Christ Our Passover

Well, thank you, ladies, for the beautiful special music. Certainly appreciate that. I'd like to once again wish you all a happy Sabbath and welcome those who are with us on the webcast today. I believe we're webcasting today. We've been having a few hiccups here and there with our webcast over the last couple of weeks, so hopefully we're webcasting today, and hopefully you're all there with us. Well, brethren, the Apostle Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthian church during his third missionary journey.

Sometime we believe between the dates of 52 and 57 AD, and we know from the accounts that he was pastoring in Ephesus when these letters were written. So it gives us a little bit of a time frame to be able to look at. It tells us that it was after the spring holy days of 52 AD, because on his initial visit again to Ephesus, he said, I must go and keep this feast in Jerusalem.

He had not yet returned and had not yet resided with them. He had just kind of popped in and then left again for Jerusalem after a short period of time, and these letters were written during the time that he had returned and was living in Ephesus. I think we can all agree, based on our reading of Scripture, that the church in Corinth had its issues. I think in some ways that can be an understatement. Based on what has been preserved for us when we take a look at 1 and 2 Corinthians, there were obvious problems that had to be addressed.

Paul, being absent, had to address them while he was away. He addressed them via whatever the, at that time, Mediterranean version of the United States Postal Service was. He addressed them by letter, or what we would term in today's day and age, snail mail. Although it was probably a little bit more snally even then, given the amount of time that it would have taken to get from some of these places to other places by ship. In the epistle, or the epistle, I should say, that we know as 1 Corinthians, wasn't Paul's first correspondence with the church in Corinth?

It wasn't. We see the account of his arrival in Acts 18. If you'd like to follow this story, you can go ahead and turn there. We're going to spend just a little bit of time today in Acts 18 to build the backdrop. And we know that that travel or that visit that he did, that we see recorded in Acts 18, was after he passed through Athens. And that gives us a date again, which gives us approximately 51 A.D. OK, so approximately 51 A.D., he arrived in Corinth for the first time, and it was in Corinth that he encountered Priscilla and Aquila for the first time. They were there. He met them. And because they shared an occupation, Paul remained with them in Corinth for, as the Scripture states, a year and six months.

So he was there with them for a time, working together and getting to know and, importantly, beginning to trust them, beginning to trust Priscilla and Aquila as he got to know them. And so much so, he got to know them and began to trust them so much that when he sails for Ephesus, who accompanied him on his journey? Priscilla and Aquila went with him when he sold, when he was sold. That's not the past tense of sail, when he sailed to Ephesus.

That's a different verb altogether. But during his time in Corinth, Paul, as was his custom, strengthened with those in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and in the process he persuaded Jews and Greeks alike. And so you look at that particular account in Acts 18 and you see that the church in Corinth, essentially at that point, had begun. But as we often also see in this particular section of Scripture, things weren't perfect from that point forward for Paul and the Corinthians.

Paul actually at one point sent for Silas and sent for Timothy. They arrived in Corinth, and when Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth, Paul was compelled to testify to those gathered in the synagogues that Jesus was the Christ. He was inspired by the Spirit of God to teach the Jews of Jesus Christ's role of his divinity, of him being the Messiah that had been foretold for so long.

As you see, as you're following along in the passage here in Acts 18, the Jews at that time really weren't interested in that particular message. They actually at that time opposed him and they blasphemed. And we see that Paul did something that we find in Scripture in a few different places, and it's kind of the modern day or the ancient equivalent of us going, whatever, we're done.

We're done talking. He shook off his garments, right? He shook off his garments and he said, Your blood is on your head. I have taught you what I've been told to teach you, and your blood is on your head. So he shakes off his garments, and at that point he does something really interesting. At that point he does something really interesting. He essentially stops going to the synagogue. And what he does instead is he continues to speak to the people next door to the synagogue in the home of justice.

And so he continues this process next door to the synagogue in the home of justice, it says. And eventually we see Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, in his household and a number of other Corinthians, Jew and Greek alike, heard and believed and committed their lives to God in baptism. So we'll join up with this story in verse 9. So we're going to jump in at verse 9 of Acts 18.

