Learning Jesus | Week 35
Learning Jesus Week 35
He Loved Them to the End
Key Word – remember >> Central Passage –
As a Prophet Jesus loved His disciples with words and works; now He is transitioning to loving them as their High Priest. Because He is leaving to go to the Father and because He will be sending the Holy Spirit to indwell them, Jesus is also transitioning His disciples yet again into a deeper relationship with Him. So far we have seen Jesus shepherd His disciples through these stages of relationship.
1. Come & See – Hear me; watch Me.
2. Come & Follow Me – Commit; learn My ways.
3. Come & Be with Me – Do what I do; shepherd as I shepherd.
Now the Teacher will be urging the eleven who remained faithful to persist as He commands them to 4. Abide with Me. In preparation for that command, Jesus has gathered His apostles into an Upper Room to recline round a table set for Passover. For these next lessons, pay attention to how Jesus fleshes out His role as High Priest and intimates of their role in His royal priesthood.
Day 1
Read Luke 22:14-18.
Background Information – Jesus is saying that He will not observe the Passover again until He receives His kingdom. According to Ezekiel, Passover will be observed during the Messianic Kingdom (45:21). The basis of the kingdom is the New Covenant, and on this Passover the New Covenant will be ratified, or approved, by His blood.
Four cups of wine are drunk during the Passover dinner, and each has a different meaning and purpose. The gospels only reference the first and the third cup. After the lights have been kindled, the host of the Passover takes the first cup, as Jesus does here. He prays the Kiddush, the longest prayer of blessings of the celebration, over the cup. Kiddush means “sanctification,” the status of being holy. Given this lengthy prayer and the name, this first cup is called either the cup of blessing or the cup of sanctification. Jesus would have opened his prayer with “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.”
Because Passover wine must be fermented naturally, meaning with no additives to speed up the process of fermentation, the Jews referred to it as the fruit of the vine. Consider how blessing and sanctification and fruit are brought together in this next text about Jesus washing the feet of the Twelve.
Read John 13:1-20.
Background Information – Before eating, the person who is taking the role of servant, usually the mother or daughter, would pour water over the participants’ hands and then dry them with a towel. Jesus does things differently. First as the host, now He takes the role of servant; second, He washes the disciples’ feet instead of their hands. Despite that, none of the disciples object until Peter (of course) who says basically, “Is someone like you going to wash the feet of someone like me?”
Optional Memory Verses – It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1
Jesus purposefully returns to these themes at this last Passover with His disciples:
preparation – remembrance – sacrifice – spiritual warfare (betrayal/denial) – servanthood – LOVE.
You might want to refer to this list as you answer questions.
1. How do you see Jesus still teaching His disciples how to “do what I do; shepherd as I shepherd” while also moving them towards “abiding in Him”? See opening textbox notes.
2. To bathe most people went to a public bathhouse. While walking home, their feet would get dirty again. So even though their whole body was clean, their feet were dirty. How does Jesus’ response to Peter contrast justification and sanctification?
justification -- the one-time event when a believer is born again (declared righteous by God)
sanctification -- the process by which God makes us holy
3. A foil is the character in the story who most contrasts the protagonist. This contrast serves to highlight the negative qualities of the foil and the positive qualities of the main character whom readers long to see vindicated. We, the readers, already know that Judas has covenanted to betray Jesus.
How does knowing this impact this scene for you? How does it move you to love Jesus?
Dramatic irony occurs when we the readers know something that characters in the story do not know. That Jesus knows who will betray Him while the disciples are clueless is also dramatic irony.
Day 2
Read Matthew 26:21-25.
Background Information – After the handwashing ceremony is the Karpas ceremony, named for the karpos, a fresh raw green vegetable that is dipped into salt water before eating. In spring, young greens sprout; and in the spring, Israel was birthed as a young nation when she walked through the salty Red Sea.
Mark states that they “sat,” meaning they reclined at the table to demonstrate they are no longer slaves, but free to recline at table. Jesus chooses this time to predict again that one will betray Him. Luke’s account adds, “For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” (22:22). The word “determined” means decreed. Jesus said, “You have said so,” which is a Greek idiom meaning, “Yes, indeed.” Consider how God could decree Jesus’ death by betrayal and yet also hold the betrayer responsible.
1. Why is it interesting, even convicting, that each disciple wonders if the betrayer is himself?
Read Luke 22:19.
Background Information – Passover bread or matzah is made without yeast because yeast is associated with sin. When making the bread, the baker pokes little holes in it. The baker must be deliberate enough to both poke the holes in distinct rows and to create holes that light will shine through when held up to a light source such as a lamp or candle. To sum up, matzah must be unleavened, striped, and pierced. Very, very interesting.
Before the Passover begins, three pieces of matzah, or unleavened bread, are placed in a matzah tosh bag, a bag specially made with three compartments, one for each piece. During the afikomen ceremony, the second or middle matzah is removed and broken into two pieces. The larger piece is wrapped in linen and then hidden before the main meal. This afikomen is retrieved after the main meal, broken into smaller pieces, distributed to all, and then eaten by all as “desserts.” At this point in the meal, however, Jesus has only removed the middle piece of matzah to break it and wrap it in linen.
2. Why is it interesting that matzah must be unleavened and striped and pierced?
3. Why is it interesting that the middle matzah is broken and then one piece hidden to be retrieved later for dessert?
Day 3
Read John 13:21-30.
