Matt 26:1–29 — Jesus Celebrates the Passover With His Disciples

The Passion Narrative

Beginning in Matthew chapter 21, we have been in what is traditionally called Holy Week. That is this period of seven days in which Jesus is coming ever closer to his appointed hour. The first day of Holy Week is called Palm Sunday, and that was recorded for us in the first half of Matthew chapter 21, when Jesus entered into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey and all the crowds were strewing the way with the palm branches and crying out Hosanna to the Son of David. Jesus entered into Jerusalem to begin this Holy Week and to prepare the way for the cross. As soon as he entered into the city of Jerusalem, he went straight to the temple. And also on this same day, on Palm Sunday, he cleansed the temple and purified it. in order to show that this is what he is going to accomplish through his death and resurrection. He is going to accomplish the building of a new spiritual temple that is formed out of living stones, of which the disciples and the adoring crowds are the foretaste, so that we see the beginnings of the formation of the church of Jesus Christ as his new spiritual temple. Then on Monday is when Jesus returns to the, that night on Sunday night, he went and spent the night in Bethany. But then on Monday morning, he went back to the temple.

And that is the incident of the cursing of the fig tree, symbolizing his judgment upon national Israel. That is also when the Jewish authorities asked Jesus, by what authority are you doing these things? By what authority are you coming in here and cleansing the temple and overturning the tables of the money changers as if you have some somewhat authority over the temple?

And in that conflict there, in that discussion, Jesus brings up this parable, the parable of the wicked tenants, in which he quotes from Psalm 118 and says that the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, referring to himself as the cornerstone of this spiritual temple. But the builders are the authorities, the Jewish leadership who have rejected that stone. And so Jesus says, because of this, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a people producing its fruits. And we saw that that people is, again, the church that Christ is building, composed of both Jews and Gentiles who believe in him.

Sunday is the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple. Monday is the cursing of the fig tree, the parable of the wicked tenants, his judgment upon national Israel, and this teaching that something is underway? The old order is being swept aside. Something new is coming into its place. Then on Tuesday, Jesus engages in a lot of teaching. It is a voluminous amount of teaching. In our text, this takes up Matthew chapter 22, 23, 24, and 25. four entire chapters of the teaching of Jesus.

The first section in Matthew 22 and 23 is public teaching. He is publicly teaching in the temple precincts with the crowds, with the Jewish authorities there. Remember the Jews seek to trap Jesus and different sects of Judaism come and ask him theological questions about how to interpret the scriptures. First it is the Herodians and the Jewish nationalists, then it is the the Sadducees who deny the resurrection, then it is the Pharisees. All of this teaching is happening in public. And then it culminates in the seven woes to the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23. We are still on Tuesday.

Then Jesus withdraws in private. He goes back out of the temple, across the brook Kidron, over to the Mount of Olives, which is just adjacent to the east of Jerusalem. And he goes to the Mount of Olives, and now in private, he teaches his disciples for the next two chapters, Matthew 24 and 25, concerning the tribulation that will characterize the entire church age, and concerning the signs of his coming, and the glorious coming of Christ, and the need to be awake and ready for his coming. We call this the Olivet Discourse because of the location, because it was on the Mount of Olives.

This is private teaching focused upon what the disciples need to know as they are looking ahead to the time after the death and resurrection and to the Great Commission and to the entire church age when the gospel goes out to the world. And he is preparing them for that, calling them to not only be awake and ready, but also to be faithful to the tasks that Christ has entrusted to each of his servants. So Tuesday is full of teaching, both in public and then in private. Then we come to Wednesday of Holy Week, and Wednesday is a more quiet day, and we actually read about Wednesday in our text in the first section there, in Matthew 26, verses 1 through 16, the first half of today’s text.

This day, not that much happens, there is not a whole lot of teaching, not a whole lot of controversy and conflict with the Jewish leadership. Jesus is anointed by the woman in the house of Simon the leper, again at Bethany. That seems to have been the main place that he was staying during this whole holy week. He was anointed at Bethany.

Additionally, we begin to see that the Jews are now beginning to seriously plot the demise of Jesus, how they are going to try to arrest him and put him on trial. Of course, initially they said, let us not do it during the feast, meaning the Passover. Passover is not just one day, it is like a whole week. Let us not do it during the week of the feast because we might cause an uproar among the people.

