Passover, Part 1

I thought it would be good for us to go through the four Gospels together. Harmony of the Gospels.

Actually, many years ago in Cleveland West we did that. Probably, I'm going to believe that it was like 1981, 1982. Most of us were much younger then. Many of you weren't even born then. That's the last time that I remember literally going through a survey of the Gospels. And there's actually a very good book that's been published for many years called Survey of the Gospels.

And I thought we would do that because you put all the four Gospels together, you get a complete picture, and it tells us a lot about the life, the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that part is wonderful. But since we were coming up to the Passover, I thought it might be good to just kind of jump into that part of Harmony of the Gospels. When we get through the Passover, which will be two series, it will be beginning now, and hopefully we'll get through the foot-washing service today, and the next time we'll finish up during the days of Unleavened Bread, most likely on that Sabbath, then we will go and start from the very beginning with an introduction to the four Gospels. But because it was so timely regarding the Passover, I thought this would be a good thing for us to begin studying as we do our survey of the Gospels.

Now, obviously, there are four Gospel accounts. The unique Gospel is the Gospel of John.

That was the last Gospel written somewhere 90 to 100 AD, and it includes a lot of items that are not covered in the other Gospels that are known as the Synoptic Gospels, meaning they're very similar. Matthew, Mark, and Luke have very similar Gospels. If you took them apart and you compared them, you would find that a majority of the information is identical. And it has always been believed that they probably started from the very same manuscript, perhaps written by Matthew, because we know he was the eyewitness of the three that are listed here. Perhaps Matthew wrote a manuscript, and then Luke added some things that he had learned from the other disciples in his account, and John Mark, or Mark, learned a few other things in his account. But the Synoptic Gospels are very, very similar. Sometimes the chronology of events in John is different than the chronology of events in the Synoptic Gospels. Now scripture is inspired, certainly. These men wrote their recollections, what they remembered, and how they remembered events and things. But we have to realize that because they were written from the perspective of different human beings, sometimes the events are different chronological order. John will do this compared to the Synoptics, and they will do that sometimes in contrast to one another. So that's why it's important for us to understand this. Here's our understanding on the Passover, and we believe this for many years.

Passover was originally instituted in Egypt. They were coming out of Egypt in Exodus chapter 12, beginning in verse 6. We know that the Lamb was slain at the evening of the 14th of the month of Abib, which was the first month. Jesus instituted the New Covenant Passover, and he was arrested.

We believe he was crucified, and he died on the 14th of Abib because he fulfilled what the Passover originally meant in the Old Testament. The reason we don't use a Lamb at our Passover service is because he fulfilled completely the role of the Lamb. So there's no reason for us to have a Lamb as part of our Passover service. We believe that Christ died at 31 AD, and for the chronology to work regarding the Passover and the length of his death, the preparation for the Passover location began on the afternoon of the 13th, what we would call the afternoon of the 13th. That was the preparation day for the Passover, which would begin at sunset to begin the 14th of Abib. Now, here's something we have to understand because there are always going to be differences on when some of the Holy Days fall because of human beings being the way that we are. We know that various Jewish sects were using different calendars and observing the Passover and the Holy Days on different days. We know that from writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Look, if they couldn't agree in 31 AD, what makes us think in the 21st century, 2,000 years removed, that we, meaning people of faith, are going to have the incomplete agreement on the Holy Days. There are differences. There are different perspectives and different point of views depending on if you believe that a month should be inserted in the calendar. Or, as I mentioned in a sermon I gave in the calendar a number of months ago, it was a physically observed calendar. Someone would go out and say, ah, tonight is the new moon. Well, that was great, but what happens if it was cloudy that night? You see, it was done by visual observation, but God is a God of mathematics.

So there are differences. There's an old saying that I heard many years ago, and that is, if you get three Jewish rabbis together, you'll get four strong differing opinions. But sometimes that's also true on calendar observance. So we know historically that the different Jewish sects at this time were using different calendars and keeping the Passover and keeping the days of unleavened bread at different times. That is a acknowledged historical fact that is there for people who study into that issue. Continue in our understanding, Jesus Christ gathered with the disciples for the Passover on the evening, beginning of the fourteenth. Remember, the evening is the beginning of a day, the evening and the morning were the first day, as the book of Genesis says.