Background Information – Following the afikomen, charoset is eaten. A mix of apples, nuts, honey, cinnamon, lemon juice, and wine is prepared the day before so that by Passover its color is the same as brick mortar. This calls the Jews to remember how the Egyptians forced them to build Pharaoh’s city with bricks and mortar. The host dips a piece of unleavened bread into the charoset and then into a dish of bitter herbs and feeds each guest this “sop” one at a time. If a guest is present, he is the first person to receive the sop. Jesus honors Judas as a “guest” with this first sop to identify him as the betrayer. Passover is always celebrated at night, so consider why John would emphasize that it is night after Judas receives the sop.
Remember neither the Jewish leaders nor the Roman authorities wanted to put to death one revered by the people during the Passover. But the Father did want His Son to die at this time to fulfill the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. You shall see how God’s control of the timing resulted in the Jews and the Romans being unprepared to put the King of the Jews on trial.
1. Why is it interesting that Jesus feeds Judas the sweet-bitter sop first as if he were a guest?
Read Matthew 26:27-29 and I Corinthians 11:25-26.
Background Information – Following the sop came the main meal: roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and more bitter herbs. After the meal, the hidden matzah is retrieved, unwrapped, and distributed as desserts. With this the cup of redemption, the third cup, is taken. Luke states that “after supper” Jesus brought out a cup, so that is how we know this cup is the third and the one identified with the blood of the lamb. The Jews painted the blood of a one-year-old male lamb, and the covering of that blood saved the Jews from the angel of death during the final plague. Luke records Jesus as calling the “blood of the covenant” the new covenant. It is new because Jesus’ blood will not merely cover like the lambs’ blood at that first Passover, but Jesus’ blood will remove sin completely.
Jesus ordained that the Church break bread and drink wine to remember His death. The bread we eat is the middle portion. The wine we drink is the third cup, the cup of remembrance. Once Jesus establishes His Kingdom of one thousand years, the celebration of communion will be replaced by a sacrificial system as outlined in Ezekiel 40 to 48.
2. How does reading these passages impact your understanding of why both Passover and communion call us to remember our God?
3. Meditate on these passages and the background information. Write a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
Day 4
Read Luke 22:24-30.
Background Information – For the second time, Jesus promises the apostles present that they shall rule the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28); they shall serve under the resurrected King David who shall rule under King Jesus (Ezekiel 34:23-24, 37:24-25) As we already learned, the Church and Tribulation saints shall rule over the Gentile branch of the Kingdom under King Jesus.
1. The apostolic group has argued about position twice already (Mark 9 -10). Prior to those arguments, Jesus had warned them that He will delivered up to be killed. Review Luke 22:14-27.
o What do you notice about the context of this third argument?
o What does this recurring argument in its recurring context reveal about the apostles?
2. This is the second time Jesus promised the apostles that they would rule. The first time, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). Jesus justifies why the apostles will be given this position in these two passages. Review them both.
What is special about the apostles’ relationship with Jesus? Consider how they stayed with Jesus in His trials (See Luke 22:28).
3. Like the apostles we struggle with selfishness and pride, and yet we belong to Jesus. How by serving others can we also “stay” with Jesus in His “trials”?
Day 5
Jesus’ promise that the apostles will sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel has a distant fulfillment, but in today’s text Jesus references prophecy recorded in Zechariah 13:7 with a near fulfillment --
“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
In this text, the Messiah is described as “the man,” but the words “who stands next to me” is a translation of the Hebrew word amith,and this word means “a fellow or a neighbor,” meaning one who is an equal. Together “the man who stands next to me” captures a Messiah who is Man and God.
Read Mark 14:27-29.
1. Jesus is saying, “When I am crucified, you sheep are going to be scared and run away in different directions. So here’s the plan: after I am resurrected, let’s meet in Galilee. Ok? 1, 2, 3, break!”
o What is Peter saying?
o What attitude is behind what Peter is saying? Circle back to Day 4.
Read Luke 22:31-38.
Background Information – The “cock crow” refers to the four watches of the night. The first watch is at midnight and the second at 3 AM. So Jesus is saying that between the first and third watch of the night, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Since the Jews reckon the day as starting at sundown, Jesus is essentially telling Peter, “Not only will you deny Me, but you will deny Me this very day.”
Jesus repeals an earlier command He had given in Luke 9:3: “And he said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.’”
2. Review Luke 22:31-34 again.
o What do you learn about our God in this text? Consider His character, plan for an individual’s sanctification, plan for a group’s sanctification.
o How does remembering this about our God bring you comfort today?
3. Review Luke 22:38 again.
o Why does Jesus give a different command now?
o What do you see in this text that helps you understand the practicalities of serving in the world?
o In the book of Acts, we see how depending upon Jesus looked different for these apostles after He ascended and sent the Holy Spirit. Reflect on God’s perfect plan for providing the apostles, these “sent ones,” two different experiences of dependence.
Read Matthew 26:30.
Background Information – The Passover concludes with singing Psalms 113-118. While praising God, they drink from the fourth cup called the Hallel, the cup of praise. You may wish to read Psalm 118, the last Psalm sung, the last Word Jesus heard before His trial.
re-jesus space
Jesus purposefully returns to these themes at this last Passover with His disciples:
preparation – remembrance – sacrifice – spiritual warfare (betrayal/denial) – servanthood – love
Choose one topic and on a small piece of paper write a prayer request about that topic. Your petition could be for yourself or for another person or group of people. Pass your request to the person directly across from you. Then pray together. Prayers of confession, thanksgiving & praise accompanying your petitions would delight our God’s ears and heart!
Examples: Pray ... that I would let Jesus serve and love me like He wants to...that my friend would return to Jesus and stand firm against the evil one...that our church would serve as Jesus served...
COMMUNITY GROUP TIME
Your leader will have group time instructions sent to them separately this week.
God’s joy and strength to you, kpaulson@gracelaredo.org