I'm going to turn there real quick because again I was monologuing and didn't turn there, as often happens. Acts 18, and we'll pick it up in verse 9. Acts 18 and verse 9, we'll see the story progress just a little bit further. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. So things are starting to kind of pick up a little bit. There's some friction, there's some concerns, you might say, some disputes that are going on between a couple of different groups of people here at this point. And in verse 9, now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision.

He said, do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in this city. And so God reassures Paul in this vision. He encourages him, He gives him that little backdrop of support of knowing out of that, coming out of that, that, hey, I got somebody in my corner here. I can go out and I can say what I need to say.

It says verse 11, He continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Verse 12, when Galio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. You know, this is a fairly common occurrence with Paul, where he's rounded up by the locals and drugged before somebody to met out some sort of punishment.

But they said to Galio here, sorry, I tried to say Gaius, Galio, saying this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Galio said to the Jews, if it was a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be a reason why I should bear with you. But he says to them, this is a matter or a question of words and names in your own law. Look to it yourselves, for I do not want to be a judge of such matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat. Okay, so he runs them off and says, look, I have no business judging this.

I'm not going to judge this. This is your problem. You figure it out. Well, then look what happens. Verse 17, so then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and they beat him before the judgment seat. But Galio took no notice of these things.

So the gentleman that brought the accusation, along with the group of Jews that came with Sosthenes in this case, was brought before Galio and was beaten. And Galio pivots and looks and watches it happen and does absolutely nothing about it. Doesn't step in, doesn't stop it, while Galio looked on and said nothing to stop them. We see even after this event that Paul remains in Corinth for a time before ultimately sailing to Syria and eventually arriving in Ephesus in the spring of 52 AD. So you have a church in Corinth that has begun under a great deal of conflict from the outset.

I mean, there was conflict and there was schisms and factions and friction from the very beginning of this process. And honestly, brethren, that story is true in most of the churches of Asia Minor throughout. You know, you look at Scripture, what these guys were coming out of and what these guys were dealing with.

The Jews are mad at the believers. The Greeks have been drug into the middle of it. They want nothing to do with it. There are Jewish and Greek believers meeting together next door to the synagogue, at least at first. And so you've got this budding of heads going on that's happening throughout the beginning of the church in Corinth. And I don't know if any of you have ever had the opportunity to be between two competing churches or not, but it is an experience.

Dari's home in Lagos, his former home in Lagos, he has since moved, thankfully, but his former home in Lagos is nestled between four different churches. So where his home was and on his property, there's a church literally six feet out his front window, a church behind that, a church over here and a church over here.

And they're all Sunday-keeping churches. They're all Pentecostal churches. And so you can imagine kind of how that service went. Every Sunday morning, the speakers get turned on and they begin their worship service. And the pastor shouting and yelling and jumping around and everybody's singing and cheering and chanting back. And pretty soon the other church realizes, wait a minute, we can't hear ourselves. And so they turn their speakers up a little bit. And the church next door goes, well, now we can't hear ourselves. And they turn their their speakers up a little bit.

And before long, everybody, all four churches are at eleven and they're just shouting and hooping and hollering and chanting and making noise. And the rest of us in the middle of Dari's house are putting pillows and cushions over the ears, trying to put up with this particular thing. Once again, thankfully, Dari has moved. They built a house not too far from there. And there is not one church surrounding that house now, which is a beautiful thing. But it's not just Sundays. I think we've mentioned this before sometimes just randomly in the middle of the night.

Last time that Carl and I were there, they started randomly at 10 o'clock on a Friday night and went until 4am. And we didn't sleep from about 10, I mean fitfully, between about 10 and 4am. And Carl and I both sitting in there just kind of stewing a little bit, going, what is going on here? We can't sleep. But if you've never had that opportunity to be between the kind of friction sometimes that can come between competing, quote-unquote, churches, it's an interesting situation.

Here in Corinth, you have a somewhat similar situation. You have the Jewish synagogue in the home next door. They're contrasting in belief. They have some friction already in place. And as some from the synagogue begin to believe, you can imagine there is likely some friction as they come over to the believers, based on what had happened here with trying to drag Paul before the proconsul, etc. So there is likely some friction here.

