111. Beginner Bible Course: The Passover meal in the Upper Room

EPISODE 111  A simple Bible overview of...JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES EAT THE PASSOVER MEAL IN THE UPPER ROOM

It's two days before

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The Jewish holiday of Passover Jerusalem is swollen with visitors. The religious leaders are huddling. This Jesus guy, we've got to get him, but we can't until after these idiots who believe in him, leave town as they're wrestling over their problem. There's a knock at the door and unexpected visitor Judas Iscariot were told Satan had entered into him. Some think it was triggered by that lavish annointing of Jesus by Mary, that this was just pure greed that he couldn't get his hands on that money. Others think he was only following Jesus to do that King part so that he could have a prominent place. And when Jesus kept pushing back on that role, he just finally lost it.

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Notice we're told Satan entered into him. We've learned in the past. Satan cannot be more than one place at one time, but he has potentially millions of bellboys demons to do his work. In this case, he wants this job himself. Judas asked the men huddled in the room. What will you give me? If I deliver him up to you? They know they can't grab them in the crowds. They'll be mobbed, but if somebody would gift, wrap him and hand him over, that's a whole nother thing. They're thrilled. They weigh out 30 pieces of silver hand at the Judas and he says, I'll be in touch. As he leaves the room. Judas could have held out for far more.

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That's a pretty garage sale price for handing over what many people thought was the Messiah. The next day is the first day of the holiday of unleavened bread wrapped around Passover. It's the time of family lamb was prepared for that Passover night dinner. If you haven't been following along with us, please listen to episode 36, a full description of the first Passover and God's commandments for how the Passover was to be kept every year forever. The disciples asked Jesus, where can they do this Passover meal? Jesus says, Peter, John, you guys go get this ready go. Where teacher imagine being in a strange town the day before Thanksgiving, and you're told go prepare a full Thanksgiving meal.

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Jesus tells them he's got that covered. Go into the city. You'll meet a guy, carrying a pitcher of water, tell him the teacher says my time's at hand. Where can I eat the Passover meal with my disciples? This guy will show you to a large upper room. Just like Jesus instructions about getting the donkey. It happens exactly that way. Having been shown the room, they made the arrangements, the lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs that night Jesus and the disciples assemble in the room. Jesus begins that Passover meal by telling his men I've. So looked forward to eating this meal with you tonight. The next time I eat it, the kingdom of God will be here.

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Jesus then starts the meal with the traditional passing of the cup. Drink from drink. All of it. I won't drink this again until the kingdom of God is here. The gospel writers tell us Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead and the exact timeline that could have come from insight or directly out of the old Testament. Prophecies. The script had been laid out by God in advance. After the cup was passed, Jesus did something quite unexpected and extraordinary. The gospel writer, John tells us Jesus did an act of love to demonstrate that love to its extreme. He Rose up from the table.

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Now we should talk about the table to Vinci painted the famous painting. The last supper, undoubtedly you've seen it. That's not how this meal happened. This meal was done. Eastern style, a mat or a very low board was laid on the floor and the men laid around it in a circle. You'd rest on your left elbow and lie counter-clockwise and that circle would be pretty tight. No matter how big the room was that's because you are all sharing from a common bowl, you had to be able to reach things that were passed. So if you had been invited to this last supper with Jesus, you'd have had your head close to the waste to the person on your left and the person on your right would have their head close to your waist.

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If it was a really little room, your head might be close to the chest of the person to your left. Apparently that's how the disciples were lying around this table in a tight circle where everything could be heard and seen intimate. You might say the gospel writers tell us a little bit about who is in this circle and where picture this circle of Jesus and his 12 disciples like a clock assume Jesus is at 12 o'clock who is to his right at 11 o'clock. We know the answer to that question. It was the gospel writer. John John tells us he was the one leaning against Jesus chest. We also know where Peter wasn't Peter wasn't at one o'clock the closest person to Jesus on Jesus left.

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You'd think that he would be, I mean, he was the leader of the group, the rock, but Pete, somewhere across the circle, we know this because in the middle of the meal, he asked John to ask Jesus a question. We also get the idea where Judas Iscariot is. There are hints that it's Judas Iscariot at one o'clock the one immediately to the left of Jesus. That would be the guy with the chest. Jesus' head is next to back to our story. Jesus gets up off his left elbow and stands up. I'm sure every disciples eyes were fixed on him. He wraps a towel around himself, pours water into a bowl and starts washing the disciples feet a little bit about custom on a special meal like this.

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It's very likely that the disciples clean themselves up in a public bath house. They walked to this upper room. So they were already clean except their feet. Not so much. And sitting in this tight circle, some guys dirty feet are right behind your head. So hospitality required when someone entered a home and took off their sandals, a servant would wash the dust and sweat off their feet from traveling to the home. Nobody bothered to do this in the upper room. Of course, there weren't any servants there and it was just Jesus and the disciples. And that's the point. There weren't any servants among the disciples.

