked at Luke chapter 21 last week. Jesus had told his disciples in chapter 21 verses 5 through 38. He was telling them what to expect, what to expect at the end of the times. And he was to tell them what to expect at the end of the end of the times in our last sermon. He told the people that they could expect tribulation and suffering. He had told them that because Jerusalem had missed the visitation of Messiah, the earthly city would be destroyed. He had told them that the temple that stood as the religious and political and social center of the Jewish life would be destroyed when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. And as we learned last week, as a reminder, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is a constant historical reminder to all covenant breakers that God's judgment will come soon. In our passage from Dr. Luke's Gospel this morning, the Lord Jesus participates in His last Passover meal with His disciples. In the larger context, we've learned that the temple in Jerusalem, the type, is giving way to the fulfillment in Jesus, the temple of His body. So also, as we'll learn today, the ceremonial feasts, or types, of the old covenant are giving way to fulfillment and reality in Jesus Christ. So just like the temple giving way to fulfillment in Jesus Christ's body, so the ceremonial feasts such as the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are also giving way to fulfillment or reality now that Jesus has come in his kingdom. And so this is why Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper to memorialize his death that is imminent. He wants to feed his kingdom disciples during the interim period between his first and his second comings. And just one note, although this passage is popularly known to many as the Last Supper, it should probably be better understood or known as the Last Passover. In reality, I will remind you, it was the Last Supper or first and last supper for only one of the disciples, Judas, the one who betrayed his Lord. Jesus will be betrayed in our passage today by Judas Iscariot. He'll be handed over to the Jewish leaders and the Romans to be arrogantly mocked, to be brutally beaten, and to be killed. All this part of God's sovereign decree for His beloved Son. And so, in the death of the Son, We see the revelation of the final Passover lamb. And in the Lord's Supper, we see the revelation of hope for all sinners who believe. Let's note first the kingdom and the last Passover of the Old Covenant. Verse 1 begins letting us know, Dr. Luke tells us right up front that the crucifixion, the time of the crucifixion is at hand in verses 1 and 2. Right away he tells us that the Passover is at hand, the Feast of Unloving Bread is at hand, but also the teachers of Israel who have been seeking to kill Jesus are now going to betray him and do what their hearts have desired to do since the beginning of his ministry. The first movement of Jesus' passion begins with the leaders of Israel plotting to kill our Lord. And so, the end of Jesus' ministry is at hand, but his death to save his own, his passion, has begun. The Apostle John puts this beautifully in John 13, 1, when he says, Now before the feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Beautiful way of expressing what is happening here in this first movement that Luke gives us of the passion. or the crucifixion of Jesus. And so, Dr. Luke tells us specifically the time of Jesus' betrayal. It was near the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the Passover, verse 1 says. Now, this indicates to us something that is important with regard to this text. This indicates to us this time period, indicates to us a setting of time when hundreds of thousands of people would be present in Jerusalem celebrating one of the greatest religious events of the year. This was a time when crowds would have filled Jerusalem and celebration and Thanksgiving was in the air. You see, because the Passover was an important annual yearly memorial meal and celebration that was a reminder of God's great saving, salvation, redemption event from the Old Testament that we read about from Exodus 12. The Passover was a yearly annual celebration when the people of God celebrated God's passing over His people when He saw the blood on the doorposts at the time of the Exodus. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was the term used for the whole period of festivity that revolved around the Passover. Now, why was it called the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Well, the reason it was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread was that all the yeast or leaven that was used in the house had to be removed from the house before the Passover lamb was killed. And then the house had to be free from the leaven for an entire week. We're told this in the Exodus 12 passage we read as well as in Deuteronomy 16. In Deuteronomy 16, Moses taught clearly that no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. So after the leaven was removed from the house, unleavened bread was then eaten for seven days. And Numbers 28, 16 summarizes it. It says, On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord's Passover, and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. So the house was to be cleaned of all the leaven, all the leaven removed, and then the people would symbolically eat the unleavened bread. And so we want to understand that the unleavened bread and the removal of leaven from the home was a