The copy of God's Word turned to Luke 22, Luke's Gospel 22, as we continue our series in the Gospel of Luke. Every week when you see what's going on in your country and across the world and even locally at times, you get reminders. If you're thinking aright, you get reminders of the need to pray. And we have these seasons, you have Wednesday night and other occasions where you may set aside the time with the Lord's people to pray together. And then we have these, about four times a year or so, these days of prayer. And it may sound cliche, but prayer time is not wasted time. There's a lot of things we do that is really a waste of time. Praying is not one of them. What's interesting about prayer is that you never quite know when the Lord may come in an outpouring of a spirit and that things might change right there in a prayer meeting. Read the book of Acts. See how things change in the prayer meeting. The Pentecost all pivots around a prayer meeting. The emboldening and empowering of the apostles after having been threatened. They don't go out and preach simply because they are fearless men in and of themselves. We have ample evidence that they were not that by nature. But the prayer meeting in Acts 4, for example, is God's way of preparing His servants to stay stay the course in the face of threat against their life. And as you know, when Peter was imprisoned, prayer was made of the church unto God for him. God intervened. It's all happening around a prayer meeting. They didn't just sit and twiddle their thumbs. They didn't write emails to their senators and stuff. They prayed to the God of heaven. So you never know what might happen in a prayer meeting. And it may not be for a preacher to be released from prison, that may not be our context next Lord's Day, but you may have a loved one that needs to be released from the prison house of sin, and that may happen in a prayer meeting. And I've been there, I've been in prayer meetings, where by the time we come to the final amen, there is a confidence that God has heard this person will be saved. So seize upon the afternoon, prepare your heart, and may the Lord meet with us as a people. Luke 22, and I'll take time again to read from verse one. It really goes back, well, maybe even just for context, read from verse 37 of the previous chapter. And that's where we looked at last time, from verse 37 of chapter 21 through verse six of chapter 22. So we'll read those verses again and proceed further. Luke 21, 37, and in the daytime he was teaching in the temple, and at night he went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. He went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad, and Covenanted to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the good man of the house, The master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished. There, make ready. And he went and found, as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him, and he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. Likewise, also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed. for you. Amen. We'll end the reading at the 20th verse. Trusting the Lord will give us light and the help that we need. Our focus this evening will be from verse 7 through 13, just setting the stage of the actual Passover meal itself. But this is the very Word of God, beloved. God's infallible, inerrant, and ever-living Word. May you believe it as such. and the people of God said, amen. Let's pray. Lord, help us. This is thy word. We pray that light may be given and help. We ask even in these verses, which we will endeavor to consider tonight, there would be light and there would be help. Thou knowest every heart and the need of every soul. We pray that needs may be met, even for those who are watching on. may be discouraged and downcast, may be some of our own congregation needing a word from the Lord, and Lord, I don't know exactly what they need to hear, but thou knowest. And I pray tonight that thou will come with all thy riches, come with thy riches, and bless thy people. Thou dost love them more than I or anyone else ever could. Show thy love. in meeting with us. Save, we pray, and encourage thy saints, we ask, seeking the power of thy spirit in Jesus' name. Amen. Throughout his ministry, the Lord Jesus made it clear that he came to die. One of the most well-known texts in which he expresses this is found in Mark 10, 45. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. There is so much encouragement in that language. To think of the Son of God taking on flesh and living in this world, not simply to be adored and worshiped, though he was certainly worthy of that, but to sacrifice himself, to give himself a life, give his life a ransom for many. Never forget it. Never forget that this is ultimately what is in view. This is what the Lord Jesus is on the earth to do, to give his life a ransom for many. Don't get so caught up in the various weeds of your life, of the difficulties of life, of the challenges of life, of even the blessings and prosperity of life that you miss the love and the efficacy of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He came to die. the just one for the unjust ones, to bring those unjust ones to God. This is always in view. And through the gospel accounts, it's always set before us. There are many things taught, many things considered, but we keep being reminded that this is what is in view. He is giving himself, he is intending