The Table of Grace - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portraits of a Radical Messiah

Click HERE to listen or download this talk....

columbialifechurchtv on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

The last week we were challenged to look at whether we are more interested in our personal convenience or in the costly pursuit of following Jesus no matter what.

Today we’re going to look at Mark 14:12-31. This passage tells us about some lasts; the last night before Jesus would be crucified. It’s the last Passover he would celebrate and it’s the last night He would be with the 12 original disciples together in one place ever.

But it also marks a first; it’s the first time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated.

Let’s read Mark 14:12-31

You’ll notice that this passage is broken into 3 sub plots: the Passover, the Lord’s Supper, and Peter’s denial of his future denial.

I’m drawing your attention to this because it’s an important transition.

It’s no coincidence that God’s plan would include the sacrifice of His only Son to occur during Passover. Everything is in place and the time has come for Jesus to pour out His life and in these two meals we see the symbols of this in vs. 12-26

The shift from the Passover to the Lord’s Supper marks the transfer from the Law of Moses to the gospel of grace and truth; from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Passover was celebrated in remembrance of God delivering His people from Egyptian bondage and the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated in remembrance of Jesus delivering all people from the bondage sin.

The Passover was remembered with a meal focused on a sacrificial lamb that was killed and eaten. The Lord’s Supper is a meal to remember the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins.

The Passover brings to remembrance the blood of a lamb that was placed on the lintel and door posts so that death would pass over the people. The Lord’s Supper brings to remembrance the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, which was shed on the posts of a cross to allow people to pass over from death to life.

There’s something else to consider. The Passover meal was to be shared with others and Jesus, on this night shared the meal with others and who He shared it with showed the move from the law to grace.

As Jesus sat with these guys He knew that He’d be dead the next day and even though He had told His disciples 2 or 3 times before hand what was going to happen they still didn’t connect the dots. But that’s not all Jesus knew. He knew that one of the men who sat at the table with Him that night was in the very process of betraying Him and He also knew that everyone else would abandon Him or deny they knew Him before dawn.

Jesus’ heart had to be aching knowing that He would be betrayed by a friend, denied by His followers, and forsaken by His Father. Luke’s gospel tells us that at this very table Jesus had to listen to His disciples argue about who would be the greatest among them.

Do you know what I think is the most amazing thing in this story? Even though His friends were acting like jerks and knowing what they were all going to do before the night was done He still invited them to sit as His table and eat with Him.

The disciples were invited to the table and not one of them was worthy to be there.

We all know that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the men who would have him put to death. Jesus knew He was doing it and He could have told Him not to show up at dinner. But the same could be said for all of the others. Jesus could have eaten this meal with others who would have stood by Him to the very end. The women who showed up at the cross: His mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome to name a few.

But Jesus chooses to eat with those who would betray Him, abandon Him, and deny that they even knew Him.

It says in John 15:16a "You did not choose Me, but I chose you……

Do you realize that Jesus has chosen to be in a relationship with us?

When I was a kid is school I remember there were popular kids and I wanted to be their friend. But my choice to be their friend didn’t matter because they ignored me. It seemed the harder I worked to gain their acceptance the more they rejected me. It just made matters worse because they didn’t choose me because I wasn’t up to their standards, what ever they were.

The amazing thing is that Jesus the perfect Son of God chooses people like us. Look at vs. 29 and vs. 31 and notice Peter’s and the other disciple’s promises (FYI Judas was already gone). Promises that Jesus knew would soon be broken. That reminds me of me. I know I’ve made lots of promises to Jesus and His Dad. Some of them I intended to keep and some of them I made just to get out of whatever hot water I was in at the time. I don’t think I’ve kept any of them completely and you know what? Jesus knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t keep them and that I was lying through my teeth on some of them and the incredible truth is that Jesus still chooses to call me His friend and disciple and He invites me to come to His table and share this meal with Him.

Romans 8:1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation (judgment against you) to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

There is no condemnation because Jesus chose to be our friend and savior. He chose to shed His blood on the cross for us to forgive our sins and all He really asks in return is for us to be His friends and to follow Him. Like the first disciples it means we’ll have to leave our old life behind, but who needs that old sinful thing anyway when Jesus offers us His kingdom, His life, and His love.

Imagine how things would have turned out for Judas if he had chosen to stay at the table as Jesus’ friend that night. If there was a place at the table for a traitor like Judas there’s a place at the table for us and Jesus invites us to come.

This first step is to say yes to His offer to follow Him and leaving our sinful life behind. But there’s so much more as He invites us to His table as His friends to stay close to Him and share in His life.

It really doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how many promises you broken. If you’ve betrayed Him, denied Him, broken promises to Him He still invites you to come to the table as His friend.