Preparing for Death

In the last two weeks, a couple of weeks or so in our church we have had eight deaths among church families. So many of you have been thinking about death. Many of you have walked that difficult tension between celebrating the home going of a loved one and yet grieving the loss of their presence with you. And so many of you have been through that valley in the past couple of weeks. Some people have opportunity to prepare for death, to think about death, to prepare themselves and their loved ones, to prepare their hearts spiritually for others' death comes suddenly, quickly, without any opportunity to prepare. I think it's significant that at this stage of our church life and what we're experiencing right now that we come to this table and remember the death that is beyond all deaths, the sacrifice of Christ's life because it is the most unusual, the most remarkable, the most glorious death in all of human history because his death was intentionally presented as a sacrifice for our salvation. Jesus did have time to prepare for his death because Jesus knew exactly what was happening to him in the Father's plan and purpose in the Father's will and the outworking of his will. Jesus knew exactly what was happening when he would die, how he would die, what the purpose of his death was. And so Jesus is moving toward the hour of his death with a resolute resolve to carry out the Father's will. There is no hesitancy, no backing away at all. In Mark's Gospel where we are the smorning, in Mark chapter 14, we find that presentation of our Lord's death actually the events of the evening before he died and it is clearly seen as we look at those events that Jesus is fully aware of what's happening to him. And he knows exactly what the Father's timetable is, he knows when he will die, he knows the hour of his death. And in these events on the evening before his crucifixion, there is clear evidence that Jesus is in complete command of the events leading to his death. Not everyone believes that. There are some who believe that Jesus was kind of caught up in a situation that quickly spun out of his control that he was maybe trying to do too much to rescue Judas and things got out of hand and thus he died as an unfortunate martyr for a cause that he believed in deeply. But the Gospel accounts give no room for that kind of interpretation of the death of Christ. The Gospel accounts make it clear that Jesus is moving step by step with perfect awareness of all that is happening around him and to him. And so these events Jesus is in complete control of that lead up to his death. That is seen in the upper room in Mark chapter 14 in at least three ways. The first clear evidence that Jesus knows what's happening and he's actually in control of the events is the preparation for a Passover. If you're with me in Mark chapter 14, look at verse 12. On the first day of the festival of unleavened bread when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover Lamb Jesus the disciples asked him, where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover? So he sent two of his disciples telling them, go into the city and demand carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, the teacher asks, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large room upstairs furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there. The disciples left went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them so they prepared the Passover. The whole passage here is speaking of the preparation that went before the actual Passover meal. So the fact that Jesus is preparing for the Passover meal shows that he is again in complete control of all of these events. He's actually planning what's happening. He's preparing the setting where he will do something very special and important with his disciples. Did you note the care of the preparation? Did you see the care? All the details, the detailed instructions to his disciples indicate the care with which Jesus is moving toward that cross the last evening of his life here on earth before the cross. Evidently, Jesus had already made arrangements privately with someone in Jerusalem to obtain this place, this room, an upper-level room. There was often an upper room on a second level of a house that was used for larger gatherings. Jesus has evidently already made arrangements with someone to use that guest chamber on the upper level of their house. He's already made those arrangements. It's clear that he knows exactly where it's going to be and he has developed or agreed upon a secret code for this person whom he's already arranged the events with to make contact with two of his disciples. And he gives instructions for those two disciples to go into Jerusalem and they will see something. They will see a man carrying a jar of water, a water pot, possibly on his head or possibly with his hands depending on the size of it. But this would be the clue that they are to ask him this question or give him this statement, the teacher asked, whereas my guest room where I'm going to eat the parcel with my disciples. Interesting clue, it would be easily recognizable. They wouldn't have to look and wonder which man because carrying jars of water was typically the work of women. It would be the women who would go to the well of paying water for what their needs would be that day for the household. So it would be very unusual to see a man carrying a water pot. So it was clearly designed and pre-arranged clue for the disciples to know where the place was that Jesus had already made arrangements for this meal in the upper room. The care, the detail of this is very apparent, but what are the reasons for this kind of preparation? Why all the secrecy? Why the mystery involved? Why the secret code word or code clue of who to approach? What I think one of the reasons for this careful preparation was that Jesus was hiding the location from Judas. He knew Judas' intention. He will reveal in this very room that there is one who will betray him and he knows who it is. He knows what Judas' intentions are. He knows that this is the night when the betrayal must take place and they also know, no doubt, that Judas doesn't