Christ: Our Passover - Life of Christ Part 88

Do you remember the guy that they used to call the Teflon President?

Who was that? Yeah, Ronald Reagan, I think, is the one who's been most normally referred to as the Teflon President. And what's that really mean? Well, of course, you know, Teflon's that stuff you coat pans with so nothing sticks.

And what it meant was that all of the crises, all of the, in a sense, I guess you could say, scandals of that presidency, nothing ever seemed to stick to the guy. I mean, he came through smelling like a rose. And wouldn't it be great in real life if you could be covered with Teflon?

Huh? I mean, I think that'd be a fabulous thing. And actually, from a spiritual point of view, that is exactly what Jesus Christ offers you and me. God has made some spiritual Teflon for you and me. And I want to talk to you about that this morning because it's all connected up to the events of the Last Supper that we're going to read about and to the events of the Passover, which is really what the Last Supper was. So I want us to look together here in Luke 22, beginning at verse 7. And I want to talk to you about the most famous meal ever eaten in the history of the mankind, the Last Supper, and how that relates to your life and my life.

So let's look together, verse 7. Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and make preparation for us to eat the Passover. Now remember, this Last Supper is not a banquet at the Hilton like we might throw. It was a Passover meal. It was a Jewish festive service, a Jewish religious meal that was being celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. So in that regard, when you see the very famous painting of the Last Supper, you know who painted that?

Does anybody know? Leonardo da Vinci. That's right. And I know you know he painted it on the Santa Maria monastery over in, you know, Italy. But anyway, the way he painted it is how a Westerner would have celebrated his last meal with his disciples. But that's not at all the way Jesus did it, because this was a Passover meal. And it looked very different than that painting.

I'm sorry to do that to you, but it just did. Let's go down to verse 14. And when the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.

This is one of the major ways it's different. There were no chairs for them to sit on like in the painting. They actually would sit on the floor in kind of bean bags with kind of couches, but they were like bean bag chairs. And you would lean on these bean bag chairs on your left, and you'd eat off the table with your right and your feet would be stuck out behind you.

So that's the way it would have been done. Verse 15. And he said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer.

For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. Now during the Passover meal, there were four cups of wine that were part of the ritual of the meal. And there was one point in the meal where you took a piece of matzah, you know, unleavened bread, and you broke it as part of the ritual in the meal. And this is what Jesus did. Remember when it says he broke the bread and he handed it out? Well, he was breaking the meal, the matzah in the middle of the meal, the way the ceremony went. And after each of these cups, these were the four cups that were part of the ceremony.

So let's read on. And after taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among you. For I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until I do it in the kingdom of God. And he took bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, this represents my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, after cup or the fourth and final cup, he took it and said, this cup represents the new covenant made by my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who's going to betray me is with mine on the table.

The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to the man who betrays him. Then they began to all ask themselves which one of them it might be. You know, something else very interesting is that the table that they sat out was not a long table like you see down here in front of you where they sat around it, but actually it was more of a square. And they sat in three sides of the table, kind of like a U-shaped is how they sat. And Jesus was not in the middle. He was not at the bottom of the horseshoe. He was actually on the side, which is where the guest of honor would sit. And he had one person to his right, and then it was the end of the table, and then everybody else strung out from his left. You know who was on his right?

Who do you think? John was on his right. John, it says in John chapter 14, was sitting to the right of Jesus.

And remember when Peter said, hey, ask him who that is that's going to betray him. The Bible says that John leaned over and put his head on Jesus' breast and asked him the question. Now, you can't do that from across the table.

You know, if you're going to put your head on somebody's shoulder, you got to be sitting next to them. Now, here's a little trivia question. Who was sitting on the other side of Jesus?

Who do you think? Actually, it was Judas. John was on one side. Judas Iscariot was sitting on the other side.

You say, how do you know that? We know that because if you remember, Jesus said in Matthew's gospel, the person who's dipping in the bowl with me, he's the person who's going to betray me. And at one point during the meal, you would take bitter herbs, horseradish or something like that. You would dip it in kind of like a sweet and sour sauce called horosheth, and you would eat it as being symbolic of the bitterness that you had had in Egypt as slaves.