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Traditionally, this was the role of a servant who drew the shortest straw. The newbie. Now Jesus is starting around the circle, washing the dust off the disciples feet. There had to be icy silence. I mean, can you imagine I turned back the clock to the eighties when I was about their age. I wonder how I'd feel. If I somehow was lucky enough to get invited to a very important dinner and some extraordinary person was there at the dinner, a person like president, Ronald Reagan or mother Teresa or Muhammad Ali dinner ends, and there's dirty glasses and plates in front of everybody.

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Next thing I know. President Reagan or mother Teresa or Muhammad Ali, grab a bus tub and start picking up the dirty dishes in front of us. You wash my feet. You're the Lord. Never Jesus replies to Peter. If I don't wash you, Peter, you have no part with me. Peter responds well, if that's true, Lord, give me a full bath. I love Pete Peter. Those who are clean, only need their feet washed. You know that, and you guys are washed, but not all of you were not told the order. Jesus did this, but it's possible. He went around the clock, starting or ending with Judas Iscariot.

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When Jesus was finished with this servant task, he laid back down again on his elbow and he taught them. You guys call me teacher and Lord and you're right. So here's the deal. If I served you like this as your Lord, what do you think I expect you to do as my apprentices? I imagine Jesus making eye contact with each of the men in the circle, then saying, blessed are you. If you do this at this point, they begin the Passover meal. They were to eat it quickly. They were to eat it entirely. They were to be very careful. They didn't break any of the small bones of this lamb or goat in front of them, right in the middle of this meal, Jesus stops eating and it's obvious.

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He's deeply troubled. Jesus blurts out. One of you is going to be trained me. One who's eating with me. His hand is dipping into this bowl with me. The men at the table are shocked, but Jesus, while troubled isn't shocked at all, Jesus continues. It was written in prophecy that it would be so, but we'll misery to the one who does this. It would have been so much better if he had not even been born stunned, the disciples go around the clock asking Lord, is it me? When it's his turn, Judas speaks up teacher, is it me? And Jesus replies?

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You've said it yourself. It's at this point, Peter motions to John at Jesus' chest and says, ask him, who is it? John looks to his left into Jesus' eyes and says rabbi, who is it? Jesus replies. It's the one to whom I give them more soul. When I dip it, the morsel was another custom. The host at a special meal would take a special piece of bread. And during the course of the meal, he or she would give it to the guest of honor as a sign of special friendship. Jesus gives them more soul to Judas. Hold the phone a minute. It's possible. Judas was seated next to Jesus to his left.

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That's how they could have that. Lord is at I conversation without the other disciples hearing, we know that Jesus had washed the feet of Judas, maybe beginning or ending with him. And now Jesus gives him the special honor of the morsel of special friendship. What's Jesus doing here. If you think he's trying to prevent Judas from betraying him, I think that's a stretch. Jesus knows a disciple will betray him. Jesus knows it's Judas. Jesus doesn't want to stop the crucifixion for the past year. He's been fixated on going to Jerusalem and dying on the cross. How many times has he told the disciples?

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The son of man must suffer and be killed and rise on the third day. So why does Jesus do all this? I'm just going to let that seep into your soul a bit. Jesus says to him what you're going to do, do it quickly do it. Now at this just gets up off his left elbow, smack dab in the middle of the meal with his plate half full. And the weird thing is nobody seems to expect Judas. In the least we're told some of the disciples think he's going out with the money bag to give money to the poor. What? In the middle of the Passover meal at night, the disciples have just been told. One of them will betray.

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Jesus. You'd think at least one of them would have heard what Jesus said to Judas what you're doing do it. Now you'd have thought somebody would attack the dude, but nobody has a clue. I wonder if the guys in the circle were thinking, Judas is the last guy who'd ever do a thing like that to Jesus with Judas out of the room, Jesus, officiates the first communion or Lord's table. We're told he broke the unleavened bread in front of him. This is my body broken for you. You can almost hear the bread snap. As he said it continue to do this. To remember me, they then finished the meal. And when the meal was over, he took the common cup.

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In his hand, this cup poured out for you is the blood of a new covenant. It's poured out for many, for the remission of sins. I won't drink this cup again with you until we drink it again. In my father's kingdom. There's a phrase in there. We must understand a new covenant, Jeremiah and Ezekiel talked about this new covenant of God. Talk specifically that one day God would make a new covenant with his people. God describes this new covenant in Zeke. You'll 36. This way, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

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And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws, a new heart, a new spirit, a true holiness. The old covenant was one of law given by Moses a Holy God required strict adherence to that law. And when that law was broken, the blood of an innocent sacrifice. Now sitting around this circle on their left elbows, Jesus passes the cup and says, gentlemen, there's a new agreement here between man and God, God intends my blood to be a once for all sacrifice that sacrifice made God's spirit is going to move in, give you a new heart.

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He'll inscribe his Holy laws on your heart. He'll give you both the power and the desire to obey those laws. And please God, there's no way these men could comprehend what Jesus just said and was about to do. This is a complete game changer in the story of God and us. Thankfully in the rest of the evening with his disciples, Jesus is going to flesh out this new covenant in specific and vivid ways. And we'll continue to eavesdrop on that game changer conversation in our next wordpicture.