Faithful in the Face of Betrayal | Pastor Cody- April, 27th 2025 Mark 14:10-26

back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. Amen. [Music] Yes. You made the starry host. You trace the mountain peace. You paint the evening skies with wonder. The earth that is your throne. From desert to the sea. All nature testifies your splendor. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Sing his greatness. All creation. Praise the Lord. Raise your voice. You heights and all your depths from fences to west. Let everything that has breath. Praise the Lord. You reached into the dust. In love your spirit breathed. You formed us in your very lightness to know your wondrous works. To tell your mighty deeds to join the everlasting chorus. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Sing his greatness all creation. Praise the Lord. Raise your voice. You heard all

your depths. From further seas to west, let everything that has breath praise the [Music] Lord. Let symphies resound. Let drums and choirs ring out all heaven hear the sound of worship. Let every nation bring its honors to the king. A roar of harmonies eternal. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Sing his greatness. all creation. Praise the Lord. Praise your voice, your heights, and all your depths. From bird seas to rest. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Sing his greatness all creation, praise the Lord. Raise your voice, you heights and all you dep. From further seas to west, you destined burning stars, all creatures near and far, from sky to sea to shore, sing out forever more. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Lord, we thank you for your many blessings so much for us, much more than we need many times. We thank you for that. We just pray for this offering this morning that glorify and honor you and further your kingdom. We ask these things in your name. Amen. The question for today is who is the redeemer of God's elect? And we find the answer in first Timothy 2 5 and 6. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. And in Hebrews 24:25, he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues

forever constantly. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them all. Let's all stand together as we [Music] respond. All I held here, built my life upon all this world reverses and pours to home. All I once thought gain I have counted loss spent and worthless now compared to this. Knowing you, Jesus. Knowing you, there is no greater. You're my all. You're the best. You're my joy, my righteousness. And I love you, Lord. Now my heart's desire is to know you more to be found in you and known as yours to possess by faith what I could not earn. All surpassing gift of rightuousness. Knowing you, Jesus. Knowing you, there is no greater thing. You're my all. You're the best. You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord. Oh, to know the power of your ris life and to know you in your sufferings. To become like you in your death, my Lord. go with you to live and never die. Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater. You're my all. You're the best. You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you,

[Music] Lord. Knowing you, Jesus. Knowing you, there is no gater thing. You're my all. You're the best. You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord. And I love you, Lord. [Music] Great is thy faithfulness, oh God, my father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. The changes love thy compassions they fail not. As thou has spent, thou forever wilt me. Great is thy faithfulness. faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy handath proided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. [Music] Summer and winter and springtime and harst. Sun, moon and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness. faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy handath proided. Great is thy [Music] faithfulness Lord unto [Music] me. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, oh dear presence to cheer and to guide. strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Blessings are mine with 10,000 preide. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand have [Music] proided. Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me. God, you are great. You are worthy. You are wonderful. And God, we just pray for your spirit to move today. We ask that our hearts would be softened to the gospel. We ask God that you would do a mighty work in our lives and change us radically. That we would die. We would die to ourselves so that we would live for you. Jesus, we thank you for what you have done. We thank you for paying that debt that we could not pay. God, you are worthy. You are faithful. You are kind and you are good. Help us, God, to see you. Help our hearts to hear you and our hearts to be changed and molded into you. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Well, if if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Mark chapter Excuse me. Mark chapter 14. It's where we're going to be today. We're talking about being faithful in the face of betrayal. Um, we are nearing the end of Mark. It is that darkest hour. Uh and yet Christ shines very beautifully as our resurre as our savior uh here in this passage. Of course we worship him as our resurrected savior. But I I want you to think about this. I want you to think what would your reaction be like if um you found out that you were being betrayed by one of your closest