want to do this in a public place. It's got to be somewhere private. So what better place than the room where only the twelve of them will be with Jesus? But that is not the place and that is not the time for Jesus to be betrayed. There are important things that must happen in that room and subsequently in the garden of Geth's Cinnany before Jesus is arrested. And so Jesus does not want Judas to know where they will meet so that he cannot reveal it to the chief priests and soldiers ahead of time. So all this care behind the scenes, the secret code word, only two disciples to go and see this person who has the water jar. But I think there's another reason for the careful, deliberate, detailed preparation. And that is because this is the most important meal Jesus will ever eat with his disciples. It is so important because it is the last meal he will share with them before his death and there's some important truths he will communicate to them. Actually four chapters of John's Gospel are dedicated to the instructions that Jesus would give his disciples in that upper room. It's very critical, very important that he have this meal with them. But he will also reveal to them that he is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb. He is the one who has been sent by God to die for mankind's sin. But also in this room there will be an important institution of a memorial of his death, a memorial that we still represent here today. And so there are a number of reasons why Jesus carefully prepares for this meal. And so the preparations are made. The room is arranged with tables low to the floor, couches made of pillows that they will recline on as they partake of the meal. The food is bought and prepared. The lamb is sacrificed and cooked sometime after six o'clock on that Thursday evening. They will arrive and they will begin to take their places around the table. Jesus as the host will begin, as always, would happen at a Passover feast by pronouncing a blessing upon the meal and then they would partake of the first cup. Three cups of wine would be on the table and they would partake of that first cup of wine after which they would sing Psalm 113 through 115. That is the blessed opening of the Passover meal. Then they would partake of the second cup of wine after which the meal itself would begin. With food that would help remind them of their deliverance from Egypt. When the Passover started their deliverance from bondage and slavery. They would partake of bitter herbs reminding them of their slavery in Egypt. They would partake of stewed fruit which would remind them of the misery of mixing mortar and making bricks. Both of those would be eaten with bread and then would come the main course of the meal, the lamb. The lamb prepared, slain, partaken of, would remind them of the blood applied to the door frames of Israelite homes in Egypt and of the quick departure of leaving the land of the Exodus, the road out of Egypt and God redeeming them and delivering them and then they would together drape the third cup of wine before they would sing a final hymn and leave the room. That final hymn being Psalm 115 through 118, customary last hymn of the Passover. So all of this intense, careful detail preparation indicates that Jesus is resolutely firmly in control of all of the events planning the sequence of events that will lead up to His death. But something different happens at this Passover meal. John's Gospel, John 13, tells us that in the course of partaking of this meal, Jesus is troubled in spirit and He drops a bombshell on the disciples. That bombshell, that announcement indicates His awareness of a traitor in the midst and that itself, this announcement of the traitor, His full awareness of what will happen that evening shows again He is in complete control of the events leading up to His death. Let's look at the description of this awareness of a traitor in verses 17 through 21 for 17. When evening came Jesus arrived with the 12 while they were reclining at the table eating, He said, truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They were saddened and one by one they said to Him, surely you don't mean me? It is one of the twelve, He replied, one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man, it would be better for him if he had not been born. Jesus is clearly aware, knows everything about what's happening with the betrayal of Judas. He knows how it will happen, he knows who it is, he knows when it will happen. But this is indeed a shocking revelation to the disciples. It is absolutely shocking to them and the fact that Jesus would say it is one eating with me. One of you in this room eating with me, dipping bread with me in the special sauces that would be prepared for the Passover meal. One of you who is eating bread with me, that recalls an Old Testament passage in Psalm 41, Psalm 41 verse 9. It's on the screen for you where David says, even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread has turned against me. Now in David's experience in Psalm 41, that Psalm referred to a very specific person in David's life, a man by the name of a hithafel. There's a name for your boy sometime. A hithafel. A hithafel was David's favorite counselor, his most trusted advisor. He was actually one of David's mighty men. There's indication in the Old Testament that David may have grown up with a hithafel. They may have been buddies since their youth. And so this man becomes one of his trusted warriors and actually his greatest advisor, his deepest confidant. But there came a time in David's experience where his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against him and actually forced David off the throne. David had to run for his life from his own son and a hithafel betrayed David and became Absolums, chief counselor, and gave him some awful horrible advice to try to discredit his father. That was David's experience. Jesus experience is similar and so Jesus reaches back into the Old Testament and grabs that passage and applies it to his own life by way of a prophecy about what's happening with him, one who is his own friend who is eating with me, who's sharing my bread will be the one who betrays