"For You" 4-2-26

Overview

Sweet Words for Holy Week

Scripture is full of sweet words that sustain God's people: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" Psalm 23:1; "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" Jeremiah 31:34; "The Lord our God, the Lord is one" Deuteronomy 6:4. The red letters of Christ shine just as sweetly: "I am with you always, to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20; "Your faith has made you well" Mark 5:34; "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" Luke 23:43; "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" John 14:27.

Maundy Thursday and the New Covenant

On Maundy Thursday we return to the upper room, where Jesus stoops to wash His disciples' feet—including Judas—and gathers them at the table. In Luke 22:14–20, He takes the bread and the cup and declares, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." A new covenant implies an old one. Throughout Scripture, covenants were sealed in solemn ways: the fire passing between the pieces of sacrifice in God's promise to Abram Genesis 15, the hand placed under the thigh as Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac Genesis 24, or the sandal exchanged in Boaz's redemption of Ruth Ruth 4. God promised through Jeremiah that a new covenant was coming Jeremiah 31:31–34, and Hebrews testifies that Christ "is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises" Hebrews 8:6–7.

Covenant, Not Contract

We live in a world of contracts—agreements that can be amended, renegotiated, or broken. We sometimes treat our life with God the same way: each week we promise to repent, to do better, to try harder, only to walk back into our daily lives and break those terms. But God has not handed us a contract. He has made a covenant, and He has sealed it with His own body and blood. He takes it so seriously that He laid down His life to secure it. From the cross came the final word, "It is finished" John 19:30—the covenant accomplished, not by our striving, but by His faithfulness.

"For You"

Of all the sweet words in Scripture, perhaps the sweetest are the two small words Jesus spoke that night: for you. "This is my body, which is given for you." "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." Whatever your failures this week, whatever contracts you have broken with God and neighbor, the promise still stands. The covenant has been made. The blood has been poured. The forgiveness is yours. This promise is for you.

Transcript

There are many sweet, sweet words in Scripture. 3s

Off of the top of my head, I think of Psalm 23, 9s

and the beautiful beginning verse of the Lord is my shepherd. 13s

I shall not want. 18s

Or in the prophet Jeremiah, I will forgive their 20s

iniquity and remember there's sin no more, 24s

or the book of Deuteronomy, where we're told the Lord is our God, 28s

the Lord alone. Those are sweet words of Scripture. 33s

We are currently in the red letter word series, 40s

where we are looking at those red letter words, 45s

the words of Christ that are recorded in Scripture, 48s

and Christ has some sweet, sweet words. 51s

In the gospel of Matthew, it's sweet to hear him say, 58s

I am with you always to the end of the age. 63s

In the gospel of Mark, the sweet words of Jesus, 68s

as he says, your faith has made you well. 72s

In the gospel of Luke, he tells the one who is crucified next to him, 77s

the sweet words truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise. 85s

And in the gospel of John, he tells his disciples, 92s

peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. 96s

Those are sweet words from the mouth of Christ for all who hear. 104s

Today we mark another very important day in Holy Week, 112s

in the week of Christ's passion, Holy Week that service that never ends, 118s

that we never leave beginning with Palm Sunday, 125s

as we hear the shouts of Hosanna, God save us. 129s

The weeklong service of Christ's passion where today, 134s

Monday, Thursday, marks the time where Jesus stooped 138s

to wash the feet of His disciples, 142s

including Judas. 147s

Tomorrow, in this Holy Week, this service of Christ's passion, 150s

we have the somber reality of the death of Christ on the cross, 158s

and his body sealed in the tomb. 165s

The service of Christ's passion, it will culminate 170s

into a glorious celebration on Easter Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection 174s

of Christ, our Lord, and Savior, but we're not there yet. 180s

We're not there. We're here on Thursday, knowing what lies ahead, 188s

wishing wanting that we could perhaps change the past, 196s

change the history because we know what is coming for Christ, 201s

and yet we know that if we changed anything, 208s

then we would have no future. 212s

And so we continue on in Holy Week, the service of Christ's passion, 218s

and we return to that Thursday evening, 226s

2,000 plus years ago, when we find ourselves with Christ and His disciples in the upper room, 229s

if you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, the 22nd chapter. 239s

If you're using a Puedition of the Bible, this can be found on page 75 245s

in the New Testament, we're in the Gospel of Luke, the 22nd chapter. 250s

When the hour came, Jesus took His place at the table and the apostles with him, 258s

