reading is from Mark chapter 14 beginning in verse 12. This is God's word. And on the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrificed the Passover lamb his disciples said to him where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? He sent to his disciples and said to them go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you follow him and wherever he enters say to the master of the house the teacher says where is my guest room where am I eat may I eat the Passover with my disciples and he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready there prepare for us and the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as they had he had told them and they prepared the Passover and when it was evening he came with the 12 and they were reclining at table and eating Jesus said truly I say to you one of you will betray me who is eating with me they began to be sorrowful and said to him one after another is it I he said to them it is one of the 12 who's dipping bread into the dish with me for the Son of Man goes as it is written of him but woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been better for that man had he not been born and as they were eating he took the bread and blessing it broke it and gave it to them and said take this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and they drank all of it and he said to them this is my covenant this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many truly I say to you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God and when they had sung him they went out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus said to them you will fall away for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered but after I'm raised up I will go before you to Galilee and Peter said to him even though they all fall away I will not Jesus said truly I tell you this very night before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times and he said emphatically I'm if I must die with you I will not deny you and they all said the same let's pray Lord as we come to your word we ask that you would open our hearts and minds that you would change us prepare us for your sacrament the Lord's Supper in Jesus name amen I am indebted to two sources really this is a brief commercial we're started a new subject for the men's Bible study it's on the sacraments this book is excellent by Keith Matheson called given for you reclaiming Calvin's doctrine of the Lord's Supper and a sermon by Kevin de young when he was a pastor in Michigan he's now I think in North Carolina but so if you hear anything brilliant during this time it's probably me but I'm no I'm kidding it's probably one of them so pastor de Young points out that John Calvin has a work with several short articles in it we would call articles I don't think they did then several short essays and many of them were about the Lord's Supper they all had long titles because apparently if you don't have a dust cover for your book you have to tell what's going on in the book in the title and this is one of the favorites a brief reply and refutation of the colonies of a certain worthless person that's the title of the article but if you looked at John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian religion which is 1,500 pages 90 of them are devoted to the Lord's Supper Wayne Grudem is a popular evangelical systematic theologian and he wrote a systematic theology and it is 1,200 pages and there are 12 pages on the Lord's Supper so what I'm going to hope to cover is the Passover the Lord's Supper and then what it means to us now why the difference between then and now well a couple of historical points would be that it was at the time of the Reformation and the Reformed Church the Protestant Church the Church of Calvin and Luther and so on were coming out of the Roman Catholic Church and so there was a great difference between what the Roman Catholic Church believed and what the Protestant Church believed but still in all compared to today many evangelical Bible believing churches don't think much about the Lord's Supper at all they celebrated infrequently sometimes carelessly an example of that is when Tracy and I lived in Kent Ohio we belong to a church there as a Baptist Church it was a really good church it was the only evangelical church in Kent and so we wanted to be part of that church so that we could bring our students to church and the way they did the Lord's Supper I really enjoyed because they always had it on a Sunday evening and it was its own service so but then one Sunday they had invited a drama troop in to present on Sunday evening and they came in and they did their the first half of their show and then they had an intermission and during the intermission the deacons which in the Baptist Church really amount to elders quite often the deacons brought out the communion table with the bread and the grape juice and we had communion during the intermission of the gospel I mean the the drama that they were doing was really more of a comedy than a drama so I was on the board of deacons I did not know this was going to happen so the next time we had a deacon meeting I raised my concerns about how this was handled and I got a little pushback a little defense remember it's a Baptist Church and I said well you know you thought enough of the one sacrament to name the church after it the least you could do is give the communion service celebration its own service the pastor smiled and said good point and we won't do that again now during the pandemic other churches I've I know for a fact I know one in particular that I won't name they would have communion over zoom and they would tell the parishioners who were watching on the zoom they would tell them to have a cracker and some grape juice or apple juice whatever they wished during the men's Bible study