The Sound of Doctrine

Tag: Passover

  • Seek Jesus Christ

    Seek Jesus Christ

    Scripture Reading

    20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;

    21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

    22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

    23 And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

    24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

    25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.  (John 12:20–25, LSB)

    Introduction

    The entire ministry of Jesus Christ can come down to the realities presented in this short dialogue.

    From this interaction with these Greeks, Jesus Christ demonstrates to us the requirements, and results, of following Him into eternal life.

    If I could leave us with one message, it would be this one.

    So, let’s examine this together.

    The Greeks

    20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;

    21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

    20 Ἦσαν δὲ Ἕλληνές τινες ἐκ τῶν ἀναβαινόντων ἵνα προσκυνήσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ·

    21 οὗτοι οὖν προσῆλθον Φιλίππῳ τῷ ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ τῆς Γαλι (John 12:20–21, UBS5)

    Context

    • History
      This was the folks from Macedonia and Achaia, who, coming in from the Alexandrian army, populated the known world.
      Their kingdom was spread as far as India and was known for its culture and new ideas.
    • Culture
      Their culture was refined, orderly, and celebrated the arts.
      They were in now way righteous or right before God.
    • Law

      The introduced ideas of law which complemented the Mosaic Law in jurisprudence.
      However, Greece never rose to the level of righteousness in the sense of the gods and God.
      As such, the Jews despised the Greeks and saw them as heathens and pagans…and rightfully so.

    Therefore, these people coming into the Temple and wanting to participate in the worship of the Jews, puts them in a unique position.

    They would be known as “proselytes.”

    They would be people who want to worship the true God alongside the Jewish religion in the Temple.

    “Bethsaida of Galilee…”

    “The oldest historical references to Bethsaida are those found in the New Testament.”1

    “Apart from the New Testament our most abundant witness for first-century Bethsaida is that of Josephus.”2

    “• It was a fishing village (בית ציידא) that was transformed by Herod Philip into a Greco-Roman polis named Julias.

    • Philip increased the population and strengthened the fortifications of the city.

    • Bethsaida contained both Gentile (Syrian) and Jewish populations (War 3:57; Jn 1:44). Among the latter were those who maintained a religiously observant lifestyle (cf. Acts 11:8).

    • Accessible by boat (Mk 6:32), the city lay on the Sea of Galilee (Ant. 18:28).

    • It was situated about 660 feet (200 m) from the Jordan River that coursed by it and emptied into the Sea of Galilee (Life 399).

    • It was in lower Gaulanitis, opposite the higher hill country (War 2:168).

    • The area nearby included a marshy plain (Life 403).”3

    The city of Bethsaida is little known.

    But, John’s reasoning that the Greeks came to Phillip because he was from Bethsaida of Galilee would indicate some kind of commonality with them that the others did not have.

    However, Peter and Andrew were also from Bethsaida.

    Did you notice who is NOT part of this event?

    This other disciple is also from Bethsaida.4

    Notice that these Greeks did not, and Philip did not, approach Peter.

    Why not?

    There is no way to know.

    My guess is, though, that Peter was busy in some way with being with Christ, or was simply not approachable.

    But, it is significant to me that they approached these two men, and one was the brother of the more prominent disciple, Peter.

    The Disciples

    **22 **Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

    The approach demonstrated the difference between being free to approach Christ, or not.

    The Greeks did not approach Christ on their own.

    Rather, they approached His disciples, the one who might be more approachable culturally and geographically.

    These Greeks were there to attend the feast and worship, which also shows their humility and genuine lack of ill-motive.

    Both Andrew and Philip are from the city of Bethsaida, the house of fish.

    The Messiah

    23 And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

    24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

    25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

    26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.  (John 12:20–26, LSB)

    Most significant portion of this passage.

    Here, Jesus responds to the request of the Greeks with what appears to be an unrelated statement.

    The Greeks said that they wanted to “see” Jesus.

    That could mean that they wanted to simply meet Him superficially.

    But, it could also mean that they wanted to ask for something.

    If we reconstruct what is happening around the Lord as this time, and what the Lord is doing as well, we can see a little more of what this small group of Greeks may have wanted.

    The Crowd

    Jesus had raised Lazarus, His friend, from the dead.

    11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, •the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  (John 11:1, LSB)

    So when He heard that he was sick, He •then stayed two days in the place where He was.  (John 11:6, LSB)

    7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

    8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?”

    9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

    10 “But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

    11 He said these things, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him.”  (John 11:7–11, LSB)

    17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

    18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away;

    19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them about their brother.  (John 11:17–19, LSB)

    28 And when she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

    29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.

