Mark 14:22-25 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
So Jesus is eating the Passover, surrounded by betrayers and abandoners. And he knows it. And this information sandwiches these verses about Passover. And it highlights the faithfulness of Christ, and his purpose. While everyone is unfaithful, Jesus is faithful. And he willingly goes to his death knowing that he is dying on behalf of unfaithful people. “Judas and others may act against Jesus, but they do not act upon him.”
This is what Paul means when he says in Romans 5:8, which is not on the screen, that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God looked at the unfaithfulness of mankind, and had knowledge of betrayers and abandoners, and with that knowledge, still worked out this plan of salvation.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover. In Egypt, God delivered his people from physical slavery and temporary death in Egypt to life in Canaan. He passed over the homes painted in blood. But in Christ, God delivers his people from slavery to sin and the consequences of sin, which is eternal destruction, and from the one who holds the power of death, who is Satan, and gives them new life in Christ. He passes over those who are covered by the blood of Christ.
This is the covenant God makes with those who come to him through Christ. That person is forever passed over by God in his wrath against sin.
This is not simply something to learn in a sermon or a theology textbook. This is not mere information. This is something to behold. To consider the astounding good that God does for his people and tremble and fear the Lord because of it.