somebody told me about the Dorito and Coca-Cola communion table first I'd heard of that but in the early church there were two things at the center of worship the ministry of the word and the sacraments especially the Lord's Supper if you look at Acts 2 42 it says so those are the elements of worship that they were most concerned about the teaching of the word fellowship with each other breaking of bread which we understand to be the Lord's Supper they weren't talking about passing around sandwiches or anything and then finally prayers and again on Acts 20 verse 7 on the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread again that means the Lord's Supper Paul talked with them intending to depart the next day and he prolonged his speech until midnight now you might think oh my goodness that's a 12-hour speech no what happened is that people still had to work on Sunday at this time there there was they were living in Rome's world they had to work on Sunday so they would have to have worship on Sunday evening now it's evident that in the early church the word and the sacrament went together regularly now that doesn't mean that we have to celebrate the Lord's Supper every time we worship some churches do some churches have made that decision we haven't done that here in 1 Corinthians 11 which read read earlier Paul gave instructions about taking the Lord's Supper and he said in verse 26 for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes so pastor de Young pointed out that there are three theological realities that are in the Mark 14 passage and the first is that Christ is the host of the Supper he's inviting his disciples to come to the room to recline at the table now we get this from the Passover remember this was a Passover and in the Passover just a brief history you remember the Passover was instituted when God was about to take Israel out of Egypt and they were told to kill a lamb, it was one year old without blemish it could be either a sheep or a goat and they were to eat the lamb together if the household wasn't big enough they would combine them and there was a particular way that they were supposed to do this so the head of the family, the father usually, would bless the feast which included the first cup of wine now there were usually four cups of wine after the first cup the food was brought in there was unleavened bread and that was because Israel had to leave Egypt in a haste and they didn't have time for the leaven the second was bitter herbs to remind them of their bitterness of slavery in Egypt and the third was stewed fruit which was in the consistency of something like applesauce only probably not as sweet and it was red and it was to remind them of the bricks they had to make as slaves in Egypt and then the lamb was served which reminded them of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost so God would pass over them when he sent the angel of death for the plague of the firstborn that plague was anybody who didn't have the blood on the doorpost and the lentils, the firstborn in the family, the firstborn child would die and you know it didn't matter whether you were a Jew or not so if there was a sojourner among the people and they took seriously this call and they put the blood on their doorpost they would be saved, if an Egyptian said you know I believe what they're saying, we're going to put the blood on the doorpost they would be saved as well and if a Jew said oh this is ridiculous and they didn't put the blood on the doorpost the firstborn would die so it mattered completely whether the blood of the lamb was applied to the home so after the first cup of wine the youngest son would ask the host, the father, what does all this mean? and the father would take that opportunity to tell them the story of the Passover the whole story about how they were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years how God sent Moses to lead them out how they went through 10 plagues, the last being the plague of the firstborn how the lambs were slaughtered and the blood applied to the doorpost and how God led them out of Egypt in many miraculous signs and after that they would sing three psalms, they're called Halel Psalms, 113, 114 and 115 and after they sang they would eat the meal and have the third cup of wine and they would sing 116, 117 and 118 then they would drink the fourth cup of wine and sing and they would be done before midnight so that's the Passover and how do the disciples get ready for the Passover? They're told to go into the city and they'll find a man carrying a water jar now you might think oh my goodness how are they supposed to find this particular man carrying a water jar? well, a water jar was women's work so if a man was carrying a water jar he would stick out and so they saw him, they approached him and it was the man they were supposed to follow and they did and he went into the guest room and he said where may I eat? or they said the teacher says where's my guest room? where may I eat? the Passover with my disciples and he took them there now it might have been only the twelve in the upper room but since they needed a large room it would make sense that there were others there as well which would follow from verse 20 which said it is one of the twelve who's dipping the bread into the dish with me if there were only twelve he wouldn't have said, more than likely, it's one of the twelve, he would have just said it's one of you so just like when the Passover is hosted by the leader of the family in this case Jesus is the host and that's true for us, we're going to partake of the Lord's Supper in a few minutes and Jesus is our host he's the one inviting us to the table Luke 14 says go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame and the servant said, sir what you have commanded has been done and there's still room and the master