friends? What what would your heart be like? What would your attitude be like? What would your words be like? What would it be like for you? Would you still love him? Would you run away? Would you get angry and be full of self-defense? Uh, in the 1530s, William Tinddale, he faced this pain. uh his friend Henry Phillips who seemed to be so loyal and so bought into the idea of the English people having a Bible written in the common tongue in their own language wound up betraying him and handing him over into the hands of his enemies. It cost William Tinddale his his life. He was killed because of that. But even in that season, he still wrote, "I trust my faithful savior." Jesus at the last supper, he knew that Judas was going to betray him. He wasn't caught unaware. He knew it. He knew that he was going to be betrayed for a month's wage, 30 pieces of silver. And Jesus, he doesn't get upset. He doesn't run away. He doesn't stop loving Judas. What happens is is that he still goes to the cross. He still offers his life. He still follows the Lord's path for him. And why is that? Because Jesus is faithful and we can trust him. Jesus is faithful and we can trust him. And when betrayal or temptation strikes, Jesus, he shows us how to stay true, how to not by our own strength, but by abiding in his strength, we can make it through those tough seasons. And so today in Mark chapter 14, we're going to see Jesus, the Passover lamb, facing the betrayal and yet remaining faithful. and his faithfulness calls us to trust, to obey, and to remember him no matter what betrayals that we face. If you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark 14 through uh 26, God's word, it says this, "Then Judas's Scariot, who is one

of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give them money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. 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 may I 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 to the 12. And as they were reclining at 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 another, "Is it I?" And he said to them, "It is one of the twel, 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 that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. would have been better for that man if he had not been born. And as they were eating, he took bread and after blessing it, 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. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Let's

pray. And so, Lord, we do uh just confess our our need for you this morning in the face of uh so many different things, God, that we're all just walking through. Uh we need your word this morning. We live in uh a high information age uh where truth is so hard to find in the midst of so much information. And uh Lord, we just pray that today, right now, that your truth would win out above everything else, God. Mostly the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that would fall fresh on our hearts today. that you the faithful lamb of God would be exalted. Help us Lord to know you, to love you more. We just surrender ourselves to you this day in Jesus name. Amen. Well, our passage begins with uh Judas's Scariot. He's kind of a bad guy. Judas was part of Jesus's inner circle. That means that he is chosen, right? He was selected, handpicked by Jesus to be one of the 12. Uh he was he had all sorts of special privileges over the last three years. He had spent nearly every waking moment with Jesus. He had had access to special teaching, special revelation, special understanding at the foot of Christ. That's the kind of privilege that Judas had. And yet, in spite of his relationship with Jesus, in spite of seeing the dead raised and the storms being brought to nothing uh and the feeding of the 5000 and and so many different things, he became disenfranchised with Christ and and the Bible is silent on his motivation. There's tons of speculation out there as to what pushed Judas to betray Jesus. But there are some things that we should note about Jesus. And I don't have these in slides, but these are things that you should write down. The first thing uh that we do know about Judas is that he

was close to Christ, but he was unchanged by Christ. He was near to Jesus. He was not Jesus's. Judas uh Jesus called Judas a a devil in John chapter 6. And this proves to us that you can be a follower of Jesus, but if Christ is not your king, you may not be saved. He was one of the 12. He didn't have a heart change. Does Does Jesus have your allegiance? Is Jesus your master? The second thing that we know about Judas is that Judas served Christ, but he was faithless in that service. I mean, he worked for Jesus. He didn't trust Jesus. He was one of the disciples in Matthew chapter 10 where they were sent out and they performed all sorts of miracles and preached repent preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And they were given authority to heal the sick and to cast out the devils. And yet he was a hypocrite. He was sent out to do good works. Yet he never lived by faith. Do your actions flow from faith in the son of God. Do you trust in his power to save or do you trust in your performance to justify you? The third thing is that we know about Judas is that Judas, he hid his sin and he ignored the truth. Jesus, he taught more about money than any other topic in the Bible. And yet, we know that Judas, he stole from the the pocket of the disciples. He was a habitual sinner. He did it by he was constantly stealing and yet he never applied the teachings of Christ to his own life. So, do you do you confess your sins? Do you agree with Jesus or do you just try to hide him? The fourth thing is is that Judas, he acted pious. He acted like he was a follower of Christ and yet he was completely unloving. Judas, he treated Jesus just like everyone else called him rabbi. Even even here when one after

