I’m continuing to mark this morning, Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, before we hear the word read and preached, and we receive that preaching, let’s ask the Lord’s blessing on those very things at this time. Please pray with me once more. Gracious heavenly Father, we do come before you once more. And we thank and praise you that you have come indeed in the power of your Holy Spirit, even to us and to enable us to praise you and to give ourselves unto you more and more and always. But we pray, Lord, now as we seek your face and we seek to listen to the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that you would send your spirit to us afresh, that we may not merely come as tasters, but as children who are hungry and who long to feed upon every word that you say to us, even the word of life. Lord, we pray for grace that we may sit under your word and we may listen to your voice as it goes forth, that it would truly break through our oh so calloused hearts and by your gracious love and power and purpose to transform us evermore into the likeness of Christ our Lord. And so we pray, Lord, that you would, by your word and through your spirit, do us good as we come for your counsel, as we come to hear your instruction, as we come for your presence, Lord. Minister to us, we pray, according to our various needs, and bring every one of us, we pray, to see that you have provided everything that we need in Christ Jesus, that we may come to him and find everything in him, for he is our all and all. Lord, we pray that you would drive out from us all the distractions that swirl and would take our attention that we have from the world and from our lives. Lord, help us to focus on what you have for us. We pray all of this for our good and most supremely for his glory. For it’s in his name, our Lord Christ, that we pray and all God’s people said together, amen. Amen. Mark 14. Mark 14, beginning of verse 12, and I’ll be reading to verse 25. Mark 14, starting at verse 12. Please give your attention once more. This is the word of our God. And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. There, prepare for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening, he came with the 12. And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. And they began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after the other, is it I? And he said to them, It is one of the 12, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to the man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing, he broke it and gave it to them and said, take, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but this word of our God endures truly forever.

The Passover That Was: A Historical Foundation

Israel’s Identity in the Exodus

We open Mark’s gospel this morning to a text once more that immediately picks up on the theme of Passover. The theme of Passover, which Mark introduced at the beginning of chapter 14, and even from the beginning of Mark, one of the most important things I commented on to keep in mind was the importance of the exodus, the theme of the exodus for the identity of the common Israelite. Right, to be an Israelite, this was part of who you were, someone who was defined by your identity was wrapped up in the fact that we, that they were a people of the Exodus, that God had chosen them from all the nations, all the peoples of the world, and he delivered them from slavery, recall, out of the land of Egypt, out from under the bondage of Pharaoh. And in that deliverance, he named the people, he named them as his own, and he brought them into covenant with him. I mean, he began to give them laws and tell them how they were to live, what they were to keep. And in fact, God himself even names himself for Israel after that event. Remember, scripture tells us, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. This is the God who I am. They knew this was the God who acted for them. He was their God, they his people. And to be a Jew was someone who was delivered, that God delivered from Egypt, regardless of how long ago it was. And they all knew this story, this history. They all heard it told year after year, particularly at this meal, which was given for this purpose.

