The Season of Lent Begins

Today is the first day of Lent. It is known as Ash Wednesday. Tonight at Calhoun First United Methodist Church in Calhoun, Georgia, we will begin this season with an Ash Wednesday service. We will put a smudge of ashes on our foreheads and begin six weeks of fasting and prayer as we seek a closer walk with Jesus. As we "give up" something dear to us in fasting, we will also give toward the ministry of Habitat for Humanity as we seek to raise funds to build a home for a family in Gordon County.

This coming Sunday, February 25, I will begin a six week sermon series on the final day in Jesus' life...a day that tranformed the world and eternity. The sermon series is entitled, "24 Hours That Changed the World." The first sermon in this series is about the Last Supper and comes from Mark 14:12-25. At the end of this paragraph, you will find the Scripture passage and sermon outline for this sermon. Starting Monday, February 26, I will post a daily devotion based on the sermon for previous Sunday. May God bless you as you join us in studying the Scriptures and devoting yourself to a closer walk with Jesus Christ.

Mark 14:12-25
14:12
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
14:13
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
14:14
Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
14:15
He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
14:16
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14:17
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
14:18
While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."
14:19
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
14:20
"It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
14:21
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
14:22
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
14:23
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
14:24
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.
14:25
"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

24 Hours That Changed The World
Part I: The Lord’s Supper
Mark 14:12-25 (pg. 48)

I. A farewell banquet for Michigan State’s next punter.
A. At a farewell banquet, the host and celebrants normally
gather to prepare the traveler for the journey ahead.
B. At Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples, the traveler
prepared the hosts and celebrants for their journey without Him.

II. They ate the Passover meal– an important Jewish Festival remembering their ancestors’ suffering in Egypt and celebrating their freedom from captivity through God’s deliverance.
A. A sacrificial lamb was prepared. (Exodus 12:1-6 pg. 56)
B. The lamb was roasted along with bitter herbs which
represented the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt. (Ex. 12:8)
C. The blood of the lamb became their deliverance. (Ex. 12:7,
12-13)
D. It was prophesied that blood would be the sign of God’s
covenant with Israel through their coming King. (Zechariah 9:9-
11 pg. 833) [This prophecy looked backward and forward].

III. Their meal became the Lord’s Supper – sharing in the suffering of Christ and celebrating complete deliverance from sin.
A. The unleavened bread became the sign of His body (vs. 22)
B. The cup became the sign of the covenant blood (vs. 23-24)
C. In eating the Lord’s Supper, we share in Christ’s suffering
and celebrate our redemption through Him.

IV. Why was this meal so important to Jesus?
Jesus intended it (the Lord’s Supper) to be the central means
whereby His kingdom-achieving death would be known, believed,
appropriated and lived out. Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone

Responding to God’s Word: Participate in the Lord’s Supper believing, appropriating, and living out Christ’s sacrificial death.