Sermon: St. Mark 14:12-26
THE LORD’S SUPPER IS PREPARED AND IT IS PREPARING
The Text, St. Mark 14:12-26. 12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” 13 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; they’re make ready for us.” 16 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. 17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.” 19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?” 20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.” 22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. O Lord, we ask that through Your Supper You would teach us about “making ready.” You Yourself make us ready, for You to dwell in us. Make us one with Your holy body and make us clean through Your holy blood, and by this blessed preparing, make us ready to meet You in our last hour in true faith, when You take us to sit down at Your heavenly supper. Amen.
Dear people loved by God in Christ, who is present in the Sacrament of His body and blood for you, for the remission of all your sins: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Tonight is when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. It was “on the night He was betrayed,” the betrayal that we hear Jesus telling His disciples about before it happens. On this night the Passover, which was preparing for Jesus the Lamb of God, was to end. Jesus instituted something new. Instead of a sacrifice, which the Passover was, He instituted a sacrament.
In his telling of this instituting of the Lord’s Supper Mark emphasizes preparing, or making ready. The disciples said to Jesus: “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover? Jesus answered that at a certain home someone will “show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”
The disciples thought they were preparing the supper. This is the surprise. They find out Jesus had been doing all the true preparation. The passover lambs being sacrificed every year at this time, all of the Old Testament history, was a preparation, leading to the death of the true Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God. These disciples were sent to Him as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” He had gone on to be tempted and yet remain without sin, His whole life was a preparing, so He could be an unblemished Lamb. So when it’s time – “as they were eating” – and “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it” and is ready to say the words – the preparing hasn’t been done by the disciples, but by Jesus.
This has also prepared them to believe His words, “This is My body … This is My blood.” They had seen His miracles enough to know that if He says the bread is His body, then it is really His body; and if He says the wine is His blood, it really is His blood. So of course the Lord’s Supper is prepared. When the pastor speaks Jesus’ words, it is prepared. Without the Words, the bread is only bread, the wine is only wine. But with the Words it is a Sacrament: the bread is Jesus’ body and the wine is His blood.
But the true object of preparation – what Jesus really wants to “make ready” – is you. The Lord’s Supper isn’t only prepared. The Lord’s Supper is preparing – preparing you. What’s it preparing you for? Heaven.
But if you aren’t prepared and made ready for heaven – if you don’t actually repent or have faith – you don’t get in. Likewise, if you aren’t prepared for the Lord’s Supper – if you don’t repent or have faith in Jesus’ words – you might fool the pastor, you can “get in” in that sense; but you can’t fool God. You would actually receive Jesus’ body and blood, but without faith it would hurt you. Such a person “eats and drinks judgment.”
Certainly everyone who’s been confirmed is prepared to be able to come to the Lord’s table. But it isn’t a guarantee that we continue to be prepared to come. It isn’t a lifelong ticket, or a “right” that belongs to official church members, it isn’t just something you do at that point in the church service.
So how can you be prepared to meet Christ in the Sacrament? We learn in the catechism, it happens through the Word: “He is well prepared who has faith in these words, ‘given and shed for you for the remission of sins’ … the words ‘for you’ require truly believing hearts.” You are prepared if you have a believing heart.
How do you get a truly believing heart? It isn’t only that you learn all the right answers or have the right information in your head. Judas had that too. I think this is one reason Jesus didn’t say the words that instituted the Lord’s Supper until after He said, “One of you who eats with Me will betray Me.” This was His final preparation.
Remember how the disciples responded? “They began to be sorrowful.” One of them wasn’t – Judas. The others were troubled, unsure of themselves, plagued by guilt and fear. This shows that it isn’t weak faith or a lot of sins or terrible sins that make you an unworthy communicant. That’s because the Lord’s Supper is for sinners who need to be forgiven. The old way – sacrificing to make yourself worthy – was done; the new way – God giving His forgiveness into your mouth – was beginning.
Not even in the Lord’s Supper can you truly come to Him, meet Him properly, by your own reason or strength. But it’s through knowing your sins, and applying His Word – specifically His forgiving words, which you hear so clearly in the Lord’s Supper – that prepares your heart and makes it ready. He is doing this. Even if like the 11 disciples you feel troubled, unsure of yourself, plagued by guilt and fear, even if you feel unready to meet Him, His Words in the Lord’s Supper say something new and wonderful about you. He is making you new. He is making you ready.
He is making you ready for heaven. Tonight we learn another name for it. Here in Mark, Jesus tells the two disciples to ask, “Where is My guest room?” That’s what He’s preparing you for: to come into the “guest room” that He calls “Mine.” But now He calls it yours too. It is the “large upper room, furnished and prepared” for you, which He is preparing. There is room for you. In His Supper He’s preparing you to be there. Amen!