me. The disciples could not figure out who it was and so they're all asking, surely you don't mean me. They are shocked about this. In fact, John records it this way in John 13 and verse 22, his disciples stared at one another at a loss to know which of them he meant. They had no clue who he was talking about, which is quite a testimony to Judas' deception, isn't it? Because Judas had been a secret unbeliever the whole time. Actually John's gospel in John 12 says that Judas had been stealing from the Treasury. The money that was kept to provide for the needs and the food of the disciples. So Judas had been carrying on like this for a long time but he hid it well and nobody has a clue who Jesus is talking about. They're all shocked by this revelation and they're staring at each other. I'm sure their mouths were wide open and they're all asking, you'll mean me, do you Lord? Certainly, they're all questioning themselves but they have no clue that it's Judas and Jesus could have answered their question by identifying who it was. If he had done that Peter would have had Judas in a headlock in an instant. No question. But Jesus does not do that. Jesus in verse 20 just simply replies, it is one of the twelve. One who dips bread into the bowl with me and there would be several of the disciples. It would be close enough to Jesus to be dipping bread into the same bowl. So this is not a clear identification. In fact when Judas leaves the room John's gospel will tell us they still didn't understand that it was him. The other disciples didn't. This is a shocking revelation but the way Jesus handles it shows us that this awareness of a traitor actually is also a loving invitation to Judas. He is actually appealing to Judas to repent. I believe that is seen in several things that happen in the upper room. First of all in the very seeding of the disciples. John's gospel gives us more detail and you're probably wondering, now, why aren't you just preaching from John? You keep referring to his account because John doesn't introduce the Lord's sufferer like I want to get to in just a moment. But John does give us details that Mark does. One of those details is the seeding arrangement. At least a couple of the seeds are made clear. The apostle John is on one side of Jesus. Evidently Judas is on the other because Jesus talks personally with both of them and those two seeds were the seeds of honor. The seeds of honor beside the host, they are the seeds of honor. There is one sense in which Judas is being given the opportunity to personally interact with Jesus where they could talk privately and they do. John's gospel makes clear. They do talk privately but there is an opportunity in those private discussions for Judas to turn from his wicked intentions and to repent. I think it's also seen when Jesus washes the feet of all of the disciples in describing that John tells us that Jesus said, now you are clean, although not all of you. One of you is unclean. And I think that must have been a reaching out to Judas and appeal to his conscience. None of the other disciples have any clue who could possibly be Judas knows. Judas knows his intentions to betray Jesus and Jesus by saying not all of you are clean. One of you is unclean is no doubt appealing to the conscience of Judas and then the fact that he makes this reference to Psalm 41 would be a clear reminder and no doubt a barb of conviction to Judas, a warning to Judas because every Jewish person would have grown up knowing that story of a hithafel and knowing what happened to him. Once it became clear that Absalom was no longer taking his advice. There's an interesting story about there about another advisor that David had secretly left in the palace to give Absalom advice that would benefit David and Absalom starts listening to Hushai rather than a hithafel. But when a hithafel realizes how things are turning and that Absalom's rebellion is not going to be successful, you know what he did? He went out and hung himself. A clear warning to Judas. Judas you are on dangerous ground here. Obviously you know the rest of the story. It's exactly what Judas would do later. But Jesus is reaching out to him here. John also tells us that Jesus dipped bread in the sauce and offered it to Judas. Every person had their own bit of bread but Judas is offered this bread from Jesus which was at the Passover meal or any meal a gesture of friendship. So Jesus is intentionally reaching out to Judas by where he has been seated by making the comment about not all the disciples being clean. The reference to Psalm 41, the conversation with Judas, the gesture of friendship to him. All of this is a reaching out to Judas. Here is my friendship. Here is my forgiveness. There's still time for you to repent. But there was no repentance in the part of Judas. Just an arrogant silence. And Jesus knowing that and knowing that as John describes Satan at that moment entered his heart to seal home his evil intentions. Jesus knowing all of that says whatever thou doest, whatever you're going to do, Judas, do quickly. And Judas gets up from the table and walks out of the room to complete the betrayal of Jesus. Even then the other disciples John tells us didn't understand what was happening. They thought because he was the treasure had the money that Jesus was sending him out to buy more supplies for the meal. They still are clueless as to what's happening. Judas knows and Jesus knows. And that whole interaction between them and the awareness of a traitor indicates Jesus knows exactly what is happening. And now that Judas is out of the room we see the third clear evidence that Jesus is in control of all that's happening. And that is the institution of a memorial. Now Jesus is with the eleven, the eleven who truly do trust him and it is time. It is time for him to institute a ritual, an observance that will help them remember and to this day helps us remember what Jesus death was all about. The institution of a memorial verse 22, while they were eating Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to the disciples saying take it this is my body. Then he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank from it. Probably the third