typological picture. It was a picture, if you will, of the affliction and the persecution and slavery in Egypt. It was called the bread of affliction. And so it pictured the persecution, the slavery, the oppression of the Israelite people in their time of slavery in Egypt. It also pictured the removal of sin. Levin is often used as a picture of sin in the Bible. You may remember earlier in Luke's Gospel when he said, Beware the Levin of the Pharisees in chapter 12, verse 1. And as we read in Paul's epistle or letter to the Corinthians in chapter 5, he says, Do you not know that a little levin levins the whole lump, speaking of sin in the visible church? He goes on to say, cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now, it's interesting to note here that the Apostle Paul says that the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread has become what we know as the Christian life. It's very interesting that the fulfillment, the life lived as Christians in celebration as the church in union with Jesus is how we keep the festival or the Feast of Unleavened Bread now. It's a great reason to just rejoice, verse 8 says. He says, let us therefore celebrate the festival, not in the old way of doing things, but in Jesus Christ. By knowing that you truly are in Christ, unleavened people, Let's talk about Passover for a moment just to remind ourselves of what was happening. What would happen at a Passover festival? What would have happened if we were to peek in on the window with Jesus and his disciples in this text? What would we have seen? Well, there would have been several things. I'll point out a few. First of all, let me say Passover was one of the three great pilgrim feasts of Israel. It was one of the three great pilgrim feasts. Pilgrim meaning that they would come up to Jerusalem to celebrate it. It was one of the three great feasts, along with the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths. And so people would come up to Jerusalem to celebrate. And so Passover was in the spring on the 14th day of Nisan. Now, that's the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. During the Passover celebration, all Israelite males were to appear before the Lord their God with offerings. Offerings that were representative and substitutionary sacrifices for their sins. And so, in Jesus' time, the Passover was celebrated with a seder, or a set order of service. The family and the friends of the household would gather together for a Passover feast, and the host interpreted the foods on the table. You see, the host would say that the bitter herbs recalled the bitter slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt. The stewed fruit, because of its color and constituency, recalled the miserable making of bricks in Egypt. The roasted lamb was to bring to mind the lamb's blood that was shed to place the blood on the doorpost so that the angel of death would pass over. The host would say that the eating of the lamb symbolized the life that was in the blood that preserved the people as a substitution. And so what happened was the lamb was slain on the 14th of the month of Nisan between 3 and 5 p.m. as we would say. At 6 p.m. which would be the next day according to the Israelite way of keeping time, on the 15th of Nisan the Passover meal was eaten and this began the full week of celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It's significant to note something theologically here that the first aspect of the entire celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was focused first on the substitutionary sacrifice lamb. The second aspect of the feast was focused on the unleavened bread that symbolized the removal of sin and a holy consecrated life as the children of God. Those who are no longer enslaved or afflicted by slavery. It's important to note that when the Passover was celebrated, it had historical as well as future eschatological implications for God's people. The past was remembered in the great Salvation Exodus event when the Passover meal was eaten, and the future was anticipated when Messiah would come and establish His kingdom. And so the Passover supper was celebrated with a messianic hope. It was a time when the Jews not only looked back, they were not only encouraged in the present of God's faithfulness, but they looked forward to the future, when Messiah would come, when there would be a new exodus, when the lame would walk, when the blind would see, when sin would be fully removed, when there would be a deliverance from all their enemies. And so they focused on the past, they focused on the present, and they looked forward to the future. And Jesus, Our Lord announces the time of the Messianic Kingdom is at hand. The long-awaited, the long-anticipated, all of the Passover meals, year after year after year that had been celebrated, the time had now come in Jesus. His Kingdom had been proclaimed at hand. Although the Kingdom would continue to come, as we've learned, progressively until the end of the end, the end had come. The Kingdom had come in Jesus. And so Jesus points us to the ultimate realization of the Passover being about Him. The Passover was about Jesus. See, the time of the Passover sacrifice, however, where Jesus is making known that He was the hope. He was the one who was the realization of all the hopes of Israel. He was the realization of all the hopes of every Passover meal that had been celebrated since the time of Moses. Jesus was the hope. And at this moment in history, at this