So as the fourteenth of Abib began, that evening starts today, in our terminology today, this would be a Tuesday evening by modern reckoning because we would begin Wednesday at midnight. So Jesus instituted the New Covenant symbols of the Passover after the traditional Passover meal was eaten by the group. As they were concluding with what traditionally was done by the Jews in observing the Passover, Jesus brought in new symbols to teach new concepts and ideas to the disciples.

We believe that Christ died at 3 p.m. with a ninth hour, as Scripture says, at reckoning and Roman time on Wednesday afternoon, and his burial was rushed as the Jews were preparing to observe the first day of unleavened bread starting just a few hours later at sunset. And there are the Scriptures that support our belief in that area. So let's begin looking at some of the parallel accounts of the events leading up to the Passover and the actual Passover itself.

There are the parallel accounts of Judas' decision to betray Jesus Christ, Mark 14, Matthew 26, and Luke 22, and we're going to go to Matthew's account and take a look at that. It says, Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? Judas had gotten to the point where Christ had rebuked him a number of times, including over the woman who had used alabaster, a very rich oil, to anoint Jesus symbolically for his burial, and Judas was upset over that. Jesus had humiliated him. He couldn't deal with it, and it's believed by many that that was the straw that broke the camel's back, that he decided to betray Jesus. But anyway, he goes to the priest. He says, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time, he sought an opportunity to portray him. And obviously, Jesus had many supporters, so it had to be the right time, the right situation, preferably where Jesus was along with his group, and there wouldn't be people, Jesus's followers, around to resist Jesus being arrested. And sure enough, that's exactly what Judas and the high priest planned the night of Jesus' death. Let's take a look at Exodus 21 and 32, and see why this is significant regarding the thirty pieces of silver.

As part of the Old Covenant, if an ox gored someone of value or of worth, you had to negotiate what that person was worth. You, the person who owned the ox and the person who had been gored or harmed, or that person's family, if that individual died, hadn't negotiated what that individual was worth. That was open-ended. But what wasn't open-ended was the worth of a lowly, easily replaceable servant or a slave. There's a specific amount of money that the scripture said would be given under that situation.

Quote, if the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. And the inference here is that the servant was worth very little, could be easily replaced with another servant, so a very small amount of money detailed as thirty shekels of silver would be given to replace that lowly servant. Whereas again, if you look at the verses before this, it was open-ended and had to be negotiated if it was someone considered of greater value than simply a servant.

From there, we go to the preparation for the Passover. There are three parallel accounts in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, and we will take a look at Mark's parallel account. This first statement is the first sentence, is similar in all three of the synoptic gospels. It says, now on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover? And he sent out two of his disciples, and he said to them, go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water and follow him.

All right, let's focus in on verses 12 and 13. Now, on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, is the statement that's made. This phrase does not literally mean on the first day of unleavened bread. What it means is on the preparation for the festival of unleavened bread.

If you take this literally, and we would see that the Passover was on the evening of this day, then one would have to say that the Passover was after the first day of unleavened bread was ending, and beginning the second day of unleavened bread. And of course, that is absolutely ridiculous. I don't know of anyone, no matter what their calendar choice is or beliefs, who actually would believe that. So this phrase, now on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, meant on the first day of the preparation for the feast, before the feast began.

We have to also understand that the Jews, by tradition, had lumped the holy days together. When they used the phrase days of unleavened bread, they meant the Passover. Oftentimes, when they would say Passover, they meant also the feast days that followed the Passover. Oftentimes, we'll go to the Feast of Tabernacles. We'll say, I'm going to the Feast of Tabernacles. We also include the Last Great Day, even though that's a separate festival. So in our own phraseology, we oftentimes include more than just the particular festival that we're observing, and they did the same thing.

Let's now go to verse 14. He says, wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is the guest room, in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There, make ready for us. We know, of course, that God is a God of organization. He has a plan. He plans things. Christ, the teacher, had previously predicted his death, and he prepared in advance. We're using a phrase we'll see in a minute. With fervent desire, it was very important for him because of what he wanted to teach the disciples about the new covenant, that they be part of the Passover with him.