The Passover Meal’s Purpose

And we know Israel’s history was not always one of freedom. The Exodus tells us about God’s deliverance, right? Setting people in slavery free and establishing himself as their God. And yet again and again, we know from history, from the pages of Scripture, that again and again in that history, God’s people, they find themselves enslaved, entangled in the nations around them because of their own sin, because of their own struggles, even with the enemies that surrounded them. And yet they were still the people of the Exodus. This was their identity. And for them, God was the God of the Exodus. And in fact, every time they find themselves when they were enslaved, their hope was that the same God who had delivered their forefathers and named themselves after that deliverance would once again, one day come and act to deliver them. Many of the prophets, of course, deliver the same theme, the same message, that one day God indeed would act, that God, the God of the exodus of the old, would be the God of the new exodus, and he would lead his people out once and for all, free, delivered, and he would establish them as the greatest nation above all nations, and never again would they be thwarted in who they were. And that promise also comes to us, particularly in the prophet Isaiah, You know, we’ve mentioned throughout, we’ve seen all the illusions of Mark from Isaiah. They’re very tied together, the gospel of Mark and the message of the prophet Isaiah. And this is a promise that we have from the prophet Isaiah. And it’s really one of the main themes that we find in that prophet, even as both the North and the South, right? Israel, and as well as those in Judah. both sent off into captivity. Isaiah what he predicts that all will become slaves and they were all they will all undergo the scourge of God. He says but hold out hope for God for he will rise and he will act for you someday. There will be a day we are told when you’ll remain where you’re in captivity longing for your day of redemption. And the God who acted long ago will again arrive and he will lead you on the way home on the road out, the exodus. And just like you walked the path of that exodus on dry ground between the waters of the Red Sea. So God will lead you on the way back into the promised land and you will have a home there forever. And it’s that very promise, that very hope, that longing in the heart of every Israelite, that they were never to forget, that they were to be reminded of perpetually, even yearly, with which Mark opens this gospel, right? Remember the very first verses of this gospel, the beginning of the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophet Isaiah. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your road, your way. That’s the road of deliverance, the way out. That’s what Exodus means, the out road. And he opens his gospel saying, this is the good news. This is the day of deliverance. And the messenger that’s going to prepare the way is coming to let you know how God is going to deliver you. And we have to remember, This is what the gospel had been about all along, the whole of the gospel, that God entered into history at this particular time in the history of Israel’s life. And he has said, this is it, this is the second exodus, it is here. This is the time that I’m going to save Israel. This is the day that I’m going to exalt you over all the nations.

