Passion Week: Last Supper

let's move to our lesson

lessons for life and the passion of Jesus Christ

a closer look at his last days Let me tell you where we're going, folks.

The passion of the Christ has sparked much interest in the life of Christ, particularly His last day before His crucifixion. We have begun already, but we are looking at these last days of Jesus. We've looked at the temple cleansing, but tonight, or this morning, we moved to within 24 hours of Jesus' death. to the Last Supper. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to John 13 with me. And as we go through this series, we'll take a look and talk some about some of the things in The Passion of the Christ. I've gotten a lot of questions about that movie since it came out. But let me read just a few verses to get us started in our thinking this morning.

John chapter 13, verse 1. John 13, 1. It was just before the Passover feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God. Let me pause there and let me pray. Lord, this day I pray that as we look at the life of Christ, may we learn from him. May we listen to his voice. May we watch his actions.

And by what he has done for us, may we be changed and may we be different. For it is in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

It's April 6, A.D. 30. At least that's what many experts believe. It's the night of the Last Supper. Jesus knew before this last supper that his days were numbered he knew before the feast of Passover began that the time for his departure was at hand he knew that he had come from the Father he knew he was returning to the Father but he had a small band of men loved while He was on earth, and to whom He would continue to show His love.

Our text says at the end of verse 1, He now showed them the full extent of His love. Literally the text says in the Greek text, He loved them to the end. Meaning He loved them fully, but He loved them to the end. all the way up to and through the cross. He was showing his love to his disciples.

And it is with this announcement that Jesus is going to show his full love to his disciples to the end that the Apostle John introduces in the Gospel of John what is called the Book of Glory. John's Gospel has two major sections. chapters 2 through 12 are called the book of signs and in those chapters Jesus performs sign after sign miracle after miracle to help show people who he is but then beginning with chapter 13 through chapter 20 we enter into what theologians often call the book of glory because it is in the passion of Christ going to see his full glory. We are going to see the glory of the Father displayed in the Son. And by what Christ does, he is going to get glory.

And so every step of the way, through these last 24 hours of Jesus' life, before his crucifixion, we're going to see his love being demonstrated toward his disciples and toward the whole world. It is the book of glory.

He had already cleansed the temple. He came in on the triumphal entry on Sunday, Palm Sunday. The next day he went to the temple and cleansed the temple, overturning the tables. It was on Tuesday that he was anointed by a woman in Bethany. Do you remember the story?

A woman came and had a jar of perfume. And she anointed Jesus' head with the perfume. His disciples were outraged at the waste. Perfume was an expensive commodity. It was used for trading and bartering in Jesus' day.

But by her act of anointing Jesus, the woman was teaching us something. And Jesus tells His disciples, She is anointing me to prepare me for my death. You see, what the Jews typically did was after someone was dead, they anointed the body with sweet-smelling perfume.

to help chase away some of the odor of death. So the anointing with perfume was a sign of death. And Jesus is anointed before his death to announce what is about to happen to him. And with that perfume, the sweet smell, we get the sweet scent of what Christ is about to do for his disciples. But then we come to Thursday night, the day on which the Passover will be celebrated.

Jesus has sent Peter and John ahead, we know from other Gospels, to prepare for the Passover meal. And he tells them, when you go into Jerusalem, you will find a man carrying a jar of water, a pitcher of water. Ask him where the room is for the teacher. To see a man carrying a pitcher of water would have been an unusual thing in Jerusalem in that day. Carrying water was the work of women or the work of slaves.

But to see a Jewish man carrying a pitcher of water would have been an unusual thing. So when Peter and John got to Jerusalem, they could easily identify this man as they walked into Jerusalem looking for a man carrying a pitcher of water. And when they asked him where the room was for the teacher, he took them and showed them the upper room. Peter and John most assuredly prepared for the meal that evening. They bought a lamb, went and sacrificed it at the temple, because at the Passover meal you always ate the lamb.

They went and bought herbs and spices and bread to prepare for the meal so that when Jesus and his disciples arrived, they would all be there. Jesus and the other ten disciples would travel in on those roads built by the Romans to be there that evening for the Passover meal. They were surely, most assuredly, in the room, the upper room, by 6 p.m. on April the 6th, A.D. 30, ready for the meal.

But Jesus and his disciples weren't the only ones that were in Jerusalem that evening. There were others there. There were Roman soldiers throughout the city. You see, it's Passover. It's a time when the Jews remember the deliverance from another foreign power, from the Egyptians in the days of Moses.

And the Romans knew that in this time of national remembrance, of independence and freedom from one power that had enslaved them, the Jews sometimes wanted to talk about throwing off the power of Rome that enslaved them. So the Roman soldiers would have been in a great presence in the city on this evening. Pontius Pilate and his wife Claudius were in the city as well. Pontius was the prefect of Judea. We would call him a governor.

He had been the prefect since A.D. 26. He was the highest Roman official in the province. He normally stayed in Caesarea to the north, but during Passover he would come to Jerusalem to be close at hand in case there was trouble or there were problems. His wife Claudia was with him.