And so the only way that two people could be dipping in the same bowl, since there were bowls spread all around the table, is if they were sitting right next to each other. So just in case you ever are asked, John was on one side, Judas Iscariot was on the other side. Now, the point of telling you all this is to help you understand that we cannot really appreciate the events of Jesus's life, of the timetable of his life, of his death, his burial, his resurrection, and what he did on the cross unless we appreciate the fact that it was all around the Passover. The Passover connection is so real that we can't really understand all these other things Jesus did if we don't understand the Passover. And so I want us to turn back in the Old Testament to see this Passover connection back to Exodus chapter 11. And if you're using our copy of the Bible, we're going to be on page 47, Exodus chapter 11. And I want to show you this Passover connection and then answer the question, Well, so what?

All right. Now, there's three things I want you to see about the Passover. The first one back in Egypt 3500 years ago, here's the first thing I want you to see that sin produced judgment.

It always does always will always has sin brought judgment. If you remember, look here in verse one, chapter 11. Now the Lord said to Moses, I'm going to bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. And after that, he will let you go.

He will let you go. You remember that God had been saying to Moses, let my people go, let my people go. And Pharaoh had been saying in direct defiance of God, who is this God? I don't care about this God. I don't respect this God. I'm not doing anything this God says outright defiance.

Well, now we're down to the 10th plague. And here it is verse four. So this is what God said about midnight, I will go through Egypt, every firstborn son in Egypt will die from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on the throne to the firstborn son of the slave girl who's at her mill and the firstborn of the cattle, there will be loud wailing throughout Egypt, worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. God decided he was very patient with Pharaoh, but his patience ran out and he decided he was going to an exact a penalty for sin on Pharaoh and on the land of Egypt.

And here it is the firstborn of everybody in Egypt was going to die. That's the first thing I want you to see that sin brought judgment. The second thing I want you to see is that God made a way of deliverance from this judgment for the people who would take advantage of it.

He made a way out for the people who would take advantage of it. Look, skip over to chapter 12, verse three. Tell the whole community of Israel, God says, that on the 10th day of the month of Nissan, each man is to take a lamb. Skip down to verse five. The animals you choose have to be year old males without defect, verse six.

Take care of them until the 14th day of the month when all the people of the community of Israel shall slaughter them at twilight. And verse 46 adds, and don't break any of their bones or you can't use that lamb. Now, verse seven, then you are to take some of their blood, the lamb's blood and put it on the two sides of your doorframe, put it on the top of your doorframe, and then get inside of that house and eat the lamb inside of the house. Now, the way of deliverance that God made was through the Passover lamb, this Passover lamb. Notice some things about this lamb.

Number one, it had to be a blemishless male. Verse five tells us that. Verse six tells us that they killed it on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. Verse 46 tells us they could not break a single bone in the body of this lamb. And verse seven goes on to tell us that the lamb's blood was to be put as a covering, as a protection on the doorpost of that house.

Now, what would happen if you did this? Look at verse 12. And on that same night, God says, I'm going to pass through Egypt and I'm going to strike down every firstborn, both men and animal. I'm going to bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt for I am the Lord. Verse 13, but the blood of that lamb will be a sign for you on your houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. You want to know where the festival got its name?

Well, right here, I will pass over you. Look, no destructive plague will touch you or your children when I strike Egypt if I see the blood on your doorpost. Only people who had blood on their doorpost were safe that night in Egypt. It didn't matter whether you were an Egyptian or whether you were an Israelite. It didn't matter what your race was, your creed was, your religion was, or your socioeconomic status was. It was simply a question of the people who had blood on their doors and were inside behind those doors were safe and the people who were outside of those doors were not safe and it was just that simple.

The issue was the blood. God said when I see the blood, not your race, not your creed, not your socioeconomic status, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. God made a way of deliverance. Third and final point I want you to see is that everybody, everybody who availed themselves, who took advantage of God's way of deliverance was spared, everybody. And we know that there were some Egyptians who put blood on their doorpost and there were some Egyptians who hid behind the doorpost of some Israelites' houses and they didn't lose their firstborn son.