The Passover’s Structure

And so with that setting and that context in mind, we open to chapter 14 once again, And it begins, as we saw last week, and even this morning as we read it, with the Passover. Again, we began to look at this last week, and we began to look at how this history, how this meal and its meaning are truly fulfilled and transformed in Christ. And how does he do this? Well, he walks us through the history to instruct us how the Passover is transformed, how it is fulfilled in Christ by showing us the Passover that was, right, the past, and then the Passover that is, and the Passover that is to come. And so briefly, right, Mark 14, verse 12, once again, notice what he says, on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? So at the very front end of this text is a meal that every Israelite, once again, would have been participating in ever since the Exodus, the first Exodus. Every Israelite child from his very youngest and all the way through his life, yearly, would commemorate. this deliverance that God brought them in the Exodus. And you’ll notice from Exodus 12, a passage we looked at last week, the discussion of the Exodus, the instructions for the Exodus. Exodus 12, 14, it says, this day shall be for you a memorial meal and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations as a statute forever. You shall keep it as a feast. And this was in the minds, in the hearts, in the practice, all the way for Israel, for God’s people, up until Christ’s time, this was the Passover that was. So they had kept the Passover, remembering what God had done for them so long ago, and they’re hoping this is the same God that they will keep again, that will deliver them once again. And so this was the commemoration meal. What was this meal like? All right, very briefly, we’ll walk through a little bit. It’s the Passover was about, how did they keep it? In Mark’s gospel, we’re given these references that Passover is taking place. And we’d have to think, what was that like? What was the Passover all about? How did they keep that? Well, we know it was an annual, commemorative meal, right? One of the most important parts of the Jewish life. You’ll recall they were instructed all the males once a year were to go on pilgrimage to the holy city to keep this feast. It was the time when they remembered that God came to Egypt, ultimately invoked his wrath and judgment upon the whole land for what they had done. And the key of it is, the cycle that we see is that deliverance follows the Passover, right? Deliverance follows Passover. There’s judgment, but there’s redemption through that judgment. And remember, we read that God says that he’s going to slay all the firstborn, both of man and beast. And this was true even of the Israelites, right? It was unspecific. God’s sword is falling on everyone. And yet God told his people, there is a way of escape. And he commands them to take a lamb, one year old, without blemish to sacrifice it, to put its blood on the lentils, the columns of your doorposts. And when I see it, I will act as if my judgment had fallen on that lamb and I will pass you by. And so every household received judgment at this time. either by substitution through this lamb or by the giving up of your firstborn son in your household. And you remember what happened in the horror of Egypt. It says there was such a cry as has never been heard before as they awoke to all of those slain sons. And yet Israel was able to avoid that judgment because there was this lamb that took their place. And the result of that passing over of the angel was the release of Israel from this judgment that had come upon the land. And this judgment ended with Israel being released from captivity, right? Deliverance. This was the way that they were freed. This was their defining moment. And this meal is the remembrance of that moment, a remembrance of that deliverance. The meal itself was enacted in order to commemorate the acts of God. that he rescued them from Egypt, that he freed them from slavery, and that he alone had the needed power to do so, to free them. And it was enacted so that they would remember that because of his actions, this special relationship was born out of that action, right, between God and Israel, and that it would remain forever. And the meal was eaten in sections, you remember we talked about. There were these different elements or courses, if you will, around the table. You had the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, and the lamb and so forth. And there was basically a liturgy that they would follow, right? A rhythm, a pattern that surrounded or would lead you through this meal of commemoration as it was taking place. And they would sing Psalms at different parts of the meal. and the head of the family, the host, the one who was designated for that task would lead the family through the liturgy, and or their neighbors. Remember, if you had a small family, you would get together with your neighbors and partake together, and they would ultimately break it into four basic parts. And what would happen was the head of the home would begin with a pronouncement and a blessing, and would praise God for what they were about to partake of. And the various courses were brought, And the roasted lamb at one point was brought as the main part of the meal. And the youngest son would ask, why do we do these things? What’s with this yearly thing? And it was the leader’s responsibility, the host, the one who was leading the celebration, his responsibility as the core of this meal was to give the retelling of that story. That’s the main job of the host, because he’s the one leading through that liturgy, through that pattern. His main job is to account for them by the telling of the story, what God did for his people, how they are defined by him and by his actions, and how they are named by him. And this would lead them to praise, of course. As I said, at one point, the host would take the bread and he would break it, and he would say this, This is the bread of our affliction, which our fathers ate in Egypt. This is the bread of our affliction, which our fathers ate in Egypt. And then only then did they partake of the lamb. Then there was this recital about the hope of Israel and the longing of his return and the coming of that promise to return the day of redemption by God’s servant, David. And then finally, there’d be more Psalms and a final cup and then a blessing. This is the meal from the past, the meal that had been kept all these years, the Passover that was.

The Passover That Is: Jesus Redefines the Meal

Jesus as the Host

But notice the Passover that is, the present, the Passover in our text, the one that they’re partaking in. In chapter 14, we notice that Jesus prepares this Passover. He sends his disciples, we read in the text, and he plans it, that they would go and find this particular man carrying a jug of water, and they would ask him, hey, the master wants to know where you’ve prepared for him to have this Passover. You’ll notice also, as he sends them out to get things ready, it’s clear from the text, right, that this is, Jesus is the host of this particular meal. It’s clear with the language that’s used, right? As we look at it, where is my guest room that I may eat my Passover with my disciples? He’s claiming it as his own, right? And he is leading, he is the host. He’s leading the liturgy. He set up the room, he’s going to be the host. And we’ll notice the only one speaking throughout that meal as we read it, as least as we’re told in the gospel, the only one speaking is Christ. He’s the one that’s leading the meal. He’s the one telling the story of redemption, the mighty acts of God, reminding them of Israel’s history, leading in the songs and so forth, answering the questions that come.

