23 Oct Mark 34: The Judas in all of us

Mark 14:12-31

¹² And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” ¹⁶ And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again 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. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹ Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” ³⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

I think it is no secret that I enjoy watching Korean dramas. Most of you knew that. But what most of you might not know is the kind of drama I like to watch. People just assumed that I like watching romantic comedies. Well, I do watch them sometime. But they are not my kind of drama. My favourite kind of Korean drama is one on crime and law. I enjoy watching thrillers, not feelers. And here is one of the many lessons I learned from it. When a homicide happened, one of the first details the investigators seek to discern is whether the murder was an act of sudden anger or whether it was premeditated. Premeditated crime has significant implications for the investigators and for the potential punishment the court might impose on the offender. If the crime was unplanned, the offender might receive a few years of a prison sentence. But if the crime was planned, the offender might stay in prison for a lot longer. However, planned or unplanned, murder is still murder. And the offender is guilty no matter what.

In our passage for today, Jesus predicts the betrayal of his disciples. One of the disciples by the name of Judas Iscariot will betray him by premeditation. We know this from our last sermon on Mark, how Judas went out of his way to meet the chief priests to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And he is now waiting for the right opportunity to betray Jesus. But he is not the only one who will betray Jesus. Jesus also predicts that the rest of the disciples will also betray him out of fear. So, all of Jesus’ closest friends will betray Jesus. And sandwiched between the two predictions of betrayals, Jesus is having a Passover supper with the people who are about to betray him. This is very interesting. We will see why later. And by the way, you don’t invent this kind of story. If you are trying to create a movement with a large following, you don’t invent a story of how all the top leaders of the movement betrayed Jesus. It doesn’t make you look good. This story is recorded because it is what happened. And this passage is addressed to a particular group of people. I am sure everyone can learn something from this passage. But this passage is particularly meant for people who think they are close to Jesus, people who are following Jesus, people who consider themselves disciples of Jesus. This passage is particularly addressed to us.

I have three points for my sermon. The depth of sin; The breadth of sin; The cure for sin.

The depth of sin

Mark 14:12-16 – ¹² And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” ¹⁶ And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

The celebration of Passover is the most important feast in the Old Testament. It is when they celebrated Israel’s Independence Day. They celebrated how God set them free from the slavery of Egypt by killing the Egyptian’s firstborns. But the Israelites’ households were protected from death by the blood of the lamb on their doorpost. When the angels of death saw the blood on the doorpost, they would pass over the house. So, they celebrated Passover by having a family meal with lamb as the main course. And it is no coincidence that Jesus come to Jerusalem to suffer and die during the Passover celebration. Get this. Just like it took the death of the firstborn to set Israel free from Egypt, it will take the death of another firstborn to set the people free from the slavery of sin. Just like it took sacrificial lambs to save the Israelites from death, it will take the sacrifice of the Lamb of God to save God’s people from eternal death. And Passover can only be celebrated within the walls of Jerusalem. So, Jews from many different cities would come to Jerusalem to celebrate this most important feast. A Jewish historian named Josephus estimated that there are about 2 million Jews in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration.

Jesus and his disciples are also in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. His disciples say to him, “What should we do to prepare for the Passover meal?” Jesus replies, “Go into the city and you will find a man carrying a jar. Follow him and wherever he enters, that’s where we will have our Passover dinner.” The question is, how on earth are you supposed to find a specific man in a city crowded with 2 million people? Here is how. Look for a man carrying a jar of water. Jesus is very specific. Because in those days, it is very unusual for a man to carry a jar of water. It is women’s work, not man’s. One commentator wrote that seeing a man carrying a jar of water is like seeing a man carrying a purse. It is very unusual. And I thought, “Obviously this commentator did not live in the same day and time as we do.” Because it is very common for us to see a man carrying a purse today. We even have some in our church. Not mentioning any names. So, the disciples follow Jesus’ instructions, and everything unfolds exactly like what he told them. This tells us that Jesus is in complete control of everything that’s happening around him. Jesus is not a tragic hero caught up in events beyond his control. He knows about God’s plan that leads him to his death to the very last detail and he gladly embraces it. He is in absolute control of every single minute leading to the cross. And that’s why we can trust him to sustain us even when our life appears to be crumbling. Jesus is in absolute control of every single event in our life. Let’s continue.