In addition, following the beating of Sosthenes, and you might say even after Sosthenes himself comes over to the fold. And we know that to be true from 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 1. Paul addresses 1 Corinthians to the brethren in Corinth from him and from Sosthenes. Now, is it 100% certain the same person? No, not necessarily. Personally, I believe it is. I believe that that person, who was the ruler of the synagogue, came to be a believer as well and came over to the church in Corinth.

So you have two factions of people to begin with. Time went on. Likely, there's additional factions and cliques and things that are beginning to be established among the believers. In addition to these interpersonal issues, which are always present when you have humans in place, you have an intersection of Greek culture as well.

And we talked about this in the last message that I gave here with regards to Ephesus. But Corinth was a political and commercial capital of Achaia. So this is not a small city. In fact, Ephesus, we said, was about 250,000 estimated. Corinth is estimated to be about 600,000 people in Corinth. Salem, once again, 165,000 people in the city of Salem. Okay, this is significantly larger than Salem. This is a big city, a very large city. It's a quite diverse city because it's a place where there's an interaction between trade and politics.

Culturally, as we've mentioned in the last message, Greek culture was kind of a cesspool of depravity, for lack of a better description. The city had a very well-known reputation. Corinth had a very well-known reputation. Again, as we saw in Ephesus, Greek culture was Greek culture. Corinth had a temple to Aphrodite, had a plethora of idols, sexual immorality that ran rampant, and Corinth was generally known to be a place where just about anything goes.

In fact, there's actually a Greek word that was in use at the time, and that Greek word is chorinthias zomai, which loosely translates in English to chorinthianize. It was a reference to practicing fornication. If someone was practicing fornication, they were chorinthianized. This place had a reputation of depravity to the known world at that time. The church in Corinth began in this place. Factions had been established. There was immorality present. It was honestly kind of a powder keg and waiting for a match.

Paul had to leave. He ultimately ends up going through Syria and into Ephesus, and at some point the match was lit, and word came to him that there were issues that needed to be dealt with. There was a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth sometime between his departure in the spring of 52 AD, but that letter is not what we now know as 1 Corinthians. We don't have record of that letter. He simply references a letter that he previously sent to them in 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 9. You can scope that out if you would like.

We're not going to turn there. He references a previous letter, again, likely to address some of the concerns that were coming to his ears, either by Sosthenes or by Silas or Timothy or any of the other brethren in Corinth or in Corinth who were concerned. Now, in response to that letter, there's a very good chance that there was a response from Corinth, or it was simply reported to Paul that there was a continuation of issues that needed to be continually addressed.

And so we see Paul, in the spring of likely 53 or 54 AD, residing in Ephesus, write what we now know as the book of 1 Corinthians, his epistle to Corinth. And it's unique. 1 Corinthians is unique. Outside of the Gospel accounts, it is one of the primary locations that we have references to the Passover and to the Days of Unleavened Bread concepts, to the concepts behind those days.

Other places reference it. Other places say, Oh, and we went and kept the Days of Unleavened Bread and we kept the Passover. But from a New Testament standpoint, outside of the Gospel accounts, this is one of those places that really includes a great deal of information on the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread and the underlying concepts behind it.

Paul, as he writes his letter to Corinth at this time, utilized concepts that would be fresh on their mind. Again, this was written in the spring of either 53 or 54 AD. So this is a time when these kind of things are going to be on their mind. They're going to be thinking about it. Paul's letter to Corinth, as we might say today, was meet and do season. It was concepts and thoughts and considerations that happened to connect up with the time at which they found themselves.

And so when we look at Scripture and we consider Scripture and we consider some of these things that are written, it's really important, too, to consider as much as we're able the context of what's being recorded for us, as much as we're able to do so. But the message to Corinth is not as powerful without the understanding of what was going on in Corinth. The context makes it more powerful. I'll give you an example, okay? One example is 1 Corinthians 5.

