So you can go ahead and take your copy of God's word and let's go to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. And today we'll start with verse 12. We'll go down to verse 21 as our text. Mark chapter 14, beginning verse 12 and going down to verse 21. In the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples and saith unto them, go ye into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water, Follow him. Wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, the master saith, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared there make ready for us. His disciples went forth and came into the city and found as he had said unto them, they made ready the Passover. In the evening he cometh with the 12. As they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. They began to be sorrowful. and to say unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? He answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12 that dippeth with me in the dish. The son of man indeed goeth as it is written of him, for woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. My message today is on the Passover prepared, the Passover prepared. We're good Baptists. And so most of the time, when we get into this text, Mark chapter 14, at least for me, historically, as I've preached it, as I've looked at it, we skip right on through this and get to the Lord's Supper. And that is important. And we're going to get there. We're going to get there. And there are only two ordinances that have been given to the Lord's church, baptism, and then the Lord's supper. And it is here further on down in the text. But before we get to that, here in the context of this, we have the Passover and It is something that when we, as a church, observe the Lord's Supper, this is something that I try to remind the church of, that it did occur, that on the night that he was betrayed at the conclusion of the Feast of the Passover, which he and his disciples were celebrating, that he took the bread and having blessed it, he break it and gave to his disciples and said, this is my body, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. So it's important that we remember the context of when all this took place. But it's not too often that we, at least for me, take a message and really slow down. And look at these verses here. The Lord's Supper is important, but so is the Passover meal as we consider it in the context. In fact, that's why it's mentioned here. As Mark wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He says, the first day of unleavened bread when they killed the Passover. The first day of unleavened bread is how Mark describes the date. John MacArthur observed that the Passover and unleavened bread were so closely associated that both terms were used interchangeably to refer to the eight-day celebration that began with Passover. Although unleavened bread is used here, Mark's clear indication, his clear intention rather, is the preparation for the Passover. when the King James translators wrote here in our text, they killed the Passover. What they mean is they sacrificed the Passover lamb. That's what's intended in the Greek. This is what's intended here in the text. They killed the Passover. They weren't destroying the day. They weren't destroying the celebration. Rather, they were sacrificing the Passover lamb. As disciples, said to him, where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? They didn't ask, are you going to partake of this? They didn't say, Is this something that you want to be a part of? No, no. They said, where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? This was assumed. And the reason for this is all the way back in the book of Exodus. And so let's, you can put your ribbon here in Mark chapter 14. Since it's good for us to refresh ourselves on this, let's go back to Exodus chapter 12 for just a few moments this morning. Exodus chapter 12 and We'll begin reading in verse one, and I want us to consider the text here, as the Passover was instituted by God. The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months, shall be the first month of the year to you. speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. If the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year, he shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, and they shall take of the blood, strike it on the two side posts, on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. They shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it, eat not of it raw nor sodden at all with water, or roast with fire his head with his legs with the pertinence thereof. You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning and That which remaineth of it until morning, ye shall burn with fire, lest shall ye eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, against all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. This day shall be unto you for a memorial. You shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first day there shall be an holy convocation. In the seventh day, there shall be a holy convocation to you. No manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, shall you observe this day and your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the 14th day of the month at even, You shall eat unleavened bread till the one and 20th day of the month and even. Seven days there shall be no leaven in your houses for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened in all your habitation, shall ye eat unleavened bread. Then Moses, called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, draw out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin. Stride the lintel in the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, On the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door when I suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. He shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee, to thy sons forever. It shall come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you according as he hath promised, you shall keep this service. It shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service? You shall say it is by the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over this, over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses and the people bowed the head and worshiped. The children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. This is the the Passover as it was instituted by God. Jesus kept the law. He kept the law perfectly. But understand something else, something more significant, I think. This was the night right before he would be betrayed and before he would die. How fitting the timing of all of this. All along, the Passover lamb had been a picture of Jesus. The types, the shadows, the figures, though seen darkly, they were there, pointing ahead. Hold your place there in Exodus and go to John 5. John 5, verses 45 through 47. John 5. 