said to the servant go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled it's like that we are invited to worship God through the sacrament by Jesus and the story begins by the servant going out and inviting the guests to come the original guests, the ones who already knew that there was a party coming but they all made excuses so at the end, in verse 24, Jesus says for I tell you none of these men who were invited shall taste my banquet so when we come to worship on Sunday we are coming at the invitation of the host, Jesus we are coming at God's invitation and there's a passage of scripture that reminds us of this and that's Revelation chapter 19 then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters like the sound of many mighty peals of thunder crying out, hallelujah for the Lord our God the almighty reigns let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready it was granted to her to clothe herself with the fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints and the angel said to me write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me, these are the true words of God so in the Lord's supper it's the picture of what we do in worship first we come to praise God, holy holy holy I'm sorry in the marriage supper of the lamb it's a picture of worship, holy holy holy so the worship is for God but then in verse 9 the worship is for us and Jesus is the host we gather because he's worthy and he gives us a meal because we are not he's not only the host then he's also the feast now when you're invited by Jesus the host to worship which we are every Sunday, every Lord's day it's not wise to turn him down we're invited to participate in the Lord's supper, it's not wise to turn him down now he's not only the host, he's the feast and there was where some confusion took place in the old Roman Catholic Church and still there was something called transubstantiation where they believed that the actual water and the blood became the water and the wine became, I'm saying that wrong the bread and the wine became the body and blood of Jesus Christ and he was in effect re-cursified every service which they call a mass when the host in the Passover would say this is the bread of affliction each generation of Jews knew they were participating in the story of their redemption and it didn't matter how many generations away from the actual event it was they were there because of the Passover and we are participants in the story of Jesus' redemption for us 1 Corinthians 10 says that, he says the cup of the blessing that we bless is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? That word participation in the Greek is koinonia and it means fellowship so reading it again, the cup of blessing that we bless is it not a fellowship in the blood of Christ? and the bread we break, is it not a fellowship in the body of Christ? In other words, everything that Christ went through in the giving of his body and blood for our salvation is for us, is as if we did it as we get credit for it and it's not just a memorial it's the real spiritual presence of Christ in the supper when the word is faithfully preached, Christ is there when the Lord's supper is faithfully administered, Christ is there he's the host and he's the feast but he's also the covenant keeper in the midst of covenant betrayal we read earlier in the Gospel Jesus talked about, one of you will betray me and they all said that they wouldn't do it Peter the most famous but then they all did in the Passover meal there's a fourth cup but in our Gospel story they sing after the third cup and they don't drink the fourth cup and it was pointed out that Jesus drank the fourth cup in verse 36 of 14 of the Gospel of Mark Jesus said, Abba Father, all these things are possible for you remove this cup from me yet not what I will but what you will so the disciples didn't drink the fourth cup but Jesus did the cup of God's wrath poured on him at the cross earlier in the service we sang Psalm 23 and I want you to listen to the words and what I want you to think about is who does this apply to? The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters he restores my soul he leads me in passive righteousness for his name sake even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table for me in the presence of my witness you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever see the Lord's Supper is where Psalm 23 is lived out the Lord is the host he is also the shepherd he is also the lamb as you read this David when he wrote it understood it to be about himself but it's also about us but even more than that it's about Jesus you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies that's the Last Supper after the Last Supper after the table they got up and they left and Jesus shortly after that arrested and his suffering and crucifixion followed and yet surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever the Lord is the host he's the shepherd but he's also the lamb so who comes to the table? first sinners who are willing to admit their betrayal because after all we are all at one time or another betrayers oftentimes when Christians find out that they betrayed the Lord they've sinned in some manner they've done something they know they shouldn't have they think that they have to make up for it somehow they have to feel bad for a while they have to withhold themselves from worship they have to not read the Bible or pray or have fellowship with other Christians because they feel like they're doing what a former teacher of mine called Protestant Penance but the supper is here to assure you that you are one with Christ that you are righteous in Christ that your sins are forgiven in Christ that you are awaiting your ultimate Lord's Supper and the marriage Supper of the Lamb in Christ in Christ prepare your hearts to come to the table