Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Our hope is found in the fact that Jesus came to be the final Passover Lamb, not just a great teacher and a miracle healer.
Luke 22:14 –23
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
If there had been no upper room, if there had been no fulfillment of the promises of the Passover, and if Jesus were not the final Passover Lamb, we would simply have no hope in this life or the one to come. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Jesus saying these profound words: “This is my body, which is given for you,” and “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Here is Jesus, in that intimate final night with his disciples, saying, “I am the hope of fallen humanity, because I am the promised, spotless Lamb of God.”
Just as the blood painted on the Israelites’ doors in Egypt meant that the angel of death would pass over those houses, so all who put their trust in the Messiah Jesus are covered by his blood and therefore will not bear the punishment for their own sin. It’s not enough that Jesus was a great teacher. If all he had done were teach truth, but had not shed his blood as the fulfillment of all the truth teaches us about sin and redemption, then we would be damned. If all Jesus had done were perform physical healings, then we would still be the spiritual walking dead. If all he had done was confront the false religion of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, but had not gone on to be the sacrificial Lamb that true religion requires, then we would be doomed. If all he had done was send his disciples out with a theological message, but had not been the historical, physical covering, by his shed blood, which that theological message requires, then we would be without hope and without God, sinners alone in this fallen world.
But he is the Passover Lamb. He is the fulfillment of the covenant promises of old. His blood covers and cleanses us. All human history marched to this moment in the upper room and the sacrifice of Jesus’s life that would follow.
Whenever I read the account of the incredible moment in that rented room and hear Jesus talk of his blood that was about to be poured out, a hymn always comes to mind. Its words are near and dear to my heart. It was written in 1876 by Robert Lowry, who was a pastor in Philadelphia, the city where I live.
“Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”
Luke 22:14 –23
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
If there had been no upper room, if there had been no fulfillment of the promises of the Passover, and if Jesus were not the final Passover Lamb, we would simply have no hope in this life or the one to come. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Jesus saying these profound words: “This is my body, which is given for you,” and “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Here is Jesus, in that intimate final night with his disciples, saying, “I am the hope of fallen humanity, because I am the promised, spotless Lamb of God.”
Just as the blood painted on the Israelites’ doors in Egypt meant that the angel of death would pass over those houses, so all who put their trust in the Messiah Jesus are covered by his blood and therefore will not bear the punishment for their own sin. It’s not enough that Jesus was a great teacher. If all he had done were teach truth, but had not shed his blood as the fulfillment of all the truth teaches us about sin and redemption, then we would be damned. If all Jesus had done were perform physical healings, then we would still be the spiritual walking dead. If all he had done was confront the false religion of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, but had not gone on to be the sacrificial Lamb that true religion requires, then we would be doomed. If all he had done was send his disciples out with a theological message, but had not been the historical, physical covering, by his shed blood, which that theological message requires, then we would be without hope and without God, sinners alone in this fallen world.
But he is the Passover Lamb. He is the fulfillment of the covenant promises of old. His blood covers and cleanses us. All human history marched to this moment in the upper room and the sacrifice of Jesus’s life that would follow.
Whenever I read the account of the incredible moment in that rented room and hear Jesus talk of his blood that was about to be poured out, a hymn always comes to mind. Its words are near and dear to my heart. It was written in 1876 by Robert Lowry, who was a pastor in Philadelphia, the city where I live.
“Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing, this I see—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Nothing can for sin atone—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of good that I have done—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of good that I have done—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my hope and peace—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Now by this I’ll overcome—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Glory! Glory! This I sing—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
All my praise for this I bring—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
May you attach your sense of self, your meaning and purpose, your moral compass, and your hopes and dreams to the message delivered in that upper room and to the actual moment of sacrifice on that hill outside the city. And may every moment of sin, weakness, and failure be punctuated by you singing to yourself the ultimate answer to the ultimate question, What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
All my praise for this I bring—
nothing but the blood of Jesus!
May you attach your sense of self, your meaning and purpose, your moral compass, and your hopes and dreams to the message delivered in that upper room and to the actual moment of sacrifice on that hill outside the city. And may every moment of sin, weakness, and failure be punctuated by you singing to yourself the ultimate answer to the ultimate question, What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. What helps you enter into the true meaning of the Lord’s Table, Jesus’s blood and flesh for you?
2. In what ways are you trusting in something other than or in addition to Jesus’s blood to save you?
3. How might it affect your day-to-day life if you really, deeply understood the importance of Jesus as your Passover Lamb, the way the Jews in Jesus’s day did?
Read Matthew 26:17–30, and enter into the story.
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.
20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”
And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[b] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
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