    30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.

    31 Then the Jews—who were with her in the house and consoling her—when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there.

    32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

    33 When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,

    34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

    35 Jesus wept.

    36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”

    37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

    38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  (John 11:28–38, LSB)

    41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

    42 “And I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the crowd •standing around I said this, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

    43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”

    44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

    45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.

    46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.  (John 11:41–46, LSB)

    47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is doing many signs.

    48 “If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”  (John 11:47–48, LSB)

    53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

    54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk openly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

    55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the region before the Passover to purify themselves.

    56 So they were seeking Jesus, and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That He will not come to the feast at all?”

    57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.  (John 11:53–57, LSB)

    The Greeks who came to the feast were those who wanted to also see Christ.

    The Lord had dramatically raised Lazarus from the dead.

    Now, Jesus was a celebrity, famous, and the talk of the entire country.

    And yet, there was the reality that if anyone knew where Christ was, they were to report it to the Jewish leaders in order that those leaders might put Him to death.

    9 Then the large crowd from the Jews learned that He was there. And they came, not because of Jesus only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead.

    10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also;

    11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.  (John 12:9–11, LSB)

    12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

    13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.”  (John 12:12–13, LSB)

    17 So the crowd, who was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness about Him.

    18 For this reason also the crowd went and met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

    19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing; look, the world has gone after Him.”  (John 12:17–19, LSB)

    Now, we can understand the tension surrounding the Lord’s presence at the Feast. It would be the last feast for the Lord, the fourth one in the record of the gospels.

    It was the attendance, and death, at the Feast that would make Him the Passover Lamb of the New Covenant.

    He came in order to die.

    It was the decree of the Father that He would be put to death at the hands of the Jews and the Romans.

    27 “Now My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

    28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  (John 12:27–28, LSB)

    The Hour

    And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  (John 12:23, LSB)

    This “hour” is the moment of time wherein all the connections are made in order to carry out the plan of the Father.

    His “hour” had to be at a certain time when all the factors were in place.

    And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.”  (John 2:4, LSB)

    So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always here.  (John 7:6, LSB)

    So they were seeking to seize Him; yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  (John 7:30, LSB)

    These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.  (John 8:20, LSB)

    It was not His hour the prior 3 years.

    But, at this Passover, it was His hour.

    13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.  (John 13:1, LSB)

    17:1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,  (John 17:1, LSB)

    The Jews, Israel, Rome, Pilate, the disciples, and the crowd.

    The eternal plan comes down to, and issues from, this hour (and the subsequent resurrection from the dead).

    The Illustration

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  (John 12:24, LSB)

    And, as the leader that He is, He makes Himself the example to follow.

    Agriculturally, the seed is planted and dissolves, and the chemical make-up of the seed with the soil, over time, breaks down, and God, from that reaction, makes plants.

    The Example

    25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

    26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.  (John 12:25–26, LSB)

    This call to follow Him, ie follow His example, is repeated in every gospel:

    Matthew

    24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

    25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!  (Matthew 10:24–25, LSB)

    38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

    39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.  (Matthew 10:38–39, LSB)

    Mark

    34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

    35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

    36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  (Mark 8:34–36, LSB)

    Luke

    23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

    24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

    25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?  (Luke 9:23–25, LSB)

    Conclusion

    If we are to follow Jesus Christ, we are to carry a cross, our personal cross.

    This calling is to live the new life that Jesus made possible by means of His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.

    It is a denial of ourselves in this world.

    Consider:

    3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

    2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

    3 For you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.

    4 When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.  (Colossians 3:1–4, LSB)

    7But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

    8 More than that, •I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ

    9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith,

    10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

    11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection •from the dead.

    12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

    13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: •forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

    14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:7–14, LSB)

    12:1 Therefore, •since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

    2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary, fainting in heart.  (Hebrews 12:1–3, LSB)

    1. Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World, Second Emended & Enhanced Edition (Jerusalem, Israel: Carta Jerusalem, 2014), 357. ↩
    2. Ibid, p. 357 ↩
    3. Ibid, pp. 357-8 ↩
    4. John 1:44 ↩

  • The Blood of the Lamb; The Body of the Lord

    Scripture Reading

    Hebrews 10:5–13 (LSB)

    5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 
     “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, 
     BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; 
     6 IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. 
     7 “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME, 
     IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME, 
     TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’” 
8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 
9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 
13 waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.

    Introduction

    1 Corinthians 5:7 (LSB)

    7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed.

    It is without question that the Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross of Rome, by the demand of the Jews, and the mockery of the Romans.