another after another, everyone's going, "Is it I Lord? Is it I Lord?" He just mouthed the words. Is it I Lord? He convinced everyone else. But Jesus knew. He spoke faith. And yet he was not Christ. Do your Do your words match your love for the Lord? Judas's life is a huge warning for us. And it leads us to point one. Oh, it's up there. Uh don't just look like a follower of Christ. Be a follower of Judas, he he went to the chief priests. They didn't seek him out. He went to the chief priests with one goal to betray Jesus. Judas, he was seeking an opportunity to hand over the son of God. And he was seeking to do evil. He he it's not like there were wanted posters with Jesus's face all over the temple. It's not like there was a an advertisement or a campaign to say we want this guy for questioning. But Judas, he sought them out and what was their reaction? What were they filled with according to the scriptures? They were they were glad. They were filled with joy. They were happy. They were hooping and hollering and just excited. And Judas, he went to them without the promise of money. In other gospels, it's he he asks, "What will you give me if I hand over Jesus into your hands?" And they say, "We'll give you 30 30 silver coins." Look at what it says there. And what will you give me if I deliver him over to you? And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. What What was his motivation? Well, we already saw what Judas's sinful heart was like, but we also have to see that Satan was involved in Luke 22. This is this is before he takes the morsel. Satan, he entered into Judas called a scariot who was one of the number of the 12 excuse me. And so we see the the hidden world.

We see the spiritual realm with whom we wrestle working against the Lord, working against Judas. Satan, he exploited Judas's sinful desires for money. But we also see God's sovereign plan. Jesus, he says later in the passage that we're reading today that the son of man goes as it was written of him. That's what the scripture says. And so we see the will of God, uh the will of man, right? Judas freely going into this. We see the spiritual battle, the spiritual realm that is around us that is hidden from our eyes. And yet, we also see the sovereignty of God working in this situation. And it's important for us to note Judas is not just some type of victim. He is freely choosing to participate in the evil of handing over Jesus for execution for a month's wage. I mean, imagine for a moment that uh you you receive an heirloom from your great great great grandmother, okay? Uh let's just say that she's Rose from Titanic, okay? Because she's a terrible person. We all know that she's the villain in movie. Uh and so she uh uh you receive this amazing piece of jewelry and you take it over to a pawn shop and you say, "What will you give me for this?" And the guy says, "I'll give you a hundred bucks for it." And you're desperate. You're really hungry. You say, "You know what? I'm that sounds like a good deal for me. I'm going to go and uh get a hundred bucks and then I'm going to go over to to Bentley's or wherever you like to eat for a fancy meal and I'm just going to have me a good steak." Right? And we would look at that and we would say, "That's an absolutely idiotic trait." I mean those gems comes to find out that the news oh rare priceless artifact found at Camden Pawn Shop worth over $2 and a half million dollars. It's crazy. It's amazing. The owner celebrating. Woohoo. And yet Judas did

