The Passover Plot

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I invite you to turn with me to Mark's gospel as we continue our journey through the last week of our Lord's life - really a remarkable, remarkable week and, and there's so much here as we work our way through this. And I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are as well.

You know, when you look at the, at the Passion Week, at the last week of our Lord, it's not surprising that there are widely differing accounts of what happened in Jerusalem at the Feast of Passover in the year 30 A.D. At one end of the spectrum, you have the, the views of someone like Albert Schweitzer in his famous book 'The Quest for the Historical Jesus'. Schweitzer's perspective is that Jesus was not in control but rather was the hapless victim of powers beyond His control. Listen to what Schweitzer writes.

"Jesus, in the knowledge that He is the Son of Man, lays hold of the wheel of the world to send it on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. But it refuses to turn, and He throws Himself upon it. Then it does turn and crushes Him. Instead of bringing in the eschatological conditions, He has destroyed them. The wheel rolls onward, and the mangled body of the one immeasurably great Man, who was strong enough to think of Himself as the spiritual ruler of mankind and to bend history to His purpose, is hanging on it still."

According to Schweitzer, Jesus was crushed and mangled by the gears of history – a hapless victim of His own ill-conceived, if well-intentioned plans.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have Hugh Schonfield, who in 1965 wrote his famous book "The Passover Plot". Schonfield argued that Jesus mistakenly believed Himself to be the Messiah and He intentionally manipulated all of the circumstances and all of the people around Him in order to appear to fulfill all of the great Messianic prophecies and expectations. Well, the historical records make it clear that is not what happened, but Schonfield was right in this: there was in fact a Passover plot. In fact, it's more accurate to say that there were two Passover plots. And those two Passover plots are unfolded for us in the paragraph we come to tonight. Mark 14, and let me begin reading in verse 10,

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You want us to 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 will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, 'Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.' The disciples went out and came to the city and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover."

That paragraph is really the tale or story of two great plots. There was a human plot, and at the same time there was a great eternal divine plot, and I want us to look at those together. First of all, let's look at the human plot. You see this in verses 10 and 11. This is the plot carried out by Judas and the chief priests - a plot to murder Jesus, the illegal murder of the Lord Jesus Christ. This part of the story, this plot, is recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke. But here this is how Mark puts it, look at verse 10, "Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve…." When you find Judas' name in the Scripture, usually he's identified in several ways - his background (Judas Iscariot), his relationship to Jesus (he was one of the twelve), and usually, although not here, his sin (he's the one who betrayed Him, or he's the betrayer we often find it described).

Judas is really a tragic figure. The name Judas comes from the Old Testament name Judah, which means praised or celebrated. His father, Judas' father, was named Simon Iscariot. And Iscariot is not their last name, but rather it's meant to distinguish them from all the other Simons and all the other Judases. Iscariot probably comes from a Hebrew expression "ish kerioth", meaning "man of Kerioth". It describes where Judas and his father were originally from. Kerioth is a small town in the tribal area assigned to Judah. It's mentioned in Joshua, and that's where apparently Judas and his family were originally from. Probably at some point moved to Galilee since they're described this way – that implies that they were once from there, but had (excuse me), had moved.

Judas had met Jesus early in Jesus' ministry. According to Acts 1, one of the qualifications to be an apostle was that you had been with Jesus during His entire earthly ministry beginning with the baptism of John. So that almost certainly means that Judas was with Christ from the time of His baptism by John. It's possible that Judas had been baptized by John and had expressed repentance. And certainly, Judas had to acknowledge that he believed that Jesus was Israel's Messiah, his King. It seems that he began with genuine spiritual interest and something like the faith of the Old Testament.

About a year and a half into His ministry, Jesus called all of His disciples to Him on the mountain, you remember. And out of all of them, He appointed twelve of them to be His proxies, His "sent ones", His legal representatives, His apostles. And of course, one of those was Judas. That means that Judas had obviously publicly identified himself as a disciple of Christ. In other words, he had expressed repentance and faith in Christ and in the gospel. It also means that for one and a half years, he had already followed closely Jesus and even accompanied Him at times.

