First Presbyterian Church          Rev. Michael J. Imperiale

Salt Lake City, UT                April 4, 2004    

“Triumph and Tragedy”

Luke 22: 14-20

Introduction

When Jeffrey was just 5 years old, before there were seat belts or airbags in cars, his family was driving home at night on a two-lane country road. He was sitting in his mother’s lap when another car, driven by a drunk driver, swerved into their lane and hit them head on. Jeffrey doesn’t have any memory of the collision but does recall the fear and confusion when he saw himself covered in blood from head to toe.

Then he learned that the blood wasn’t his at all. It was his mother’s. In that split second when the headlights glared into her eyes, she instinctively pulled him closer to her chest and curled her body around his. She slammed into the dashboard. Her head shattered the windshield. She took the impact of the collision so that Jeffrey wouldn’t have to. In the weeks to come it took extensive surgery for his mother to recover from her injuries. But she did; and they both have lived a long time now to tell about it.

In an infinitely more significant way, Jesus Christ took the impact of your sin and mine. And by faith in his name (Jesus, the Savior), his blood now permanently covers our lives. This is the main message of this Holy Week that we start to celebrate today.

Now, everybody loves Palm Sunday with the Hosannas and the shofar and trumpet, children waving palm branches, praising Jesus our King. All over America, the crowds will come out for Easter Sunday in the brightness of springtime dress, the hope of resurrection, festive brass, bells and song. But what about Good Friday? Maybe 10% will show up to ponder the severity of the crucifixion, the laments of our sin and of Christ’s death. The triumph of God, the celebration of life in Christ is so wonderful. But the tragedy of our sinful nature and the awful suffering and death of the Messiah are so hard to acknowledge and experience.

The powers that be in Hollywood thought they knew this. Mel Gibson’s idea of a movie on The Passion of the Christ was turned away again and again. People just aren’t going to go and see it. Besides, popcorn sales will be way down.

Triumph and tragedy: can we have one without the other? When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and like Jeffrey’s mother, he knew what was coming. Throughout his life he often said, “My time has not yet come.” But now he says, “The hour has come.” He knew the joyful Hosanna of Palm Sunday would soon turn to the ugly Crucify of Good Friday. We too know what it’s like to praise God one day and curse God the next. Like St. Peter, we say we will follow Christ and then soon after we deny even knowing him. There is a triumph and tragedy to our faith.

I. The Hour Has Come (vs. 7, 14-18)

Luke the historian tells us, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed… When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at table. And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

Throughout his life and ministry, Jesus enjoyed sitting down at a table, sharing a meal, and taking the opportunity to talk about life. In Luke 5, Levi/Matthew gave a large dinner for his friends (other tax collectors) to meet Jesus. When criticized for eating with such “sinners,” Jesus said, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders – an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”

In Luke 7, one of the Pharisees (Simon by name) invited Jesus to have dinner with him. The town harlot comes in and anoints Jesus with expensive perfume. When criticized for giving attention to this sinful woman, Jesus tells about two debts being canceled by the generous moneylender. He turns to the woman and tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.” In Luke 9, the feeding of the five thousand, the miracle of the loaves and fish led to Peter’s essential confession of faith, “You are the Messiah, the Christ of God.” In Luke 11, Jesus was sharing a meal with some other religious leaders when he speaks his frustration with outward religion when it has no understanding of the things of God. “Woe to you Pharisees,” he speaks with great challenge and confrontation. In Luke 14, he went to eat in the house of another prominent leader. It now says that Jesus is being “carefully watched.” Their questions were meant to trip him up. But Jesus is a master of truth and the human condition. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” That quieted down the room!

Now Jesus says to his disciples, “I will not eat and drink with you again until the kingdom of God comes, until the kingdom of God is fulfilled. Now Jesus takes the historic Passover meal and transforms it into its eternal meaning. In the film The Passion of the Christ Jesus has been beaten to within an inch of his life and is struggling to carry the heavy cross to the hill outside Jerusalem where he will give his life for us. There’s a flashback to the upper room where Jesus shares the bread and cup with his disciples as the Passover Lamb of God offers himself.

II. Jesus is the Passover (vs. 19-20)

This is the joyful feast of the people of God. Men and women will come from east and west and north and south and sit at the table in the kingdom of God. Our Savior invites all those who trust in him to come and participate in the Passover meal. Now in Luke 22, Jesus is celebrating Passover with his family. He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his friends saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

As our elders and deacons minister in the name of our Lord Jesus, they distribute the bread of life among God’s people. This is a continuation of the Passover meal shared as a perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ in his death. This supper seals all of the benefits of Jesus’ life death and resurrection to all true believers. The Bible says that “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (that’s Paul in Romans 3: 23-25). The graphic portrayal of Jesus’ suffering and death is explained in I Peter 2: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (the cross), so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (vs. 24). And then John describes the Revelation of the eternal glory and effect of the Lamb of God. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain… with your blood you purchased men and women for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” It is for our spiritual nourishment and growth in him and for our further engagement in his kingdom’s ministry. The Lord’s Supper is a bond and pledge of our communion with Jesus Christ and with each other as members of his body (see the Westminster Confession of Faith 6.161).

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” So, let us give thanks to the Lord together. Repeat this prayer with me: “Lord Jesus, this is your body broken for me. I receive your gift of grace today. I trust that my sins are forgiven forever. Thank, you Lord.

Bob was a young husband and father who died suddenly of a heart attack. His wife decided to keep her two young children away from the funeral. And for years after Bob’s death, the cemetery remained a fearful place for them. Then one day, a friend was going with the mom to the graveside and invited the kids to come along. When they came to the place where Bob was buried, the four of them sat down on the grass around the stone engraved with the words, A Kind and Gentle Man. The friend said to the family, “Maybe one day we should have a picnic here. This is not only a place to think about death, but also a place to rejoice in our life. Bob will be most honored when we find strength here to live.”

At first it seemed like a strange idea: having a meal on top of a tombstone. But isn’t that similar to what Jesus told his disciples to do? “Do this in remembrance of me.” The body of Christ broken for you. Let us eat together with faith in Christ.

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Again as our elders and deacons share the cup of salvation with the congregation, we remember how deep the Father’s love for us.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the time coming when the Lord “will make a new covenant with the house of Israel… I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people… I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (31:31-34). “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” said Jesus. This is how God offered and accomplished this new covenant. The Bible explains it in detail in II Corinthians 3 & 4 and Hebrews 8 through 10. Death is not the end. Jesus purchased our salvation, he has made payment for our lives, he offered a substitutionary atonement with his blood. “I am the vine, you are the branches,” said Jesus.

Repeat this prayer with me: “Lord Jesus, this represents your blood shed for me. By your grace, by your invitation, I share this cup with you and with my brothers and sisters in faith. I know that I have forgiveness and redemption, eternal life in your name. Thank you, Lord.”

Conclusion

The tragedy of our sin expresses itself all around us in our lives, in our world. The triumph of Palm Sunday is magnified infinitely in the Resurrection Day. So, don’t forget to go through Good Friday on your way to Easter next Sunday. The blood of Christ shed for you. Let us drink together with trust in our Savior.             Let us pray together.