We're all familiar with the account in 1 Corinthians 5. If you're not, write it down. Check it out. Paul describes the individual who's living among them in Corinth with the sexual sin that isn't even named among the Gentiles. Knowing what you now know about Corinthianized, does that take on a stronger sense? Paul is now telling them, look, you realize Corinth is about as depraved as they come. You have a reputation worldwide as being a place where horrific sexual immorality occurs. And you guys don't even have a name for what this person is doing. It is that bad, is what he's telling the people of Corinth. That there is literally a word that describes sexual immorality that has the name of your city attached to it.

And this is something that Gentiles in your city don't even have a name for. The context is important. It's important. So when we look at the statements that the Apostle Paul makes in Scripture regarding Passover, regarding the importance of us discerning the body of Christ, examining ourselves, when he talks about the body and the blood, these statements are provided in Scripture and take on again greater meaning when examined in context.

The title of the sermon today is Christ our Passover. Christ our Passover. And as the message progresses today, I'd like to examine some of the statements that are provided for us in the book of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, that were provided to the brethren in Corinth and as much as possible connected to what we are to be doing over the next month as we approach the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread, the spring holy day season, as we go through our own examination process and as we go through our own work to prepare for what is coming.

That statement from which the title of the message today is taken, Christ our Passover, is found in 1 Corinthians 5. We just referenced the passage a moment ago. Let's go ahead and turn there. 1 Corinthians 5, and we'll read the account. We want to try to look at what was he getting at and what was he telling the people of Corinth in this statement. 1 Corinthians, and we'll pick it up in chapter 5. 1 Corinthians 5. We'll pick it up in verse 1.

1 Corinthians 5 in verse 1 says, it's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, and then he specifically names what's going on, that a man has his father's wife. And you're puffed up, and if not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

For I, indeed, as absent embodied but present in spirit, have already judged, as though, in parentheses, I were present, him who has done this deed, or has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Verse 6, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, and here's where we see that phrase, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread in italics, meaning it was added by the translators for clarity, with the unleavened of sincerity and truth.

Okay, so he kind of explains what's going on here. He outlines the situation, but he goes on. He goes on in verse 12. I'm sorry, in verse 9.

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. In other words, might I remind you you're living in Corinth? If I told you not to associate with any of these people at all, ever, you would have to live in a little clustered room and never go outside your doors, he says. They're everywhere, is the point that he's trying to make here.

But he says, verse 11, but now I've written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, somebody within who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person. Verse 12, for what have I to do with judging those who are outside, do you not judge those who are inside, but those who are outside God judges, therefore put away from yourselves the evil person?

So in this section, we see the Apostle Paul name the specific sin. He says there was a man who was romantically involved with his father's wife, in addition to chastening the individual by calling it out. Now, he doesn't give us a specific name, but the people in Corinth knew who he was talking about.

You know, this was something that was open. This is something that was, you know, not not repentant. This was an open sin at this time. But he goes on not only to chasten the individual, but to chasten the congregation, because they weren't appropriately grieved by this sin. Instead, we see Paul state that they were puffed up, which again is an obvious reference to leaven in a season that would have been approaching the Passover in the Days of Unleavened Bread. There's no question as to what he's referencing here.

He's referencing the Days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover because of the time in which it was written. He's using Neat and Deuce season here. He tells him, look, I may not be there with you directly. I may be absent in the body, but I'm making a judgment as though I am there present that this is what you need to do. And he advises at the end that the congregation should put the individual out.

Now, why? Why should they put him out? Okay, what is the reason? Because he says, a little leaven, a little sin, leavens the whole lump. Those of you that have made bread before, it doesn't take much. It really doesn't. It doesn't take much leaven at all in order to end up with bread that's exploding out of the bowl and over the top of the bowl and whatever else if you're not paying attention.

As time goes on, it spreads, it begins to continue to puff the rest of the dough up, and before long, you're left with a mess on the counter, right? Some have theorized that the congregation was puffed up because they were showing how merciful they were by allowing a person living openly in sin to remain in the congregation. Others have theorized that they used this opportunity to show that they weren't as sinful as this individual, thereby they were puffed up and prideful in their own godliness.