You say, Lon, how do you know this for sure? Is it in the Bible? No, it was in the movie. And if you watch the movie, you know that that was true.

Right? No, now actually, we don't know for certain whether there were any Egyptians who put blood on their doorpost. We don't know for certain whether any Egyptians who went and joined up with any Israelites.

There may have been, but this we know. If they had, they would have had their firstborn son preserved just like the Israelites. And if there was any Israelite, conversely, who said, I'm not doing that, I'm not killing some stupid lamb, I'm not going to hide behind some stupid door, I've got my own remedy to solve this, and they were not behind blood-stained doors, guess what happened to their firstborn? He died because the issue was not whether you were an Israelite or an Egyptian.

The issue was whether or not you were covered by the blood. Now, how does all this relate to Jesus Christ? Well, it's very interesting that in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 5, the Bible says that Jesus Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. Now, why would the Bible call Jesus our Passover? You know, when I was a little Jewish kid, we used to celebrate, you know, the Passover and all these different things, and we would get together and have one of these Passover meals and do it just the way you're supposed to do it, and my grandfather would come, my grandmother would come, all these relatives I hadn't seen in a year and just as soon would not see for the next year.

You know, they'd all show up too, you know what I'm saying? And we'd all come together and eat this Passover, and it was boring. I never could figure out what is the point of this crazy meal.

You know, you eat all this weird food, and I can't figure out what the point is. Well then, when I became a Christian, I finally understood what the point was. The point is that every festival of Israel, every feast of Israel, every religious observance of Israel was meant by God to point people to the Messiah, to teach people certain truths about the Messiah and about his life and about his work and about his ministry, and so the Passover was meant to teach the Jewish people some truths about Jesus Christ. That's why the New Testament says Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us.

And the comparison is inescapable. Let's compare Jesus Christ and the Passover lamb for a minute. Jesus Christ was a male, well, so was the Passover lamb. Jesus Christ was blemishless, perfect. Hebrews chapter 4 says that he was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin.

In fact, Jesus Christ, friends, is the only blemishless human being that ever lived. Didn't the Passover lamb had to be perfect? The Bible says that not a bone could be broken in the Passover lamb. It's interesting when you read John chapter 19 that it says there that the Sabbath was just about to come, the sun was just about to set, and the Jewish people went to the Romans and said, you know, Jesus and those two people hanging on the cross, we've got to break their legs so they'll die quicker because we can't take them down off the cross once the Sabbath hits. By the way, do you know how you die when you're crucified? You suffocate. You hang there long enough and your body gets exhausted enough that you cannot expand your diaphragm and you cannot breathe anymore and you suffocate. Well, one of the ways to prolong death when you're on a cross is to push up with your legs, and by doing that, you expand your diaphragm a little bit and you can pepper breath just a little and stay alive a little longer.

So if you wanted people to die quicker, you know what you did. You break their legs with a sledge hammer or something so they can't push up and they die quicker. Now, that's what they were talking about. So it says in John 19, they went to one thief and broke his legs. They went to the other thief and broke his legs. When they got to Jesus, he's already dead. And they were amazed and they didn't break his legs. And John the apostle said, and that was to fulfill the Old Testament which spoke of him and said not a bone of his was to be broken.

Where did that come from? Right out of Exodus chapter 12 because he's the Passover lamb. You know the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified? Take a guess.

If you guess the 14th day of the month of Nisan, you're absolutely correct. What an incredible coincidence. I don't think it's a coincidence, friends.

Why was all this orchestrated the way it was? Because God was trying to help us see that all of those events of Passover were just meant to teach us about Jesus Christ. When you connect the blood that was put on the doorpost, it forms a cross, right?