that. Jesus the pearl of great price was sold for a handful of coins. Is there silver of some kind that tempts you? I mean, perhaps it is money. Perhaps it's approval. Perhaps it's feelings. But Jesus, he is he is so much more valuable than anything else that this world has to offer. He is the treasure worth everything. And when it comes to being faithful, it starts to having a ripe view of Christ. that he is the treasure, that he is the prize, that he is worthy of all of our allegiance and desires. When we have that view of Christ, of the goodness of who he he is, everything else is going to pale in comparison. So when temptation comes, when the flesh rises up, when lust sits at your heart, when you're tempted to believe lies or to give in to pride or whatever, you go, I value Christ above all of that, and I don't want it. I want Jesus. And that is the purpose of the gospel is that he reveals his eternal worth, his eternal value. And yet we're not at the happy part yet. We're entering into the worst day in humanity's history, which was also the best day in humanity's history. Because the last day of Christ had come. The sun sets. The Jewish day, it starts at sunset. When the sun goes down, the new day starts. And Jesus, he sends Peter and John ahead to prepare for the supper. And Jesus, just like in his triumphal entry, he says, "You go into this place, you see this person, you go and talk to them, they'll take you where you need to go." And and that's just almost like a subnote here, but I I just think that it's important for us to remind ourselves that Jesus is fully God. He knows all this stuff. He knows exactly who's going to have an open room for Passover in Jerusalem. And and not only that, but

it's going to be ready to where they can go in and they can celebrate Passover with 13 people. And we see Jesus's humanity and his divinity. And this points us to the next thing that we need to apply to our own lives, which is that we need to trust God's plan in the midst of uncertainty. You imagine Jesus just telling you, "Hey, go and do this, go and do that." And when you see a man carrying water, which was not a man's job, by the way, that was a woman's job in the first century. It was a child's job in the first century. You did not see Jewish men doing that. But Jesus knew it was going to happen. And we need to trust God's plan and walk in faithfulness. God, he opens the doors that need to be opened as we're walking the path that he has for us. And everything was just as he said that would be. And they were able to prepare for the Passover. This shows us that if we if we follow the path that Jesus is faithful and we can trust in him. And yet Jesus, he knows that his hour is coming. He knows that in a few short hours he's going to be crucified on the cross betrayed mocked scorned beaten, cursed, and yet he is still walking the path that the Lord has for him. He's not a victim to circumstances. Jesus is not a victim. Okay? This is the plan set from the foundation of the world. He knows it's a trap and yet he still walks into willingly because it was the will of the Lord to crush Jesus. And while Judas and and all these others, the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, they might be acting against Jesus, but they are never acting upon Jesus. In other words, Jesus is allowing for this to happen. Under his sovereign hand, he is

in control even of this. And he is not caught unaware. And he is willingly going to the cross because he is God. He is the master of his own fate. And even when it seems like everything is going wrong, even when it seems like the worst of the worst events could possibly happen, Jesus is walking by faith and he is trusting in his father to sustain him, to get him through everything. As all of these different plans fall into place, he walks by faith. I remember uh if you've ever been out to uh Virginia and you just stayed on 64. Uh you uh you go over this this big mountain. It's called Afton Mountain. Uh Afton Mountain is actually a pretty scary mountain because uh if it's a beautiful day, you can see the Shannidoa Valley and it's absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous. If it's a cloudy day, it's it's absolutely terrifying because there's nothing but thick fog all over the mountain. Like you you could if you're driving a Mercedes, you would not be able to see the decal on the hood of your car. Okay? It's got it's got uh uh like almost uh airport like uh runway lights. So that way it's flashing and you can kind of see the lane. That way you're not driving off the side of the mountain. Um, but you can't see the tail lights in front of you. You can't see your headlights cutting through the fog. You are just you are trusting in those lights completely. White knuckle. I mean, you know, like you you were you were giving yourself serious anxiety when you're driving across that mountain. And it's it's pretty uh pretty terrifying. But, you know, in the same way, trusting God can be like that sometimes. like we we can't see very far ahead of us. We can't see clearly. But if we stay on the path that the Lord has for us, we will safely get through it. He will deliver us over to where we need to go. It's like

