The Sovereign Sacrifice

Preached by Jason Abbott

March 24, 2019

Since Jesus, in Luke chapter 9, set his face towards Jerusalem and the cross, it’sbeen about a year’s time. But, today friends, we find Jesus less than 24 hours fromhis crucifixion. This passage records the events of Thursday evening for us—thePassover supper Jesus shared with his disciples. The action in Luke’s narrativebegins to accelerate at this point but not against Jesus’ will. He’s the one incontrol. He’s in charge here. And in the midst of all that seems like tragedyand chaos to us, this is what Luke wants us to see—our steady and sovereign Sacrifice.

Let’s read today’stext together, then we’ll pray.

Luke 22:7-23

7 Thencame the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to besacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter andJohn, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

9 “Wheredo you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

10 Hereplied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meetyou. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 andsay to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room,where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 Hewill show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

13 Theyleft and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared thePassover.

14 Whenthe hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 Andhe said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with youbefore I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat itagain until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

17 Aftertaking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it amongyou. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again fromthe fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 Andhe took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them,saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

           We’re going to ask three questions in order to open up theseverses for us. (1st) Why would Jesus eagerly desire to eat thisPassover meal with the disciples? His longing should stick out as strangeto us. (2nd) Who’s this Passover supper for? Jesusrefashions it here; we need to identify how. And, (3rd) how is Jesusin control of these seemingly tragic and chaotic coming events? I’ve saidthat he’s sovereign, so we’ll want to recognize how he’s sovereign. Let’s jumpin.

1. Why would Jesus eagerly look forward to this meal (v. 15)?

           Jesus isn’t talking about any Passover meal. Jesus istalking about this one—his last one with his disciples. Jesus knowsexactly what’s ahead. Jesus knows he’s on death row, so to speak. Why would heeagerly look forward to this meal?

           I’ve often wondered about death-row inmates picking andeating a last meal. Can you imagine? It would be such a contradiction. Thinkingabout whatever food you love the very most; getting to pick exactly the combinationof foods you want; but, remembering always that that feast foreshadows your impendingexecution. What a paradox! The pleasure and the pain mingled together!

           I read an article about this strange and uniquely Americanpenal tradition. And, what I found interesting is that the vast majority ofthose death-row inmates who chose a meal never ate that meal. They didn’t wantit in the end.

           Carroll Pickett was the Texas State death-row chaplainfrom 1982 to 1995. Here’s what he recalled about those final meals. Heexplained:

I was there for 95 who ate their lastmeal…. A lot of them would decline. They would just say… “I’m getting nervous,I’m getting scared”. Very few—I’d say less than 10%—ate all that we brought tothem.[1]

           In stark contrast to this, Jesus says I eagerly desire tocelebrate this last meal with you. Why? Why would he say this? Why would hefeel this way?

           Folks, Jesus said it because his death wasn’t simply adeath like other deaths. Jesus said it because this supper wasn’t a Passover meallike other Passover meals. He said this because his death would be thedefining death and this Passover meal would be the defining Passovermeal. You see, his death brings hope and meaning to us all. It is infinitelypowerful. His is the death that breaks the power of death. And, this Passovermeal—that we’re looking at—is the meal by which he outlines for his disciplesthis glorious truth. He shows and tells them his death’s purpose!

ForJesus’ disciples, that Passover meal pointed forward to his crucifixion andhelped them to grasp its meaning—helped them to grasp the gospel of God. And,for each of us today, the Lord’s table points backwards to Christ’s crucifixionand helps us to grasp its good news meaning. Our Lord is eager to share thatmeal with us because it communicates his love for us—his sacrifice forus.

Iwonder if you believe that God is eager to share his love—share himself—withyou. I wonder if you think of the Lord as a God who relishes communicating andconnecting with his creatures—with you!He does you know. Just think:

He’screated a world brimming with his majesty, a world that sings of him. Aspoet Gerard Manley Hopkins writes—“The world is charged with the grandeur ofGod. / It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; / It gathers to agreatness, like the ooze of oil / Crushed.”[2] God wants us to hear thissong and awaken to him and awaken to his love. He’s communicating to us in andthrough his creation.

He’sspoken a more specific word about himself—the 66 books of Scripture. YourBible is God-breathed. It’s the Lord calling out in detail about you and to you and for you. Scripture is God inviting us toknow him personally—even intimately. The Bible is God sharing himself with usand speaking to us.

Heencourages you to run to him in prayer and promises that he’ll hear youwhen you do. As John tells us, “…this is the confidence that we have towardhim, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14). Idelight when my kids honestly seek my ear. Even more so, God delights when youdo.

Here’sa big one. The Lord communicates to us and shares himself with us through theindwelling of the Holy Spirit. God counsels and convicts and gifts us byhis Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus Christ to us and enables us to defeatsin and embrace holiness. This is the Lord stamping his family resemblance uponus—sharing his divine glory with us. This is the most intimate communication.