to go and die, die for the sins of his people. and thinking about a sacrifice, we might imagine that this then puts him in a position of weakness. He's coming to die, therefore he is the vulnerable party. But when you read through the Gospels, that is not what we see. We're not dealing with one who is vulnerable. We're dealing with one who manifests over and over again that he is in absolute control. Just reading with the family Last night or the night before, I can't remember now. The days get all merged in. But that occasion, I think it was Friday night, a reading with the family, where you see the Lord Jesus going just before He is confronted with the demoniac and so on, and the power to still the storms with the Word. He is in complete control. In every aspect, He is in control. He's not worried. He is not being dictated by the demands of those around him. He is not in some way being pulled. I know there's an element of pressure from the crowd upon him to minister to him, and you see his condescension to their needs over and over again, but he is not vulnerable. And as he approaches the cross, as he makes his way to Jerusalem, and as you reach this part, in the last hours of his life, when it may appear that he is now kind of handing himself over in a condition of vulnerability, it's not vulnerability. John 10 makes it plain that he is laying down his life. That he, in a very real way, is in control of what is going on. Now man's responsible for all that happens. but he is not in some way just a passenger as all these things unfold. We are in the final hours of his earthly ministry. He is going to die, but every step that lies ahead is calculated and according to Father's will, and the obedience of Christ and his willingness to follow each step and all that that entails. There is a plan and no one's going to thwart it. As we look then at the verses before us, and as I say, it was tempting to deal with the entirety of the Passover, but I think I'll just set the stage tonight with the Lord's help from verses 7 through 13, where you have this account where this day of unleavened bread, the Passover being killed, has arrived, and there is instruction given to two disciples, Luke is the only one that tells us specifically that it is Peter and John who are sent to make preparation, and all that he says as they are to go and prepare for this Passover meal, and obviously then the institution of the Lord's Supper, which is addressed at that occasion as well. So, the message is simple in terms of title, Preparing for Passover, and I want us to see a few things. First, the providential occasion. We'll see also the biblical tradition and the arranged provision. So the providential occasion, you see it in verse 7. This is in the providence of God. We've come to this day. This is the time, there were other feasts, other occasions when multitudes would make their way to Jerusalem, but this is the time when our Lord Jesus and his disciples make their way there, and this is the occasion in which he is going to offer himself without spot unto God. It is at that time when Passover is observed. Now, before we look at the text and a few things to help enlighten you with regard to what's going on, I need to look at problems. There's a problem here. Verse 7 is not with a certain amount of difficulty. When you pull in other passages that detail what's going on around this time, we have here, if I can just set the stage, we have this day, this occasion, Thursday, Passover, and We know the things that are going to follow. He is going to have Passover. There's going to be the setting up of the Lord's Supper. There's going to be the discourse that he gives to his disciples, especially when you think of John 13 through 17 and his high priestly prayer. There's going to be Gethsemane and all that goes on there before the arrest. And that arrest is going to take place at night. He's going to be before Caiaphas all night. The Jews are trying to bring witnesses against him. Again, we're going to see the injustice of that, of being tried in some kind of setting that was not legal, it was not according to law. It's at nighttime where there aren't appropriate witnesses of what's going on. There's not due process. All of that happens through the night. And early in the morning then, the Jewish religious leaders are going to hand him over to Pilate. And that brings us into the Friday where ultimately you have the Lord Jesus being tried by Pilate and you have the release of Barabbas and you have him scourged and taken to the cross where he's crucified at 9 a.m. and he's hanging there on the cross until about 3 p.m. in the afternoon when finally he dies. That's all ahead. That's what's coming up. But in John's Gospel, and it might be helpful if you read it, it's John 18. It tells us that the Savior's death was the Passover. John tells us that the Jews, John 18, 28, let me just turn there and I'll read that verse to you. John 18, 28, then led the Jesus from Caiaphas onto the hall of judgment. And it was early, and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. So this is the next, very early the next morning, after all that's happened through the night before Caiaphas and false witnesses and so on. And we're made to believe by Luke and so on that the Lord Jesus ate Passover with his disciples the night before. Here John records that the Jews, the Jewish religious leaders are bringing the Lord Jesus and they don't want to be defiled