what Corey Tinboom said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a God." So, are are you in a foggy place? Are you in a place where maybe you can't really see clearly? Maybe the circumstances of life have muddied the waters. Trust God's plan. Trust God's plan in the midst of that uncertainty because he will see you through it. Remember the Lord's example. Look at Peter and John's example of walking by faith and God will see you through it. Now, the scene shifts a little bit here uh to the last supper. It's the start of the Jewish day, the 15th of Nissan. I assume that's what it's called. And it's the time of the Passover, the holiest meal of the Jewish year. And it reminded the Jews of their deliverance from Egypt. There was a a method a and a progress to the meal. It would last from sunset all the way past midnight. It reminded the the Hebrews of when they were being delivered from Egypt and the angel of death passed over the homes that were protected by the blood of the lamb on the doors. And on this night, the the fathers, they would read uh the hells from the psalms and and the meal was divided into four parts. And a child would ask the oldest son, he would ask, "Why this night is different from all other nights?" And the head of the table, he would read this. He would say, "And you shall make response before the Lord your God, a wandering Aramean was my father." And he went down into Egypt and sojurnn there, few in number. And there he became a nation, mighty, great, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and humiliated us, and laid on us hard labor. And then we cried to the Lord and the God of our fathers. And the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out

of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great deeds of terror with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And the father, he would bless the foods that pointed to the bitter captivity of Egypt, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the greens, the stewed fruit, the roasted lamb. And around midnight, the feast would conclude with the singing of psalms and the drinking of wine. And it's during this meal that Jesus through the progression of the meal interrupts it and with anguish and full knowledge that his friend and his disciple, a man that he had spent every single day with just about every single day over the last three years was going to betray him. And these men, they were reclining at the table. They're all sitting in, leaning in, listening to Christ. And he says, "Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." And I want you to imagine the shock during the holy meal filled with tradition and story. It'd be like um if uh someone was reciting the Lord's Prayer and then the middle of the Lord's prayer started breaking down and saying, "One of you will betray me." It's just it gets your attention. That's not how goes. The last thing you would expect is for your rabbi to discuss something like this. And yet he did. Someone was going to hand Jesus over to his enemies. And the disciples, they are stricken with grief. That word, it appears twice in the book of Mark. Once with the rich young ruler who was sorrowful because he had great possessions. and hear. And it's both in reference to those that that were struggling with something around Christ. Remember that there is joy in following Christ? There is grief in failing it. And Peter, he soon is going to discover this

lesson. And yet one by one they ask, "Is it I? Is it I? Is it I?" You see, all of them would betray Jesus at some point in time that night. One, in the truest sense of the word, Judas did it with with greed, handing him over to his enemies. But the others, they abandoned him because of weakness, because of fear, because of cowardice. Even Judas, he mouths the exact same words as everyone else. Fools everyone except for Jesus. And Jesus, he he hands him the moral morsel of bread. Some translations say that Satan enters him again at that point. This is this is the only person in the history of the world that it is written that it would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Now in the absence of Judas because at this point in time it's not written here in in the Gospel of Mark but in the other gospels it's at this point that Judas leaves. He goes and Jesus looks around the table and instead of saying we got to get out of here guys, he starts with some of his most urgent teaching. And here we learn the third point that we are to remember Jesus's sacrifice with gratitude. So what does the bread and wine mean? Because that's that's the whole point. Let me read this. And as they were eating, he took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to them and said, "Take, this is my body, and he took a cup. When he had given thanks, he gave it to them." They all drank of it. And he said, "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." So, so what does the bread and wine mean? Well, firstly, Jesus, he is not saying that the bread is literally his body. Uh Luther, the reformer, he