He had distinguished himself among the followers of Christ by his zeal, by his apparent spiritual interest, but it was a façade, and Jesus wasn't fooled from the beginning. He knew what was in Judas' heart. In John 6:64, "Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and He knew who it was who would betray Him." He knew from the start, but you would never have guessed it. If you had been there and seen Judas, you would never, ever have guessed that he was the betrayer. His ministry as an apostle would have been no different than the rest of the apostles. He preached the gospel in various cities. He apparently even worked miracles as the rest of the apostles did.

But Judas' primary ministry was not preaching; he primarily in an ongoing way was the treasurer of the group. He was uniquely gifted with finances. He just automatically knew the value of things. You remember, the value of the nard that Mary had poured out on Jesus. He immediately knew that it was worth three hundred denarii. Judas was the treasurer, and he used their resources for two purposes. One was to provide for the expenses of the disciples. We read in Luke that there were, there were benefactors who had been saved under the ministry of Jesus who had committed to Him as Messiah and Lord, who out of their surplus gave to support Jesus and the disciples. And Judas was responsible for keeping that money and for providing for the ongoing expenses of Jesus and the disciples, as well as giving to the poor and those in need.

So, from the surface, everything looked great. The first indication that there was a problem came in the summer of 29 A.D., a number of months after the appointment of the twelve. Look at John 6, John 6:70. After Peter's great confession of faith, you remember, and he says, "You have the words of eternal life." Verse 70,

Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?" Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.

That's the first clue that the other eleven had that there was one among them who was not the real thing, one among them who was in fact a deceiver, a fraud, and ultimately would betray them, even as Jesus identifies him here connected to demonic power – a devil.

Fast forward from that another nine or ten months to just before Jesus' final Passover, just before His death, Saturday night in April of 30 A.D. just before the Passion Week begins. The triumphal entry is on the next day. The event was a special dinner thrown by Jesus' followers in Bethany. Turn over to John 12. And we looked at this a few weeks back, but John 12 and notice verse 4. When Mary, you remember, makes her costly sacrifice to anoint the body of Jesus, verse 4 says,

… Judas Iscariot, one of [the] His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to [the] poor….?" Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. … Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial."

Here Jesus, publicly in front of the other disciples and some other guests, confronts Judas.

The next episode comes on Wednesday of the Passion Week, just a few days later. On Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey showing that He was Israel's rightful King. On Monday and Tuesday, He cleanses the temple for the second time, and He essentially takes control of the temple compound. Monday and Tuesday are days that are full of ministry, and Judas has no chance to contact the Jewish leaders.

But Wednesday of the Passion Week was a down day, a slow day; in fact, apart from the actions of Judas, we don't know of anything else that Jesus and the disciples did on Wednesday. Providentially, it was also on Wednesday probably that the leaders of the nation met to plot Jesus' arrest and death. We read about that back up in Mark 14, 1,

Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, "Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people."

That's Mark's brief account of this meeting in the court, the, the court of Caiaphas' house where the leadership, the high priests and the, the chief priests, the political leaders of the nation are discussing what to do about Jesus on Wednesday.

God's sovereign purpose though is going to override their intentions. Verse 2, they said we're not going to seize Him and kill Him during the Passover, but God's sovereignty is going to overrule that because Jesus has to die on Passover. So how is God going to overcome their human decision? Well, it's interesting because Matthew directly links Judas' meeting with the leaders and the meeting with the leaders that's recorded back in Mark 14:1-2. In other words, it appears that while they were still convening in the court of Caiaphas, Judas shows up, and he provides them the perfect solution.

At the very time they're meeting in the courtyard of Caiaphas, Judas arrives. It's the first chance he's had since they arrived in Bethany for the Passover, and Judas shows up while they're finalizing their decision to wait, and he gives them an offer that they cannot pass up. Look at verse 10, "Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them."

Now you have to ask the question why? What was behind Judas' decision to do this? What was Judas' motive? Well, ultimately it was the work of Satan. John says, "Satan had put it in his heart." But understand that Satan didn't make Judas do this against his will; nor did God's sovereign purpose that one be the betrayer of the Son of God, and it was predicted and prophesied in the Old Testament – God didn't make Judas do this easier. So, what was the source of the temptation that would have prompted Judas to betray our Lord?