Two on the side, one on the top. But most important of all is this, that the New Testament teaches us that everybody who takes refuge under the blood of Jesus Christ, who hide behind the blood of Christ from the judgment of God against sin, the same way those Israelites hid behind those doorposts stained with blood 3500 years ago, that every one of us who do it, we and we alone are safe from the judgment of God against sin, the same way those people in Egypt were safe 3500 years ago. Except that now God's promise, when I see the blood, I will pass over you, does not apply to the blood of some lamb that we killed out in the backyard, but it applies now to the blood of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. It's His blood now that we hide behind. It's kind of like spiritual Teflon.

You understand? Just like that blood in Egypt was like Teflon that kept their firstborn son from being killed. So Jesus Christ's blood is like spiritual Teflon so that when the judgment of God against sin comes passing through, it just doesn't stick to people who are behind the blood of Christ. Listen to what the rest of the Bible says about the blood of Christ. It says, 1 John 1.7, the blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sin. Hebrews 9, verse 12, by His own blood, Jesus obtained eternal redemption for us. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 18, for you were not redeemed from your empty way of life with perishable things like silver or gold. Listen, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Jesus himself said, Matthew 26, this is my blood, which I'm shedding for you so that it will bring forgiveness for sin. And I love what Paul said in Romans chapter 5. He said, we have been justified. We have been made right in the sight of God.

We have been acquitted. We have been pronounced not guilty in the sight of God. Romans 5, 9, how? By the blood of Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder then that John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and what did he say? He said, behold, the lamb of God, the Passover lamb of God, who does what? Who takes away the sin of the world.

You get the connection? Okay. Now, all of that leaves us with the question, and you know the question, what's the question?

Let's finish up by talking about so what? Remember I said earlier that God made a way of deliverance for the people who were in Egypt, but I added a real important caveat. I said, for those who were willing to take it. Now that's real important for those who are willing to take it, because you know, if you were in Egypt 3,500 years ago and you were living during the events of the first Passover, you had a decision to make, didn't you?

You sure did. You had a decision to make. Am I going to believe God that judgment's coming? Am I going to believe God that there's a way of escape? Am I going to believe God that he'll pass over me if I take that way of escape?

And most importantly, am I going to go do it? Am I going to get that lamb, kill that lamb, put the blood on my door, get inside that house and stay inside that house tonight? I had a decision to make. And the people who made the decision to believe God and obey God, their firstborn children lived. And today in our world, we in dealing with Jesus Christ, our Passover, we have a decision to make too.

You see friends, the variable is not the judgment's coming. It was coming in Egypt, God said it. And we know from the word of God that one of these days, God's going to judge the world for sin.

I mean, we know that. That's not a variable. The variable is not that God's made a way out. That's sure that he made the blood then of the lamb and he made the blood of Jesus Christ. The variable is not that when God sees the blood, he'll pass over us. That's the promise of God. That's certain. Those aren't the variables.

The variable is whether you and I are going to submit to God and do it God's way and take his way of deliverance or whether we're going to try to figure out our own way of deliverance. I'll bet you there were some Israelites 3,500 years ago who said, I'm not doing all that junk. There's got to be another way to do this.

And beside that stupid way of doing it, I'm going to figure out my own way to make this happen. You know what happened to them? They lost their first born. That's what happened to them.

And there are all kinds of people in our world today who go, trust Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, depend on what he did on the cross for me plus nothing, hide behind the blood of Christ plus nothing, no good works, no sacraments, no religious activity, no helping nice old ladies across the street, no this, no that. I'm not doing all that. That's too simple.

That's stupid. I'm not doing. Watch out.

Watch out. You sound like some of those Israelites way back then who lost their son. We have to make a decision. The variable is, are we going to do it God's way? Are we going to take advantage of God's safe place or are we going to try to figure out our own? Friend, if you're here today and you've trusted Christ as your personal Savior, then I hope that what we've talked about will give you a whole new vantage point on what you've done. We can look at salvation from all different vantage points. This is just a different one. What you've done is you've let the blood of Jesus Christ become your spiritual covering. It's like you've put it on the doorpost of your life.

And when God comes passing through in judgment, he looks at your life with the blood of Jesus Christ spread on your life and he says, I see that one right there. We're passing over that one. That was my promise. We're passing over him. We're passing over her. They don't have to deal with the judgment of God for sin. And I think it's fabulous for us to think that that's what God did for us. We didn't take the initiative. We didn't do it for ourselves.

