 Chapter 26, Matthew. We're going to be looking at verses 17 through 30, the events that cover the last Passover, and so we'll begin reading together here in Matthew 26 at verse 17. I'm going to give you a prolonged introduction, a reminder of some of the things we've seen, and then move into our study. So let's begin in Matthew 26 at verse 17. I'll read verses 17 through 19 and we'll get into our study, the last Passover. Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying to him, 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 at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. And so we concluded our last study with Judas arranging to betray Jesus Christ. We saw how the High Priest, the man by the name of Caiaphas, had convened a secret meeting with the Jewish High Council. The High Council would be similar to a Supreme Court, and they adjudicated things that pertain to the religion of Israel. And they are called the Sanhedrin, and so the High Priest had convened a secret meeting with the Sanhedrin, and they had formulated a plan. And as we saw, the plan was to take Jesus by trickery in order that they might kill him. Verses 3 and 4 of chapter 26 says, the chief priest describes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the High Priest who was called Caiaphas and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. And so that was their desire. You see, Caiaphas was angry at Jesus, and he was concerned about Jesus' influence. The Bible tells us that the common people heard Jesus gladly, and there were many who were willingly following Jesus Christ. Part of the reason that they liked what Jesus was doing, and part of the reason why they followed him is because Jesus openly confronted the hypocrisy of the religious leadership of his day. And as he was speaking to them, he spoke straight to them, and he called them blind guides. He referred to them as hypocrites. He said that they were profiting from the people. Now, Caiaphas, well, Caiaphas believed that because of Jesus that they, the religious leaders, were going to lose the temple as well as their influence. When he was speaking on one occasion to his leaders in John 11.48, he said, if we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. They will take the temple, and they'll take us out of position here in the nation. And so they had been conspiring and desiring to remove Jesus for a long time. Earlier, we had seen that, we have seen in the Gospel of John that Caiaphas has actually sent temple officers to arrest Jesus, and they returned without him. He had said, go and take him and bring him back. But when the officers came back, he was upset. It says in John 7.45 and 46, the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why have you not brought him? And the officers answered, no man ever spoke like this man. So when they went to arrest him, they were unable to do so because they were spellbound by his teaching and his eloquence and his discernment, how deeply perceptive he was and all. And so they couldn't arrest him. So what they did is they made plans to arrest him and to keep him in custody, but they wanted to do it secretly in order that they might force Rome to put Jesus to death. So with this in mind, their problem is how to take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. They're concerned. Jesus is obviously very popular with the people. Recently at the triumphal entry, there had been people there who were crying out Hosanna. He had had a recent debate in the temple and that revealed the powerful following that Jesus had among the crowds from Galilee. So their only concern was how can we take Jesus into custody without causing a riot? Well, the answer was Judas. Judas made an arrangement to betray Jesus to them. And the Bible tells us that Judas completely surrendered to the influence of Satan. In John 13, verse two, it says, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him. Luke tells us in chapter 22, verses three through six, Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. So we saw for thirty pieces of silver, Judas betrayed Jesus and he's awaiting his opportunity. So as we pick up here in verses seventeen through nineteen, we see it's the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We need to remember that the Jews celebrated various feasts and celebrations throughout their calendar year. They celebrated Pentecost, which is also known as first roots, which is celebrating God's provision at harvest time. They celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, which is a festival of rejoicing, calling on God to give favor and grace to the nation of Israel. They celebrated Yom Kippur, which is the highest holy day. Once a year sacrifice would be offered for sins by the high priest. They celebrated Tabernacles, which is also called Festival of Boots, commemorating Israel's wandering in the wilderness and God providing for them. They celebrated the Feast of Dedication, which we know as Hanukkah, which commemorated the Maccabees victory over Antiochus Epiphanes. They celebrated Purim, which is also known as Lot, celebrating the protection from slaughter of Jews in Persia that we find in the Book of Esther. But they also celebrated the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Now these are two separate Feasts, but were combined to make an eight-day celebration, and it began with Passover, which was a single-day Feast, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Both of these Feasts celebrated Israel's deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. Unleavened Bread was a kind of bread that the Jews took with them when they left Egypt, and we know that in Scripture, leaven often represents sin, so this symbolically was a picture of leaving sin behind. During the time that we're looking at right now, over 250,000 Passover lambs would be slaughtered in Jerusalem. Tradition required that no fewer than 10 people or more than 20 could eat one lamb. So over 2 million people are in Jerusalem, and they're slaughtering lambs. And all of these lambs combined, all of the blood that was poured out could not cleanse away one sin. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4, it says, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. In Hebrews 10 verse 10, it says, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So all of these lambs were pointing to the Lamb of God, who by his death on the cross, is pouring out of his blood, would take away the sin of the world. And so Jesus is about to be God's lamb taken away the sin of the world. And so as this is taking place, notice verse 17, the disciples asked the question, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? Now this was a response to what Jesus had just told them, because in Luke 22, 8 and 9, it says, he sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat. So they said to him, where do you want us to prepare? When he speaks about preparing, it simply means that there was a lamb that had been previously selected. It now needs to be slaughtered by the priest. They had to go out and buy unleavened bread and wine, bitter herbs, the dates, apples, pomegranates, and nuts, as well as cinnamon sticks. So they're preparing the meal. The lamb would be slain at twilight between three and five in the afternoon. Some of the blood would be sprinkled on the altar. And then the lamb would be taken home and roasted in preparation for the evening meal. So this is the preparation that they're asking about. And so as they said, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? Verse 18, he said, go into the city to a certain man. Say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. And so with so many in Jerusalem, they would have assumed that Jesus had made arrangements and he had. Now, Mark tells us something else. Mark 1413 tells us that they were to follow a servant who was carrying water. It says in Mark 1413, he sent out two of his disciples, said to them, go into the city and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. Now, what made that unusual during that day is that men didn't carry the water. That was something that the women would do. That's what we call the good old days. And so that made it unusual for them to go in with so many people crowding to see a man carrying the water. They knew that would be the signal. And so that was the arrangement that Jesus had made. And so he wanted to make sure that Judas could not reveal their location. And that's why he would say, this is what you're to do. Notice verse 19, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. One simple thing to point out, and that is this, it's just his disciples obey his simple command and they leave to prepare. One of the best things I can learn to do is simply obey. Because that's all it's saying here to me. The disciples did as Jesus directed them. And would to God that I would be more obedient when he's directing me. The church would have much more impact in this world if we were also more obedient to the things that he directs us to. And that's what's taking place here. The disciples did as Jesus directed them and prepared the Passover. Verse 20, when evening had come, he sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, he said, Now surely I say to you, one of you will betray me. They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord is at height. He answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of 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. Evening had come. Verse 20, he sat down with the twelve. Somewhere around six o'clock Thursday evening, Jesus and his men are reclining, lying back on their left side. His left side, they're using the right hand to eat. And as they're eating, he makes this statement. One of you will betray me. One of you, one of you. One of my faithful friends, one of my traveling companions, one of the men that I've trained, one of you men who became brothers to me, one of you men who have witnessed to me doing so many works and so many wonders. One of you who slept around a campfire with me, who asked me questions, whom I shared my heart with, whom I've poured my life into. One of you men that I trained in the declaration of the gospel. One of you men that I confided in, that I opened up the doors to heaven too. When others were not understanding parables, it was unto you that it was given to understand the mysteries of the world. Understand the mysteries of the kingdom. When I sent you out two by two into various villages and you had the task of proclaiming who Jesus is and performing works, casting out demons and healing the sick. One of you, one of you that when I was together I would share with you and pour my heart into who could ask me questions. One of you who saw me when I walked on water, when I multiplied the loaves and the fish on two occasions. One of you who've heard some of the secrets of the kingdom that others have not heard yet. One of you who saw me weep over the grave of a dear friend and to weep over a city that was lost. One of you that shared so much of my life and so much of the activity of my life and so much of the trust that I have given to you. It's one of you. You know, if it's an enemy who says something and all of us as Christians can have those who consider us their enemy. If an enemy says something about you, you know, who wants to have people speak poorly of you? Nobody. I mean, I would