Well, we can't be absolutely sure, but it could have been several motives or a combination of them. One could have been fear of the authorities. The authorities had said, "Whoever knows of His whereabouts needs to turn Him in," and were holding those who didn't accountable. It's possible. That doesn't seem to be his motive, but it's a possible motive.

Injured pride certainly could be because Jesus had just on Saturday night publicly rebuked Judas for his mercenary attitude about finances. It could've been injured pride.

It could've been disappointed expectations. I mean, the triumphal entry made it very clear that Jesus was not the kind of king he wanted. He had heard Jesus talking of His impending death and burial so maybe Judas thought,

'Look, this isn't going where I thought it was going to go. I thought He was going to be the Messiah, the King of Israel. He was going to run out the Romans. We were going to establish a kingdom. I was going to sit on the throne. But this isn't happening. I'm getting out while I can get out.'

The game was done, and Judas was cashing in his chips.

Could be frustrated ambitions – he wanted to be one of the leaders of the political kingdom. And again, that became, it became obvious that at least in the short term that wasn't happening.

It's possible some or more of those might have been behind his motive, but one motive is crystal clear in Scripture, and that is greed and covetousness - just what we read in John 12, "… he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it." It's interesting. When Judas arrived at the secret meeting of the chief priests in the courtyard of Caiaphas, this is what was on his mind. Matthew tells us that he spoke unequivocally of this. Here's what Judas said to them, "What [Matthew 26:15, what) are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. By the way, this detail about the thirty pieces of silver had been prophesied in Zechariah 11,

I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So, they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD." [Ultimately, you know that the money Judas threw back was used to buy a potter's field.]

The other irony of this is in Exodus 21:32 because there, in the law, thirty pieces of silver was what you owed if your ox accidentally gored and killed your neighbor's slave. Jesus was sold out by Judas for the price of a slave. Don't miss the irony of those thirty coins. Listen to the great Jewish writer Alfred Edersheim. He writes,

Mark the deep, symbolic significance of it all - in that the Lord was so to speak paid for out of the temple money, which was destined for the purchase of sacrifices, and that He who took on Him the form of a servant was sold and bought at the legal price of a slave.

So, Judas shows up as they conclude their meeting on Wednesday. So how did Caiaphas, the high priest, and Annas, his father-in-law, and the rest of the key political leaders of the nation respond? Look at verse 11, "They were glad when they heard this, and they promised to give him money." Literally, the Greek text says they rejoiced. It's the word that's often used when we're told to rejoice. Remember their dilemma back up in 14:1 and 2? Their chief problem is how to seize Jesus by stealth and not cause a riot. And now, what amazing luck! One of His twelve closest followers is willing to deliver Him up to them when there are no crowds, and there will be no scene.

Imagine for a moment how much it must have satisfied these ungodly men to know that one of Jesus' followers was motivated by the same thing they were. What a sense of smugness and satisfaction that must have given them. Jesus, you remember, had publicly attacked them for their love of money. But now, these wicked leaders smirk as they think to themselves, "See there? I knew. His followers are no different than we are."

How often have unbelievers around us thought that? They think, "You know, money is after all what makes the world go around. When these people like these fishermen seem to be so spiritual, it's really just a façade. They're just like we are." And so in their smugness, they give Judas his silver.

Verse 11 goes on to say, "And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time." In Luke's gospel, Luke writes [Luke 22:6], "So he consented, and [he] began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him apart from the crowd." That was the opportune time. Find a time when Jesus is alone enough that it won't create a riot. That was the plot. That is the human plot behind the Passover and the events of that week. Judas and the chief priests are plotting the arrest of Jesus by stealth. And the chief priests have in mind, even if Judas didn't, the eventual murder of Jesus. That's the plot, and it marches on.

