You know, I want to embarrass Karen a little bit more, but if you guys know about our travels to India, Karen was actually the first optometrist to go with us our first year, and so she was very much a trailblazer of sorts. And in India, what she would do is we would set up this kind of like eye tent, and there was like a black curtain over it.

You needed that in order to examine eyes, and it would be super stuffy. You know, you couldn't breathe in it, and she'd just be in there and just soldiering on, and you know, she's 4'11", you know, and we were in this remote part in India, and she's just soldiering on.

As I was just listening to her testimony, you know, someone who had no intention of seeking God, and God knows, though. He's going to save her, and then years later, He's going to place her in some random village in India, and she's going to do His work, and that is glory to God.

You know, this entire week, we've been here at church listening to devotions by several leaders, and it's been incredibly encouraging just to see such a big portion of the church here to give worship and glory to our God, because He deserves it. And I was just thinking about this today as I was preparing for tonight's devotion.

I remember being at this church and not really knowing how to worship God. I remember it very well, because I was in college. I was just left college. I was 22 at the time. And just echoing what Karen said, I'm so thankful for this church. I'm thankful for Pastor Peter, that God gave him the convictions that he has, and that just many years later, God is continuing to work, and His kingdom will always continue, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it as a church invades the world.

And I hope you guys get to know that in a deeper way. So before I continue to ramble, because I can do that, why don't we pray and get to the devotion, okay? Let's do that. Father, we thank You, Lord, for Your Word. We thank You that You have made it clear to us what You desire for us, Lord, that You have provided everything for salvation.

You are the one who chose us. You are the one who regenerated us. You are the one who have placed in us this faith. And Lord, as we live a life that is grace-fueled, Lord, help us to live a life that is worthy of the calling that we have received.

And we know, Lord, that there is no area of our life that is untouched, Father. And so because every area of our life depends on how highly we think of You, especially this week as it is the cornerstone of our faith, help us to think deeply, Lord, of the events that transpired, that we might look forward, Lord God, to seeing You again.

Lord, I pray, Lord, that the words that I say tonight, Lord, that they would come from You and anything that I say that is not of You that You would take away. So give us this time and pray these things and name Your Son. Amen. Okay, so today is Thursday of Passion Week, and there are several events that occur on Thursday of Passion Week.

The most significant, arguably, is the institution of communion. Now the inauguration of communion, we know, though, had a previous shadow, right? When Jesus institutes communion for the first time, He was building upon Passover. So Passover was this shadow, and Jesus is giving the actual flesh to it. He's giving the substance to it, right?

So we find the Passover instructions in Exodus 12, verses 1 through 13. And I'm going to read it for us because it's relevant here, okay? Exodus 12, 1 through 13, says this, "Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall be the beginning of months for you.

It is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month, they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to the father's households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them.

In proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight.

Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat.'" The lintel is the top part. The doorposts are on the sides. "They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roast it with fire, both its head and its legs, along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning you shall completely burn with fire.

Now you shall eat it in this way, with your garment belted around your waist and your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you in the houses where you live. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." We don't exactly know when the exodus happened, but it's about 1200 to 1400 years before Christ appears on the scene.

So that would mean for about 1200 to 1400 years, the nation of Israel, or at least the faithful ones, would practice this God-ordained sacrament, reminding them, teaching them, and even giving hope in times of despair of who God is, what he had done in the past, and that he is in complete control of all things, because this is taking place on an international scale.

So when we fast forward to the time of Jesus and his apostles, when he takes the last Passover before his crucifixions, what we see is we see Jesus giving instructions, the disciples implementing those instructions, and then the eventual celebration. This is what Matthew 26, 17 to 29 says. Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, 'The teacher says my time is near.

I am keeping the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" The disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve, and as they were eating, he said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me." Being deeply grieved, they began saying to him, each one, "Surely it is not I, Lord." And he answered, "He who dipped his hand with me in the bowl is the one who will betray me.

The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, said, 'Surely it is not I, Rabbi.' Jesus said to him, 'You have said it yourself.'" Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, "Take, eat.

This is my body." And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it with you new in my Father's kingdom." So what Jesus is doing here, he is taking a centuries-old tradition, okay?

The centuries-old tradition that for the nation of Israel has been the most significant redemptive event in their history. It is the most significant event. He's taking that event, and he's saying that's actually a shadow. The 10 plagues, the passing over, the parting of the Red Sea where you guys were baptized with the Red Sea, that's actually a shadow.

Consider the absolute arrogance of Jesus if he is lying, but the exorbitant grace of God if he is telling the truth. The exorbitant grace because if he's telling the truth, in their lifetime, the shadow is finding fulfillment. The shadow is finding fulfillment. And as great as that event was, they are going to see the actual substance of it.

Of course, for us as God's children, we are absolutely sure that this is indeed the fulfillment. There are other people in the world right now who are celebrating the shadow. Many of them do it sincerely. But not because of anything we've done. We celebrate the substance. Christ is our Passover lamb.