So with fervent desire, he wanted to share his last Passover as a physical being with his disciples. Now here's an interesting thing, and it ties in with the comment I made earlier about John Mark. Tradition states that the upper room that they went to was provided by one of his followers, and therefore it was easy for Jesus to send a message to one of his followers saying, I've been at your house a number of times. I'd like to use that upper room for Passover, and here are the arrangements, and that's how it was done.

Tradition says it was the house of John Mark's mother, Mary. We see later on in the book of Acts that when Peter was released from prison, that he went to her house, that it was a house of a believer. He went to her house. She was the mother of John Mark. So here's something that might have happened. If the Passover occurred at her home, a teenage John Mark with his ear against the wall might have been able to hear the things that were going on that Jesus was saying to his disciples, so that when we read the book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark, it's possible that some of the things he writes he may have remembered as a literal teenage young man in his mother's house, hearing what was going on at the Passover, if indeed the tradition is correct that the upper room was in her home. Now Mark chapter 14 and verse 16, it says, so when his disciples went out and came into the city and found it, just as he had said them, and they prepared the Passover in the evening. So that's the evening of the day that was mentioned beginning in this series of scriptures.

He came with the Twelve. Now we go to a very important section of the scriptures, and that is the Passover meal is beginning and Jesus rebukes his disciples. We find this, again, parallel accounts in the three synoptics. Remember, I said there are things that John mentions that the synoptic Gospels do not mention. There are things that they mention that he does not mention.

We have to understand John's perspective. He was the last one to write a Gospel, probably again around 100 AD. And it's as if he had someone else's manuscript. And what he did is he said, well, that's already included. I don't need to mention that again. And he added something that he recalled that wasn't in one of the other manuscripts. So that's why he includes things that they don't mention, and they include things that he does not mention. So let's continue here. We're going to pick it up in Luke's account. Now it says, when the hour had come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him, and he said to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. So as a physical being, this would be the last time he would have a Passover supper, Passover event of any type, with his disciples until they were all together as spirit beings in the kingdom of God. Let's focus in on verse 15. Again, that phrase with fervent desire.

Young's literal translation says, and he said to them, with desire I did desire to eat this Passover with you before my suffering. The interesting way that that word desire, and it's the same root word both times it's used, is epitomia. And it means it's usually used for sexual urges. And what Jesus is saying is, I emotionally, almost to the point of lust, want to spend some time with my disciples, want to spend an evening with them and share my final Passover on earth with them. It was an emotion that was so strong, it's one that is usually used to define sexual urges towards another person.

But that is the kind of emotional longing that Jesus had to spend precious time that he had left on earth with these men. It was very important to him, and he certainly wanted to impart some unique spiritual insight and knowledge to them regarding his purpose in life.

Luke chapter 22 and verse 24, Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them, and those who exercise authority of them are called benefactors. But not so among you, on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger. And in most families, it's usually the youngest member of the family of the siblings that gets dumped on. Right? Isn't that usually what happens? And I was the youngest member of my family, and normally my older brother and sister dumped on me the stuff that they didn't want to have to do. He said so, he said, the key here is, on the contrary, unlike the way it's done in the world, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger. And he who governs, he who has governing responsibility or obligations in the church or among God's people as he who serves. So he's perhaps a little perplexed to that on the very Passover itself, when he wants to spend time with them, that they're already haggling about who's going to be greatest in the kingdom of God. And focusing on verse 26, when he says, who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. This is similar to what Christ had taught earlier in Matthew chapter 23 and Mark 9.