45 through 47, Jesus said, do not think that I'll accuse you to the Father, there's one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? To the Jews of that day, the law and the prophets, the Old Testament scriptures would rise up in judgment against them because they testified of Jesus. Moses was writing of Jesus. And in this text, in the Passover, we see that. The Jews as well as the Gentiles were in danger. Left to themselves, there would be death. The only way of escape, beloved, was by divine appointment. And so there was a lamb that was slain, a lamb without blemish. Exodus Chapter 12 in verse three, he said, speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the 10th day of this month, they shall take them, every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. Verse five, your lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year, you shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. Couldn't just be any old lamb. but it had to be a lamb without blemish. There have been, throughout history, many men who have died, some who have even died for others, but the only way of escape is through Jesus Christ, the lamb, the perfect lamb of God. Indeed, this lamb on the Passover had to be slain in verse six, Said, the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Had to be killed. Verse seven says, they shall take the blood. The blood had to be applied. They strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. The blood had to be shed. The blood had to be applied. And according to verse 13, The blood sheltered from judgment. The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. This isn't just words on a paper of a historical event that happened thousands of years ago, although it is that, but it's more than that. You see, praise God that those babies were saved in those houses where the blood was applied, but understand something in 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians chapter five and verse seven. Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even Christ our Passover, even Christ our Passover lamb is sacrificed for us. You see, this is the connection. Christ is the fulfillment of that time. The shadow of the law, what was going on there, this all pointed to something that was going to happen. And year after year, as they celebrated this, they were remembering what did happen, but also this pointed to something future. And it was of no Coincidence. It wasn't fate, chance, luck that all this happened. The time that Jesus himself would go to the cross and die. It wasn't a coincidence that we find him instituting the Lord's Supper for his church. We don't celebrate the Passover, but we'll get to this, Lord willing, maybe next week, but there was a church we gather for the supper. Go back to our text in Mark chapter 14. I hope we keep this in our minds as we look at this, that just as the blood of the lamb was applied to the houses, and there was life, so it is that where the blood of Jesus is applied, there is life. You will not find life any other way except in the blood of Christ, in the blood of the Lamb. And so back into our text, Jesus, gives them direction in this question that was asked. Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? Verses 13 through 16. He sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him, and wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good men of the house, The master saith, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, and there make ready for us. And the disciples went forth, came into the city, and found, as he had said unto them, they made ready the Passover. And so the directions are given. They are obedient to these directions. And Jesus is not concerned or worried or frantic about where they would meet. He knows the end from the beginning. He's got this all sorted out. And so he tells them, this is where you'll go. And he directs them to where they'll end up into a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There, make ready for us. Interestingly enough, his church would also later again meet in a large upper room. In Mark chapter 14, what we read, we read of the upper room, and then again in Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two and verses 12 through 14. sorry, Acts chapter one, verses 12 through 14. And prior to the day of Pentecost, and we find the church meeting there in the upper room. And it says there, then returned into Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. When they were coming in, they went into an upper room were abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew and Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zalotes and Judas, the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women, Mary, the mother of Jesus, with his brethren." And then you read on down, you see that they had a business meeting, so on and so forth. But we find them meeting as a church before Pentecost There again, in an upper room. I bring this up only to suggest that this is quite possibly the same upper room that we read about in Mark chapter 14. Now, I don't know that for sure, but it very well may have been. They had a place to meet, and certainly it is possible that this is the same place. And so, as we go back to Mark chapter 14 in our text, verses 17 through 21, and in the evening he cometh with the 12, and as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. They began to be sorrowful and say unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? He answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12 that dippeth with me in the dish. The son of man indeed goeth as is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. And so as they are eating, now keep in mind, they're eating the Passover feast. The Lord's supper has not yet begun. Jesus brings something up to the 12. And this is that One of you which eats with me will betray me. Now, if you read your Bibles, as most everybody in this room, I assume does, you've been around for long enough, you know who that is. It's very obvious he's talking about Judas Iscariot. What is intriguing about all this is that in this text, it wasn't obvious to them. It wasn't obvious at least to 11 of them. As hard as it is to imagine, they didn't see it coming. They didn't see it coming. There was a question among them. Is it I? Is it I? And the reason why they were all asking this question is they all knew their own hearts. Beloved understands something. There are depths of depravity within our own hearts. They had, and they had seen it amongst themselves in their own lives, they knew, and you and I know. And so they couldn't imagine who it might have been, and so they were asking, is it I? Am I the one? There was, as the text says, they began to be sorrowful. There was sorrow in the room. But Mark, well, if there was an outward display of sorrow on Judas's face, it was not in his heart. He played the part. He was a hypocrite, one who pretended