like everybody to like me. They don't, but I'd like it if they did. I mean, that would be nice, but they don't. I understand that. And so of course in life you go through life with people that for whatever reason, whether for good reason or no reason, there will be people who don't like you and you know it and you learn over time to grow with it. When you're younger and all, you can get upset and everything and wish that they liked you and even try to make them like you. And then eventually you discover that no matter what you do, they still don't like you. And the more you seem to try and make them like you, the more they have to say about you later on. And then you realize that this isn't somebody that will ever like me. You don't go into the place of praying psalms that you find, they're called imprecatory psalms where you see God smite them, break their teeth. You don't pray for them like that, but you realize they don't care for you. So you can put your head on your pillow at night realizing that there are some who don't like you and maybe they never will. There's nothing you can really do about it. So you live at peace with all men as much as is within you. You don't provoke problems, but you just leave it in the hands of the Lord after doing all that you can, right? But how about the one that you love? How about your friend? How about the one that you served together with in church? How about that one that you prayed with? How about that one who went on ministry trips with you? That person that became close as a brother or a sister, that person that you confided in, the one that you would speak to and say, can you pray for me about this and I have a need about that and I'm sharing my heart with you. I don't trust a lot of people, but I do trust you and would you please keep this in prayer? And what about that person? Because every one of us in this room has had that or will have that. If you haven't had that yet, I'm sorry, you will. Or maybe you've been that person to somebody else. It happens in life. They're the ones that break your heart. They're the ones who pierce you. They're the ones because you trusted them, because you embraced them, because you loved them, because you confided in them, because you shared with them your heart and your trust and then they betray you. And Jesus is there with a group of men and one of them is a betrayer. One of them was a betrayer. He had a group of men and one of them was a betrayer and his name was Judas. In Psalm 55, 12 through 14, if an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it. If a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God. I could handle it if it were an enemy. I could handle it if it was an opponent, but it was you and that's what's going on. Psalm 41, verse 9, even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me and that's what's taking place. And so as the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking here and as he's sharing with them and he says in verse 21, one of you will betray me. It was unbelievable to them. Now he had already stated that he'd be betrayed in Matthew 17, verse 22, the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. He had not made it clear his betrayer would be one of his own disciples and that caught them completely off guard. John tells us in chapter 13, verses 21 and 22, that Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to be betrayed one of you is going to betray me. His disciples stared at one another at a loss to know which of them he meant. In verse 22, they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him, Lord is that I. Luke 22, 23 says, they began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. Lord is that I. Have I done something unwittingly that has endangered you? Have I done something? You know, it's really important for us if we're going to progress into spiritual maturity to have a willingness to examine our own hearts. I do it frequently. I encourage you to do the same. No, not to rest in and live in sin. No, of course not. But to ask my own heart because my heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. I'm capable of self-deception. It's been said the worst deception is self-deception. And I'm capable of convincing myself that I'm doing well. I'm doing great when in fact I may not be at all. And when the spirit of the Lord will convict you very often, it's almost like Jesus saying one of you. And then my response ought to be, is it me? Am I the one doing that? Have I done this? And that's what they begin to do. And so Jesus speaks to them and he answers in verse 23, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. Now John gives us more insight into this in John 13, 23 through 26. It says there was leaning on Jesus's bosom, one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. That's the way he identifies himself, the one whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore, motioned to him to ask him who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus's breast, he said to him, Lord who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And so they saw this. And as this is taking place, verse 24, the Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of 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. Son of Man goes as it is written of him, and the Scriptures had declared this, and he's going even as the Scripture had stated, but woe to that man. You see, Jesus didn't fall into Judas' trap, rather Judas became an instrument of God's plan. Judas decided to reject Jesus, but God used Judas' evil decision for good. Yet Jesus continuing in verse 24 says, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Judas' future in hell is so terrifying, it