We have seen the crowds from Galilee, how much they love him. We might spark a revolution if we do that. But fortunately for them, Judas came to them privately and offered them a solution. And he said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you in secret? And so they paid him 30 pieces of silver. This is in verses 14 to 16. And so they had their solution now. They can still do it during the feast, but they can do it by stealth.

And Judas is going to be the answer to their dilemma of how to take care of the Jesus problem privately. So all of this is happening on Wednesday, and then we come to the climactic high point of the Passion narrative of Holy Week, and that is Thursday and Friday of Holy Week.

Thursday and Friday begins in Matthew 26, verse 17. Now, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? And that continues all the way down through the rest of Matthew 26 down to chapter 27 verse 61. Chapter 27 verse 61 is the burial of Jesus. Thursday and Friday of Holy Week.

Notice that when we get to Thursday and Friday that everything slows down into tremendous minute detail. The narration is almost like a frame-by-frame examination, almost hour-by-hour of what is going on in these last two days, climaxing in the death and burial of Christ. Of course, we have the resurrection of Christ in Matthew 28 on the first day of the week on Sunday, and that is the glorious conclusion of Holy Week. But it is interesting, is not it, that the narration of the resurrection of Christ in Matthew 28 is very brief.

In fact, we are not actually there on scene to see the moment when his body wakes up from the grave. We do not actually see that. All we see is that the women go to the tomb, the tomb is empty, and the angel says, he is not here, he is risen. The resurrection of Christ is just told to us very quickly. It is not frame by frame, moment by moment, analyzing every excruciating detail of what happens. It is just simply, he is risen, and we rejoice in that.

And then he commissions the disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations. By contrast, Thursday and Friday is long. It is excruciating. It is painstaking. It is really slow and it is actually, to be honest with you, a little bit hard to grasp what is going on because there is so much detail in here. Look at how long these chapters are. Matthew 26 has 75 verses, Matthew 27 has 66 verses.

Although that last paragraph there is the next day after Good Friday, this is Saturday, and the chief priests and elders are trying to figure out how to prevent this word from getting out that Jesus may rise again from the dead. So the guard that they send to the tomb is the last paragraph.

But that is a lot of information and a lot of verses, is not it? And there is so many details, there is so many things that are happening, it is almost confusing and bewildering. I mean, even in the section that we read, we just read Matthew 26, one to 29, but even in that section, you are like going from one thing to the other. First you have the plot of the chief priest, then you have the anointing of Jesus at Bethany, then you have going back to the plot with now Judas coming and offering to betray Jesus and they pay him 30 pieces of silver. Then you switch over to the disciples asking Jesus, where do you want us to have the Passover? There is so many details going on throughout this whole section. And as I was meditating upon this, this whole section of Matthew, Matthew 26 through 27, I wanted to, during the week as I was preparing this sermon, I wanted to somewhat figure out if there was a way to step back and see the forest for the trees.? Because it is so bewildering. There is so much minutia here. So many different actors. The priests, the Jews, the disciples, Judas, Jesus, Pilate. So many different actors in this story. And I think one way we can somewhat step back and see the big picture is to divide Thursday and Friday of Holy Week into two or three acts. Act 1, Act 2, Act 3. somewhat a play. In Act 1, which begins with our text, but also continues into the next few paragraphs, all the way down to verse 56. In Act 1, we could put this as the basic title for that section, for Act 1. That is, Jesus prepares for his death. That is what is going on in this whole section.

We did not continue to read on, but after the Passover, we also have Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. And clearly these two moments, the Passover meal with the disciples. And also the prayer of Jesus, crying out to the Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will, but your will be done.

These two events are clearly showing us how Jesus is preparing for his upcoming death. He is totally absorbed with the reality that his death is imminent? It is going to happen the very next day. He knows he is about to die. And so in this act one, we have Jesus preparing for his death, and that first act ends with a key verse that shows us that there is a key transition to act two.

And that is in verse 56, where it says, then, after he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, it says, then all the disciples left him and fled. A somber note and a little bit discouraging, but it now clearly changes the scene? Because when he is preparing for his death, he is with his disciples, both in the upper room at the Last Supper, but also when he is in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is with his disciples. And he is not only preparing himself for his death, he is also preparing the disciples and teaching them and instructing them. But at the end of Act I, the disciples left him and fled.