But that wasn't the only plot going on. There was also a divine plot. We see this in verses 12 - 16. This is a plan that originated in the eternal councils of the triune God. And it was carried out by Jesus in order that He could perfectly fulfill the plan and prepare and protect His own followers. Let's look at verse 12, "On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?'"

Now these can be a little confusing, these feasts, but essentially this expression "on the first day of Unleavened Bread" refers to the reality that there were two feasts back-to-back. The first feast was Passover. It was a one-day feast on the fifteenth of Nisan, that year on Friday. But in conjunction with it and back-to-back with it was a seven-day feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Sometimes the two feasts are referred to separately. Other times, the entire eight days was called the Passover. Still other times, the entire eight-day period was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread as Mark does here in verse 12.

The reason for that is even before Passover began, there was a search in every home and, if you're familiar with what the Jewish people do even to this day, this is still true. Before Passover begins, there is a ritual search in every cupboard, in every corner of the house to make sure that there is no leaven. And whatever leaven, whatever yeast is found, it's thrown out. That happened before Passover began. And so, in a sense, the entire time period was rightly called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Technically, the first day of Unleavened Bread began at sunset on Thursday night. But both in Josephus and in the writings of the rabbis, Thursday was often called the first day of the feast. So that gives us a little bit of time orientation here of when this is happening.

Mark adds a second expression though that helps us, and that's the expression "when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed," verse 12 says. What does that mean? Well, remember when this was supposed to happen. According to Exodus 12:6, "You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it (on the fourteenth) at twilight." Literally, the Greek text or excuse me, the Hebrew text says "between the evenings". That was taken to mean between three o'clock in the afternoon and sunset.

Now this happened practically in the first century on two days – on Thursday and on Friday of that year. Why? Well, because the Pharisees and the Jews from Galilee reckoned time differently from the Sadducees and the Jews of Judea. I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but just to give you the big picture, so you understand why the timing is sometimes stated differently.

In Galilee, they figured a day from sunset to sunset. Your day began at sundown. The new day began and ran till sunset the next day. That meant for them, Passover began at sunset Thursday night and lasted to sunset Friday night. So, they sacrificed their lambs on Thursday afternoon from three to five in the afternoon between the evenings. And then they ate their Passover meal after sunset on Thursday. This is what Jesus and the disciples did.

But in, I want to keep moving here, in Judea, the day was figured from sunrise to sunrise. So that meant that Passover began at sunrise on Friday morning and ran to sunrise on Saturday morning. So, for them, they sacrificed their lambs on Friday afternoon between three and five, the very time that Jesus died as our Passover lamb. And they ate the Passover meal after sunset on Friday.

That's why the leaders said, remember the leaders of the Jews say on Friday, "We can't go into Pilate's hall because then we won't be able to eat the Passover." They had not eaten it, but Jesus and His disciples had. The reason is this difference in timing and how things were accounted. It actually turned out to be quite convenient because it allowed to spread out the crowds between two days at the temple for sacrifice. So, this is what's going on here.

Now for Jesus and for the disciples, we're talking then according to Galilean time, that meant for them sometime Thursday morning because they're planning to eat the Passover not Friday night but Thursday night. So sometime on Thursday morning, this discussion takes place. They say to Jesus, "Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?"

Now that was an important question because according to Deuteronomy 15, I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 16:5-8, it had to be eaten, the Passover had to be eaten in Jerusalem. You couldn't eat it anywhere else. It had to be eaten there. "So where in Jerusalem with all the crowds that are there, Lord, do you want us to prepare for You for this meal?" It becomes immediately clear that Jesus has given much thought to this issue. Look at verse 13, "He sent two of His disciples...." Luke tells us who they were – Peter and John. Now that would have been unusual. Normally Jesus would have sent Judas as the treasurer to make the arrangements. But in this case, He sends Peter and John.

Now what comes next in the account that we, we're looking at together frankly has more of the feel of a spy novel than it does the gospels. It's hard to know if what we read here is simply an expression of Jesus' omniscience or if it's part of a carefully prearranged plan or perhaps a combination of the two. We really can never know for sure, but notice what He says in verse 13, "… He sent two of His disciples (Peter and John) and [He] said to them, 'Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him….'"