A Shocking Redefinition

You’ll notice something rather odd about this event though. All this set, the bread and the wine and the room and in Mark’s reading, everything seems very normal to some extent. It’s the time for the Passover. The lambs are being slain, right? Remember how this section opens? It says it was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the lambs were being sacrificed. They went and they got a room and there they ate with the bread and the wine and everyone’s gathered. And to that extent, there’s nothing at all out of the ordinary about what they’re doing. Every single Jew. in Israel would have done and would be doing the exact same thing. There’s nothing in the text that will lead us to believe anything strange is about to happen. But think for a moment, all that’s going on, right? In that moment, Christ takes the bread and he blesses it and he breaks it and he gives it. And again, so far so good, right? Keeping with the pattern, everything is as it should be. Again, just what every host would have done, would do at every Passover in Israel. But then he does something unthinkable. We’re familiar with the text, the strikas, is that jarring, but it is entirely jarring, and it is entirely different. Instead of saying at that moment, takes the bread, breaks it, gives it, instead of saying, this is the bread of our affliction, which our fathers ate in Egypt, what does he say? He says, take, this is my body, Right, and so this is a meal that’s been going on for nearly 1400 years. And the leader of the liturgy decides he’s going to change the script out of nowhere, seemingly. And instead of saying this is the bread of our affliction, our fathers ate in Egypt, he says, I want you to know this bread that you’re eating, it’s not the bread of our affliction. This is my body that you’re eating. That’s not strange enough. We’re told also that he gives a cup, and after all of them have drunk, and only after they drank, he then defines for them the cup of blessing, the cup of redemption, and he says to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. And he takes this ancient story, this ancient history, and he says, by the way, all of the parts you’ve been celebrating for so long, They’ve all and always been about me, been about me. This bread is my body, this cup is my blood. And this is a new covenant that’s being established for you.

Jesus as the Lamb

And what’s fascinating we see is that the main part of the meal seems absent, right? In the telling of Mark, he begins by telling us it’s, again, the first day of unleavened bread. when they sacrifice Passover lambs. And the main part of the meal is the sacrificing and the eating of that lamb, that lamb that was their substitute, that lamb that bore the wrath of God that caused God to pass over their homes. And if you read Exodus, you can’t miss that that is the core of the Passover meal. And yet in Mark’s Passover, where Jesus is here saying, by the way, I’m the bread, I’m the wine, there seems to be a complete void as far as it refers to the lamb at all in this Passover meal. But is that true? Is that true? Notice that he says, this is the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. So you’ve got bread, wine, check, where’s the lamb? And you notice Mark doesn’t even tell us that they ate. He skips from the bread right to the wine, and he skips the whole time, whatever that would have taken for them to eat all of the lamb that they had prepared. But he then gives this line, he says, that is poured out for many. It’s poured out for many. And there’s a verse in Isaiah that we read earlier, chapter 53, verse 12, that most believe is clearly being alluded to when Christ says this at this time, this blood will be poured out for many. Now read it again, Isaiah 53, 12. It says, therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sins of many. He poured out his soul for the many, for the sins of the many. And Jesus says, calling upon prophet Isaiah, and he says, this is the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. We might think, well, maybe that’s a stretch. That’s nice. What does this have to do with the lamb, right? But when you look at the verses right before Isaiah 53, 12, we hear what leads up and comes before them. And it says this again, as we heard earlier, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. And like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Right, and so what is Jesus doing? He’s clearly redefining the Passover. There’s no doubt about that. He’s clearly injecting, interjecting himself into the meaning of the Passover.

The Impending Sacrifice

But what is interesting, is that this night, and remember the night before the past redemption of Israel, remember you eat the Passover, the night before God sets you free. And Jesus enters into this room the night before he will be crucified. And he says, I want you to know what this meal means, my body, my blood. And just so you know, in case you’re missing it, I will be the lamb that gives his life away for the sins of the worlds. I will be the lamb that was slain so that people might be able to go free. Your salvation, your redemption that Israel is waiting for, that new exodus that God said he would bring, that you’ve been hoping and longing for. It’s me. It’s my body, it’s my blood. It’s me being the lamb.