by entering into Jewish or rather Gentile jurisdiction because they want to participate in Passover. If you go to chapter 19 verse 14, you have another text. It was the preparation of the Passover. about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king." So this is all happening here at the time of the crucifixion. So how do we understand all of this? Is John wrong? Is Luke and the other synoptic Gospels wrong? How do we pull this together? So just be patient with me as I try to work with you through some of the ideas with regard to getting understanding of what's happening here. Some have proposed that there were competing calendars and they're handled in different ways. Others because the Passover is at evening or twilight. Then because the Jews calculated their days from evening to evening that technically it could be on either day. that's how they look at it. It could be the beginning of the day, the evening of, right through to the evening of the next day and it would still be the same time. Others suggest that the difference was between those from Galilee and those from Judea and how they measured days because they say that the Galileans measured their day from sunrise to sunrise, and those in Judea measured the day from sunset to sunset, and so essentially in managing all of that, then you had those from the north that tended to come earlier, and those in Judea that tended to be later, and I guess there may even be political considerations there, keeping the northerners and those from Judea apart for that occasion, maybe helping with peace and so on, that's what some believe. Others suggest it's just an issue of logistics as more and more people descended upon Jerusalem for the Passover. The practical aspects required it to span a couple of days in order to observe it. These are some ideas. And they may have some significance. There may be some of it that historically is true. But another solution is to realize what I think we can see in Scripture in a number of places, that the term Passover is used often broadly to refer to the actual meal itself and the days of unleavened bread that immediately follow. Now you can see that even if you go back to Luke 22 and verse 1. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh which is called the Passover. So you have the week of unleavened bread that begins with Passover pulled together as one event and one feast. In Ezekiel 45, 21, you have something similar. In the first month, in the 14th day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days. Unleavened bread shall be eaten. So these are some texts that show you that at times when you read Passover, it's not just the Passover meal, it's the entire week, the whole period of unleavened bread that follows. So I think that is the most natural understanding that when John speaks of the Passover, he's just pulling it in as this entire period, beginning with the meal that occurred the night before, right through the days that followed with the observance of the feast of unleavened bread. So that's just a problem, trying to massage that if you ever sort of come across and try to figure out which day, what's happening and all that's going on to help you with that problem. But the picture, what's the picture in all of this? This providential occasion. Then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. I imagine most of you have some idea of Passover, like you're not completely oblivious to it, but there may be a few of you that aren't entirely clear. What is the Passover? The Passover was a commemoration of what God had done for the children of Israel back when they had for multiple generations been in Egypt and under the slavery of the Egyptians. On that occasion, when God released them and set them free, there were a number of plagues, the last of which was the judgment upon the firstborn sons. Now in that judgment, God made it explicit and he told them that the only way to avoid judgment is if you take a lamb or a goat of a year that is without blemish, and you sacrifice it and take its blood and sprinkle its blood on the doorpost and the lentil of your household. Then you roast the animal, you eat it quickly, and there are a few other details there. You find it in Exodus 12. And when the judgment would come upon, when that final plague would descend upon the region, God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Judgment will not come to your firstborn sons, you will be spared." This portrayed for them, communicated to them, a picture they would never forget. A picture of redemption. That's what the Exodus is. It is a profound illustration that comes up over and over again in the scriptures illustrating redemption by blood. that through the substitute of the lamb that dies and its shedding of the blood, God sees the blood and the value of the innocent without blemish lamb. And that paschal lamb then takes the place of those that should die. And you go free, you go free. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When the Lord Jesus arrives at the very beginning of His ministry, this is how John portrays Him, this is how he sees Him, John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Here is one who is like a paschal lamb. Now this is what it puts before us, and in that picture then, you have a reminder to you of what you need in order to be reconciled to God. You children should not be learning about Passover and seeing what God did in saving the Israelites and judging the Egyptians and understanding the details and missing that the picture, the picture is driving you, is moving you, is pointing you to the object of your salvation. Your salvation is not found in yourself. There's nothing the father could do to prevent his son from perishing. In terms of his own righteousness, couldn't do it. His own goodness, couldn't do it. Being a good dad and doing all the religious things that you're meant to do in terms of teaching and instruction and so on, or trying to show them virtue and how to obey and things like that. None of that could do. There had to be bloodshed. There had to be a mark upon the home. And there had to be faith trusting that God and his mercy would spare them because judgment fell on another. And this is what the cross is about. See how God is providentially bringing the Lord Jesus to the cross and coinciding with one of the greatest illustrations of what the gospel is all about. So that Christ, our Passover, that's what we're told. If you go for a moment to 1 Corinthians 5, you'll see this. As you can see, I'm not making this up. This is how the apostles refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as well. He is this, fitting this description of one like the animal who died during Passover. So 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7. I'll not get into the details here, but just see the point. Purge out therefore the old leaven. Now again, remember, this is coinciding with the time of unleavened bread. They were to remove leaven from their households. It wasn't just that they weren't allowed to eat leavened bread. The leaven had to be gone. Clear it out. Clear out the leaven. You say, well why? There are some practical aspects that the Passover meal was meant to be a fast meal because it was to signify being ready to move and get out of there, right? So they were to eat it with their shoes on and other aspects. And unleavened bread is faster to prepare than leavened bread. So there's a practical side to it. But the spiritual truth is even more important because leaven is seen as a spreading influence. Now, there are one or two occasions in scripture in which it is seen as a positive influence, but by and large, it's seen as a negative influence. In this case, you take away the leaven, eat unleavened bread, because leaven is seen as this thing that when it exists, it's going to move through the entire body in which it is present, just like it does in bread. And so this picture is given to us, even the very bread and the feast of unleavened bread is a purging out, a removing of sin. But it's not just that. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness. See there, identifying leaven with sin. but the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So here is what is put before them. And in it is this reminder that the Passover was pointing to Jesus the Christ and what he would accomplish. So in the providence of God, as we are making our way to the cross, As we're going to that place of Calvary where the Lord Jesus is going to die, it is coinciding with the time when thousands descended upon Jerusalem to commemorate Passover. So, that picture shouldn't be missed. You need to understand it. And I commend to you Exodus 12 for the initial details regarding the Passover, as well as Deuteronomy 16, which gives us a few more details because how the Passover was observed after they came into the promised land was slightly different. There were some different details there. But we come to the biblical tradition, not just the providential occasion. Verse seven, but the biblical tradition because verse eight then says, and he sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. Peter and John are set aside to go and prepare the Passover. Why Peter and John? I think we can say that they were certainly being set aside by Jesus to be leaders. they became the inner three. It was Peter, James, and John who went up to the Mount of Transfiguration. It was Peter, James, and John, for example, that were brought in to see the raising of Jairus' daughter. So there's definitely a preparation. They come a little further into Gethsemane as well. So they're near the Lord Jesus during that period of prayer. So there is a preparation of them. And then you see when you come into the book of Acts, Peter and John are constantly in view in those early chapters. They're going, they're standing, they're preaching, they're being persecuted and punished for their faithfulness to Christ. They come into view. So certainly the Lord is preparing them. You say, well, why not James? There's different ideas here, some of which say that really when you were preparing the Passover, especially if you needed to go to the temple to help with that preparation, then only two of you were meant to go. Just part of the tradition, keeps the traffic going around the temple when it was very busy. That may be the case, I don't know. But there's other things going on here. We'll see it in due course. But Peter and John are sent to make preparation. And in this preparation, like I say, there are details that are given. They have to get a lamb, a lamb that meets the requirements for Passover. And they need wine. There are going to be four cups of wine at various points through the meal. There's going to be bitter herbs. There are a few other things that attend the preparation as well. There are other aspects. They're going to be singing also. I