Unusual. Usually when Roman officials served in foreign provinces they weren't able to take their wives with him. But Pontius Pilate, we know from history, had gotten special permission to have his wife Claudia with him there. They were likely that night in the fortress known as the Fortress Antonia, the Roman fortress that was adjacent to the temple where Roman soldiers were always ready in case there was some sort of Jewish uprising or problem. There was Herod Antipas in the city of Jerusalem.

He was one of Herod the Great's four sons. And when Herod the Great died, you remember Herod the Great, ruler when Jesus was born? But when Herod the Great died, his empire was divided among his four sons. was given rule over Galilee and Perea. Herod Antipas was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded.

But on this night, Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem, most likely there as part of the Passover. He probably stayed in the palace known as the Hasmonean Palace, very close to where the upper room was, where the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples occurred. It's important that Herod Antipas is in the city night a Galilean will be put on trial and Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, will be there to be involved in the trial process. Caiaphas, the high priest, and his father-in-law Annas, who before him had been a high priest, were both in the city. Their homes were close together. They were likely, at the same time that Jesus and his disciples were observing the Passover, Caiaphas, the high priest, and Annas, his father-in-law, a former high priest, were too celebrating the Passover meal.

But things have already been set in motion. Caiaphas has already met with Judas. The scene is set. The players are in place. They are going to be a part of the divine plan that will be acted out this night and into the next day.

And we go to the Last Supper. All of the disciples are present. All of the disciples are Galileans, save one. There's one Judean. His name is Judas Iscariot.

Nearly all of these 12 disciples who are in the upper room will desert Christ before the night is out. There's Peter, also known as Cephas the Rock. He's the undesignated leader of the group. Passionate, sort of like a bull in a china shop. Always seeming to knock things down.

Loud, boisterous, impetuous. There's Andrew, his brother. He and his brother are both from Bethsaida. Both are fishermen. There's Bartholomew, the son of Ptolemy is what Bartholomew means.

He's also known as Nathaniel. He's the direct one. Kyle, he's the one who asks, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Then there's Philip, who introduced Nathaniel to Jesus, and James and John, a second set of brothers among the disciples, the sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder. Maybe he tells us something about their character, and maybe about their father.

They were sons of thunder. Their father may have been a very bombastic sort of man himself. loved Jesus, and Jesus loved them, particularly John, who well may have been the youngest of the disciples and seems to have had a special place in Jesus' heart. James, the son of Alphaeus, not to be confused with James, the son of Zebedee, he's also known as James the Lesser because he's not in church history known as well as James, the son of Zebedee, or James, the Lord's brother. There's another Judas among the group.

who is also known as Thaddeus. Then there's Matthew the tax collector, the richest of the group most likely, also known as Levi, but Jesus had given him the name Matthew, which means gift of Yahweh. There's Thomas, who always needs evidence and is always questioning. He's also known as Didymus, the twin. Apparently he had a twin brother.

And then there's Judas Iscariot. Real name is Judas Iscarioth, which we get Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscarioth, which means Judas from Carioth.

He's the treasurer. He keeps the money. He's greedy. We already know he's a thief from other gospel accounts. He's stolen from the treasury.

And he is a traitor. And he is in their midst. The setting. They're in the upper room. In all likelihood, and we have to go on what we know of how things were done in Jesus' day from historical evidence, but in all likely the room was arranged especially for the Passover meal.

It is likely that the disciples were at a low table that was in a U-shape, a U-shaped table. It was probably about 12 inches in height from the floor. would recline at the table on cushions that were on the floor, sort of Roman style, which the Jews had adopted. Jesus most likely was positioned at the inside of the U, on the inside at the bottom of the U. That was the honored position with this table arrangement.

Most likely Peter was to his left, and we know from the text of scripture, John, the beloved disciple, was to his right. The other disciples would have been reclining around of roasted lamb in the room as they prepared to eat the Passover meal. It was a big night. When you ate meat, it was an important event. Unlike this country where we have meat with nearly every meal, in places like Ethiopia and poor countries, meat is a luxury. You only have it on special occasions, on feast days, and that was true in Jesus' day. So So having the lamb showed it was a special time, a special event.

We know from the Gospel of Luke, as the meal began, the disciples had a dispute among themselves. And the dispute was, here in the upper room, within Jesus' 24 hours of death, the dispute is, which of us is the greatest? We don't know how the dispute was sparked or how it began. Maybe it began when one of the disciples mentioned about James and John's mother's request to Jesus to let her son sit at his right and left when he came in power in his kingdom. And maybe one of the disciples brought that up, got a little discussion going.

Who did they think they were? Did they think they were the only ones that served Jesus? Didn't they remember what I did for Jesus? Maybe that's how the discussion was sparked. Maybe it started as they began to think about Jesus delivering them from Roman power because they were looking for a conquering king.