You know, we're not 100% given the reason as to why they let them stay, but suffice to say, Paul says, look, you should have judged this situation and you should have took care of it before it got to me. Paul. He instructs them, as we all do, preparing for the spring holy day season, going into the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread, that we purge out the old leaven. We get rid of and we work to find and identify and seek out the sin in our lives, to look for and discover places in our lives that are not in line with the way of God.

And then we remove them. We purge them out. That again, we might be a new lump. We might be unleavened. Now why? Why do we do that? Verse seven. Verse seven of 1 Corinthians 5 gives us the reason why we purge out the old leaven.

It says, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. We are a new lump. We are unleavened because Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. As a result of that, he states, let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened of sincerity and truth. Paul's point to the church in Corinth was that they should remain unleavened. That Christ's sacrifice made them unleavened. They shouldn't surround themselves with leaven in order to illustrate how unleavened they were. They should remain unleavened. Because again, Christ was their Passover. He was sacrificed for them. They should avoid sin. They should work to root it out, to find it in the dark recesses of their lives and purge it. So what does that mean that Christ is our Passover? What does that mean that Christ is our Passover? In Scripture, there are a great deal of what we call types and antitypes. There are types and antitypes. And this is a study of theology known as typology. But basically, it's a study or an understanding of these various types and antitypes. For those that are not familiar, a type is the event, a symbol, or a person that foreshadows another event, symbol, or person that is to come at a later date. Okay? So a type is the first thing, the forerunner. The antitype is the fulfillment of that forerunner. And so when we use those terms, that's what we're referring to. Typically in Scripture, when you see the word as, like or so, as like or so, there's an identification of a type and antitype statement.

Okay? Some of these types and these antitypes have been fulfilled. Others will be fulfilled at a later date. But the Bible's full of these things. A couple of quick examples. Adam was a type of Christ. Adam was a type of Christ. He was a past event foretelling a later event. Romans 5, verse 14. Just to establish this pattern and make sure that we're comfortable with it.

Romans 5 and verse 14. Oops. I'm in John.

Romans 5 and verse 14 says, Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type or a tupos or a figure, sometimes as translated, of him who was to come. Referencing, in that case, Jesus Christ. Adam is a type of Jesus Christ. Christ being the antitype, Adam being the type. Moses. Moses is also a type of Christ. And the reference to that is Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15. I think I have time to go through these quickly. Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15. Deuteronomy 18 and 15 says, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet, like me, from your midst, from your brethren, and him you shall hear. And it goes on to describe more as it goes further down. But that is the first setup. Hebrews 3 is the second setup.

Hebrews 3 and verse 1. Moses states in Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15, the God will raise up a prophet, like me, in you from among your midst. Hebrews 3. And we'll pick it up in verse 1. It says, Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ. Now we know he's speaking specifically of Christ here, who was faithful to him, who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all of his house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. Moses was the type. Christ was the anti-type. Jonah, and we won't turn here for this one, but Jonah being in the belly of the fish was a type of Christ's burial and resurrection. It was a sign, right, that was given to the generation to understand. He said it's the only sign that they would receive was three days and three nights. So when we examine the upcoming spring holy day season Passover, days of unleavened bread, there's a number of types and anti-types that become apparent as well.

Some of the more obvious ones, there are some that are not as obvious, but some of the more obvious ones we recognize leaven is a type of sin, right? And we've said that for years. Leaven is a type of sin. We root out leaven in our homes during the days of unleavened bread because that's us looking in our lives and getting rid of the sin in our lives. Is it sin outside of the days of unleavened bread to eat leavened bread? No. It's during that time frame that it takes on the characteristic of sin. The crossing of the Red Sea is a type of baptism. It talks about how those that pass through pass through like baptism. Egypt is a type of sin. Pharaoh is a type of Satan. And so we see these types and anti-types all over the place in Scripture. And there are many of them in the unleavened bread Passover time frame, spring holy days, that are important. And the list just goes on. Let's go to Exodus 12, though, because one of these types is exceptionally important for us as we go forward in the spring holy day season. Let's go to Exodus 12.