adamantly and and wrongly believe this. He said, you know, it says that this is my body. To which John Calvin replied, he said, well, Jesus said that he's a door and he's not a door. Okay just logic. But Luther was bullheaded. Uh but Jesus, he's speaking figuratively that the bread is the life of Christ. Jesus, he was born in Bethlehem. It means the house of bread. Jesus, he took on a a real human body at that point. And he demonstrated his divinity by living a perfect sinless life in that body. You know, levaven was oftentimes used by all of the rabbis to describe sin and how it permeates everything. That's why we use unleavened bread. It's because Christ was perfect and sinless. Christ, he taught us that he is the bread of life which truly satisfies our souls. Christ taught us that he bore his sins on the cross by offering up his body and he triumphed over the grave by bringing that body back to life. And now he lives in that glorified body at the right hand of the father where he now prays for us. And as members of the body we share in his life. That's why when Paul, he writes this in 1 Corinthians 16 uh 10:16, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? And so, you see, it is through the bread that we see Jesus's incarnation. We see his sinless life, his death, his resurrection. And when we partake of the bread, it symbolizes our participation in his body, in his life. That's what the bread means. And the bread, it points to our involvement in each other's lives. That's why we say you you can come to the Lord's table. Anyone that is in Christ can

come. But if you're not in Christ, let it pass. Because what does it say? There is one bread and we who are many are one body. For we all partake of the one bread. Some translations say loaf. There it is one loaf. And so there's actually an earthly benefit and it's a mystery. I I'm not smart enough to figure it out. But there is a mystery as to how we partake in the life and the death in the resurrection of Christ. How we partake in each other through this. I'm not smart enough to figure it out. It's a mystery. And yet it's a biblical truth because it's a communion. It is our common union in Christ. And so when we partake in the Lord's supper, we are saying to everyone around us that we partake in the life of Christ and that we have received Christ and we participate in this life. And since we partake in it together, that's why we do communion not privately to take take communion privately is inappropriate. Okay? If you are in a church plant and there's a small group of believers, that's fine. But to take of it by yourself takes away from the example that Christ has given. And since we've partaken it together, we partake in life with one another. And so it's not just some type of an announcement. It's also an invitation for others to come and taste and see that the Lord is good. that he is the bread of life that completely satisfies our souls. But Jesus, he also says that this is the blood of my covenant which is poured out for many. Now the redness of the wine, it points to Christ's atonement by his blood. Look at what it says. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death. This is talking about the Messiah and what he would do. He poured out his soul to death. His blood is the blood of the new

covenant. Jesus's blood is the seal of that covenant where when we trust in Christ's atonement for our sins, we trust in him and him alone. His blood covers us and we are passed over by the angel of death. We are no longer subjects of destruction but we are preserved by the blood of the lamb. And this is why he gives bread and wine to the disciples because he is assuring them and us that we are participants in his life, his death, his burial and his resurrection. And so in the early church they took communion every single week. Why? Because of this truth. because it's a beautiful truth, because it's a glorious truth, and because we need to be reminded that we feast upon Christ, that he sustains us, that his sin covers us, and we are needful of that grace constantly. And yet this this is also very important when we participate in this in in communion. It also reminds us that we are really forgiven and it is an objective fact not subject to our feelings or our emotions. And yet there's also a demand at the table. Jesus, he says this uh back in John 6, and this is pointing to the future covenant that he was going to ratify by his blood. He says, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." This is when everyone really gets start like they're they're weirded out at this point. Okay. Uh, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. Sounds like a heavy metal like, you know, lyrics in there, right? For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I him. Now, some of you are sitting there, y'all are going, "Man, this got really weird real quick." Um, and you know what? The first century

Christians actually were treated like they were cannibals because they held so closely to this. They believed this. Um, and so, uh, this was one of Christ's hardest sayings. Actually, it's at this point that people tried to kill him. It was at this point that a lot of people said, "This is too hard for us. So, we're not going to follow you anymore. Who can understand this? Who can participate in this? But that phrase, "Whoever feeds on my flesh," is actually really disgusting in the Greek. It's why people got weirded out. It describes noisy feeding, like slurping or crunching. Yeah, I know you guys are like, "Gosh, I'm not feeling very good." But Jesus is not talking about literal feasting upon human flesh. Not at all. He is figuratively talking about the fact that if we truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are truly his followers, then we must feast on the bread of life. Otherwise, there is no In other words, Jesus must be as needed to us as food. I mean, do you realize that is Jesus as needful to you as food? And for so many Christians, we just kind of go, "Yeah, kind of. Dr. Charles Mik he said I can live without food without drink without sleep without air but I cannot live without Jesus. That's what the church declares as we participate in the Lord's supper. We proclaim our sin. We proclaim that without Christ we are eternally separated from God and completely lost. We proclaim our faith that Jesus, he truly died and he rose again. That he ascended into heaven and he will return. We proclaim our dependence that we cannot live without Jesus. And we proclaim our hope that Jesus's words are true here. I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And