And now we transition to Act II, where Jesus is alone. Now it is true that one disciple, named Peter, will follow Jesus from a distance to observe what is going to happen next when he is on trial before the high priest. but he is not really with Jesus in any mere sense. He is not with him like they were in the upper room. He is not with him like they were in the garden. He is trailing from a distance, and in fact, we know what is going to happen. He is going to deny Jesus?

So in this main act two, in act two, Jesus is on trial and is preparing to go to the cross, but there is a key intervening point before we get to Act 3, which is the actual death of Christ, which is that there is a trial that takes place. There is a judicial transaction that takes place. And there is a lot of detail in this part of the Passion narrative. Now we are in Friday early morning, and he is being tried before the high priest and the Jewish Sanhedrin. But then he is also taken over to the Roman governor, Pilate, and he has not quite a trial, but he has a moment where he is standing before Pilate and being examined for what are these charges that the Jews are bringing against you? And all of this is very legal and judicial. Jesus is on trial and the outcome of this trial, both two phases of it, both before the Jews and before the Roman governor, before Caiaphas the high priest and before Pilate, these two phases are one large trial that is showing us that the result of this trial is that Jesus is now condemned to death.

This is something very significant because Jesus did not die you know, on his deathbed and just, he was sick and he died in his sleep or something like that. He did not die through some somewhat accident? He did not die because he got into a chariot accident in the streets of Jerusalem. He did not die because someone came up to him and stabbed him and murdered him accidentally or without his knowledge. He died because he was condemned to die. He was put on death row. He was condemned to die. He was condemned as a guilty criminal and he was condemned to die.

So act one is Jesus with his disciples preparing for his death. Act two is Jesus on trial and being condemned to death, and that act ends with verse 26 of Matthew 27. Then Pilate released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. just so you know, that when it says he was scourged, the ESV has a helpful footnote explaining what that means. The ESV says that scourging is a Roman judicial penalty consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal. So the point of it is, of course, there is the gruesome aspect of it, right, of his flesh being torn, but Even more importantly is that this is a penalty. This is a Roman punishment.

Yes, crucifixion is part of that, but even before the crucifixion, he is scourged, meaning that he is devoted, he is handed over to a judicial punishment. So Act 1 is Jesus with his disciples preparing for his death. Act 2 is Jesus on trial, both phases, both the Jewish and the Roman trial, and then being condemned to death. Then Act 3 begins in Matthew 27, verse 27, and continues down to verse 61, the actual crucifixion and death of Jesus.

And again, here, we also get a lot of details. Many minute things are brought out in the text that we would not really be thinking about when we just think about the death of Christ. But there are so many other details about what the passersby are saying. There is the fact that there was an earthquake, the rocks were split, and many of the saints who had fallen asleep are raised and come out of the tombs. You have the centurion who cries out, surely this was the Son of God. So many details in there. but these are also given to us to help us understand the meaning of the death of Christ.

These three acts, Jesus preparing for his death, Jesus on trial and being condemned to death, and the actual crucifixion and death of Jesus, are narrated with all these details precisely in order to help us to understand the theological meaning of these events, so that we can see the deep cosmic transaction that is happening here. You know, take, for example, the darkness over the land, Matthew 27, 45. From the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. Of course, that reminds us of what? The day of judgment? When the sun stops shining and the moon is turned to blood and the stars fall from the sky, this is the day of the Lord. This is the day of judgment.

Of course, it is happening for Christ and all who are united to Christ. so that we are judged in union with Christ, and our sins are not only taken away and forgiven, our sins are actually punished in Christ. But all of these details then, and specifically these three main acts, are given to us to flesh out the theology of what is happening here, and focusing our eyes and our attention upon the redeeming, saving significance of the death of Christ. Today’s text is the first half of Act One. We are going to look at the second half of Act One next time, concerning the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Today’s text is Part One of Act One, begins in verses 1 to 2 with Jesus again predicting his crucifixion.

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, you know that after two days, the Passover is coming and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. that is how we know that this is Wednesday? Because the next day is Thursday. That is when he has the Last Supper and then Friday. So in two days, he is going to be delivered up to be crucified.