    It is further without questions that the Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross of Rome in the place of men, particular men.

    However, how this death produced the relief to men, their salvation, is often unclear, forgotten, or simply overlooked for a more simple statement: “Jesus died on the cross for our sins.”

    But, we cannot do that.

    For us, the death of Jesus Christ is the clear purpose of God, motivated by His own glorious will, and purpose, and is to be remembered perpetually, until He comes back for us.

    Because of the important nature of the death of Christ, as well as the importance of the Lord’s death itself as stated by Him during His last supper with His disciples, for the church to disregard, neglect, or misrepresent His death, is simply a sin without equal.

    We cannot set His death aside, or eclipse it for anything in the church.

    We must have a real accounting of it so that we might worship Him in spirit and truth.

    What does this have to do with Resurrection Sunday?

    The priority of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead necessitates that He die.

    And, the necessity of the presence of death in the world, which was the purpose of the Father in His eternal plan and yet He is not guilty of its presence, is the very tool which would accomplish the glorious redemption of His beloved.

    Today, somewhat within our series on the Lord’s Supper and the New Covenant, we are going to give more attention to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, what it was, how it fits into the plan of God, and how it resulted in the resurrection of the Lord from the dead.

    The Blood of the Lamb

    1 Corinthians 5:7 (LSB)

    7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed.

    When we went through that text a few months ago,1 we saw then that it is appropriate to worship God with holiness and without the hypocritical worship of hidden malice and wickedness.

    However, within that text Paul wrote something that I don’t feel I gave the best attention to back then.

    Paul comes back to this meal, somewhat, in his explanation of the Lord’s Supper, which was taken during the Passover.

    The significance of this is without question one of the most important facts of the redemption of God in all of Scripture.

    If we don’t understand these things, we can’t rightly “do this in remembrance of (Him).”

    The Passover of Israel

    Exodus 12:1–8 (LSB)

    1 Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

    2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.

    3 “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 their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.

    4 ‘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; according to what each man should eat, you are to apportion the lamb.

    5 ‘Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

    6 ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.

    7 ‘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 it.

    8 ‘And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

    The Lord’s commands to the nation of Israel were given in order to remember the delivery from Egypt, that stupendous and magnificent act of God’s power over the nations, and love for Israel in reference to Abraham.2

    YHWH delivered the sons of Jacob from the mightiest nation on the planet at that time, Egypt.

    This deliverance was, simultaneously, a deliverance of the sons of Abraham, and a judgment on the nation of Egypt.3

    Each year, at the first month of their calendar, the children of Israel were to “reenact” that meal that they had that night,4 a meal which provided the blood that covered their lintels and doorposts, which, then, protected them from the angel of death.

    Exodus 12:14 (LSB)

    14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute.

    This was Israel’s Passover, the “Paschal Lamb.”

    There are a few things to note here:
    • the lamb was to be the best offering
      Exodus 12:5 (LSB)
    5 ‘Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
    • the leg bones of the lamb must not be broken
      Exodus 12:46 (LSB)
    46 “It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it.
    • the lamb was to be eaten “in haste.”
      Exodus 12:11 (LSB)
    11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh.
    • the lamb was to be eaten at home, and not in the Temple.

    Exodus 12:46 (LSB)

    46 “It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it.
    • the lamb was a demonstration of the obedience to the command of YHWH, which, when witnessed by the Angel of Death, he will “pass over” that household and not take the life of anyone in that household.
      Exodus 12:23 (LSB)
    23 “And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.

    This lamb, eaten in the home, is to be recounted each year and this event was one of three main feasts in the nation each year (the first the three; Passover, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Booths5).

    Testimony of Jesus Christ

    Connections and similarities to Jesus Christ, our Passover, which testifies that He is the Lamb of God, God’s Lamb, whose blood covers the one who believes His Words.

    – the Lamb was the most beloved by the Father.

    Hebrews 9:13–14 (LSB)

    13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

    – the Lamb’s legs were not broken

    John 19:30–37 (LSB)

    30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. 
31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 
32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 
33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 
35 And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 
36 For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” 
37 And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”

    – His flesh and blood were to be consumed, a reference to faith/belief

    John 6:48 (LSB)

    48 “I am the bread of life.

    John 6:51 (LSB)

    51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and also the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

    – He was offered outside of the Temple

    Hebrews 13:12–13 (LSB)

    12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 
13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

    Jesus Christ, Himself, the Son ofGod, is “our Passover.”

    And, like the Passover of Israel, our “Passover Lamb” is to be remembered as well.

    And, like the Passover of Israel, our “Passover Lamb’s” death is to be proclaimed.