would be better had he never been born. Now what's interesting, notice this is in verse 25, how that Judas who was betraying him answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? Rabbi, he said to him, you have said it. Is it me? Is it I? That's interesting how he ties himself in with the faithful ones. It's interesting how he presents himself as innocent like the others, and it's also interesting that none of them, in any way shape or form, thought that he was the one who could do it. They were so busy looking within their own hearts that they didn't even look at Judas. And so Judas kind of plays along with everybody else. Judas tries to present himself as somebody who is completely innocent like the rest of them, when in fact Jesus knows that it is indeed him. Now notice with me, Jesus didn't personally and directly accuse him. He simply affirmed that Judas had condemned himself. In John 13, 27 through 30, as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. What you're about to do, do quickly, Jesus told him. But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out and it was night. So he had been complaining that that costly oil had been used in a wasteful way. So naturally they're assuming that he's true to his word and maybe he's just going out to give something to the poor. It's interesting though how John closes that phrase by simply saying it was night because the darkness of his soul is being mirrored by the darkness of the earth. To keep Judas from further participating, Jesus dismissed him immediately. And in verse 26, it says, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of olives. Judas left. Jesus remains with the faithful 11 disciples and he transforms Passover of the Old Testament into the communion service of the new. This is the last Passover ever observed that God honors. And somebody would say, well, why is that? Well, that's because Passover was a picture of what Jesus would be as the Passover lamb. In Colossians 2.16 and 17, Paul said, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. The Passover foreshadowed Jesus's death, a death that has been accomplished. To celebrate the Passover now is to celebrate a shadow because the reality is already here. Celebrating deliverance from Egypt is a weak substitute for deliverance from sin. And as Christians, we don't look to a lamb in Egypt as a symbol of redemption. We look at the Lamb of God dying as a substitute for us on the cross. Jesus is the actual Passover lamb. Isaiah 53.7 says he was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before who shares his dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In 1 Peter 1.18 and 19, you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. So Jesus has dismissed Judas. In John 13.27 he said, what you are about to do, do quickly. He immediately left. Jesus turned to the counsel of his apostles. And now he ministers freely and openly. You see, in light of Judas's betrayal, Jesus desires to unify the disciples. Here's your question. And this is what I want to spend some time talking to you about today. What is the glue that is going to keep these disciples together? What is it that will take these men who are going to very soon forsake him and flee every one of them? What is it that is going to unify them? What is it that's going to keep them together? Here's the thing that many of you need to remember today. I have to remember it daily. I encourage you to do the same. And that is this. Christians are to love one another. War to be united in Jesus Christ. What is going to keep them faithful? And what is going to unify them in their effort to reach a world? And what will keep them together is one, understanding the death of Jesus Christ, why Jesus died on the cross, and secondly, what that has done for them, how that impacted them. You see, many people make the mistake of thinking of churches being just a group of people who show up in a building. They don't understand that we're a community of the saved and that the unifying force, the one who keeps us together, is not simply our agreement with one another to agree with one another, but it goes deeper than that. It is the relationship that each one of us personally has in Jesus Christ. And that relationship with Jesus Christ unifies us into a brotherhood and a sisterhood. It makes us one in Christ. And if we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and understand who he is, then we can work together, love one another, and demonstrate that Jesus Christ really does ransom sinners. We need to understand that. We need to understand that. It's an absolute truth. In John 13, verses 33 through 35, my children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me. And just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now where I am going, you cannot come. And you commend, I give you, love one another as I have loved you. So you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples. If you love one another, how will they know that I'm a believer in Christ and a part of the family? It's by my love for God and love for you. That's how it works. And that's where the church, I really believe today, is forgetting who we are. We are intended by God to love one another, to care for one another, to serve God together. We belong to one another. I've said this before, I have an older brother and two sisters, two younger sisters. My mom and dad had my brother than they had me, but they never came and asked me permission to have two more. They didn't. My dad didn't say, excuse me, we're considering enlarging the family a bit and we'd like to have another child, perhaps two days. What do you think about it? And I would just get rid of the older