Exodus 12. This is one of those types that is important for us as we go forward, again, into Passover season, into the days of unleavened bread. And as we start to look at what it is that God's doing in his plan for mankind now. Exodus 12. And we'll go ahead and just pick it up in verse one. It says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish. It shall be a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. And now you shall keep it. Notice how long they're keeping it. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night roasted in fire with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. And then it says, you shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. Verse 11, and thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hands. So you shall eat it in haste. The Lord's Passover that we see outlined in Exodus 12 is a type of Christ. It's a type of Christ. Paul lines it out for the Corinthians as he does for us in 1 Corinthians 5. He says, Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us.

The events of Exodus 12 were a type looking forward to Christ as our Passover. The Lamb that was killed was a type of Christ. It was to be without blemish. They were to keep it in their home for a short period of time, which corresponds to the number of years of his ministry on this earth. The blood on the doorpost was a type of his blood being shed on our behalf. The unleavened bread was a type of his sinless life. The bitter herbs, a type of the suffering that he would experience. Christ is our Passover. And so when we see him keep the Passover with his disciples on that evening of what became nice in 14 after the captivity, he was making that point to them as well.

Let's go from Mark 14, verse 22. Mark 14 and verse 22. Jesus Christ, with his disciples, is connecting the dots. He's trying to connect the dots. He's essentially trying to connect the same exact dots that Paul tried to connect with the Jews in Corinth. That Jesus was the Messiah.

That he was our Passover. Mark 14 and verse 22. And this is a number, this is just one of the locations that we see the institution of the Passover symbols with Christ's disciples. But Mark 14 and verse 22 will break into the context. Mark 14, verse 22. And again, there's multiple places where you could find essentially these same words. But it says, as they were eating, verse 22 of Mark 14, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, take, eat, this is my body. This is my body. Then he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them in verse 24, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Verse 25 assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of this vine or the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with or drink it new in the kingdom of God. You might imagine, I don't know, I'd like to think if I were sitting in that place, there might be a quizzical look on my face, perhaps, as Christ tells me, that I have to partake of his body and partake of his blood. Now, that would not be the first time his disciples had heard that statement. Wouldn't be the first time. In fact, we're not, you know, obviously, we're not privy to their exact reactions here, but that wouldn't be the very first time they heard it. In fact, it may not have been that much of a shock to them at that point after what had gone on in John 6. Let's go ahead and turn over to John 6, and we'll see that. Okay, John 6, verse 52, this would not be the first time that Christ's disciples had heard this statement, that they had to eat Christ's body and drink Christ's blood. Luke 6 and verse 52. We'll pick it up there.

Or, I'm sorry, John 6, verse 52. I did it again. Every time. Every time.

Luke and John again are the same exact person to me, for whatever reason.

I truly don't know why, but they are. John 6 and verse 52.

We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 51. It says, I'm the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. And so, verse 52, the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? And then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Verse 57, As the living father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me.

This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. These things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Now, this is the first real mention of this concept to those who were gathered listening. You can imagine there's plenty of quizzical looks on their faces at this point, those sitting gathered in Capernaum to hear these words. Verse 60 says as much, Therefore many of his disciples, these are followers, by the way, disciples, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can understand it?

He says, This is a tough one to swallow, pun intended. Okay. This is a tough one.

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, when he knew that there were some complaints going on about what he had said, he said to them, Does this offend you?

Does this offend you? What, then, if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Verse 64, But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe, and who would betray him. Verse 65, And he said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. And from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. The disciples had questions at this point when Christ made these statements. In fact, he saw that a number of them complained about the statement, and in verse 66 a lot of them left.

Many, it says, it was too much for them. They didn't understand what he was saying. They simply didn't get it. They simply didn't get it. They didn't make the connection that Jesus Christ was their Passover, because it hadn't happened yet. It was coming, but it hadn't happened yet.