to be someone that he was not real. Go over with me to look at Matthew's account in Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26 in. The universe 20. Now, when the even was come, he sat down with the 12. As they did eat, he said, Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. They were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. Son of man goeth as it is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, thou hast said. And so Jesus knew Judas's heart. Judas asked the question, and Jesus called him out on it. You have said, you have said. There was no question that there were two people in the room who knew what was going on, and that was Jesus and Judas. In John's gospel, there's a little bit more information given. And so if you go over there, John chapter 13, verse 21, When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter, therefore, beckoned to him that he should ask. who it should be of whom he spoke. He then, lying on Jesus' breast, said unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into him and said, Jesus unto him, that thou doest do quickly. No, no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought because Judas had the bag that Jesus had sent unto him by those things that we have need of against the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out and it was night. This is indicative of a couple of things. Point one being that Judas Iscariot was a man who didn't even know the Lord. He was a man who, though he knew him physically, knew him intellectually, he was not a saved man. He was reprobate. Satan entered into him. And then, as we know from the rest of scripture, he died without being saved. If you're a child of God, Satan will bother you, tempt you. He may do all sorts of things to you, but he'll not enter into you. There is such a thing as demon possession and all of that, but child of God is not. in danger of that sort of thing. That can only happen when it comes to lost people. And indeed, with Judas, he was lost, and we know from the scriptures that he never repented of his sins. He died in his sins. He was reprobate. Number two, and this is something that is kind of interesting, Judas left the room before partaking of the Lord's Supper. He had Passover with the other apostles and with Jesus, but he clearly left. When you think about this, So as the Passover was prepared and then as they partook of it. So notice what the last verse in our text says in Mark chapter 14 verse 21, but you know, truly Matthew repeated it and John did too. Very similarly, the son of man indeed goeth as is written of him. But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. Beloved, it was intentional that Jesus would die on the cross. This is what he had come to do. But all that being said, man is held responsible for the things that he does. And he says, good word for that man if he had never been born. What man? The one by whom the son of man is betrayed. Judas Iscariot can't go before God and say, well, God, you are gonna die anyway. This had to happen. It's not my fault. No, no. No, no. It was better for Judas to have never been born. Think about this. So terrible was his crime, and so awful will be his punishment. Imagine. Judas was not betraying Jesus from the outside. This was an insider. Imagine. He was not ignorant of who Jesus was. He knew, not of him, he knew him physically. He knew him intellectually. He had shook hands with him, hugged him. He had sat under his preaching and teaching. He knew him intimately as far as one can physically go. only to be revealed as a rebel, an imposter, and a betrayer. To be so close to Jesus, so close to the Savior, and yet to die in his sins. Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. Begin in verse 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Let me pause here for just a moment. Now imagine being the other 11. Judas not only had been sitting under the preaching and teaching of Jesus, but as an apostle, he had no doubt preached messages himself. Perhaps even performed miracles. such that there was no suspicion by anybody who was among them. They could have looked back on his life and said, well, maybe he's an all right guy. Jesus says here, they'll come. as wolves in sheep's clothing. And he said, you'll know them by their fruits. A good tree brings forth good fruit. A corrupt tree brings forth corrupt, evil fruit. A good tree can't bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore, by the fruit you shall know him. The fruit of his life was shown forth there. And while some may say, well, I remember hearing Judas preach, and I remember hearing Judas say this, and I remember the works that he did, you went even on into the judgment there's gonna be people like that. Because Jesus goes on to say, not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me, in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Thy name hath cast out devils, and thy name done many wonderful works. And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And someone could say, I suppose, well, Judas was doing the will of God. You know, the will of God says, you shall do no murder. I shall not kill. He betrayed Jesus. He broke God's law. or silver. Can I serve God in mammon? And indeed, there will come a day, a time, when judgment will happen. The Bible does talk about hell as a place where the worm dies not. It said before the Jews, the Old Testament scriptures will rise up in judgment. Those passages of scripture that they knew from a child, they missed Jesus, they rejected Jesus. Or what about someone like Judas who was there with Jesus and rejected him? Those memories, those things, they keep coming up that he can't get rid of. There's no forgotten memories in hell. There's no dementia, no Alzheimer's, nothing. There's people may wish for it, but it's not there. And those memories of these things keep coming back. And the burning and the torment goes on and on forever. And so it is. There are others who believe, even in our country, just because they wave an American flag and go to church every once in a while, voted for Trump, that they're going to heaven. not unless they've repented and trusted in Christ. There has to be the blood applied, you see. Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus this very hour. This is the message from the beginning to the end. Without the blood, there is no life. And you and I, we can't stand before God on our own works. It just won't happen. And so we thank God for the Passover. We praise the Lord for this text. And we thank Him that Jesus Does indeed, as he said in Mark 14 and 21, the son of man indeed goeth as is written of him. This was prophesied. This was where he was headed. He was born to die and thank God he was faithful even unto death, to the death of the cross. He was buried and he rose again for the sins of his people. What a great savior we have. May God add a blessing to the preaching of his word.