And,as if all that wasn’t enough, our God is pleased to communicate with us throughmembership in his family—the Church. He uses relationships in the bodyof Christ to reveal his ways and purposes to us. Friends, don’t take yourfellowship in a local church for granted. If you found a beating heart hiddenaway in a house, you’d find it startling, disturbing, and strange. We should havethe same reaction when we find a Christian trying to live in unity with Godapart from his fellowship, apart from his body. To live as a believer in isolationis to cutoff one of the ways God is pleased to share himself with you and tospeak into your life.

So,you see, Jesus eagerly longed to eat thatPassover meal with his disciples because, through it, he would share moreof his mission, more of the plans of God, more of himself with them. And, hewants to do the same with us. Remember thatwhen you come to Christ’s table at the end of this service.

           What about our second question?

2. Who is this Passover supper for (vv. 19-20)?

Well,Jesus makes it pretty clear as he’s infusing new and ultimate meaning into thisancient, traditional meal. Look again at what he says.

And he took bread, gave thanks andbroke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do thisin remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you”(vv. 19-20).

Who’sit for? His body broken for…? His blood poured out for…? It’s you. It’s me.It’s all those who would trust that Jesus is the ultimate, saving sacrificefrom God—“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Theonly one who can take away your sins.

Thisis the realization I had to come to when I finally entered into salvation, thatI could not take away my own sins. I had to trust Jesus to do that for me.

Inthe early part of the 20th century, an English newspaper sent out arequest to a number of rather well-known authors asking them to respond to the question—“What’swrong with the world?” Likely, the shortest answer it received back was fromChristian author G. K. Chesterton. He responded succinctly: “Dear Sir, I am. Yours,G. K. Chesterton.”[3]So true!

Iwonder if you see yourself as the right place to start when assigning blame inthis fallen world. It is the rightplace for the Christian to begin. Jesus is telling us that it’s our sins hemust die for. And he has! He lovesyou enough to die for you. That’s what we remember when we come to the table.That’s what we remember when we celebrate the Lord’s supper. It should humbleus and exalt us.

Beforewe move on to our last question, I want to highlight something here. Two weeksago, I pointed out how Jesus is consistently claiming and doing things whichonly God can claim and do. And, there’s another big-one in this text.

ThePassover celebration was one of the biggest festivals, if not the biggest, in Israel.And, at the point Jesus and his disciples are eating it here in this passage,it had been celebrated for over a millennium—celebrating Yahweh’s saving rescueof his people from slavery in Egypt, celebrating how he’d brought their oppressorsto their knees.

And,the Lord had given the Israelites, through Moses, specific commands about howthey must celebrate that festival. (You can read his detailed instructions in Exodus12.) God’s commands outline not only howthey should do the Passover but, also, whythey’re to do it—as a “memorial day” to recall in future generations how God passedover those who were marked by the blood of the sacrificial lamb while pouringout his judgment on those who were not.

Overa thousand years and very exact commandsfrom God for his people—yet, nevertheless, Jesus says: All that…it’s about me; it’s pointing to my mission. Here’s what itreally means. Friends, Jesus does what only God has the authority to do! Hepresumes to define history and the laws of God. A claim to divinity!

           Well, now let’s ask our lastquestion.

3. How is Jesus in control (vv. 21-23)?

Howcan a man who’s about to be betrayed be in control? How can a man who’s lessthan 24 hours away from a death-sentence be in control of the situation? Howcan a sacrifice be sovereign?

We get a hint atthe end of our text when Jesus says:

But the hand of him who is going tobetray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has beendecreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” They began to question amongthemselves which of them it might be who would do this(vv. 21-23).

Thedisciples are not in control. They haven’t got a clue who the betrayer is.Sometimes we imagine that Judas was an obvious choice. But, they weren’t like—Yeah, it’s probably Judas. They are notsovereign here.

And,though Judas is the betrayer, he isn’t in control either. He’s found out. Jesusknows it’s him. And, if that’s not enough to prove that Judas isn’t sovereign thenjust think back to last week’s sermon. Who holds sway over him at this point? Luketells us that Satan does (22:3). Judas isn’t sovereign either.

But,Jesus affirms the outcome here. Doesn’t he? “The Son of Man will go as it hasbeen decreed” (v. 22). In short, Jesus is saying, I’ll surely go to the crossbecause that’s what’s been decreed—determined, pronounced, commanded, ruled, ordecided. But, by whom? Who decided? That’s the question.

Openyour imaginations for a moment. Let them wander back to the advent of creation,the dawn of time. Imagine the perfect unity and fellowship of Father, Son, andHoly Spirit. Think about their perfect counsel. They, in total knowledge, plancreation—knowing well that Adam and Eve would rebel and sin against them;knowing well that the second member of the Trinity (the everlasting Son of God)would have to become man, live a perfect human life, be betrayed and betortured and be crucified to atone for our sin and rebellion; knowing full andwell the costs of creating and loving us; knowing all this, nevertheless, ourthree-in-one Lord decreed that it should be. (Jesus, the Son, has always been in complete control.)

[1] Youcan read the entire BBC article here.

[2]You can read “God’s Grandeur” in full here.

[3] Youcan read more in thisarticle in The Christian Mind.