particular time, at this time of Passover sacrifice, all the forces of evil unite to put to death God's beloved son, according to God's sovereign will. At this particular time, the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is at a heightened eschatological intensity. And so Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, one of the inside men, one who had walked and talked and touched Jesus, betrays Jesus for a few coins, as it were. You've got to get this through your head. Not only is this a poignant moment in all of redemptive history, that Jesus is saying this Passover is about me. This is a moment when it was a celebration was in the air in Jerusalem. It's like our American Christmas holidays or Thanksgiving holidays. It's like a murder being planned on Christmas Eve. A murder being planned on Thanksgiving Day when everybody is celebrating and thanking. God for his goodness. So as the Israelites are celebrating this life and salvation in this. This event, this yearly event, the chief priests, the scribes, the officers of Israel have the death of Jesus on their minds. And it's interesting to note at the end of the text, as I pointed out earlier, that the text verses one through six begins with betrayal. Then we hear of the Passover, the institution of the Lord's Supper. Then it ends in verses 22 to 23 that I'd like to point out, have you look at for a moment now. The passage ends with a betrayal or with the thought of betrayal again. Jesus actually says, For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And notice very carefully here. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. And before we look at the institution of the Lord's Supper, I want us to think about this here. It shows that rebellion and the betrayal of Jesus is not so easy to spot. It's not so easy to recognize by human eyes. It can be that there's a temptation that's ever present in the hearts of men. You know, Peter later would deny Jesus three times. By God's grace, he'd be restored. But even the disciples who were closest to Jesus did not know who would fulfill God's will for His Son. They began to question one another which of them it was going to be. None of them knew their own hearts. It's important to note that it was not obvious to the disciples who would betray Jesus. And so the verse 3, going back earlier, says that Satan entered Judas. The Bible says that Satan entered Judas, describing in this way that Satan influenced Judas' betrayal of Jesus. But understand this, Judas cannot say the devil made me do it and not be culpable for his sin. You understand? Verse 5 tells us that Judas had already been tempted to worship and love Mammon. as Jesus had warned the disciples, would be an ever-present threat. And Jesus loved money. And so, Satan sees this as an opportune time to implement his own scheme by using Judas who had already decided to betray him for money. And we want to understand that Judas is to be culpable because Jesus says at the end of this passage, woe to him, Woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And so at this time of betrayal and the wicked pursuits of men, at this time when the adversary, Satan himself, is influencing and using Judas and his decision that he'd already made, at this time, the last significant Passover is celebrated with Jesus and his disciples in verses 7 through 13. And at this time, the Lord's Supper is instituted. You know, it's interesting that we must remember that Jesus knows the hearts of men and especially knows and is in control of the coming betrayal, which is part of his divine messianic mission. You remember earlier in Luke's gospel in chapter 13, Jesus said that he must go to Jerusalem. Remember, he knows he's going to be betrayed there. He tells his disciples very early, no prophet. should perish away from Jerusalem, he told his disciples. And so, he's in control of this betrayal. Notice that in light of Judas' betrayal, Jesus tells his disciples, as earlier he did with the donkey's cult, he tells them to go and prepare what's needed for the Passover according to God's will in verses 10 through 13. He gives them even the detail of what they will find. Peter and John will find a man carrying water, and that's the man they're to talk to about getting the large upper room. So Jesus prearranges the place and tells Peter and John how they'll know to find the right place for them to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Part of the reason why Jesus is only telling two of his disciples is because there is a great crowd in Jerusalem. He knows he's going to be betrayed, and he's doing this in secret because he must celebrate the Passover. He greatly desires to celebrate the Passover before his death. So the Passover celebration with his disciples must happen before he is betrayed. And again, Jesus, as sovereign Lord, is in control of every aspect of this as the events unfold around him. All that's going on in this passage is the outworking of God's sovereign degree for his son. Nothing surprises him. And although Jesus fully knows that he will suffer as he specifically goes to as he specifically gone to Jerusalem for this very reason, although Jesus is death and although his betrayal and death will seem like the end of the people's messianic hopes. Although His death will seem like the failure of the kingdom of God, there will be victory. Look in chapter 22, verse 18, what Jesus says. Jesus tells His disciples, yes, I must go, but I'll drink from the vine again in the