The Passover That Is to Come: A Promised Kingdom

A Future Hope

And you can imagine why is so necessary when 24 hours from this time, Christ will be hanging on a Roman cross on a hill in Jerusalem and all of his disciples boldly stand up to defend him. That’s not what happens. Every one of them cowardly will have fled. So how in the world are they going to interpret that event? When this one said, he will be the redeemer of Israel. When he said over and over again, I am bringing the new exodus of God. I am here to set you all free. And yet at this meal, he says what? Let me show you the way I’m doing it. My body, my blood, I am the lamb. How are they to take that? What did it mean back then? Well, clearly again, the reason the lamb had to be slain way back then when the Passover was originally instituted, because God was coming in judgment to Israel, to Egypt, and none were going to be spared, Gentile or Jew. And the only way for your home to be passed over was that the lamb somehow be given as substitute for the ones within it. It’s blood, again, applied to the doorposts so that God might pass over and not strike you down. And Christ is trying to plead with these disciples and is saying to them, the day of your deliverance is near. Remember that I am the lamb that will be given. It’s my body, it’s my blood that will ultimately keep the judgment sword of God from falling on you.

The Nature of Deliverance

And why is that so important? What sort of deliverance is Mark talking about when he says this? When he says this very thing, this man is bringing a new exodus for Israel. This one is establishing God’s people, those called by his name, named and defined by him. He’s going to be their king. He’s going to set them free. He’s going to finally to bring them out of bondage. This is him. And over and over, He said it, and now we see Jesus saying, by the way, I’m going to be a lamb, tomorrow I will be gone. What sort of deliverance do they need? What sort of exodus is God bringing? What sort of salvation is being brought to Israel? What sort of slavery, bondage are they being freed from? And we think about it, many, sometimes you hear, think that it’s a small thing, right? And often this gets mocked in certain circles, the idea that Jesus came merely to pardon people from their sins. And think, well, okay, but then he comes to do something just a little bit bigger than that, something a little bit more grand. But what’s interesting is that God came and did all kinds of physical deliverances for Israel, massive things, establishing, think of the history of Israel, establishing them with kingdoms and kings and riches and military might. And ultimately it did them absolutely no good because it couldn’t deal with that one thing that kept afflicting them again and again and again. Even as God blesses them again and again, they keep being afflicted again and again by their sins. And their sins kept putting them back into that same bondage from which they had been freed. It’s ancient history, right? It’s a well-told story from Adam on, and Israel was no exception to this particular story, this particular rule. And over and over again, they would become enslaved. No matter what God did for them physically, something more was surely needed. The physical, in the moment, in time, tangible reality wasn’t what they needed.

Framed by Betrayal

And even look at our passage before us. It’s not as if Mark is trying to hide this from us. Look at how he frames the story, right? Last week we talked about often in Mark, there’ll be this inclusio or some call it a Markian sandwich, right? There’s this framing that goes on and it’s hard to miss really. Christ introduces this meal by saying what? Hey, this is our last meal together, gentlemen. I love you, we had a good run. That’s not what he says. What does he say? He says, one of you is going to betray me. Woe to that man. And every single one of them says what? Mark wants us to get this. That all of them wonder, is it me? Am I the one? And should that surprise us really? Christ has just been saying the chapters before that Israel’s repeated problem, remember, Right? You always reject the prophets and the apostles that God sends. You always rebel against everything that God does. And he says, by the way, one of you is going to rebel against me. And each one of his disciples is sitting there thinking, could it be me? Could I be the one? Could I be the betrayer? And not only do they wonder if it could be them, notice how he introduces the story with betrayal. But then he ends the story with betrayal, right? In verse 27. You will all fall away on account of me, right? So all of them in their pondering of this, they’re kind of all right. It says, you will be scandalized because of me. Not one of you will be excluded. Each one of you is going to show at least cowardice, if not at worst, betrayal. In this event, with Christ saying, my body, my blood, I am the lamb, is surrounded, is sandwiched by betrayal and desertion. And Christ is trying to say, that this is the greatest need that the disciples have. And notice how many of the disciples, right? How many of them? Every single one of them, which then is supposed to draw us in as the readers and see and say, well, of course. We wouldn’t do such things. Just as we looked at last week, we think, how could they be so dull? They ate the manna, they drank from a rock, the shoes didn’t wear out, God provided, and they still fell again and again. And we think, if we were there, we wouldn’t have done such a thing. We wouldn’t have been cowards. We wouldn’t have been betrayers. But Mark’s whole point is that no one is being left out of this. All the disciples, the best ones are going to be cowards at best. And you and I also with them find ourselves guilty and betraying God, the very God of creation here in the text and human flesh will be betrayed by each one, even the ones who loved him most here on earth. And the reason Christ has to come to be the lamb and to give himself away is because even the best in Israel are betrayers and cowards and sinners. who ultimately deserve the judgment and wrath of a just holy God. And if a lamb is not given in their place, assuredly the sword of God would have to fall on each and all of them.