don't know if they knew all the Psalms off by heart, and like they probably did, the halal, those Psalms from Psalm 113 to 118 would have been sung at this time during Passover as well. So there are various aspects to prepare for this occasion. The four cups, it's quite interesting. We'll look at this more when we come to the actual institution of the Lord's table. But there are some. that, you know, I'm asking the question, why were there four cups? When you read through the specifics regarding Passover, you don't have this detail. So this is an addition from the Jews. And the question is, well, why? Where did it come from? Why did they add in these four cups? Some suggest that it comes from the promises of God in Exodus 6. You may want to turn there. God encourages His people in the midst of leading up to the deliverance from Egypt, how it is He views them, blessings that were theirs and only theirs because they were the covenant people of God. Exodus 6. So these details are really pushing outside of the realm of biblical Tradition, you know, in terms of the actual Y4 cups and so on, but you see it may be that they're rooted in passages like this. There are four promises here. Exodus 6, verse six. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. There's three. And the fourth one, and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God. Some believe that's where the tradition began. There are four promises of what to expect. And the cups then would remind them, each one, as they would progress through the meal and participate in that. And again, I'll address that in a future message. But that H1 would signify, this is where symbolism or emblems can be powerful, teaching aids. Because once you understand what the emblem signifies, every time you see it, it reminds you of the message. God did this regularly with his people. He did this for them and he has done it for us. Why is it that we have the Lord's table? Are not those emblems charged with meaning? And is it not true that when we participate, we don't need to hear all the details all the time, every time we participate, but we get reminders and undergirding the reminders are the things we have learned from the past regarding what does that bread signify? What does that cup signify? And when we see it, we can't help but remember, and those truths come flooding, at least they ought, come flooding into our hearts as a help too. So again, this may have been the Jews doing the same. Four cups through Passover, identified with promises, signifying His peculiar covenant blessings to His people, and each time they participate with one, all of that meaning comes flooding into their minds. We are the Lord's people, and He is our God. But we come then thirdly to the arranged provision. The arranged provision, move to Luke 22 again. Because the bulk of the passage we're looking at tonight is the arrangement that is made. And so, having been told to go prepare the Passover, verse nine, they said unto Jesus, where wilt thou that we prepare? So they have no idea what's in his mind. No arrangements have been discussed, and they're completely in the dark, and they don't know exactly what they should do or how this should be fulfilled. Now, look back up. The last message we dealt with here focused upon the arrangements that Judas made. with regard to the betrayal and making arrangements with the Jewish religious leaders in how that they can get their hands on him. Part of the problem they faced, remember? Part of the problem the religious leaders faced was they dare not arrest Jesus in front of the crowds. They were already on the side of Jesus. There already was this momentum of favor, of interest in him. and nothing they could do publicly in the presence of them could bring some accusation that would warrant arrest. Now, if they arrest him behind the scenes, as it were, then they could make up some trumped-up, made-up charge and say, well, he did this, and this is why we had to arrest him, and everyone really is in the dark. They don't really know what's happened. They have to just trust that the religious leaders and so on are doing that, which is right. So it's important that they arrest him when no one else is around. And of course, Judas is their access. He is the one who knows the patterns of the Lord Jesus. As we said last time when we looked at this, the arrest is going to happen at Gethsemane because it's there when the Lord Jesus is away from the crowd and Judas knows the place. He knows that Jesus off resorts thither there with just his disciples. And that is an occasion when the religious leaders can seize him, arrest him and carry on with their intentions. Now when you read from verse 9 and following, something that strikes you is the absence of details in such a way, I don't know for you, but I would read this, certainly in the past, and I would say to myself, it seems like this has all just been arranged in the moment. Because there's no name given, there's no place given, there's all sorts of details absent, and there's a certain mystery that shrouds the details that the Lord Jesus gives. And for the first time in preparing for this, I realized in my study that there's a reason for the mystery. If details are given in the presence of Judas Iscariot, With regard to the planned meal of observance of Passover, he may have taken opportunity to communicate to the religious leaders, I know a time and a place when you can get him. He is going to