Not until that final night, surrounded by his disciples, with his clarification of the symbols, with his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, and death, all on Nice and 14, was that connection explicitly made. And I think we can honestly, I think you can make an argument from Scripture that it took the disciples even longer than that time to fully make the connection. I think there were some days after things where there were still puzzles and pieces being put together. Many of you have done puzzles before, and when you don't have a lot of pieces in place, you can pick a piece up. When you only get the frame, you pick a piece up and you go, I don't know where this goes. But as the picture develops, and as the picture more and more pieces begin to fall into place, it's easier to realize where that piece goes, because there's context. There's things there to help you build it. Paul said himself, we see through a glass darkly. Christ was killed on the Passover.

He told his disciples that they must consume his flesh and drink his blood, that they must consume, they must take him in. He was the anti-type of what was outlined in Exodus 12 to Moses and Aaron and the Israelites at that time. And again, at that point in time for the Jews, at that time when Christ was there, and frankly even today, it was a very tough truth for them, something very difficult for them to work around. And when Paul explained to the Jews in Corinth that Jesus was the Christ, they rejected him and brought him to Calleo to be beaten. Paul's letter to the church in Corinth continued to talk about these sorts of concepts and build on them more explicitly. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23, he goes on to discuss what he received from Christ. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23, we'll see what he received and what he was provided to provide to the people that he served. 1 Corinthians 11, picking up and breaking into the context in verse 23. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23 says, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. He says, verse 26, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Boom! Puzzle piece.

Now the puzzle starts to make sense. Now you can begin to make the picture work.

The apostle Paul outlined the things that he received from Jesus Christ regarding the Passover to the brethren and Corinth that specifically on the night that he was betrayed, the night that Christ was betrayed, Christ took bread, he gave thanks, he broke it, and instructed his disciples to eat it because it was his body that had been broken for them. He took the wine, he blessed it, and did it in the same manner, instructed them to drink it because it is his blood. So brethren, his body broken for us, his blood shed for us.

Let's leave a finger in 1 Corinthians 11. Just put a bookmark here, piece of paper, something. We're coming back to it, but we're going to take a quick jaunt over to Isaiah. If you go to Isaiah 53, we'll examine a prophecy that dealt with the events of this day.

Timing wasn't quite right to get the base to drop on that one. I tried, I was about a half beat off.

Hopefully that's not coming over the microphone.

Those on the webcast go, what is going on? It's got a DJ in the back? Isaiah 53, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 3.

Isaiah 53, verse 3 reads, He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him.

Surely he has borne our griefs, Oops, I lost my place, I'm sorry. No, where is it? Oh, there it is. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Verse 5, But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

How was Christ's body broken? How was Christ's body broken? The Scripture states, prophetically, none of his bones were broken. Right? We know that was a prophecy that was fulfilled. His bones weren't broken. When they came to break his legs, he was already, you know, expired.

So how was he broken? Let's skim up just a little bit higher. We sometimes don't go to Isaiah 52 all that often. We kind of jump over it to 53 because 53 contains what we're looking for.

But Isaiah 52, in verse 13, it's just a little bit up from where we are right now on the same page. Hopefully not a page turn for you, but it says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently.

He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high, just as many were astonished at you.

Verse 14, So his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.

And so he shall sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard, they shall consider.

I don't know if any of you have seen someone who's been beaten to the point of not being able to recognize them. I have. It's not pretty. Jesus Christ, it states right here that his visage was marred more than any man, his form more than the sons of men. Brethren, that gives me pause.

That gives me pause. He was beaten and scourged beyond recognition with his visage marked, his body lashed and whipped, such that he sprinkled many nations with his blood.

He did that for you, and he did that for me. He did that so that we can be healed, so that we can turn from a life of sin and return fully reconciled to God, so that we can come to God the Father clean and pure, so that our sins can be blotted out and we can be whiter than snow, as we see David reference in the Psalms. Let's go ahead and turn back to 1 Corinthians 11. We'll go back to where we just were and explore a little further here. This time we're going to skip down to verse 27. Keeping in mind, again, these things were done for us as time went on through the ages.

They were done for his disciples at that time. They were done for us, and frankly, brethren, they were done for the entire world to have an opportunity to be reconciled to God.

They know sometimes we think of us versus the world, but Christ's sacrifice was for them too.