one and just keep me. I don't want any of them. You see, I didn't choose my family. You didn't choose yours either. You didn't choose yours. You didn't. There are people you would tell God, you know really, you really don't need that one in the family, do you? You really don't. You see, and that's where the world sees the church and we bite and devour one another. We're cannibalistic in many of our practices. We devour, we harm one another. We do so in the things we say and the way that we act and Jesus said, no, this is not how it works. You need to understand that your call is deeper than that. You've got to put away the petty things that divide and you've got to unify the things that matter. And that's what communion is. It is the broken body of Christ and the poured out blood of Jesus. The body that was broken for me and the blood that was poured out so that I would have my sins washed and I would be clean. So that I might become the temple of the Spirit about who dwells within me and that I might live for Christ as a believer in Jesus, not through some kind of a sacrament that I've experienced that even when I didn't even know I was experiencing it, but it's something deeper than that. It's a relationship that you have with God through Jesus Christ and that's the point that he's making. He's explaining to them what this is. You see, in a few hours he's going to completely fulfill the type of the sacrificial lamb. He's going to die a painful, a bloody death on the cross, but a new unbloody symbol is about to replace the old symbol and this new symbol is the symbol that points to Christ. Jesus took the bread, he blessed it and he broke it, he gave it to his disciples. Now the blessing was part of the Passover supper. You see, at this point in the Passover supper there's an explanation of its purpose. In Exodus 12 verses 24 through 27 it reads, obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. When your children ask you, what does this ceremony mean to you? Then tell them it is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians. The Father had the responsibility to answer the question. The question would be asked by one old enough to understand the answer. One of the things that the church needs to realize today, we the church is that I who am a father and now a grandfather am the one that's supposed to answer the questions. When they would gather together and the family was having Passover there is a certain portion of the Passover meal when the question is asked. What is the meaning of all of this? And the Father had the responsibility in the family. The Father had the responsibility to be the one providing the answer. He didn't say ask Mom I've been busy at work. He said this is the answer. We do this because God passed over and spared us. You see and that's what we do. We're supposed to have the answer for our families. I as a pastor am capable of teaching on a Sunday but it's us as a family that gets into the word daily with our family especially we who are parents doing the devotional time with the kids reading portions of scripture speaking to them sharing with them and revealing to them through our lifestyle what it means to follow God. So they don't have to come in only get taught when they're in a VBS or only get taught when they're in a Sunday school but they're actually being taught at home because that's what I'm supposed to do. That's how it's supposed to be and that's why it works this way. And so this was the point of the passage Passover in that ceremony where the explanation is given but this is the new explanation. And Jesus is speaking concerning this new ordinance. He takes the bread. He blesses it. He breaks it. He says take, eat. This is my body. Now he's not speaking of his physical body. He's not saying that the bread changed into his body. He's holding the bread in his hand. His body and the unleavened bread were separate. Neither changed into the other. The bread was intending to symbolize his body but in what way? Well the bread of the Passover is unleavened. It represented a separation from sin. So Jesus transformed the symbol. From now on it represents him. He's the one sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. The supper would remind us of this forever. In Luke 2219 he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave to them saying this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Remembrance. Let me share with you some things. Do this in remembrance of me. On the one hand it's a memorial. We're remembering. But remembering can carry a deeper connotation than simply reminding ourselves of certain historical events. You can remember a lot of things. A lot of facts. But the remembrance is more than simply bringing into your consciousness some historical event that took place in the past. Remembrance is deeper than that when it comes to communion especially. It's not only remembering that Jesus had started this. This sacrament if you will of communion. But it also draws to them the emotionality of that moment when he did that. I have been plagued and blessed simultaneously with one thing. Those of you who've been in this church for a while. When I say this you'll say yeah oh so that's why. Whenever I remember certain things I am emotionally drawn back to those events. I can be emotionally drawn back to those events. Some of you might recall that several years ago now I had an incident where I lost my memory. The neurologist had me going through various tests and I I had had a severe loss of memory and I was still going through the throes of that memory. When they put me in a tube in a hospital some of you have gone through an MRI. It's a tube that they put you in. And I was fresh