Jesus again predicts his crucifixion one last time. Remember, there were three other passion predictions in the narrative before, going all the way back to Matthew 16, when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus immediately took his disciples aside and said to them in Matthew 16, verse 21, what somewhat Messiah is he? He is not a nationalistic hero who is coming to throw off the Romans and restore Israel to its national glory. He is a suffering Messiah. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. That is Matthew 16, 21. The second passion prediction was in Matthew 17, verses 22 and 23. The third one was in Matthew 20. verses 17 to 19. And now here we have the fourth and final passion prediction.

He is saying now it is about to unfold. In two days it is about to unfold. Then in verses 3 to 4 the Jewish plot to kill Jesus is set in motion. The chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest whose name was Caiaphas. and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” Hold that thought for a minute.

We will pick that up again on the other side of this next story when Judas will come to betray Jesus. But before we get to Judas, there is this story of the woman who anoints Jesus in Bethany. Immediately after Jesus’ passion prediction, This anointing of Jesus’s body takes place at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. Says in verse six, now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask, a very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

Perhaps she was present when Jesus made that passion prediction back in verse two. And so she heard it and is now in faith acknowledging her understanding of what is happening, that he is about to go to the cross. The use of fragrant oil symbolizes the anointing for his messianic office, just as in the Old Testament. Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed for their messianic office, for their offices that point to the messianic office of Christ. So here, she is anointing him, symbolizing her faith that Jesus is the anointed one, that he is the anointed prophet, priest, and king.

Now, usually you prepare someone’s body for burial after they have died? That is the normal practice. After they have died, you take the body, you wash it, you prepare it with the perfumes and so on. But she does it before he died. Why? Because she knew. and believed that he was going to die as part of his messianic mission as the anointed son of God. Notice how her response stands in contrast with that of the disciples. Her response to the passion prediction that he is going to the cross is one of faith, believing yes indeed he is the Messiah. And so she anoints his body, preparing him for his burial.

But the disciples, by contrast, they lack faith, and they chastise her for wasting this money. Verse eight, when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. Their unbelief is contrasted with her belief.

But the Lord Jesus commends her, even though the disciples are still thinking about earthly things. He commends her and says that what she did was a beautiful thing. Jesus aware of this said to them, why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.

For you always have the poor with you. but you will not always have me. And pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Clearly this sets the stage for the next section, which is after Judas goes to offer to betray Jesus to the Jewish leadership. We have Jesus meeting with his disciples on the day, the first day of unleavened bread. Clearly their lack of faith when they said, why this waste? Could not this money have been sold? Could not this oil have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor? Their lack of faith shows that they need further instruction.

The Last Passover

And so at the Last Supper, Jesus gathers his disciples together to give them that further instruction concerning what is taking place, concerning the meaning and significance of his death. Notice that in verses 17 through 19, that we have this whole discussion of the timing of this event, the timing of the Last Supper, that it is on the first day of Unleavened Bread, as well as the fact that the disciples are asking, where will you have us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

And then Jesus saying to them, go into a city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. That is the time for his death on the cross. My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. All of this is given to us, this narration, it may seem unimportant, it may just seem like logistics of getting the room ready, but it is given to us specifically in order to show us and to tell us that what is about to happen here when Jesus gathers with his disciples and says, this is my body and this is my blood, this is taking place in the middle of and in the context of an ordinary Passover celebration, a Jewish Passover. My appointed time is near, he says. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples.

It is clear that by preparing for the Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper, by preparing for it with all this language of the Passover, that we are being told that this event, which we look at now as the first example of communion and the Lord’s Supper, is actually in the historical narrative, in the historical context, it is actually a Passover celebration. That is the key point.

Notice the parallels between this Passover celebration, that is the one that Jesus is having here with his disciples, including this is my body, this is my blood. Notice the parallels between this Passover celebration, the Last Supper, and the first one, going all the way back to the book of Exodus, in Exodus chapter 12.

What are the parallels between these two Passover celebrations? Well, one thing to keep in mind is that these are not the same thing as the subsequent ritual that is done by God’s people afterwards? The first Passover meal in Egypt is distinct from all the annual Passover celebrations that the Jews celebrated from that time until this time, until Jesus? Those are just the annual feast of the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread.

But the first one, back in Exodus, was right before the actual coming up out of Egypt, the great Exodus event. So also then, we have the same thing here in our text. This Passover meal, the one with Jesus and his disciples, is unique. It is not simply another occasion of someone having the Lord’s Supper. It is a crucial foundational Passover event. It is the last supper with Christ, the night before he goes to the cross, before the great exodus that will happen, the new exodus in Christ’s death and resurrection.