be alone, observing the Passover at such and such an address, such and such a place. When he's there, that will be your opportunity. Remember Passover is observed at dusk when things are getting dark. He's going to be in a room just as disciples. This would be a fair moment to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord Jesus can't have Judas interrupt before he's ready. There has to be the Passover. There has to be the institution of the Lord's Supper. There has to be the encouragement to his disciples when Judas is gone. There has to be the high priestly prayer. There has to be Gethsemane and all of that. All of these things must take place before they arrest. And so, the Lord Jesus is very careful in the details that he gives. Read it again. Verse 10, he said unto them, behold, when you're entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, see the vagueness here, bearing a pitcher of water, follow him into the house where he entereth in, and he shall say unto the good man of the house, the master saith unto thee, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples, and he shall show you a large upper room furnished, there make ready. And they went and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. I don't know whether the Lord Jesus had made previous arrangements. He may have. The way the man is described would lead us to believe, I think, that he's a disciple. The language that is used, that they are told to say is, the master, which would indicate that the allegiance of this man is toward the Lord Jesus already. And when you think of what's said, there may be the possibility that the Lord Jesus had already spoken to this man at some point, and they were the only ones who knew, and now only Peter and John are going to know to go to a certain place, and these are the things to look for, and if you follow this, you'll get to the right place. So they're to look for a man who's bearing a pitcher of water. Some have observed that this would be rather unusual. Mostly women were tasked with this job, getting water and so on. So seeing a man with a pitcher of water would kind of stand out amidst the crowds that may be there. And so it helped them to identify the right person. As we said, this man would appear to be a disciple, the good man of the house. They're to say to him, the master saith unto thee, where is the guest chamber? Interesting word there, only found three times in the New Testament. Two of the occasions refer to this, this event here, and one of them is when there was no room for Him in the inn, right at the beginning of Luke. There's no guest chamber for the Lord Jesus at the beginning, but now there is, now there is. Maybe there's some signification there as well of the progression of the Lord's ministry and the fact that now there's a place for Him when He needs it. He shall show you a large upper room furnished. Again, most of the homes at that time would be on the ground level and above the ground level they would have a flat roof that would have practical purposes for them, but only some would have a covered upper room. In this case, you have a man therefore that has a certain amount of means. He has an upper room. that is covered, it is able to house at least 13 men or whatever. They were going to be there. So it's of some size, probably not the same upper room that you have in Acts 1, because that was, I don't know who that person was, but they were very wealthy because there was an upper room that about 120 were able to fit in and pray. So that was some size of a room that that person had. So you had disciples that were people of means. And they were friends of the Lord Jesus, and such is the case, we believe, here, where provision is being made for the disciples to observe the Passover. In the coming messages, we're going to see something of the scene that is before us here, and the other details that follow concerning what happens and its relationship, of course, to the Lord's table. We have to eliminate some of the impressions that are in our minds when we come to this, when we imagine the disciples all sitting together. I think da Vinci's artistic impression seems to rush into our minds when we imagine that Here are these 13 men all sitting around the kind of raised table on upright chairs. It's covered with a white cloth. And they're all sitting beside one another, when in actual fact, the practice would have been a low slung table. We're all leaning on their side and in a very different posture than what we would be used to today. And so we have to get rid of some of those false impressions that we have concerning what actually goes on here. But we'll look at that in future messages. What I want us to close with, as we have considered this preparing for the Passover, is a very simple thought. And I hope you'll hear me here. The Passover, as we've said, points to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think we see, and I may be wrong here, but I think we see an amazing marriage that occurs on the day when Passover is eaten, which you have Christ signified in the Passover, and the very next day being the other and even more significant feast day among the Jews, the Day of Atonement. When the Jews would practice and exercise themselves in these festivals, there's months, they're spread out either end of the year. But here at this moment, you're seeing all the types and shadows come together and converge