Now apparently, Jesus and His disciples were still in Bethany where they have been staying each night when He told them this. And He told Peter and John, "I want you to walk the two miles to Jerusalem. And as you enter the city, you're going to see a man carrying a pitcher of water."

Now immediately, for the first century reader, and particularly for the Jewish people of Israel, that would've been a shocker because that didn't happen. In that culture, this man would have stood out because usually men carried skins of water. Women and slaves carried jars or pitchers of water. This would not have been a common sight in first century Jerusalem. It's possible that this man was carrying water from the pool of Siloam. That's where the water was diverted through Hezekiah's tunnel from Jerusalem's only water source, the Gihon Spring. But regardless, he's got this, here's this man. He's got this jar of water – very unusual, been the only man carrying a jar like that through the city of Jerusalem. And they follow him.

Now we don't know if this man knew they were following him or if he was just an unwitting part of the story. We really don't know, but notice verse 14, "And wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'" So, the man carrying the jar of water obviously is not the owner of the house. He's either a servant or possibly a member of the family, but not the owner.

So, who is this man, this owner of the house? Well, we really don't know and can't be sure, but it is interesting. The evidence points a particular direction. Specifically, it points toward the home of John Mark, the author of this gospel. Why? Well, if you look at this expression "large upper room" in verse 15, the New Testament uses that a couple of other times (in Acts 1:13 and in Acts 12:2), and in both cases it referred to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. So, it's possible that this man was John Mark's father, either his birth father or perhaps his stepfather. We can't, we don't know for sure. It's even been suggested by some commentators that the man carrying the water jar was in fact Mark, but we don't know that. That's conjecture.

What we do know about this man though is interesting. We do know that the owner of this house was a follower of Jesus Christ. We do know that he understood that his possessions belonged to his Lord. Notice that expression, "Where is My guest room?" And we also know that this man was courageous because, remember, the leaders of the Israelites had said if anyone knows where He's located, they better turn Him in, or they're going to risk excommunication from the synagogue. But this man, in spite of all of that, has either by prearrangement or by sovereign and, and omniscience been chosen and goes along with using his home for the Last Supper.

Now, two things are very clear in these really unusual directions from our Lord. One is that He intentionally kept the identity of the owner of the house secret. And secondly, He intentionally kept the location of the house secret. That's what's going on here. That's very important. No one but Jesus, not even Peter and John, knows where the Passover meal is going to take place until they get into the city, they see the man with the water jar, and they follow him to the house where he's going. That's the first they knew where it would be. Jesus is the only One who knows.

Now why is that important? Well, you remember Luke 22:6? "Judas began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd." What better time to bring the authorities than when Jesus and His disciples were alone inside the city after dark celebrating the Passover meal, and when many others were already with their own family and friends celebrating the Passover meal in other places? So, either in His divine omniscience or in His careful, wise planning, Jesus arranged that He would enjoy the Passover with His disciples undisturbed, and that's the reason for the secrecy. Judas can't know because Jesus has a purpose.

Now Jesus says in verse 15 once you have asked this man this, "He himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there." That expression "upper room" is a common one to us, but it literally refers to a story above ground, a second story multi-use room. In wealthy homes in the first century, you would have the living quarters and all of that on the ground floor. And often, particularly in the city like Jerusalem where space was limited, you would build up and you would put a large multi-use room (don't think game room, but maybe that's a good picture) on top of your living area and that could be used for any number of purposes. It was often, in the word used here, in one context is when Jesus says, "Where is My guest room?" it is the word guest room. It's the same word that's used for where Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem - a guest room, or where they weren't able to stay.

So, it's a large second story, multi-use room. So, this would have been a wealthy family. But they didn't just have an upper room; notice they had a large (literally, the Greek text says a "mega") upper room. This was an extremely wealthy, influential family in Jerusalem. And Jesus told Peter and John they would find this room furnished; that is, it was already equipped with the typical u-shaped table for banquets in those days, for formal occasions, and the couches on which they would recline for the meal. And it would be ready; that is, the room would be setup. The table would be set. All the disciples, these two men needed to do was prepare for the meal. And it's very likely that this nameless, wealthy person would have put his household servants at Peter and John's disposal to make the preparations.