cup of the meal the last cup of wine. Verse 24, this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many he said to them, truly I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. When they had sung and hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives. That last hymn saw him 115 to 118 they went out. Jesus in a sense interjects something into the Passover that the disciples realized didn't fit. When this happened they realized that the Passover was being used to do something other than what any Passover they'd ever been a part of was doing. So no doubt this aberration from the traditional custom of the Passover grabbed their attention. Notice if you will the elements of this memorial. Bread and the fruit of the vine the cup that held the wine. Jesus shatters the custom with the bread. He takes the bread and says he breaks it and says to them eat this bread this is my body. Now they've never heard that before at a Passover meal. Jesus is obviously taking the elements of the meal and using them to introduce something they've never ever considered before. They will probably not grasp the full meaning of that until later. No doubt they would reflect upon what happened to that meal and would come to understand better what it meant. But Jesus was saying this represents my body and then the cup the wine represents his blood and the meaning of this memorial is just that. The bread is not literally his body. When Jesus says this is my body he's not saying this literally is my body. Jesus often spoke in metaphors like that. He said I am the good shepherd. That was not literally his vocation. He said I am the gate or the door of the sheet fold. He was not a literal door. He said I am the bread come down from heaven. He was not a literal piece of bread. I mean Jesus often spoken those kinds of metaphors. So when he holds up that bread he says this is my body. This represents my body and the meaning of that is this is broken and distributed for you. It's given for you just like Jesus' body would be broken on the cross and intended as a sacrifice for us to partake of by faith. That's the meaning of that memorial. There was not a bone of Jesus' body broken to fulfill Old Testament prophecy but his body was broken in the sense that it was battered and bruised and bloodied even beyond human recognition. Jesus' body was given for us and in the cup Jesus says this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. This is my blood. This represents my blood. The shedding of blood obviously indicating his death just like in the Old Testament of Lamb the throat would be slit so the blood would go out and the lamb would die. So the shedding of blood points to death, the death of Christ. This is my death, he said. This is my blood. The shedding of blood will indicate that I will die for you. And with that he institutes a covenant, he says this is the blood of the covenant. A new covenant, the old covenant with Israel, God's covenant with Israel was solidified by the law of Moses. This is a new covenant with a new people, both Jew and Gentile together in one body, the church. And this is the seal of that new covenant, that new agreement with God, with a new people of God, the church. Hebrews will make that clear. Paul makes that clear in his epistles. We are a part of that body. We are a part of that church that Jesus instituted this for. And so we come today to be reminded of his death. What does this mean for us? What does this passage mean? What does it mean when we see that Jesus is consciously deliberately controlling the events surrounding him to move step by step toward his determined death? What does all this mean? Well, first of all, it means that his death is a willing sacrifice for us. Oh, no, Jesus was not caught up in events beyond his control. Jesus is willingly laying down his life as a sacrifice for us. Just as it was written in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and prefigured and symbolized in all those Old Testament sacrifices, the Son of Man is giving his life just as was foretold in the Old Testament. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's giving his life a willing sacrifice for you. And for me, he died in our place. His death pays for our sins. But there's something else I believe to see here. And that is that only he can prepare you for death. It is only through Jesus' death that you can be prepared for your death. Because the sacrifice that Jesus made at the cross was designed to bear all of God's judgment and wrath, all the penalty for your sin. And if you place your faith in Christ, if you trust, put all your confidence in what he did for you, rather than what you can try to do for yourself to earn heaven, that won't work. If you put all of your confidence in Christ and what he did, then you will be forgiven of your sin. You will be given a place in God's family. And only through that can you be prepared to die. Only then will you be ready to step out into eternity and to meet God. So it is only through Jesus' death that you can be ready to die. And death could come at any time for any of us. It comes to both young and old, both those seemingly healthy and those who have battled disease for many years. The key is to be ready to be prepared, that is only through Jesus' death that you can be prepared. So we come this morning to remember that he died for us, to remember his death. And to make sure that because of our faith in him and his sacrifice for us, we are prepared whenever our time of death comes. Let's bow our heads in prayer and as we pray, I am going to ask the men who will be serving us to come and take their place here at the front, prepare for the Lord's table. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the death of your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, that his death purchased our salvation, redeemed us, reconciled us to you, justifies us, declaring us righteous in your sight. Thank you for all that his death accomplishes for us. And Father, as we now remember his death, help us to remember well what he did for us and to be grateful and thankful for eternity because of it in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.