John's account of the foot washing may have been a direct response to this argument and is thought by many scholars that the reason that Jesus introduced the foot washing service altogether was because he wanted to teach them a lesson after hearing this conversation that was going on among them about who was the greatest. Luke chapter 22 and verse 27, for who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? We all eat meals out in restaurants. Normally the person who sits at the table is the one paying for the meal who is served. And normally the one coming up and putting out all the food is the servant, you know, the waitress, the waiter, whatever. So that's certainly true today. He says, yet I am among you as the one who serves, but you are those who have continued with me in my trials. This is an example of how much he loved his disciples, his statement here. Realize he just corrects them. They're arguing about which one of them is greatest. He just corrects them and says, you got it all wrong, you're backward on what greatness is. Greatness is servitude. Greatness is not trying to have authority and lord it over people. But then he immediately puts things in perspective. Verse 28, but you are those who have continued with me in my trials and I bestow upon you a kingdom just as my father bestowed one upon me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So in essence, he's telling them you're all going to be great. Don't worry about who's going to be the greatest. Do what you're supposed to do. Stay humble. Grow. Develop the spirit that you're going to receive. And the Day of Pentecost is what he's implying. Use your life for good purposes and ultimately you will all be rewarded.

Everyone in this room has a great reward in God's kingdom. So there's no room for competition.

There's no need for those kinds of things that you usually find in most worldly environments.

Verse 28, focusing in on that, he says, but you are those who have continued in my trials. Christ loved his disciples in spite of their weaknesses. These are 12 unconverted men. They have a lot of weaknesses. Sermons, plural, could be given detailing all of the weaknesses of his disciples, but he loved them anyway. Even immediately after he corrects them because they're arguing about who's going to be great, I want you to notice that he complements them and he encourages the disciples by giving them a glimpse of their future reward in his kingdom. That is how much he loved these men in spite of their flaws and weaknesses and problems.

Now we go to the next section where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. This is only in John's account. We have John the thank that he added this or we would never even know of the foot-washing service. And again, it is thought that this was a direct response to their dispute among one another over who would be great and how important all of them were. And this is John the 13th chapter. Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come and that he should depart from the world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Again, in spite of their flaws and problems, he loved them to the end of his life. Verse 2, and supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Let's focus in on verse 1. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And again, these carnal, unconverted people with personal flaws, Jesus saw them as they could be. He saw the potential that existed in them. And he wanted them to grow and become all that he intended them to be. And later they would be given his Holy Spirit to do that. Verse 2, and supper being ended, the devil already put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. So the traditional Passover meal was concluding with the lamb and the bitter herbs, and Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the lamb. Now, Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the lamb. There's no longer a reason for lamb in a Passover service. I'll make this a little interactive. What do you think the purpose was for bitter herbs? Who would like to comment?

What was the purpose of bitter herbs? Okay, Diane. Wasn't it as a result of the bitter bondage you entered? Exactly, very good. Now, why don't we include bitter herbs in our Passover service?

Kelly. Jesus said, I've come that you may be filled with joy, right? Christianity conversion is a joyful process. Eating bitter herbs reminds you every year to live in the past.

It reminds you to get angry and bitter about things that have already happened that you can't change, that are part of your history. Jesus came to give us joy, to fill us with the joy that he had even on the eve of his death, as we'll see in the next Bible study. He was filled with joy, anxiety. Yes, it's not easy to go through what he knew he would go through, but he was filled with joy and he wanted his disciples to have that same level of joy. Our calling is a joyous calling that's one of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit. So we no longer have bitter herbs as part of our Passover ceremony because we do not choose to live in the past. John 13.3, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, and he girded himself. To put it in modern vernacular, he took his shirt off, he took his garment off, he was in what we would call underwear today, his skivvies, and he took a towel and he wrapped the towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Let's continue here focusing in on verse 5. He began to wash the disciples' feet. Now, why would he do that? Here are four very important reasons why he was washing the disciples' feet. First of all, it was an act of humility, and he wanted to set an example that he was the humble, peaceful Lamb of God who came as a servant. So it was an act of humility. Number two, it shows the example. He just talked to them about the importance of example of what greatness was in the kingdom of God, and he's showing them by his example. He's the master, but he's lowering himself to be the lowest, lower than any of the twelve, in order to wash their feet. And traditionally, by the way, Judas Iscariot, depending on which gospel you want to look at, and there are some controversy there, but traditionally Judas Iscariot is considered to be still present at the foot washing. So what do you think the tension might have been like when Jesus went to wash his feet?