And notice what it says in verse 29 here. Notice what it says. I refer to the last Passover meal with the disciples because that is what it is before, prior to the resurrection. But in verse 29, he says, "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it with you new in my Father's kingdom." There's going to be an actual day when Jesus will drink with his apostles new in his Father's kingdom.

A day that has not been fulfilled yet, even for us, but that will find its fulfillment in the future. So for us, communion, the substance of Passover, commemorates our hope based on an event that took place in the past, but sustains us now. And it gives us hope for the future.

At the end of this meal, they probably would have sang Psalm 136 together. Psalm 136 has about 26, it has 26 verses. So I'm not going to read it to you. But you could break it up into three general parts. The first general part deals with God as King of the universe, as creator and sustainer of the universe.

And there's an oft repeated phrase. And that oft repeated phrase is, "For his loving kindness is everlasting." For his loving kindness is everlasting. The second general part speaks of the Exodus account. How God rescued them through various miracles, and how God led them out through the Red Sea and gave them land as an inheritance.

And again, the oft repeated phrase is, "For his loving kindness is everlasting." For his loving kindness is everlasting. The third part, the shortest part, is a concluding section that ends with Israel understanding who they are, a humble nation, rescued from their adversaries and from their adversities. And the oft repeated phrase is, "For his loving kindness is everlasting." For his loving kindness is everlasting.

It sounds pretty triumphant, right? I mean, his loving kindness is everlasting. And that's what they would have sang together. So if that is the case, why is it that in the next arc of the story, they are filled with sorrow? Not godly sorrow that leads to repentance, worldly sorrow.

That sorrow where you just want to sleep because you want to check out from reality. The sorrow that we've all experienced, where it's just too much. And we just say, "I'm so tired. I'm going to go to sleep and pretend that reality isn't real." Well, you read about it in Matthew, right?

They were grieved because one of them was going to betray him. But in order to feel the punch just a little bit more, it helps to look at John chapters 13 to 17, the upper room discourse. Because in John chapter 13 to 17, we have what the synoptic gospels kind of leave out.

So I'm going to do like a bird's eye view, kind of like a jet flyover of John chapter 13 to 17, because I want you to feel that punch. In John chapter 13, we see Jesus. He takes a towel, he wraps it around himself. And then he motions to his disciples that he's going to wash their feet.

And remember for these disciples, they didn't have the comfy new balance, right? I mean, with the memory foam, their feet were dirty, right? It was extremely dirty. So you have this picture here of the king of the universe stooping down to wash the feet of sinners. And afterwards, he tells his disciples, "You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so.

But if a teacher and Lord does this, then you ought to do for one another." It would be after this moment that Jesus breaks the news to them that one of them will betray him. Judas, upon leaving, afterwards, Jesus predicts his coming glory and tells his disciples that he would be with them for a little longer.

And just as he had told the Jews earlier that where he is going, they could not come. And as someone who is getting ready to be dispatched on a mission of certain death, he is leaving behind important instructions, instructions for them to know. So that command is to love one another.

But Simon Peter, more interested in where he's going, it's like he almost disregards these instructions and he asks him, "Where are you going?" Jesus responds, saying, "Where I'm going, you cannot follow, but you will later." And you know the response to this, right? "I'll follow you to death." And Jesus says, "Well, before the rooster crows, you are going to deny me three times." And so despite the fact that it will be Jesus, he will be the one that will be before this illegal quasi-judicial kangaroo court.

He is the one doing the comforting as opposed to the other way around. In John chapter 14, Jesus tells his disciples that although he is leaving, he is leaving to go to prepare a place for them, that he would come back, that he would take them to himself. That they need not be concerned about seeing the Father because if you had seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.

And that it was to their advantage that he was leaving because he could send a helper. The helper was with them, but then the helper would now be in them. The great shepherd, the one they had been walking with over the last three years, the one whom they saw walk on water, feed thousands upon thousands, control the elements, heal the mute, deaf, and blind, the one who had power over death.

This same Jesus was now going to leave. Jesus understands that punch. So he tells them, "I'm not leaving you as orphans. You guys are thinking I'm leaving you. I'm not leaving you as orphans. The Holy Spirit is going to be in you. And to give you a little primer on discernment, the real believers are the ones who follow my word.

They are the ones who love me." And it's almost like he's telling his apostles, "In case you ain't taking notes, in the event this news is causing you to hyperventilate, in case either you will misremember or not remember at all, the helper is going to come, and he's going to guide you into all truth.

He will bring to remembrance all the things I have said to you. And so you are going to be crushed, absolutely crushed by my death." But he is telling them in advance so that they would believe. What's going to happen isn't some random, chaotic series of unforeseen events where things got out of control.