Can I just stop and say here for many of you God has unusually blessed you, He's given you resources beyond what you yourself can really use and need. There are so many examples in the Scripture of those who saw that what they had belonged to God, and they put it at their Lord's disposal just as this man did. Let me encourage you to do that. Really all of us fall into that by where we live and living here in the States compared to most of the world.

Verse 16, "The disciples went out and came to the city (so Peter and John leave Bethany where they'd been staying overnight. They came to Jerusalem, probably entered through the eastern gate), and they found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover." They see the guy carrying the jar. They follow the guy to a home. They walk up and say, "The Teacher has said, 'Where is My guest room (that we may) that I may eat the Passover with My disciples?'" And the guy says, "Sure. I've got it all ready. It's just upstairs." And they began to prepare. They may have needed to purchase additional supplies for the supper. Of course, then as now, it included wine and unleavened bread, bitter herbs. Crushed fruit was necessary for the "charoset".

And then on that Thursday afternoon around three, Peter and John would've taken their lamb, the lamb for that party of people, the disciples and Jesus, to the temple. It's very likely that on the previous Sunday, Jesus and His disciples had purchased their Passover lamb. That would've been the tenth of Nisan as Exodus required. Then on Thursday afternoon, Peter and John would've joined one of three groups, historians tell us, that would've been unleashed into that small area around the altar in the court of the Israelite where the, Israelites where Jewish men could go. Usually only two men per party could go there so that it wasn't completely bogged down.

And so, they take their lamb to the temple. When they got to the front of that line in order to sacrifice their own Passover lamb, the priest would've handed the knife to either Peter or John, and they would have taken the knife and slit that lamb's throat. The priest would have been there with a bowl catching the blood. He would've passed the bowl to another priest who would've walked back to the brazen altar and slung the blood across the altar as an expression of the atonement being made.

Then they would have taken that lamb and they would have butchered it, and the right parts that needed to be burned would have been taken to have been burned. And the rest of the carcass of that lamb, now butchered and cleansed and drained of blood, would have been put on a skewer, on a stick, and handed back to Peter and John. And they would have carried that lamb back to the place where the upper room where the Passover would be held. There they would have roasted the lamb in a clay oven, typically on a skewer of pomegranate wood, being careful that the lamb never touched anything but that pomegranate stake. When they had finished all of their preparations and the sun had set, then the other ten disciples and Jesus came to celebrate Jesus' final Passover.

Now what's this all about? You know, there are several very important lessons for us to see and learn here. The first is that God's sovereign purpose always trumps human evil. God's sovereign purpose always trumps human evil. The primary point of verses 10 – 16 is that Jesus was completely in charge, even when there were evil men set against Him, determined to kill Him. He was still in charge. One commentator writes:

"Jesus does not cower or retreat as plots are hatched against Him. He displays, as He has throughout His ministry, a sovereign freedom and authority. Judas and others may act against Him, but they do not act upon Him."

He is in control, and He wanted to ensure that His death occurred on Passover as He had predicted on Tuesday of that week because He Himself was (what?) our Passover lamb. First Corinthians 5:7 – "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed."

So, the evil of Caiaphas, the chief priests and even Judas could not overcome God's plan. There has never been a human plot that can overcome God's eternal, sovereign purpose. That was true in the life of Jesus and it's true in your life as well. How often do we find ourselves the victim of evil schemes, lies, deception? Understand God's sovereign purpose always trumps human evil. He's always in charge. He's always on His throne. He is always methodically working out His purpose in every single life. Nothing can happen to you; nothing can happen to you that in any way changes or thwarts His great eternal purpose in setting His love upon you.

There's a second lesson here, and that is the way Jesus orchestrated the Last Supper powerfully revealed our Lord's love for His own. You see this in several ways. First of all, we see it in that Jesus wanted to eat the Passover with His disciples. I love this. If you read about the Passover, and if you read about how it was celebrated in the first century, you discover very quickly that Passover was typically eaten with family and with close friends. It was an occasion for celebration of family and friends, and it still is that in the Jewish community to this day. It was in the first century as well.