Jesus knew what he was going to do. Judas knew what he had already planned to do with the high priest. Now that's humility. To sit in front of your enemy, someone who's going to betray you and cause you to suffer a painful death and die and to do it as an act of submission and humility is a pretty great act, certainly which Jesus did. Number three, traditionally cleaning the feet was done before a meal by a lowly servant, and it was interesting that none of the disciples volunteered to do this. Any of them could have said, knowing tradition, that, you know, I'll volunteer, we just walked on a dusty road to get to the upper room. I'll volunteer, why doesn't everybody line up and I'll wash your feet? Well, no, you can't do that and be arguing about which one of you are the greatest. That's a contradiction in terms. So because none of them did what they should have done, Jesus filled the gap and he volunteered to do it. And number four, washing the disciples' feet symbolically represents the washing away of our sins. Let's take a look at John chapter 13 and verse 6. It says, then he came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?

Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand now. Again, Peter was a carnal at this point. He did not have God's Spirit. He wasn't very perceptive of spiritual things at this point in his life, Jesus says, but you will know after this, meaning after the events of the next couple of days. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Let's focus in on these two statements. First, 7, what I am doing to you, you do not understand now, but we'll know after this.

Again, Christ is teaching spiritual principles that the remaining disciples would get later on, those 11 who would remain faithful. It would all make sense. All of these events would make sense to them. Dropping down to verse 8, he says, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Jesus came to earth to wash away human sin, and he was symbolically doing this to Peter. He was washing away sin by washing his feet. Let's go to Acts chapter 22 and draw the analogy here. In Acts chapter 22 and verse 14, this is Paul recalling a statement that Ananias made to him when he was still Saul. You remember the story? He was struck out on the road of Damascus. He is struck blind, and they take him to this old loyal man of Jesus, Ananias. And here's what he said to Saul just before his conversion. The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know his will, and see the just one, and hear the voice of his mouth. For you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. So washing was always symbolic of taking away sins, whether it was the washings of the Old Testament priests. They would oftentimes wash after they did something to make themselves unclean to baptism, which we understand the rich meaning of baptism and being immersed. And Ananias was telling him to wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord, because Jesus Christ makes that possible. All right, let's go back now to the Gospel, John chapter 13, in the event we've been looking at. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, do not wash my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you were clean, but not all of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore he said, You are not all clean. Again, this implies that Judas was still there and among them during the foot washing service. I want to focus on verse 10. He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. Physically, if Jesus and disciples fulfilled the tradition that was done at that time before they would have gone to the Passover, they would have gone to a bathhouse and taken a bath. They become clean to prepare for the Passover. That's what Jews had done for thousands of years. After they left that bathhouse and went to the upper room, obviously walking on the dirty streets made their feet dirty once again. So his disciples probably bathed before going to the upper room for the Passover. Again, if they followed traditional Jewish custom, their feet had become dirty, but the rest of them was clean.

Here's what the Believer's Study Bible says about this verse that I think is kind of worth thinking of. It says, instead of the Greek word niptin for washing in general, a new word is introduced.

Bethea is from Luin, the word for bathing the whole body. An added symbolism is also introduced.

Those who have experienced the bath of regeneration need only to be washed of the daily stains contracted in life. Let me translate that into human terms. He's saying, once you've been baptized and you received God's Holy Spirit, you had hands laid on you, all of your sins for your entire life to that point in time were forgiven. All of them gone, but each day we have weaknesses. We make mistakes. Sometimes we openly sin. Sometimes we commit the sin of admission, meaning we sin because there are things we should have done and didn't do. That's known as the sin of admission. And as those gather, we go to the throne of grace every day, and I hope you do. And we say in our prayers, Father, please forgive me of my sins. Please strengthen me. And in that way, because of the sins of the day, the way all the sins of the world that you had in your lifetime up to your baptism were forgiven at one time. But each day, as we go to the throne of God and we ask for forgiveness for that day, it symbolically represents our feet being cleaned because the rest of us, because of the righteousness of Christ, is already clean. Just food for thought. John 13, verse 12.

So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. And that's why in the Church of God, we will follow this example. And once again, this year in Passover, we will wash one another's feet. So here's the example and why it's so important, because Jesus says that I'm setting you an example. It's an attitude of service towards others when you wash someone's feet.

It's a sign of humility. You're putting that person above yourself, and that isn't always easy.