We didn't go out and create this. God intervened in human history to create a safe place for you and me for the simple reason that he loves us and he cares about us. And if you've availed yourself for that, then as we celebrate the Lord's table today, I want to urge you, man, we need to thank God. We need to really be able to say, God, I just want to thank you so much for making a safe place for me, a place I couldn't even make for myself. If you're here this morning and you're not sure you've ever done this, maybe you've been coming to McLean for a while, you've been listening, you've been thinking, you've been processing, you know, that's great. And we want you to do that.

And that's what we're here for. But you know, at some point, listening and thinking and processing is not going to do it, there's got to be a decision. At some point, those people in Egypt had to make a decision. At some point, I had to make a decision. At some point, you got to make a decision. Either you're going to do it God's way and take his offer of deliverance or you're not. It's your decision. But you got to make a decision. And I want to give you a chance to do that today.

I got good news for you. You can do it right where you're sitting. You don't need to be dressed a certain way. You don't need to have been fasting overnight. You don't need any preparation before you came in this morning. It doesn't depend on whether you're a member of this church or not.

None of that makes a bit of difference. It just simply depends on whether or not you're willing to say, God, I'm a sinner. I know the judgment of God applies to me. And I need a way out. I'm going to junk every way out I've ever tried myself. And I'm going to take your way out. I'm going to trust the blood of Jesus Christ to be my covering. I'm going to get behind it like those Israelites got behind it that night in Egypt.

And when you come through in judgment, I'm relying on your promise that when you see the blood of Jesus Christ covering me, you're going to pass over. It's just that simple. You say, Lon, that's too simple.

No, it isn't. God wanted to make this simple enough that a child could do it. Why does God want to make it hard? It's meant to be simple.

We're the ones who make it hard. So if you're here this morning, and you've never done that, I'm going to give you a chance to do it. And I hope that you'll grab this opportunity and grab it quickly. Let's bow our heads together. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, and please no one looking around, if you're here today, and you can say, you know, Lon, I really heard what you said this morning. And I want Jesus Christ to be my personal Savior. I want that spiritual Teflon.

I need it. I'm tired of trying to do it myself and figure out my own remedy for sin. I'm willing to do it God's way this morning. If you're willing to do that, I'd like us to pray together this morning. And as a way of indicating that you're making that decision, I'd like you to slip your hand up and say, God, that's me. I'm making that decision this morning.

Anyone like to do that? God bless you. Thanks. Thank you. Anybody else? Mm-hmm. Thanks.

Anybody else? Come on now. If you're ready to do it, this is it.

Thank you so much. Okay, whether you raised your hand or you didn't, thank you. You can pray silently after me. And let's ask Jesus Christ to do this very thing in your life. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner.

I know I've fallen short of your perfect standard. I know that the judgment of God for sin applies to me. And this morning, I want you to come into my life. I want you to become my personal Savior and Lord. I want to give up every other way that I've ever trusted to work my way to heaven. I renounce every other remedy I've ever relied upon. And I take this morning the blood of Jesus Christ, the Passover lamb, as my only remedy for sin. I hide behind the blood of Christ like those Israelites hid 3,000 years ago. So Lord, I give you my life this morning.

Make me your child. And thank you that now when you see the blood covering my life, you'll pass over me. In Jesus' name. And Father, I want to pray for these folks who prayed this prayer, whether they raised their hand or they didn't, that you would reassure them that a great transaction has taken place if they were sincere this morning. That you have transferred them from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. You've made them your very children. And best of all, they're covered now with the blood of Christ, spiritual Teflon, to which the judgment of God for sin will not stick.

By your own promise, you said that. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making a safe place for us. We need it. Thank you that this safe place doesn't depend on us performing correctly, but you created it in your love for us to hide. And Father, may there be no one who leaves here today not being able to rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. We thank you for loving us like this. Help us live lives that show you the gratitude that we feel. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.