Maybe we should have just pleased Judas. What's going to happen is quite the opposite. Scripture needs to be fulfilled, and the Father is the one sending the Son to the cross. In John chapter 15, Jesus will go on exhorting them to abide in him, stating again to love one another, to remember that when the world hates them, they do so because the world hated Jesus first.

In John chapter 16, he again reminds them of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness, and that he had much more to say, he had much more to say, but because of their grief, they could not bear it now. They would all eventually all scatter and leave, and so Jesus encourages them in John chapter 16 verse 33, "These things I have spoken to you so that in me you may have peace.

In the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world." And finally in John chapter 17, what we know as the high priestly prayer, a prayer that was prayed for the benefit of the disciples, a prayer that the apostles probably overheard. He says this in John chapter 17 verses 1 through 5, "Jesus spoke these things, and raising his eyes to heaven, he said, 'Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you. Just as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I glorified you on the earth by accomplishing the work which you have given me to do. And now you, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.'" So imagine you're the disciples here. Imagine you're one of them. Despite all the reassurances that Jesus is giving to his apostles, the promise of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them and no longer with them, the promise that they would come along but later, the promise that Jesus would come back, take them to where they were.

Despite all of that, if it were you and me, we would be pretty discouraged too. They had left everything they knew to follow Jesus. They left their entire world to follow him. They gave up everything. And upon following him these past about three years, they had witnessed the feeding of the masses with the child's meager portions, the curing of the nobleman's son, the hauling in of the great amount of fish, the casting out of unclean spirits, the healing the servants of Roman officials, controlling the elements.

They were also almost literally imbued with power at one time to go do the same. They had felt what it was like to cast out spirits in Jesus' name. They had experienced a life, a fullness of life, a robustness of life unlike any other. And now it's seemingly crashing.

And now it is seemingly all coming to an end. So despite the fact that Jesus told them that it was to their advantage that he would go away, you would understand why they were sorrowful. But more than just understanding, we are the disciples many times, right? How many times in our own life have we felt beset, immersed in sorrow, in guilt, in sin, almost nearly always because of the choices that we have made in our own very lives?

But then we see the absolute humility and selflessness reflected in the Son of God. That the little amount of time that he has, just the little amount of time he has before his betrayal and his crucifixion, he is the one praying for his disciples. Because the disciples check out and just go to sleep.

And what's interesting about John chapter 17 verses 13 to 20, he's praying for his disciples but also in that moment, he's praying for you and he's praying for me. John chapter 17 verses 13 to 20 says this, "But now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them away from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I also send them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." Verse 20, "I am not asking on behalf of these alone but also for those who believe in me through their word that they may all be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you that they may also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me." Oh, so the precious amount of time that he has left as he's praying, he's also thinking about us.

And in that way, you and I are just like the disciples. And so you see, he had to go. He had to be our Passover lamb because our sin required him to go. Satan was the one trying to stop him from going to the cross. We know that because Jesus' response to Peter is, "Get behind me, Satan," after he tells him he's going to be killed and raised.

It is the Father sending his Son to the cross. It is the Son willingly laying down his life in obedience to the Father for the joy that is set before him. So as Passover was celebrated for hundreds of years, as Christians, we remember and relish in the fulfillment and in the substance, no longer the shadow.

And as New Testament communion is instituted for the first time during that night, now, whenever we take communion, we also do it in obedience of our Lord and looking forward to God's promises in the future. I want to end this with a quote from Charles Spurgeon on this subject.

He preached about this, and he has a quote that I really like on this subject. And in the quote, he is discussing whether or not anything plus Christ washes away our guilt. In the quote, he is discussing anything plus Christ washes away our guilt. Anything such as godless ideologies that we syncretically wed to the gospel and alleged good work that we wed to the gospel, right?

Church association, legalism, abused grace, CRT, social justice, worship of the state, Christless conservatism, anything that is wed to the gospel. He says this, "You may be as righteous as you like. If you have not the blood sprinkled, all the goodness of your doorposts and lentils will be of no avail whatever." "Yes," says another, "I am not trusting exactly there.

I believe it is my duty to be as good as I can. But then I think Jesus Christ's mercy will make up the rest. I try to be as righteous as circumstances allow, and I believe that whatever deficiencies there may be, Christ will make them up." That is as if a Jew had said, "Child, bring me the blood." And then when that was brought, he had said, "Bring me some water." And then he had taken it and mixed it together and sprinkled a doorpost with it.

Why? The angel would have smitten him as well as anyone else. For it is blood, blood, blood, blood that saves. It is not blood mixed with the water of our poor works. It is blood, blood, blood, blood, and nothing else. And the only way of salvation is by blood.

For without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Have precious blood sprinkled upon you, my hearers. Trust in precious blood. Let your hope be in a salvation sealed with an atonement of precious blood, and you are saved. But having no blood or having blood mixed with anything else, thou art damned as thou art live, thou art alive.

For the angel shall slay thee, however good and righteous thou mayest be. Go home then and think of this. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Let's pray.