And it represents bearing one another's burdens. And we all have weaknesses, and sometimes those weaknesses can be stressful upon us. Sometimes our brothers and sisters can have characteristics and things that may bother us, that may cause us distress. And this represents the fact, as Paul mentions in Galatians 2, that we bear one another's burdens. We are tolerant of each other. We are patient with each other. We are compassionate with each other in spite of our weaknesses. Remember how much Jesus loved those disciples in spite of tremendous weaknesses and shortcomings that they had. John chapter 13 will now pick it up in verse 16. Most assuredly I say unto you a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. And Jesus is directly quoting there from the book of Psalms chapter 41 and verse 9.

And we'll be talking about that in just a few minutes. Let's focus in on verse 17, though.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Knowing something is good.

Intellectually, understanding something is really a cool thing. That's good. But the blessing comes from doing it, not from knowing it. There's a big gap between knowing something and doing something.

Intellectually, we should know that we need to love one another. But the blessing comes from loving one another. Not knowing about it, not theorizing about it, not meditating about it, but doing it.

So the blessing comes from doing something, not knowing it. The example of Christ-centered servant leadership is an example of this. No one would question that Jesus was a powerful leader.

And I have to tell you that no one could rebuke more sharply than Jesus Christ. No one could lacerate the human emotion more strongly than Jesus Christ. I mean, he could rebuke and correct more strongly than any other person. Yet he was the greatest servant leader who ever lived, because the correction was meant to help someone to have a breakthrough in their lives. His leadership was based on service and not on an expectation to be served, in spite of the fact that sometimes he was very hard on the disciples. In numerous times he would say, you just lack faith. You don't get it.

If you only had faith, I mean, he would oftentimes say very strong things, but we saw just a few verses ago, it says that he loved them to the end. He cared about them. That was his major concern.

Verse 19, Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Most assuredly I say unto you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. So let's zero in now here on verse 19 in particular.

I'd like to read this verse in the translation God's word for today. I'm telling you now before it happens, then when it happens, you will believe that I am the one. So he's telling his disciples that the events of the next few days will fulfill biblical prophecy regarding the Messiah, and they will totally and completely understand that he is the Messiah. He is the Christ that has been spoken of for so long, sent by the Father to save the world from sin and to proclaim the coming kingdom of God. And if you know Christ, if you have that kind of relationship with him, the Father will be revealed to you, and you will understand that, of course, he came from the Father. Now we go to a section. This happens to be included in all four of the Gospels where Jesus points out a betrayer, even though we may go to a couple of different accounts in order to fill in the blanks. We'll pick it up here in Matthew's account. Now as they were eating, he said assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, He who dips his hand with me in the dish will betray me. Now, again, he's referring to Psalm chapter 41 and verse 9, something written by David, because there's an Old Testament type of Judas. David encountered a very similar experience where a trusted and beloved counselor and friend of his betrayed him. And when that happened, David wrote this, and it became not just a statement of fact what happened to David.

It was a prophecy about Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, beginning in verse 9, even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread and lifted up his heel against me.

But you, O Lord, be merciful to me and raise me up, that I may repay them. By this I know that you are well pleased with me because my enemy does not triumph over me. As for me, you uphold me in my integrity and set me before your face forever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Amen and Amen. So again, this is a prophecy about Christ, but David writing about an actual event that occurred in his life. We'll get to it in a minute. Going back to Matthew's account, picking it up in verse 24. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man that he had not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, is it I? Now that takes to me a lot of gall. And why did he say that? Because the other disciples had already chirped in. Lord, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? And Judas, not wanting to make it obvious, being the only one who doesn't respond, knowing very well what he's about to do, says, Rabbi, is it I? I'm repeating the same refrain that the other disciples had. And according to Matthew's account, again Matthew was actually there, who was a witness, he said, you have said it.

Now we're going to go to John's account and put the pieces together. When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said most assuredly, I say unto you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another perplexed about whom he spoke.