It was for them too. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 27. See again Paul discussing here with the brethren in Corinth. He says, "...Therefore whoever drinks this bread..." That'd be soupy bread if you could drink it. "...Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged. But when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment, and the rest I will set in order when I come." He writes to the brethren and Corinth, and by again, extension to us through the ages, that we must discern the body of Christ. That we must take the time to examine ourselves, to judge ourselves.

And then and only then, after that period of examination and that period of judgment, do we take the bread and the wine. Some over the years have interpreted this passage as meaning that somehow they must be worthy to take of the Passover. That they must, you know, if they're sinful, then they're simply not worthy. And I think that's partly due to our hang-up with the English word worthy. Brethren, none of us are worthy. None of it. All of us deserve death. That's the only thing we deserve. You know, we are given mercy, and it is undeserved.

It is undeserved. None of us are worthy in that regard. I'm not worthy. You're not worthy. But, brethren, that's the point. That's the point. The passage states, unworthy manner, the Greek word enaxios, unworthy or undeserved. Through the examination process, we realize we're not worthy. We look at our life. We realize we don't deserve it.

We recognize our imperfections. We recognize the places in our life where sin still remains.

Places where we need to root it out. And when we see it, and when we recognize that it's there and identify where it is, then we make the recognition that Jesus Christ died on that stake after being beaten and scourged beyond recognition, so that that sin can be forgiven.

So that that sin can be overcome. We must discern the body of Christ. Yes. We must recognize the immensity of that sacrifice. And because of the immensity of that sacrifice, we must approach the Passover with appropriate reverence, with an awe and a respect and a solemnity of what that means.

But it doesn't mean that we come to the conclusion that we shouldn't take the Passover.

That's not what it means. What it means is we recognize that we are undeserved based on that examination, that we recognize we are sinners.

And with that mindset and with that understanding, that recognition, we take the bread and the wine.

What that means is that we don't take it for granted. We don't blow off the examination period and come sliding sideways into Passover without having given our life and what we do in our life a second thought. We examine ourselves. We judge ourselves. We identify those places that need work. We don't come into Passover like the Corinthians did, using it as an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry. Instead, we approach this season with an appropriate and a solemn reverence as to what has been done for us. That Jesus Christ died so that we may live. So that we might be washed. We might be sanctified. We might be justified. Let's turn over to 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9 for the final Scripture today. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9. We were here recently. I'll go in there again. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9. We'll see another point that Paul made to the brethren at Corinth. This was another point that the apostle Paul made. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9 says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor vilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. I think sometimes we look at that passage and we like to stop at the end of verse 9 and not keep going. Kind of elevate those couple of sins in there to be higher than some of these others. God makes it pretty clear. Anything on this list, no bueno. Right? But he goes on in verse 11, and this is the point. This is the hammer drop that Paul gives those in Corinth.

He says, And such were some of you. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul tells those in Corinth, As such were some of you. Brethren, as such were some of us.

Notice the war. That's past tense. Were some of you. Those in Corinth were new people. They were a new lump because of Christ's sacrifice on their behalf. They had an opportunity now to be a part of God's kingdom because of the blood that was accepted on their behalf at the time of baptism. They accepted Christ's blood when they were baptized. Similar to those in Corinth, we're dwelling in a culture that is rapidly becoming like that of Corinth. But I think something we fail to realize at times is we're not there yet. As bad as Corinth was, look around!

We're not there yet. Corinth was more depraved than we are here. We don't have ritual prostitution in our temples. Yet, we don't.

I know we consider things are bad now. I know that they are, but we're not at a level where some of these Greek cities were at that point in time. But just as those in Corinth, brethren, we were washed. We were sanctified. We were justified by his blood. We are new. And as we undergo this examination period going into the Passover, brethren, let us rejoice in the plan of God. Let us rejoice that God has redeemed us, that he saw fit to call us out of that life that we were leading and give us an opportunity to be a part of his family and to be a part of his kingdom, that he delivered us from the bondage of sin and let us, as we go into this time frame, solemnly and reverently examine ourselves before we come together a short month from now to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Passover.