He said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 263s

For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 269s

Then He took a cup and after giving thanks, He said, take this, 274s

and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on, 277s

I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes, 282s

then He took a loaf of bread. 288s

And when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying, 290s

this is my body, which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. 295s

And He did the same thing with the cup after supper, saying, 301s

this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 304s

The new covenant, the new covenant, 312s

well that means that there was an old covenant. 317s

If here we have a new covenant, 322s

covenants were very interesting and they were 324s

sealed or confirmed or promised in a variety of ways 328s

that we see in the Old Testament. For example, in Genesis, 333s

we see God's covenant with Abraham as the fire passes through the sacrifice 337s

that Abraham has laid forth and it is God's covenantal promise to Abraham. 344s

Or we see an covenant between Abraham and his servant where Abraham asks his servant 352s

to place his hand under Abraham's thigh to confirm and commit and make a covenant 359s

that this servant will find a bride for Isaac. 366s

In Ruth, the next of kin waved his right as Redeemer and he confirmed this covenant 373s

by taking off his sandal and handing it to Boas. 380s

Covenants were not uncommon and they had various signs of confirmation or signs of knowing 387s

that that covenant would stand. 397s

There used to be a thing. I don't know that it's a saying anymore, but 402s

but when one person would make a covenant to another where they would say, 407s

my word is my bond and that could be trusted or perhaps a covenant to deal is made with a hand 411s

shake, a firm hand shake and it's known that because of the person shaking my hand, 422s

I can trust the promise being made. 430s

But we've moved away from covenants, haven't we? 436s

We've moved away from making covenants with and for and to one another and we've moved more 439s

into contracts and to making contracts because you see contracts, they can be amended, 447s

they can be changed, contracts can even be broken. 458s

And so we find ourselves not making covenants but making contracts because we have a little more 465s

control, we have a little more say and we have a lot less commitment. 478s

We stick to contracts, we stick to contracts with the people around us, we stick to contracts 492s

with businesses, we stick to contracts in our lives of faith. 497s

Every week we come here and we come to the table and we pray and we make a contract with God 504s

that we repent of our sins, we make a contract that we're going to do better, that we're going to 510s

be better, that we're going to try harder, but we're just making a contract 516s

because we leave the doors and we enter into our daily lives and we find that that contract 527s

to repent, to do better, to be better, to try harder, well it's changeable. 536s

It's amendable and sometimes we convince ourselves that it can just be broken. 545s

God made a covenant with Abraham, promising a future for his numerous descendants, 557s

God continued to uphold his covenant to his people no matter how often they turned their back 565s

or tried to break their contract with him. He remained steadfast, he remained faithful to his 575s

covenant to his people. God promised in the prophet Jeremiah saying the days are surely coming 585s

says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 593s

for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. 601s

Then he took a loaf of bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, 611s

this is my body which is given for you, do this in the remembrance of me and he did the same 621s

with the cup after supper saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 631s

In our Hebrews reading today, we heard Jesus has now obtained a more excellent minister, 644s

ministry and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted through 650s

better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look 658s

for a second one. The new covenant, Jesus says the new covenant that God makes with his people is the covenant 666s

in his blood. It is the covenant that he seals with his own person, with his own flesh, with 678s

his own blood and God has not made a contract with you. God has not made a contract that is 690s

commendable or unshakable or to be changed. God has not made a contract that he will ever 701s

break. God has made a covenant through his blood that was poured out for you. 711s

The covenant he makes with you is the covenant for the forgiveness of your sins. The covenant he makes with you 725s

is the covenant that he is faithful to his promise. God takes his covenant very seriously. He takes his covenant 735s

so seriously that he lays his own life down to secure it. He is the one that has made the covenant. 749s

He is the one in whose blood the covenant has been sealed. He is the one in what in who the covenant 766s

is confirmed. After he made that covenant through the bread and the wine, his body and blood, 776s

he went to the cross. In the last sweet words, as recorded in the gospel of John that Christ spoke, 790s

it is finished and we know the covenant was made. But notice this is my body which is given 808s

for you. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 830s

So many sweet words in Scripture, so many sweet words from the mouth of Jesus for us to hold 841s

it. And perhaps the sweetest of all two little words, he shared that night in the upper room 851s

as he promised this covenant. The two words he promised his disciples of old and today. 865s

This promise, this covenant, is for you. 876s