A New Covenant for Sinners

And yet in the middle of these two stories of betrayal is one who sits there and he willingly says, all of you take and eat, this is my body for you. All of you take and drink. This is the new covenant I’m making. This is the salvation that I’m granting to you. All of you who are about to betray me, all of you who are about to desert me, I’m giving myself freely for disciples and followers like this so that they might be joined forever to me. This is the kind of exodus I bring. This is the kind of salvation that I offer. to these kinds of people. Because the fact is you are enslaved to sin. You are under a horrible master and your father by nature is the devil. And unless I deal with these things, Christ is saying, the God that you think you have a relationship will only come to you in judgment. But I come to give myself away in order that God might be a friend and a father to you. And as Christ does this, he calls them into a new relationship and a new covenant with him. This is the blood of the new covenants. That is the present Passover, the Passover that is in our text, right?

The Future Kingdom

And so the Passover that was, the one that’s been kept all of these years leading up to Mark 14, we have the present Passover, the Passover that is, but there’s also the Passover that is to come, the future Passover. And not only is there a promise in this text of grace to the nations that are around the table, which are you and me also actually, it’s not just those devious disciples who can’t get their act together. We all come as invited traders to the table to this one who gave his life for. But there’s also this story that is framed by treachery and sin with a dying Savior foreshadowed in the middle there. There’s also a promise of a glorious future that includes far more than just the forgiveness of our sins, right? Notice what Christ says. He says, I’m not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in my Father’s kingdom. Right, so that Christ promises something in this text, that not only is he willing, willingly going to give himself to forgive the sins of his disciples, but also that he’s guaranteeing a future kingdom through these verses that we read, through these very means that he’s using, this thing that they’ve been waiting for, this exaltation of Israel, you see it there, this glorious kingdom is promised, which all the kings of the world that hate God ultimately will bow the knee to Christ And he doesn’t say, I’m not interested in that, I’m just here to forgive sins. We can take that, many take that from the text. But Christ doesn’t do that. He says, I’m here to forgive sins in order that that promise that was given so long ago might finally be effected and given to you, that there is a day in the future after I have done my work of giving my life in order to forgive sins, after they have by faith called upon me where I will establish my kingdom and we will finish this meal together. That’s the promise. It doesn’t say if I eat it new with you in my father’s kingdom, it says when I eat it with you in my father’s kingdom. And in that kingdom, there will be an enthroned king over which every evil king bows the knee and there will finally be peace on earth, and there will finally be exaltation of God’s people, truly his people, who have been weak and wounded like the Savior himself all throughout their time here in this world. And that he doesn’t merely say, hey, don’t worry, your sins will be forgiven. The rest is going to hell. The rest is going to be a terrible mess. Sorry about that. You’ll just have to suck it up. But rather, he says, tomorrow is going to be a confusing day for you when you see a crucified Messiah. But know that this is the road to Exodus. This is the road out for you. This is how I will set you free from sin and from bondage and from the judgment that follows. Because it’s also how I’ll establish my kingdom that no man can conquer. that all the nations of this world will ultimately flow into, and all the rebel kings of the earth will ultimately bow the knee to this one, goes to the cross on Calvary, does not go as a fool, even though he goes as a weakling. And he goes as a weakling because he knows that through these means, this is the road to God’s salvation.