And that shows us then, Jesus is clearly teaching something about what is about to happen. That what is going to happen tomorrow, on Good Friday, is the New Exodus. It is God redeeming his people out of slavery in Egypt and bringing them into a covenant relationship with himself, which Jesus will refer to here as the New Covenant? And he is going to do this through his death.

This is a common thing in the history of special revelation. That is, in the unfolding, progressive history of God revealing truth and revealing theology to his people in history, progressively, bit by bit, step by step, we see this important pattern.

And that is that before the actual event, Let us say the Exodus event, which happens on the big stage of history. You can see it? The waters are split in two. Pharaoh’s armies are drowned in the water. Before the major event that is visible and historical and that is this awesome work of God intervening in history for his people, God prepares it. God prepares his people for it.

In theology, in biblical theology, we refer to God’s word revelation and his deed revelation. God is revealing himself in both word and in deed. The deed revelation is the mighty acts of God in history, such as the exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea, the cross of Christ, the miracles of Jesus. These are all the deeds of God. But in addition to the deed revelation, there is the word revelation that goes ahead to prepare for it.

Imagine what would have happened to Israel if they had simply been taken out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea without having the Passover celebration before. The Passover celebration the night before gives them illumination, it gives them insight into what is happening.

Otherwise, you could just say, well, God just did something amazing. He killed Pharaoh’s army, and the firstborn of Egypt, and a miracle happened. The water was split, but it just seems like a mighty miracle. It just seems like an astounding, glorious thing that God is doing. Something dazzling? Something supernatural. But what is really happening there when they cross through the waters of the Red Sea?

God is redeeming his people from slavery under Pharaoh, who is a type of Satan, and he is saving them from their bondage to Satan, delivering them out of the house of bondage, and then forgiving their sins through the blood of the Passover lamb, and then giving them this covenant relationship, making them into his people.

He is forming and fashioning them into his covenant people. Look, for example, in Exodus chapter six. This is part of the word revelation in the first part of the book of Exodus before you get to the actual Exodus, which is narrated in Exodus chapter 14 and following. But in Exodus 6, God is preparing. He is giving this word revelation.

He is saying he is coming to Moses. He is appearing to Moses. He had appeared to Moses earlier in chapter 3 at the burning bush. But he appears to Moses again in chapter 6. And this is what he says. Exodus 6 verse 2,

God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Now I am appearing to you … I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves. And I remembered my covenant, that is, my covenant with Abraham. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment” [referring to the 10 plagues and the climactic plague of the destruction of the firstborn, and then also the killing all of Pharaoh’s army and chariots and bringing God’s people through the Red Sea]. “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.”

You see how there is a word revelation happening before the actual event itself in order to explain what it means, to give us spiritual insight so that we could see the true reality of what is taking place, the cosmic transaction that is happening here. It is a work of salvation. It is a work of deliverance from Satan. It is a work of atonement in which the blood is shed to atone for God’s people so that they might be spared from the destroying angel.

The Meaning of Jesus’ Death

And so we have the same thing here then in this last supper with Jesus and his disciples. All this discussion about where do you want to prepare is given to us to tell us that this is the ultimate Passover celebration. Verse 26, now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. and he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Through the symbolism and the words, so symbolism, taking bread, taking a cup, through the symbolism and the words, this is my body, this is my blood, of the last supper of this last Passover, Jesus teaches his disciples, and by extension us, the rich theological meaning of his death.

What do we derive from this teaching of Jesus with his disciples as he is preparing for his death? In Act 1, preparing for the cross, we learn first that Jesus’ death is deliberate. He is in full control and knowledge of what is about to unfold. We already saw the passion predictions, but also remember this little incident here where Jesus says, you will go into a city and some guy, some unnamed guy will meet you there, and all you have to do is tell him, the teacher says, And then he’ll know exactly what to do and he’ll open the room for you? Jesus is in full control and knowledge of every detail of what is about to unfold as he goes to the cross.

He is going to the cross deliberately. He is going to the cross intentionally. He is going to the cross on a mission as the anointed Messiah in order to accomplish a work of salvation for his people. He is not simply a passive person who is simply being acted upon. It is not as if he is just simply being betrayed by an enemy or being killed by the Romans. He is acting himself. Yes, he is being acted upon, but he is being acted upon in full knowledge and deliberate action.

