This is my body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood….

Written By Rev. Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
9th April (Maundy Thursday)

Luke 22:1-38

Main idea: Jesus prepared His disciples to pay the price to be his disciples.
Objectives: a. To show how we must model after Jesus in ministry.

A. Introduction

-Jesus said, “This is my body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood….”
-What a statement to make. It is a statement nobody dares to make. He wants to give His blood and body away. It means He needs to die. I believe if were there at the Passover, you would be puzzled to hear Jesus’ statement even though you have hear Jesus telling you about it in his ministry before that. I think you cannot accept it and you are not ready for it though Jesus had prepared you for it.
-Anyway, for Jesus, the time had come for Him to face a tragic death.
-Even then, He made full use of the last Passover meal, which He instituted as Holy Communion for us today to prepare His disciples to pay the price on earth to serve Him.
-Now, let us see how Jesus prepared His disciples to serve Him in the event he was no more on earth.
-Personally as I reflect on the statements, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” The meaning is very deep, inspiring and challenging to me.
-It is very deep because God in the person of Jesus can give his life (body and blood, that is everything) to me. His life is in me. Is Christ’s life in you?
-It is very inspiring to me because the last supper or the last Passover meal turned up to be something that Christians must practice non-stop for the rest of our lives. No what happens, we must do it. It reminds me of how forgetful we human beings and as disciples of Jesus. It is something very practical that Jesus instituted in order to help us to focus our lives in Him
-It is very challenging because by saying so, He expects Christians and His disciples throughout the ages to sacrifice our lives for Him. And this is the first point of my sermon.

B. We need to prepare to sacrifice in order to serve.
-By the 2 statements He really told the disciples then, he was going to die for the sake of man’s sin and for the purpose of salvation. Otherwise, he will not say things like this, in verse 16, “ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” and then in verse 18, “For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
-He told His disciples at the last Passover meal that he was going to suffer in verse 15.
-His willingness to sacrifice his life is really a great model for us to follow. Especially, as we all know, if we do not go beyond ourselves and go the extra mile to do something for others, we will not make a difference for Jesus. It is very much so in mission, in visiting the sick, in prison ministry, in BB and GB ministries, in Sunday School ministries, etc.
-If you are not ready to sacrifice, then, you will go far; you will not persevere; you will not make disciples; you will easily say you have done a lot and nobody appreciates you.
-He further encouraged the disciples in verses 25 to 27 to say that the greatest is the one who serves.

C. Jesus prepared His disciples to serve Him by allowing them the space to make mistakes.
-Jesus at the Passover meal, He prepared His disciples not to be discouraged in the event he was betrayed and killed.
-So, he said in verse 21 “But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.”
-It is with certainty that he would be betrayed and that was why he said in verse 22, “The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.”
-It looks like Jesus is giving himself as an example to show us that He had to face betrayal in ministry and; also we need to allow people to make mistakes in the process of doing ministry.

D. Jesus prepared His disciples to serve by showing them the ugly human condition.
-Beside the betrayals and mistakes made in the process of ministry, Jesus also said to the rest of His disciples that He closest disciples can deny Him.
-He demonstrate to them that in ministry you need to learn to accept the fact your closest co-workers can deny you and abandon you in the most crucial moment.
-And so in verse 34 He warned that Peter would deny him 3 times before the rooster crowed. You see the ugly human condition of Peter. Not only Peter did it but also did it so many times. But then, Jesus was so assuring and He really assured the disciples by saying that He would be praying for them, especially Peter in verse 31 as he was subjected to all the temptations of Satan.

E. Jesus prepared His disciples to defend themselves and to be prepared for persecutions.
-This is very clearly stated in verses 35 to 38, where the disciples were told they need to get ready their personal belongings and even weapons to defend themselves in the event they were attacked.
-This is definitely to help them to face the reality of ministry after He left them.
-Today, it is the same.

F. Conclusion.
-Are you all ready and get prepared to serve Jesus and be His disciples?