he will return. And this table, it was filled. You think about the men that are around that table. What are they all going to do in the next couple of hours? They're all going to fall away. They're all going to flee. They're all going to deny him. Some of them are going to curse it. I didn't know that man. And this teaches us that the Lord's table is not a table for the best of the best. It's not for superch Christians. It's for those that are needful of the grace of God. And that is you and that is me. And we can be participants in the body and in the blood of Christ. And he invites you because of his tremendous love for you. And Jesus, he faced betrayal. Yet he remained faithful. Judas traded him for silver. But Jesus trusted the father's plan. Offering his body and his blood for us. And in spite of all of the failures that he knew was going to happen, he prepared the Passover, instituted the Lord's supper, went to the cross. In his faithfulness, it cost causes us to resist temptation, to want to resist temptation, to trust his path, and to remember his sacrifice with gratitude. Why? Because Jesus is faithful, and we can trust in him. But here's the truth that Judas and the disciples just like them, we've all betrayed Christ. Our sin, right? Whether it's greed, fear, hypocrisy, whatever, we deserve what Jesus said about Judas. Would have been better for him not to have been born. We deserve that. And yet Jesus, he is the faithful Passover lamb who took our place. He was betrayed. He was beaten. He was crucified. He shed his blood to seal a new covenant of grace. And on that cross, he bore our sins. And on the third day, he rose again, proving that he is the savior that you and I can trust completely. And so turn from your sin, trust in his finished work, and follow

him as Lord because Jesus is faithful and you can trust in him. Head, heart, hand, head. God, he wants you to know that Jesus is faithful even when we betray him. So trust in his grace to forgive you and to guide you no matter how you failed. Jesus's faithfulness never waver. And so lean into him today. Trust in him today. Heart. God. He wants you to believe that Jesus's faithfulness guarantees your forgiveness. No matter what your faith, no matter what your failures are. Okay? So believe Jesus's sacrifice covers all of your sins. He is faithful in his love and he makes you forgiven and he makes you free. And God, he wants you to repent and to trust Jesus daily, resting in his faithful grace for you. So turn to Jesus each day with repentance and trust. His faithful grace will carry you through. Let's pray. And so Lord, we do thank you for this time that we get to have together. We thank you for uh the fact that you do have so much uh grace and faithfulness towards us. I pray that um I pray that you would continue to uh uh to work among us, God. And as we respond by singing the doxology, Lord, I just pray that that would be uh a a pure confession uh from from pure hearts that have been ma made holy by faith in the son of God. And if there's anyone here that maybe they think, I I really need to talk to someone about what it means to follow Christ or I don't know what it means to repent or or to trust in in him. I pray that today that they would uh uh you know just say, "Pastor, I need to talk with you." Or maybe talk to their friend that brought him say, "Hey, what does it mean to be saved?" I pray that you would cause hearts to be born again today. We love you and we thank you for your your faithfulness and your mercy. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand and let's sing together.

[Music] Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above the heavenly host. Praise father, son and holy ghost. Amen. Amen. Amen. Uh just quick encouragement for you guys. Uh we got 14 soups down there. Beautiful pies, cakes, uh all the students that are going to camp. Uh you know, that's what goes to. So go down there and uh support them. Let me pray. Uh bless that food and then we can go. Father, thank you for uh this day. Help us to walk in light of the truths that we've learned uh over this past week uh or even here this morning. We ask that your faithfulness would be on us.