His death is the culmination of his life of obedience to the Father. That is why Jesus mentions both the body and the blood. The body of Christ focuses on his obedient life, going all the way back to the moment of his incarnation. As the book of Hebrews says, a body you have prepared for me, Hebrews chapter 10. The blood focuses on the climax, the culmination of that life of obedience, which is his death. Later in the New Testament, sometimes the blood alone is mentioned. For example, Paul will say things like, we are justified by his blood, or we have redemption through his blood.

But we must never forget that that is simply a shortened version of the fuller statement, which is that it is through his body and his blood, it is through his life of obedience culminating in the ultimate act of obedience of voluntarily laying down his life for us on the cross.

In theology we use, or in literature, we use this term to explain this concept. It is called synecdoche. That is somewhat a weird term, probably do not hear it that often, but synecdoche, it is when you take one part of something to represent the whole thing? You just pick on one little aspect of something, you just quickly mention that aspect, but you are trying to call to mind the whole totality of that thing.

Of course, the climax of the obedience of Christ is the cross. It is the death of Christ. So we can sometimes just refer to his blood, which is his life being poured out in his death, we can just refer to the blood as synecdoche, as that one little point, because the most climactic point is the most important and dramatic point, but we are not denying the entire context that leads up to it. His death is the culmination of his obedience because his death is itself an active, deliberate thing. It is not simply a passive thing that he is being murdered or being acted upon. His death is a voluntary offering of himself on the cross as a sacrifice to satisfy the justice of God.

And we have to remember that first part of the life of Christ as well, because what does God demand of us? What did God demand of Adam in the garden? What does he demand of us after the fall? He demands two things. One is that we obey him fully, That is what he demanded of Adam. And now after the fall, because of sin, he also demands that we pay for our sins. He demands that payment be made.

We must pay for the debt that we owe God because of our sin, but we must also pay God the righteousness and the obedience that he demands of creatures made in his own image. Christ has fully paid the debt in both aspects, both the positive obedience and the suffering, the punishment that we deserve. So first, Jesus is teaching his disciples, and by extension us as well, as we read the text, that Jesus’ death is deliberate. Secondly, Jesus’ death is delivering.

He is delivering his people. That is why I read Exodus 6, verses 6 through 7. I will deliver you from slavery, and I will take you to be my people. Jesus is delivering his people, transferring them from the kingdom of Satan, and bringing them into his kingdom of glory and life, and making us his people. Jesus says that very clearly in verse 28. He says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

There is an older translation that maybe some of you can remember from maybe your old King James past. The remission of sins. The remission of sins. Maybe even a better translation, because when we think of forgiveness, we often reduce that to a very simplistic, transactional thing of somebody sinned against me, and then they apologize, and then I forgive them for that particular sin. But that is not what forgiveness means in scripture, not in this text. It is not referring to the forgiveness of this sin or that sin.

It is this idea of the remission of sins once for all, for all time, leading to the release and the deliverance of the captives. Why were the Hebrews in slavery in Egypt? They were in slavery in Egypt because of their sin. And so to be delivered from slavery in Egypt is to have your sins remitted and for the captives to go free. God is delivering his people.

It is a definitive, once for all deliverance. That is why Paul will say, for example, that in Him, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood. The word redemption is this analogy, it is this metaphor of the slave being set free because the ransom price has been paid, and now you are set free and delivered. So Jesus’ death is not only deliberate, focusing upon the active and passive obedience of Christ, it is also delivering. And it also has a definite purpose and a definite scope.

He says, this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. for the forgiveness of sins. He does not say for all, he says for many. That is for his people, for those whom the Father has given to the Son in the terms of the eternal covenant of redemption. This language of the many is alluding to Isaiah 53 verse 12. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion.

The many are the people of Christ. Just like with Israel? When God saved Israel, when God atoned for Israel and delivered them, He did not save and atone for all of the world and including the Canaanites and the Egyptians and everyone. No, He redeemed His people. He delivered them from slavery and took them to be His own people. The delivering work of Christ is there for a definite purpose and for a definite scope.

The Blood of the Covenant

Third, Jesus’ death is covenantal.