And maybe they wanted to know what their positions of authority would be within that kingdom once it came as on this night they were thinking about independence and freedom from a ruling power. And maybe they began to argue about which of them should have a greater position in the kingdom. the seating arrangements. Why did John, probably the youngest, get to sit in such a crucial position right next to Jesus? Surely somebody else older, maybe who thought they had done more for Jesus, should be in that position.

But there they are. And you just have to go. Jesus is going, these guys don't get it. They don't understand. how can I help them to grasp what I am about what they are to be about he knew he would not be with them long and he had such a short window to teach them some final lessons and so Jesus teaches them both by his actions and by his words what he was about and what they should be about it was at this point that Jesus got up and washed The disciples' feet.

Let me read verse 5, chapter 13. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. It's likely that in the room there was a servant that was helping to serve the disciples initially, but as this dispute occurred, I have this picture that Jesus gets up without a word. this servant. Jesus removes his outer garment, puts a towel around his waist, which was what servants would wear so they would be prepared to serve. Jesus takes the water in the basin from this servant, tells him he can leave the room, and then Jesus goes and he begins to wash the disciples' feet. Washing feet was an important service in Jesus' day. When guests came to the home washing their feet was important. The roads were dusty. People often wore some sort of sandal or walked barefoot. The roads were often muddy. Feet would get caked with mud and dust. The roads had animal dung on them as cows and lambs walked the same roads that humans walked. In Jerusalem, the streets were often used as sewers, human waste deposited straight into the street.

So when one had been walking on Jewish roads and through Jerusalem, one's feet became fouled and were in need of cleansing. And here, Jesus gets up to wash the feet. This was something not even Jewish slaves did. In Jewish practice, a Jewish slave would not wash the feet of another. Only a Gentile slave or a woman, usually a wife, or a child, sometimes a student for a teacher.

But no Jewish man, not even a Jewish slave, would dare get down and wash such dirty, repulsive feet. Yet here is Jesus washing. It's a menial act done by those who are on the lowest rung of society. In silence, Jesus removes the sandals of those who had them, washed the bare feet of those who did not, one by one, including the feet of Judas, the betrayer. And then he gets to Peter.

Peter probably last.

Peter has watched everybody else getting their feet washed but then Jesus gets to Peter and Peter argues with Jesus look at, start at verse 6 he came to Simon Peter who said to him Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I am doing but later you will understand no, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet Jesus answered

So we see the reaction of Peter. He questions Jesus. The words in word order are literally, as Jesus prepares to wash Peter's feet, it's, Lord, you my feet wash?

He's incredulous that Jesus would do this. And in a sense, maybe it's a question of humility. But then maybe it's a question of pride. I'm not going to let you wash my feet. I'll take care of my own feet.

But you know, when Jesus acts, we don't need to have all the answers. We don't need to question what he's doing. We should receive what he is doing. But Peter questions. He defies Jesus.

After Jesus tells him, Peter, you don't understand now, but you'll understand later why I'm doing this. Later meaning after my death and resurrection, you'll understand what I'm doing. Because what Jesus was doing, folks, he was mirroring in the washing of the feet what he was going to do on the cross. He was giving it of himself for the sake of others. But even when Jesus tells Peter, you don't understand now, but you understand later, let me do this, Peter objects strenuously, and he basically says, never, ever will you wash my feet.

And Jesus tells him, if I don't wash your feet, Peter, if you will not obey me in this thing, you have no part of me. if we will not receive what Christ will do for us has done for us what he offers to us we will have no inheritance in his kingdom and that's what Jesus tells Peter and when he tells Peter that Peter then says okay wash all of me Jesus wash all of me and now Peter misunderstands and Jesus makes it clear I don't need to wash all of you Peter I just need to wash your feet most of you are clean already, meaning you're already committed to me, but there's one who is not, and that's Judas. And then Jesus teaches the disciples.

And here's what he says, starting at verse 12. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you, he asked them. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I your Lord and teacher have washed your feet you also should wash one another's feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them. I love Jesus Christ.

And I love him not only for the cross, but I love him for this teaching that is so central to what we are to be about in the Christian life. And because it's so important, and because I don't want us to miss any of the lessons here, I'm going to stop because we're out of time, unfortunately. We need more time. I'm going to stop. And next week, we're going to look at the lessons that Jesus teaches in these verses 12 to 17 in our lessons for life.

Let me encourage you with this.

Yeah, fold those up, put them in your Bible so you'll have them for next week. If we don't get the lessons from this passage

individually and as a church, we will never be what God wants us to be. Jesus is going to challenge us to the core with his teaching. So stick with me. Be here next week and we'll go through his teaching. Let's pray.

Lord, for the richness of what you have done for us, for the richness of what you call us to, honor and we give you praise. I pray between now and next week as we prepare to hear the teaching that comes of the action at that Last Supper that each of us will go into our hearts and into our minds and ask ourselves in your presence are we prepared to be and to do what you have called us to. By your grace, Lord, and by your spirit, give us willing hearts and willing minds to be your people here and now in this place. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.