Living as People of the Cross

Our Identity in Christ

So may we trust that this really is the way that God works. that it’s through the weakness of the cross that we are identified and known. This is our identity. The Israelites, as they looked back, they said, we are the people of the Exodus and God is the God of the Exodus. We now, as we stand here at this point in history, in redemptive history, on this side of the cross, we look back and we say, we are a people of the cross because we follow the God of the cross. the one who brought us salvation and deliverance by that means. And therefore we will celebrate it. And we’ll do so every week, Lord’s Day by Lord’s Day. We’ll be identified with it. And when we know that it has named us and defined us and calls us now to a certain kind of life, and then we will willingly and humbly go forward by these means, knowing how God, that this is how he brings the kingdom fully and finally to earth. through weakness and not through strength, through the giving up of ourselves and not the conquering of our enemies by our own minds, that God conquered us in grace through the cross. And so he intends to do to all the world.

A Call to Faith and Action

So brothers and sisters, as we go forth from here, this Lord’s day and meeting as his people, with God Almighty on the holy mountain spiritually. May we see and put our hope in him, this one who delivers on his promises that has begun with the work of Christ and will be completed in that final day. And may we see the cross as a glorious folly to man and the wisdom of God for us and not against us. May we rejoice and praise in this truth, dear Christians, for all of our lives, for our good and for his glory. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you. We ask that by the power of your spirit that you would give us strength to believe. Lord, increase our faith. Help us to grow. Strength upon strength, Lord, through your spirit. faith to faith to faith, to trust in you, and give us strength to live, changed by what you have told us here this morning from your word. Lord, we want to embrace these things that you tell us, these truths. Help us to believe them, that they are just that, and that this is truly your word. And may we indeed grow to know and to love and to believe them. Lord, we praise you and thank you that they are true. May we find our life in Christ. May we know afresh that we are identified by him, by our union with him, by what you’ve done for us through him. And we ask, Lord, for our church, for providence. Lord, we pray that you would continue to protect us. Lord, continue to fan the flames of the love that this body has for one another because of the love that they have for you. Lord, bless us with peace. And if it’s your will, Lord, we pray, continue to grow us, not only in number, but in the richness of our sanctification as we follow you, as we respond to your work in our lives. Lord, we pray that we would indeed be, as a body and as individuals, instruments of truth and for the furtherance of the gospel in this city. Lord, we pray, bring your people in Give us boldness as we live and as we declare the truth of who we are and the truth of the gospel as the only hope for life and peace in a world that is such need of life and peace that so celebrates death and discord. Lord, we pray your mercy upon this land. Do a work in us, glorify yourself. Lord, we praise you that you’ve called us to be though small, still a colony of the kingdom of heaven in this pilgrim land. We praise you. We pray for all of us here. Help us to have hearts that are full with your love, even despite and amidst and through the sufferings that we go through, through the struggles and the pains of this life. Lord, you know each one and we pray that you would give us courage, give us the strength of your might working through us and help us in our weakness to be bold and to be firm and to continue to plant our feet rooted in the truth of who we are in Jesus, who is mighty and who is powerful and who is strong. Lord, help us to show your love and to show your kindness continually for one another. Lord, we do want to be those people historically who the outside world have looked upon and wondered, what is with these people? what is with their joy and demeanor and behavior and peace and integrity. Lord, we pray, use us in our lives to witness to this truth and to your glory. We thank you that you have fed us fresh this day. Lord, continue to strengthen us, bless us, not only materially, Lord, but protect us from being too much in want and denying you or having too much that we forget your blessing. Lord, we need your protection and we pray, protect us by your spirit in this life. Again, we praise you for your word. And may we see that this is our life and our sustenance. We praise you and we ask that you would help us to continue to have a longing and a hunger for the word of life, the bread of heaven. We ask all these things as we pray in the mighty name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.