He says in verse 28, Jesus is picking up language from several Old Testament passages. Exodus 24 verse 8 is one. Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. That is later after they have come out of Egypt and they have come to Mount Sinai, but you can see that it is picking up on the blood of the Passover lamb. The point is that through this blood a covenant is being established.

Another Old Testament passage that is in view here is Jeremiah 31, verse 33. God says, And another one is in Zechariah 9, verse 11. Two verses after the humble king coming on the donkey verse. Remember that? That is Zechariah 9, 9. Jesus quoted that back in the triumphal entry passage when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. Matthew actually quotes it. Matthew says, this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey. That is from Zechariah 9, verse 9, but two verses later, what does it say?

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. There is that idea, right, of what does this blood of Christ do? What does the obedience of Christ culminating in his death do? It sets us free. It is the remission of sins. And now we are free from sin. We are released from bondage to Satan. And we are delivered from the waterless pit.

Jesus’s obedience unto death not only delivers us from slavery, as if now we are just free to go out and wander around the world and worship whoever we want to worship, it sets us free from slavery so that now we might worship Him. And now we are in a new covenant with Him. So the blood of Christ establishes not only deliverance from slavery, but also this new covenant. As Jesus says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

So Jesus’ death is deliberate. It is delivering. It is covenantal. And then thirdly, it is eschatological. Where do I get that from? Well, the very last verse there, Jesus says, I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my father’s kingdom. Interesting, is not it? That Jesus is already skipping beyond the cross to the resurrection and then beyond that to the second coming.

He just launches all the way into the future, into the eschatological future. And so what that means then is that this covenant meal, this Passover meal that Jesus is having with his disciples is a foretaste. of the marriage supper of the Lamb. It is a foretaste of that glorious time when God’s people will be gathered together in the new creation and having that eschatological fulfillment in God’s presence forever. Jesus had talked about that in Matthew 25, remember, in the Olivet Discourse. He talked about the marriage feast where the five wise virgins were going with the bridegroom into the marriage feast and the door was shut. This is the ultimate point of it all. Jesus does not just simply deliver us from our sins. He delivers us to a goal. He delivers us to make us his people and to bring us into the fulfillment of God’s purpose for us.

We see this back in Exodus chapter three as well. At the burning bush, So I had mentioned Exodus 6, but a few chapters before in Exodus 3, what does God say? He says in verses 7 and 8, “’I have surely seen the affliction of my people “’who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry “’because of their taskmasters. “’I know their sufferings, and I have come down “‘to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.’” Okay, so all that is old information. We already know that.

That is what he is doing. He is coming down to deliver God’s people from slavery. But then notice the next sentence there. and to bring them out of that land to a good and broad land. a land flowing with milk and honey. There is an eschatological goal. Even back in the original Exodus, the purpose of that Exodus was not that they would wander in the wilderness for 40 years, although they did because of their sin, but it is to bring them into the land, to bring them into the new creation, to bring them to heaven.

That is what the Lord is doing here with his disciples. Even though they are blind and they are struggling with their unbelief, He patiently, through symbolism and through words, is teaching them, this is what is about to happen tomorrow. As I am going to the cross, this is what I am doing. It is a deliberate, delivering, covenantal, eschatological event, and you are being brought into that glorious future.

I think it is amazing that, just to see the contrast of this text, that the disciples are still so dense and still so behind the ball? They do not get it, they are just still struggling, but Jesus is so patient with them, and he does not berate them, he does not accuse them, he does not reject them, he just patiently continues on to teach them and to tell them that this is what it is all about. Of course, they will not fully grasp it until after, after he is raised from the dead. Then they will look back upon all these events and they will understand, oh, okay, now it makes sense.

And that is the way it is with us in our Christian life so often, that the Lord loves us anyway, and he is bringing us to heaven. Not because we are so good at understanding it all, not because we have the right response all the time, but because in his grace, he is saving us by his work.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your obedience unto death. Thank you for taking your disciples aside and celebrating the Passover with them this one final time. Thank you for taking the bread and the wine and through these symbols, teaching them the rich theological meaning of your death. Help us to believe, to respond in faith like the woman at Bethany. May we not turn away from your cross, but embrace it, for in it we find life.

By it we are delivered from the tyranny of sin and Satan. By it we are brought into a new covenant relationship with you, and from that cross we are given hope as we long for the consummation of the new covenant, the marriage supper of the Lamb in the eternal kingdom. This we pray, amen.