from having just had an episode it would happen today or so before. I forget. And as I was in the tube as they're about to slide me into the tube I'd had this done before. The technician said to me we're going to play music for you because you're going to be in this tube for a while. And so that you don't get bored or whatever we'll play music. What kind of music do you want? We've got a variety of music. Do you want us to play rap? I said no. Do you want us to do hip hop? I said no. How about country? God forbid. They said what kind do you want? What else do you have? We have oldies. I said okay. So they threw on some oldies for me. Everything's oldie now right but from so I'm laying in there and they're starting to play music from the 60s. You know the temps and various people I'm very familiar with right. And I'm just laying there just kind of like you know. And then they play unchained melody which is my song to Marie. That's my song. She's playing at my funeral. That's our song. You see what I'm doing? I'm remembering. I'm remembering. And I broke down. I didn't try to get out. I didn't panic. But I felt my heart racing. And I was praying God help me. God help me. Because you see I had been told that I was going to lose my memory and that I was going to be within a few years in the state of dementia. And I had been concerned for my wife. And I had been praying, Father I know you take care of the widows and the orphans and all but God help me. And I had been praying very deeply because I knew that I was going to check out that one day David Rosales will no longer be here. His body will but his mind is gone. I knew that. I'd been told that by the doctor and I hear the music. They had to pull me out. They had to pull me out of the tube. And the technician came and started patting me. Something's really disturbing you, Dave. I didn't tell her what it was. I said, yes. Something's disturbing me. She said, I'll give you a moment to calm down. Which she did. They put me back in the tube and I finished the test. Remember. See I remember with emotion. So many things. I remember the day a young girl walked into a Bible study. And looked at me and I looked at her. Talked to her afterwards. And I remember driving home saying to my sister I just met my wife. I remember the feeling of that little girl sitting at my feet, literally. From the day we started dating to this day. I remember. I remember with emotion. Our first kiss. Songs that matter to us. I remember the birth of my babies. Being there, holding them. I remember. They're not historic facts. Yes, in a sense, of course they are. But they're deeper than that. The holding the baby, looking in the face, kissing and holding and saying, this is mine. And the feeling of joy and fear that can well up in your heart. The feeling of joy and fear that can well up in your heart. Lord, will I be a good father? Will they? I remember. You see, when Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. He was not saying to his men. It's a fact, you know, have this once in a while. And no, he was saying remember. Remember what it was like to be at a campfire where I shared with you my heart. Remember when I raised my friend Lazarus from the dead and you were so amazed to see him coming out with those grave clothes and it blew your mind. Remember when I walked on water, when I multiplied those loaves and those fish, you remember when I came and I spoke to the Pharisees and I said, what do you have to do with them? And I protected you. You remember. You remember. Don't forget me. Don't forget me. And do you know that we forget the Lord in the middle of his sacraments? We do. We forget. And he said, don't. It's the love that I have for you and the love you have for me that will make this world know that you are my disciples. Not the fact that you show up in a church service once in a while when you feel like it. But because you serve me every day with the family of Christ and you love me, remember. Not everybody does. We get caught up. We lose Jesus in church. I was just speaking to some pastors last week and I said, one of the easiest places the backslide is in full-time ministry because you're so busy. You forget why you do what you do. Remember, you know, God has a way of making his family through serving him. I was sharing how I was an assisting pastor before this church was birthed. And the senior pastor at that time wanted his staff, his assistants to practically serve as an example to the church. And so he had Marie and me in the nursery. So we were taking care of the babies and there was a little boy named Adam who was 11 months old or so. And my son David at that time was about eight months old. And David, my son to this day is very attached to his dad. Very attached to me. And I'm very attached to him as I am to my other babies. And one of those daddies who loves children loves my babies. And I loved my David. When he was born, his name was supposed to be Aaron. That was his name. I chose it. I love the name Aaron. If I could have named myself, I'd be Aaron. I love the name Aaron. That's my favorite name. So Marie said, what do you want to name them? I said, Aaron, Aaron, that's my favorite name. Well, we should give them your name too, don't you think? I said, we can call them Aaron, David. Aaron's my favorite name. And when David was born, they brought him and handed him to me. And the doctor said, what's his name? And I said, David. Duh, my David. David very attached to me. But Adam's father had a beard. I had a full beard before Duck Dynasty. And Adam's dad had a beard also and glasses. And Adam hadn't yet developed a full permanent kind of capacity, object permanence. He wasn't able to differentiate. So he'd