full manifestation of the kingdom. Although there will be the suffering of Jesus, there will be the betrayal, the end will not be Mere death, but life. Resurrection victory. This victory will be for Jesus and for all who believe. So at this Passover, there's a transition from Passover to Lord's Supper. Let's take a look at the Lord's Supper now in light of this passage. As the new covenant fulfills and replaces the old covenant, that was becoming obsolete from the very time of its inauguration. As the New Covenant replaces and fulfills the Old Covenant, so the Lord's Supper replaces and fulfills the Passover meal. What the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread symbolize typologically or symbolically or in picture form in the Old Testament epic is being realized and fulfilled in Jesus. What this means is that the salvation redemption, the new exodus that Israel had hoped for, had finally dawned. Now a greater exodus in Jesus Christ was being realized, and it included not only the forgiveness of sins, but the removal of sins altogether. The removal of sins altogether and a perfect righteousness for sinners that can be only received by faith alone in Christ alone. Notice verse 14. This pregnant hour has finally come. This hour that had been long awaited. Verse 14a says, When the hour had come. When the hour had come. When the hour of God's specific timing for Jesus to be betrayed had come. And so the Lord's Supper is instituted for two primary reasons. Two important reasons. Number one. for a memorial of God's faithfulness to his people in Christ. Jesus says in verse 19 that the Lord's Supper is given for you. It's number one, a memorial of God's faithfulness to his people in Christ, given for you. Number two, it's to inaugurate as well as commemorate the new covenant blood of Jesus. The Lord's Supper is given to inaugurate and commemorate the new covenant blood of Jesus. We want to understand, like the Passover, the Lord's Supper event is not merely a memorial of the past, but it's part of a present tense as well as future tense event as the end is progressively revealed. Remember what Jesus says in verse 16, I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Meaning there's an anticipation in every Lord's Supper that is not only something for the present, but an encouragement for the future. That there's a hope, an anticipation, a full realization of the kingdom that had come in Jesus. That kingdom will one day come. So, just as the Passover, there's a past, there's a present aspect, and there's also a very future aspect. Especially in light of the fact that Jesus has come and that He's risen from the dead, that he's ascended and been enthroned at God's right hand. His people are not only to look present tense in the supper and see the body and blood of the Lord laid down and shed for them, but to look forward and anticipate the coming kingdom. Remember in Matthew 8, Jesus speaks that it says many from the east and the west will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Earlier in Luke, he said that people will come from the east and the west and from north and south and recline at table in the kingdom of God. So while the kingdom has come in Jesus at this particular time, and although he's instituting the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Supper also points forward to the day when the kingdom will be fully realized, when there'll be a new heavens and new earth, where sin will be totally removed, not only from us by his grace, but from all creation. And so until Jesus returns, We remember the Lord's Supper as a memorial, the Lord's death for sinners. We thank God for the final and consummate Passover lamb that was slain for our sins. And we anticipate in every Lord's Supper the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. What do we see specifically realized in the Lord's Supper borrowing from our understanding the Passover and now understanding more in light of Christ? What do we see specifically? First of all, we see that the Old Covenant Passover lamb has moved to, has now focused on the New Covenant Passover lamb. The Old Covenant Passover lamb that was slain year after year is obsolete because the New Covenant Passover lamb has come. You remember the teaching of Hebrews, all of the Passover lambs of the Old Covenant could never permanently remove sin. Only Jesus, only in Jesus do we have the final Passover lamb. Only in Jesus do we have the reality that sins can be permanently taken away because of God's grace. You remember Hebrews 9.28 that we read earlier? And I'll read the first four verses of Hebrews chapter 10 as well. In Hebrews 9.28, we read earlier, it says, So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. The Bible goes on to say, otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered since the worshippers having once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices, speaking of the old covenant, there's a reminder of sin every year for it's impossible for the blood of goats and bulls to take away sins. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. So that once the type, the picture of the Passover lamb in the Old Covenant has given way clearly to the new Passover lamb, the final one who is Jesus and thus the reason for the final Passover. What else do we see? We see specifically in the Lord's Supper as the Passover is giving way to the Lord's table. is that we're moving from the old celebration, the old covenant celebration of being spared from God's wrath on Egypt, to the new covenant celebration of being more precisely spared from God's wrath for our sins. We see not only in the old covenant just the picture of being freed from slavery, freed from oppression, but we see in Christ more clearly a protection, a covering, from God's wrath. As John 3.17 and 18 says, it says, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he's not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Just as Egypt received the wrath of God for being enemies of God and His people, so those who are outside Christ, the wrath of God abides on them, we're told. And so with the new covenant, the new Lamb, the final Passover Lamb being sacrificed, we are covered, not only in our sins, but by God's grace to keep us from the wrath to come. We've received grace. We also see realized in the Lord's Supper, That there's a movement from the Old Covenant ceremonial feast of unleavened bread to the full taking away of sin in Jesus Christ. On the one hand, and this is important to keep in mind, the two aspects of the unleavened bread. On the one hand, the unleavened bread represented the bread of affliction in Egypt. It represented slavery, not sonship. On the other hand, the unleavened bread represented the removal of sin. And so, both these aspects come together in Jesus Christ. If you notice, if I may put it this way, from God's perspective, the bread is the bread of affliction because Jesus experiences God's wrath and affliction on the cross for us. From our perspective, the bread is the unleavened bread of the removal of sin because of Jesus' affliction for us on the cross. So there's two aspects that we want to appreciate when Jesus said, this is my body. From God's perspective, the bread of affliction is laying down. Jesus is laying down of his life, undergoing the affliction and wrath that sinners deserve. From our perspective, if I may put it that way, it is the removal of sin because of this action by the Lord Jesus Christ for us and for our salvation. I want to point you to three things specifically when Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. If you'll notice in verse 17, Luke refers to two cups in the passage. Dr. Luke mentions two cups and we want to understand what is important for us, the significance of this for us as people. The one cup that is mentioned in verse 17, this is the first one. that Jesus uses to show the unity of believers with Himself and with each other. After Jesus gave thanks, it says, He showed that what He was about to establish was a covenantal communal meal showed and symbolized unity for his people. And so this was a common cup for all to drink together. Jesus says in verse 17, he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourself. This cup represents unity of believers with their Lord and with each other. And that's very important to remember when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, as we have the privilege to do each week. The second thing I want you to notice is notice the bread that was used in the Passover is now interpreted by the host to be his body. A very important point that Jesus makes in the passage when he says in verse 19, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And don't overlook this. In the Passover, the host would say with regard to the unleavened bread, this is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate when they came out of the land of Egypt. Jesus takes the bread as the host and says, this is my body broken for you. Many years, many Passovers, many hosts, but none had ever made Such a claim. You have to understand that the apostles would have celebrated this meal several years, many years, perhaps. And this is the first time the host ever took the bread and said, this is my body broken for you. And again, as I pointed out before, Jesus, his body represents that body that was laid down for our sins and the body that that was broken so that we so that the sins Our sins might be removed permanently. Isn't this what Isaiah spoke of that we read earlier? Isn't this how Isaiah specifically said it with regard to the Messiah, that his body was the body of affliction? When we read in Isaiah 53, 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. That Jesus' body of affliction was what was seen to be the salvation of His people. That what was symbolized in the Feast of Unleavened Bread every year was realized in the body of Jesus. And this was my body broken for you. If anyone but our Lord had said it, it would have been an outrageous statement. Finally, Jesus says in verse 20, he takes a second cup, the first cup representing unity, the bread representing his body, takes the wine. Now, in the Passover feast, the Jews understood the wine of Passover to represent the blood of the Paschal Lamb. So this was understood. Jesus doesn't say this is the blood of the Paschal Lamb, that's the mere blood of bulls and goats. He says this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant, which is for you in my blood. So all the gallons and gallons of blood that was shed before the coming of Jesus could not take away sin. But this cup, this cup represented what Jesus would do for his people in laying down his life for sinners. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. As Leviticus, as we learn in the Old Testament back in Leviticus that the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. For the life of every creature is in its blood, Moses wrote. Its blood is its life. Therefore, I have said to the people of Israel, you shall not eat the blood of any creature. For the life of every creature is its blood. For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And so Jesus fulfills this feast of unleavened bread and the Passover in his blood. All that was greatly anticipated in the old covenant, in types, in shadows, has been realized with the coming of Christ. Jesus came to lay down His body, to shed His blood, and to invite us to the feast. When we come to the feast, we are reminded, as we have this opportunity today, as we come to the feast, there are benefits for believers. There are benefits that we want to keep in mind. The signs that we see, the bread and the wine, they're not virtually equivalent. That is, there's no magic that happens when the bread actually becomes the body of the Lord or the blood actually becomes the blood of Jesus. But the bread and the wine, they're not bare, empty signs either. What's really there is the bread and the wine. truly, really, yet spiritually represent the body and the blood of the Lord. And when we as believers partake, we're reminded of many things. We're reminded that God is faithful to His covenant promises in Jesus Christ. That this is the body, that this is the blood. And when we see the body, when we see the bread, we're reminded that we as those who are united to Jesus Christ have received not affliction as slaves, but that we've been made children of the living God by faith in Jesus Christ, that we've been set free from our affliction and our slavery, that the blood cleanses us and permanently removes our sins so that we can say that all that Jesus did for us in his perfect life is our righteousness by faith alone. And so the sin problem is removed. We could actually live as those not under enslaved in Egypt, but those who are those who live out into God as sacrifices, spiritual sacrifices in Jesus Christ. So the bread teaches us a lot. It teaches us that we're united to Jesus Christ. That this is the body that was broken for us. That this was how we find entrance into the most holy place where God is. When we see the blood, when we see the cup, we're reminded of the blood that was shed in order to inaugurate the new covenant, that which Jeremiah spoke of many years ago when he said that there will be a new covenant. There'll be a time when my law will be written on your hearts. It won't be like the old covenant that had already been broken because of sin, but it'd be a new covenant where I'll write the law on your hearts and I'll remember your sins no more, among other things. So when we see the blood, we're reminded that this is the new covenant. This is the blood of the new covenant in Jesus. His blood for us, the lamb slain, the last of the Passover lamb. We're reminded because of the one bread, the one loaf, the one wine that we all partake together, we're reminded of union. We're reminded of our union with Jesus Christ. We're reminded of this through the marriage union of our union. We're reminded that as the head is connected to the body, so we're connected to Jesus in union. We're reminded of this organic union. Jesus uses the language of the vine and the branches. And so we're reminded of the unity, the union we have with Jesus Christ. We should understand that this is a means of grace that we partake in. And what does that mean? Well, it means that it's the means by which God continues to make His people holy as they feed on Christ by faith. There has been a last Passover, but there is yet to be a last supper. He continues to feed his people. We want to understand, compared to baptism, the Lord's Supper is perpetual. It is until he comes in the kingdom. Baptism is initiatory. The Lord's Supper is a commemoration. It's a renewal of the covenant. Every opportunity we have to come to the table. It's a blessing for all five of our senses. We can taste and see that the Lord is good. We can rejoice in the Lord knowing that we see and that we feel and we taste. And Jesus says that there's a hope of the future in every celebration of the Lord's Supper. We want to be reminded of. He tells us of the great hope that we have as the people of God in the future. We have that hope now in Jesus Christ and he encourages us and sanctifies us through the bread and the wine. But it also points our attention to the future and the restoration of all things. You see what has happened to us individually in Jesus Christ, what the bread and the wine symbolizes individually for us in that We individually have had had Jesus to lay down his body for us as a substitutionary sacrifice. What the blood represents in that our sins have been forgiven. So the future consummation, the full realization of this banquet in the kingdom is the removal of all sin from all creation. It is the time when there will be no more death and Jesus reigns fully manifested in glory and power. over His world. And that's what we hear in the book of Revelation. It teaches us in the book of Revelation, Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, write this, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He said to me, these are the true words of God. So, people of God, as we come to the Lord's table today, let us be reminded that it's not merely the past we're looking back to, although we are looking back to the past. It is also the present as Jesus, as we feed on Christ by faith. Jesus feeds His people. as we trust in Him, and He's also to the future. There's a picture of the coming supper of the Lamb.