    :But, what does that mean?!

    The New Covenant

    The animal of the Mosaic Covenant, was not the Passover Lamb.

    The bulls, goats which were offered in the Temple, on the altar were other than the Passover Lamb for Israel.

    The atonement those animals made for Israel were temporary, insufficient, and did not please the Father.

    Those offerings were offered in obedience to the Mosaic structure, and never took away sins.

    Further, the Passover Lamb was offered for a one-time, immediate death threat situation.

    And, its annual offering was not for sins, but for a memorial of an event, a one-time event.

    1 Corinthians 11:24–25 (LSB)

    24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

    The New Covenant was inaugurated by the blood, death, of Jesus Christ when He died.

    This New Covenant, the New Covenant made with Israel, but now extended to the Gentiles because of Israel’s execution of the Messiah and their unwillingness to believe in Him, has been secured because the blood of “our”Passover Lamb has covered us.

    His death was an offering of sacrifice which gave sin no place to reside.

    His death removed sins from those who are called.

    Hebrews 10:10 (LSB)

    10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

    The Body Of The Lord

    Hebrews 10:12–13 (LSB)

    12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 
13 waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.

    After His offering, His body and His blood, as a Passover, as an offering of a superior kind, He was clearly received back to heaven, the glory which He had before the world began.

    John 17:5 (LSB)

    5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

    The Lord was received back into heaven by the Father in order that He would serve the Father as a priest in the Temple.

    His service was a better service, allowed upon a better offering, and results in a better condition-the cleansing of sins.

    His offering accomplished all of this.

    But, it was His resurrection from the dead which demonstrated to the world, that what He did was received by the Father as good, acceptable, and sufficient.

    As such, this resurrection is our message to the world, as a testimony of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

    We can, and must, therefore, call all men of every nation to repent and submit to Christ, to believe in Him-“eat His flesh; drink His blood.”

    Acts 17:30–31 (LSB)

    30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, 
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.”
    But, how does His resurrection from the dead prove the acceptability of His sacrifice?

    Romans 1:1–4 (LSB)

    1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, having been set apart for the gospel of God, 
2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 
3 concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 
4 who was designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

    “The Son of God”

    = Psalm 2 reference.

    Psalm 2:6–7 (LSB)

    6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King 
     Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 

7 “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: 
     He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, 
     Today I have begotten You.

    In the Old Testament, the Messiah would be known as the “Son of God.”

    2 Samuel 7:12–14 (LSB)

    12 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 
13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 
14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men,

    The Messiah was spoken of in the OT as a Son.

    The Father referred to Jesus as a “Son”:

    Luke 1:35 (LSB)

    35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

    Matthew 3:16–17 (LSB)

    16 And after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him, 
17 and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

    Matthew 17:5–6 (LSB)

    5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 
6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.

    His Sonship was the point of confirmation of Satan as well.

    Matthew 4:1–7 (LSB)

    1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 
2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” 
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 
6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 
     ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; 
and 
     ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, 
     LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’” 
7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

    The point is that only the Son was to be raised from the dead, bodily, in order to demonstrate His Sonship, and the perfection of His sacrifice.

    His resurrection, therefore, demonstrates that He is, indeed, the Son of God.

    And, if He is the Son of God, then He is the heir of the world:

    Hebrews 1:1–2 (LSB)

    1 God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 
2 in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds,

    Psalm 2:7 (LSB)

    7 “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: 
     He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, 
     Today I have begotten You.

    “Begotten” = bodily resurrection

    It is the pinnacle of God’s eternal plan.

    Without the bodily resurrection, there would be no reception of the inheritance.

    Without the bodily resurrection, we would not be raised from the dead, and have new bodies, and be like Jesus Christ.

    The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely vital to the purpose of God.

    Conclusion

    We praise God for His Son’s sacrifice-His body and blood for our eternal life.

    We praise God for His Son’s resurrection-a new body fit for His glory.

    Revelation 1:12–18 (LSB)

    12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 
13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 
14 And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 
15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters, 
16 and having in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His face was like the sun shining in its power. 
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not fear; I am the first and the last, 
18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
    1. I started 1 Corinthians on September 24, 2023. I preached 1 Corinthians 5:7 on 12/9/2024 ↩
    2. Genesis 15:12–16 (LSB)
      12Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
      13Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
      14“But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
      15“As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
      16“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” ↩
    3. Genesis 15:14 (LSB)
      14“But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. ↩
    4. Exodus 12:11 (LSB)
      11‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh. ↩
    5. Deuteronomy 16:16 (LSB)
      16 “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty-handed. ↩