see faces that were similar and I had a beard and glasses. So he's comfortable with me. So I would hold him. I would hold Adam for the whole church service. Once his father would hand the baby to me, I had, and if I put him down, he'd cry. So I had to sit on a rocking chair and with Adam, but little David would see daddy holding that kid. And he'd crawl over and grab my hand. And so I had to hold David and Adam simultaneously and rock both of them because David and Adam became one of David's very, very closest friends. And the father, Dan, became one of my dearest friends to this day. And he is now a pastor in Cleolum, Washington, a Calvary Chapel there. But he was my first assistant for several years here. When I left to begin this ministry 36 years ago and I resigned and the board accepted my resignation, Dan said, I will not accept your resignation because they had just told me, you're not a pastor. And Dan said, if there's anything you are, David, you're a pastor. Wherever you go, I will go. And he held me in his arms, standing outside of the door when I resigned my position. He put his arms around me, though I was 30 years old. And he was 27. And he held me as a brother holds a brother as I wept on his shoulder. He became one of my dearest friends to this day, Dan Renshaw, is one of my dearest friends and I love him to pieces. Love him to pieces. How did that happen? Sharing life together. It wasn't a matter of showing up and leaving, showing up and leaving. It was a matter of understanding when Jesus said, this is what will unify the body of Christ. I'm going to give up my body for you and my blood will be poured out on your behalf. You will be born again. And when you take of communion, you will remember what it was like to be seated at a campfire saying to him when Jesus speaks and says, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? You'll remember that conversation. Some say John, some say Elijah, some say Jeremiah, some say one of the prophets. But who do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You'll remember that. You'll remember when I was walking on water and the apostle Peter began to sing and he yelled out, save me, Lord. You'll remember how I pulled him out. You will remember. You'll remember all of those things and you need to settle your heart on those things so that you'll be unified together as the body of Christ. Because that is what God intends the church to do. Do this in remembrance of me. My body that is broken for you, my blood that is poured out for the remission of your sin. Do that in remembrance of me. Notice with me how that he took the cup in verse 27, gave it to them saying, drink from it all of you. Each individual is to personally take, personally eat, and personally drink. In other words, each is to personally partake. We are called to individually receive the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. This is the new covenant, the new arrangement that has been made and has been done through the shedding of blood because that's how God ratifies his covenants. In Exodus 24, 8, Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, said, this is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Blood sacrifice was part of it. It represents complete dedication. Leviticus 17, 14 says, the life of all flesh is the blood. So the shedding of the blood of Christ symbolized his death for us, the blood that made atonement for the sins of all mankind. First, on 1, 7, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin. This is the covenant. But I say, verses 29 and 30, I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom, and they sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. You will not drink of this fruit of the vine until you drink it new on that day. When he returns and establishes his kingdom, they will be there with him. Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 11, 25, and 26, in the same way after supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me, for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. I remember the past of what he's done. I think of the past of what he's done, the present, what he's doing, and I look to the future of being with him, and he has promised, I will return, I will take you unto myself. In my Father's house are many mansions. I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, Jesus said, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. So you take up the cup and you take of the bread, the broken body of Christ and the poured out blood of Jesus. I personally imbibe as a community, we together experience him. We serve God and we remember. Remember, remember. Remember when you heard that message. Remember where you were. Remember what you were. When you heard that friend, that mom, that dad, Sunday school teacher or that pastor. When you heard them say, if you give your heart to Christ, he'll be a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. And you heard those words and you said, God be merciful to me, I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and the blood of Christ. God's Son washed you clean of all sins. Remember that. Remember the joy that you felt when your sins were forgiven. Remember that sense of my name is now written in the Lamb's book of life. Remember that Jesus's promise was to come and get you. Why? Because God so loved the world and you realize that world includes me. He loved me. My God loves me. Yes, he loves you. And yes, he's coming back for you. Remember, remember, remember. Because Judas, Judas didn't care. Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But Jesus laid his life blood down for Judas and for us. Thank God for his indescribable gift of Jesus Christ.