And so, to Jesus, He wants to celebrate the Passover that He Himself will fulfill with His family, with His disciples. They were His family and here's the encouraging part. His disciples, you and me - He still thinks of us as His family. Go back to Mark 3, Mark 3. You remember this passage that we looked at a long time ago. Jesus is teaching inside a house. Jesus' brothers have concluded that He's crazy, and Mary comes along with them. She's probably concerned for His health because He's not taking time even to eat. So, His mother, verse, Mark 3:31 –

… His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You." [Again, in the first century, family was everything and your family's here. You need to take a break from this and go. Your mother's here and, and your brothers.] Answering them, He said, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" [And] looking about at those who were sitting around Him [and in the other gospels, we learn that this wasn't just the twelve. This was, these were other followers of His.] Looking … around …, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother."

I love that even in this choice our Lord makes, we see His heart for His own - for the twelve, for the eleven especially, but for us as well. This is how Jesus still thinks of His followers. They're His family. You are His family. You are – if you're older, you are in His mind like a mother, like a father. If you're younger, you're like a sister or brother. Just as we think of each other as family, so does our Lord.

There's another part, expression of His love in this passage though, and that is that Jesus wanted this time to equip His disciples to prepare them for what lay ahead. And you see this in what He taught in the upper room discourse as it's usually called. I'm not going to have time tonight to walk you through it, but read John 13 - 17. All of that happened that evening in the upper room. All of those chapters are rich with Jesus preparing and equipping His disciples for all that they would face.

Jesus intentionally did all of this arranging, either by omniscience or by a carefully prearranged plan, in order to have that time with His disciples. He didn't want Judas to bring the chief priests and their officers until He was done, until He had had that time with His disciples.

And that brings me to the last application here, and that is the reason Jesus did all of this, the reason for the secrecy and the plot and the plan was because He wanted to express His love for His own. Look with me at John 13, John 13, as we have the beginning of the upper room discourse. John 13:1, "Now before the Feast of the Passover [which would've been on Friday], Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them [and notice that expression] "to the end." is footnoted in your New American Standard Bible "to the uttermost")." We could say "to the nth degree".

He loved them to perfection is the idea. And you see that in His arranging to have this time with His disciples, His arranging to have this upper room time with the ones He loved. And He expresses His love. Look over in 15:9,

"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you…." [He wanted to express His love in tangible ways as He taught His disciples. And He wanted to prepare them. He goes on to say,] "Just as the Father has loved Me (and I), I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." [You just see this, this heart of compassion and love for His disciples.]

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. [You want to know what My love is like?] Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; [slave doesn't, isn't told why; he's just told what. But I'm not calling you slaves anymore. We are obviously His slaves, but at the same time we move from being slaves to friends]; … for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you. This I command you, that you love one another."

Jesus uses this time that He has so carefully, sovereignly, providentially arranged to express His love for His own. And again, that's not just for the eleven. If you're in Christ, that's for you. This is the heart of Jesus for you. This is how He thinks of you. What a powerful lesson in God's sovereign purpose being fleshed out in Jesus' life in a way that we see His love for the eleven; but beyond that, we see His love for us. We're His family. He loves us as the Father has loved Him, and as He loves the Father.

Let's pray together.

Father, we are really amazed at such expressions of love to us. We don't understand it. We know only a little of our sinfulness, but what we do know makes us think that You'd never want to have anything to do with us. And yet, You have made us Your children. Our Lord and You and the Spirit have set Your love upon us and have made us Your own, and that love is expressed in so many ways.

Lord, help us to understand the height and breadth and depth and to know the love of Christ which passes all understanding, all comprehension, so that we may together grow up into the knowledge of that love and love You in return. Father, teach us from the heart of Christ on that last night, knowing what was before Him, that He loved His own and He loved them, including us, to perfection.

Lord, we confess we don't really believe that in its fullest sense. Help us to understand it and help us to live in light of it because we love You because You first loved us.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.