Four Cups

As we already saw, what we know as the Last Supper was actually shared on the first of the seven festivals God commanded Israel to celebrate. This is the festival of Passover.

Passover, then, provides the context for the Last Supper.

Listen to what God promised in the book of Exodus:

Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (Exodus 6:6-7, ESV)

The Jewish people saw in this passage four promises and so celebrated Passover with four cups of wine.

The Cup of Sanctification – “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

The Cup of Deliverance – “I will deliver you from slavery to them.”

The Cup of Redemption – “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”

The Cup of Restoration – “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.”

Together these four cups retell the story of God’s rescue.

Each cup was shared at a designated time throughout the meal.

The first – the Cup of Sanctification – accompanied the blessing before the meal. The second – the Cup of Deliverance – was shared after the story of the exodus has been recounted. The third – the Cup of Redemption – followed the meal of unleavened bread, the sacrificial lamb, and a dip of bitter herbs. The last cup – the Cup of Restoration – was taken after the Passover hymns had been sung.

Why does all of this matter?

Because knowing the cups and when they were taken allows us to place the events of the Last Supper into their context.

For example, which cup does Jesus use to institute the Lord’s Supper? Of which cup does Jesus say He will not drink again? At what point in the meal does Judas leave to betray Him?

We will get to all of that in the coming days.

When God made these four promises to the people of Israel, they looked forward to what God would do.

We, however, have the privilege of looking backward to what God has done.

He has brought us out from under the burden of our guilt.

He has delivered us from our slavery to sin.

He has redeemed us with His arm outstretched on the cross.

He has restored us to relationship – we as His people and He as our God.

Have you tasted of all four cups? Have you drunk deeply of His mercy and grace?

His promise – His offer – still stands. The cups are before you. You need only reach out and taste of His goodness.

Read Exodus 6:1-13 and reflect on what God promised He would do in light of what He has done.

Lay Down Your Cloak

The biblical writers pepper their stories with details that offer profound insights but are easily overlooked.

One of those details is found in three of the four accounts of Jesus’ entry. Here’s what the book of Mark tells us:

Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. (Mark 11:8, NLT)

The Greek word that’s translated as “garment” here refers to a cloak – the outer covering worn over the long tunic undergarment.

That may seem like Bible trivia, but it’s not. Its an intentional inclusion on the part of Mark (as well as Matthew and Luke) and it’s worth our consideration.

So, why do we need to know that they laid down their cloaks?

To appreciate what the people were doing, we have to understand two important things about the Jews of Jesus’ day.

First, they knew their Bibles inside and out. They committed entire books to memory. If you quoted a single line, they could pick up right where you left off without missing a beat. They knew it.

Second, they communicated in pictures and symbolic acts as often as in words.

Now, with that in mind, consider 2 Kings 9.

A prophet – a spokesman for God – named Elisha summoned another, but unnamed, prophet and commissioned him to go and anoint a man named Jehu as the next king of Israel.

The prophet finds Jehu and does as he’s been told.

When Jehu returns to his men, they ask what the prophet had to say. Jehu reluctantly tells them what happened.

So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have anointed you to be king over Israel.’”

Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the ram’s horn, shouting, “Jehu is king!” (2 Kings 9:12-13, NLT)

They spread out their cloaks and proclaimed Jehu as king.

Now, imagine that, hypothetically, you’re living in a territory occupied, say, by Rome. Caesar has designated a king over Israel. To openly declare another as king would be a rejection of Caesar’s will and, therefore, treason - and treason was punishable by death.

So, if you’re a first-century Jew that wants to say “Jesus is king” without saying “Jesus is king,” what do you do?

You lay down your cloak.

The Romans totally miss the reference, but every other Jew knows exactly what you’re saying.

This was nothing less than a proclamation that Jesus is King!

They got Jesus’ mission wrong, as we saw yesterday.

But they got His identity right.

He is the King.

But is He your King?

Will you lay down your cloak?

Read Mark 11:1-10 and think about and reflect on the significance of their symbolic act and what it means for your life.

The King We Need

The Sunday before Jesus was crucified, he made an odd request of His disciples.

“Go into that village over there… As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here” (Luke 19:30, NLT)

In the Ancient Near East, peasants – like Jesus – didn’t ride donkeys. Donkeys were the transportation of the wealthy – even of royalty. This is akin to Jesus saying, “Hey, go over there and borrow that unoccupied Ferrari.”

So, did Jesus instruct His disciples to steal a donkey?

Amy-Jill Levine writes, “I find it more likely that Jesus had friends in the area – especially if the colt is located in or near Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem, where his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus live” (Entering the Passion of Jesus, p. 24).

That does seem more likely. Whether Jesus intended them to borrow a donkey from friends or had prearranged this pickup earlier, the disciples encounter no problems. They bring the colt to Jesus and He proceeds to ride into Jerusalem.

A crowd begins to gather, and they are going crazy.

Why? Why does a peasant from Galilee, riding on a donkey, bring forth this kind of response?

They know their Bibles. They know what the prophet Zechariah wrote five hundred years earlier.

Look, your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous and victorious,

 yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
    riding on a donkey’s colt. (Zechariah 9:9, NLT)

He comes as a King. A humble King, but a King, nonetheless.

Everyone understood the statement Jesus was making. They understood that He was claiming to be not only a king, but the King.

They also knew the rest of Zechariah’s prophecy.

I will remove the battle chariots from Israel

 and the warhorses from Jerusalem.
I will destroy all the weapons used in battle,
    and your king will bring peace to the nations.
His realm will stretch from sea to sea
    and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

 Because of the covenant I made with you,
    sealed with blood,
I will free your prisoners
    from death in a waterless dungeon. (Zechariah 9:10-11, NLT)

Israel was occupied by Rome in Jesus’ day. They were not a free people.

Many a revolt had tried (and failed) to bring about the freedom they so desperately longed to enjoy. The crowd interpreted Jesus’ fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy as a declaration of war. They were banking on Him to “free [their] prisoners” from an unwelcome oppressor.

That’s exactly what Jesus intended to do.

But bondage to Rome was not His target.

Bondage to sin was.

Jesus did fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy, but so many missed it. They missed it because He wasn’t the kind of King they were expecting - or even wanted. But He was what they needed.

They wanted a military leader. They needed a servant.

They wanted Him to triumph over Rome. They needed Him to triumph over death.

They wanted Jesus to take up the sword. They needed Him to take up the cross.

So often, Jesus is not the King we want.

He is always the King we need.

Take a couple minutes today to read Matthew 21:1-10 and reflect on the claim Jesus was making in riding into Jerusalem. What kind of King do you want Jesus to be? What kind of a King do you need Him to be?