on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In one meal, you have the Passover, Christ our Passover. The next day, you're going to see him. as the one who makes atonement, the one who is both priest and sacrifice, offering himself, going into the holiest of all, presenting his blood, as it were, through his own merit, giving access, taking our sins outside, as it were, taking them away as far as the east is from the west. You see, all of this converge. But here, Here, where there's a making ready of the Passover. So I meditated on this. This was the thought I wanted to leave with you. There is a need to make ready for Passover. The Jews every year anticipated this. They traveled, for some of them who didn't live in the region, they traveled miles and miles for days at great economic sacrifice. A tremendous cost to be a part of this which signified in such clear language, typological language of what they needed for their salvation. And they had to make ready. There is a making ready. And there's a certain application there. Because the Lord Jesus Christ offers himself. He does the work. He dies. He sacrifices himself. But there has to be in the heart of the individual a desire to participate in it, a desire to be involved in it. You could choose not to make ready for Passover, not to eat Passover, not to be involved in Passover. You could abstain from it, stay away from it. And this is what some people do. Though I speak not of the physical practice of the Jewish Passover and what was going on here, I speak of participating in Christ the Passover, in which here is the Son of God coming into the world, doing everything necessary to provide salvation. making reconciliation for the sins of the people. And people, they just act as if it doesn't matter to them. There's no desire to participate, to eat by faith of the Passover. And the question is, is it nothing to all you who pass by? Is there no sense of urgency? Because when the time comes, you don't take Passover when you want. You don't set the day for Passover. That has been set by God. And when it comes to your salvation, it's the same. God says the day that you're meant to partake of Passover. What's that day? It is now. Now is the accepted time. Now is the accepted time. It is in this moment that you participate in the Passover. It's in this moment of your life you are to seize upon and eat by faith the Passover lamb. It is now, not tomorrow, not next week, not in the future, not in some time when you've planned out your life and done all the things that you want to do before you become a Christian. The time is always now. Passover, Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us. I ask you, have you eaten of this Passover? Have you? Have you eaten it? Let me ask every believer here, are you still eating it? This is the glory of Christ as a Passover. It's not a meal you eat once a year. It is a meal you can eat every moment of every day. Feasting on Christ. Enjoying the benefits of his finished work. Indulging by faith in all the provision of what he has procured, what he has done. Peace with God through him. peace of conscience because our sins are gone, washed by his blood, reconciled to God, made a child of God, adopted into the family of God, having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you eating of this Passover? Some believers go for days and weeks and months and they starve. They starve themselves. They don't eat. They're not in the Word, they're not in prayer, they're not meditating on the goodness of God and what Christ has done. They're just kind of meandering through. And there's no spiritual growth. Christian, eat the Passover. Participate in Christ every day of your life. He is the eternal provision. He is the matter there every morning for the need of your soul. He is always available to bless, for you to feast your soul on. May the Lord help us. May help you to seek him tonight. Let's bow together in prayer. As we're still and quiet here in these moments, Very soon we'll close the service and you'll talk with one another and perhaps some of the things going through your mind would move to the back of your mind and may not be resurrected. So there are things to be done here, now, sitting in the presence of God. Some of you need to be saved. You can be saved now. You can, right where you are, eat of the Passover. Reach out by faith. Take Christ. He died for sinners. Are you a sinner? Then eat. Come to this table and eat. Believe that he died for all your sin. You say, preacher, I don't know what to pray. Forget about the words. Do you want him? Just express you want him. You want his pardon. You want his forgiveness. You want the peace of God. Just tell him, tell him. The Lord will answer and give you a new heart, a new life, and forgive you all your sins. Lord bless us. Bless us with the eye of faith to see in Jesus Christ the true Passover. May our hearts be inclined to trust him every day. And for those who need to trust him for the first time, let that first time be tonight. O Spirit of God, do thy sovereign work. Draw these dull and reluctant sinners to the cross. Lead them into the arms of Jesus. Show them thy willingness to save them and love them eternally. Bless her fellowship. Encourage her hearts. Equip us for the week ahead. Fill us with joy and all peace in believing. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, love of God, our Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God now and evermore. Amen.