Now there was leaning on Jesus's bosom, one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. So in John's account, he refers to this special disciple whom Jesus loved. And this was a common phrase that John uses in his writings. He is humbly referring to himself. He does not want to come across as everything is me, me, me, and I had a special relationship with Christ. He doesn't want to come across as if he has special status with Christ. If you look at Mark chapter 15 and verse 40, it suggests that John's mother was Salome. If she was also the sister of Jesus's mother, the same one mentioned in John 19 25, then John was Jesus's first cousin.

John did not want to exploit his close relationship with Christ. So if this is true, and this is speculation, there's no way to prove that it is the exact same woman, then John would have been especially sensitive to the fact that he was related to Jesus and not wanting to give the impression of favoritism or nepotism would have used the phrase, like whom Jesus loved one of his disciples rather than constantly referring to himself.

John's account, verse 24, Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask him who it was whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus's breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? Now the Passover at that time, people enjoyed themselves in couches. They did not sit in chairs like we do.

They were in couches and they were staggered. So Peter, reclining on this couch, was actually able to lean back and there was Jesus right next to him and say a few words to Jesus. Now I promise you, we will not have lazy boy recliners here on the Passover evening because we have a different culture. It just amazes me how overly righteous, I'll be tactful, overly righteous people want to become about every aspect of the Passover. They want to be concerned about what percent alcohol is in the wine or whether the unleavened bread is natural or blah, blah, blah. My response is, you know, that's being a little hypocritical. Are you going to take a single cup and pass it around to everybody and have them slobber out of the same cup like they did? No. Then why the obsession about whether it's natural grain and unleavened bread or not? Well then why the obsession about what percent alcohol or something is in wine? But that's human nature. That's the kind of things that people tend to do and they tend to focus on. So anyway, Peter says in verse 26, Jesus answered, Is it he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it? And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And of course we know John was an eyewitness there, and this is obviously something that he saw that he recalled many years later and added into his gospel. As I mentioned before, there's an Old Testament type or a parallel to Judas, and that was a man named Ahithophel. He was a close friend and a counselor to King David. He was his prime minister, someone whom he loved, who shared meals with David, who David treated like a brother, someone he loved greatly. And unfortunately, he betrayed David by supporting David's own son Absalom. When Absalom rebelled against his father and tried to tear the kingdom from him, Ahithophel, much like Judas, eventually understood his betrayal, and he hung himself just like Judas.

So again, he is an Old Testament type of Judas Iscariot, and Psalm 41, verse 9, was actually written about David recalling his relationship with Ahithophel. Now let's pick it up again.

Verse 27 of John chapter 13, now after the peace of bread, Satan entered him, then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him, for some thought, because Judas had the money box that Jesus had said to him, By those things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

Having received the peace of bread, he then went out immediately, and it was night.

Now let's focus on verse 27, first of all. It says, after the peace of bread, Satan entered him, Judas was filled with anger and wrath and rage towards Jesus. Things weren't working out the way the Judas thought they should. Perhaps he wanted to force Jesus to establish the kingdom now on earth, thought Jesus being arrested, and then them harming Jesus would force him to usher in the kingdom now. And Judas probably had thoughts of control and power after all. And he was the accountants of this group of 12 men. He was the treasurer. And it says that an evil spirit entered his mind. And that's why it says Satan entered him. Verse 29 has another interesting statement, or that he should give something to the poor. Christ spent much of his ministry helping the poor with his words and his actions. This shows a common habit to give a gift during the Holy Day season. The very fact that when Judas leaves, that some of the disciples said, oh, well, he's been sent out to give some money to the poor, shows that there was a habit of doing that on the Holy Days and High Days. That's the only reason they would have thought of that. And brethren, I hope that we still don't have this rather selfish and archaic attitude that there's no reason to help or be concerned about the poor. Attitude's like, well, they're just going to die anyway. Well, I've got some bad news for you. We're all going to die anyway. What does that have to do with anything?

Jesus set an entire lifetime in his ministry, ministering and caring for poor people, people who didn't have the blessings and advantages that he had. And he set that example. Brethren, that's the end of today's study. We're going to end it there and pick it up next time and finish. They actually go into the bread and wine and the heart of what we would call the Passover. We'll do that during the next Bible study. And I do thank you. And I'm going to ask, we're going to turn the lights on, ask Mr. Graham to come on up and have a final hymn.