Mark 14:17-20 – ¹⁷ And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

So, Jesus and the disciples are having a good time together. They are retelling the story of Exodus because that’s what the Jews do during Passover dinner. And suddenly, Jesus shocks everyone. He says, “One of you will betray me. One who is eating with me right now.” Most likely, there are other men, women, and children at the dinner besides the twelve. So, the betrayer could be anyone in the room. One after another, they begin to ask Jesus, “Is it I?” And then Jesus gets more specific. “It is one of the twelve who will betray me.” Imagine the horror. The person who will betray Jesus is none other than one of the closest people to Jesus. It is one of the twelve who have been with Jesus for the past three years. And we know that Jesus is talking about Judas Iscariot. But no one in the room besides Jesus and Judas knows whom Jesus is talking about. They don’t look at one another and say, “Obviously, it is Judas. Who else?” No one would have suspected Judas. Why? Because Judas is one of the most respected of all disciples. We know this because he is the one in charge to carry the money. And you don’t choose a shady guy to be your accountant. So, the news of this betrayal shocks everyone in the room. But not Jesus.

Mark 14:21 – ²¹ For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Jesus is not surprised at all by his death and Judas’ betrayal. It has been written from before the foundation of the world that Jesus will die for the sins of the world. But for the man who will betray Jesus, woe to him. It would have been better if he had not been born. This is one of those verses where we can see the intersection between God’s sovereignty and human free will. The fact that God has ordained Judas’ betrayal does not relieve Judas of the responsibility for his evil deed. We must understand this. God’s sovereignty neither cancels human freedom nor relieves human responsibility. And I know every time we talk about Judas’ betrayal and God’s sovereignty, there is a lot of “but…” in our minds. Those buts are valid. But tonight, we are not talking about those buts. If you need to talk about those buts, you can talk to Edrick after the service. He has the perfect answers to all those buts.

But here is what I want us to consider. Why does Jesus not identify Judas? It could have been easier if he says, “It is one of the twelve that will betray me. Judas, it’s you. Repent now or burn in hell forever.” But Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus is deliberately ambiguous. Why? Here is why. Jesus wants every disciple to look into his own heart. Because the truth is, there is Judas in all of them. And the truth is, there is Judas in all of us. Let me explain what I mean. Judas is the type of person who will follow Jesus as long as it benefits him. The moment Jesus no longer benefits him, he sells Jesus out. Judas doesn’t follow Jesus for Jesus. Judas follows Jesus for Judas. Let me tell you a story of another man by the name of Job. Job is a great person, and he is faithful to God. At one point, God and Satan are having a conversation and God says, “Hey Satan, have you checked out my servant, Job? There is none like him in all the earth.” Satan replies, “Does Job fear God for no reason? No. He serves you because you protected him. You blessed him and you made him rich.” Can you see what Satan is saying? He is saying, “God, Job does not fear you. He is using you. He is serving you to get what he wants. He is using you as a means to an end. He doesn’t serve you. He serves you to serve himself. I’ll prove it to you. Remove your protection and favour from him. Let things go very badly in his life. And I’m sure he will sell you off. He will not serve you anymore.” So, what happens next? Another sermon for another time. The point is, every time we go through a period in our life where life goes badly, it is as if God is saying, “Now, let’s see why you serve me. Do you serve me for me? Or do you serve me for you?”

Let me put it another way. Last time we talked about how Mary finds Jesus beautiful, while Judas finds Jesus useful. Here is my question. How can we tell whether we find Jesus beautiful or useful? We know not when life is well. We know whether Jesus is beautiful or useful when disappointment hits. When we do not get what we want in life. If we say, “God, why would you allow this to happen to me? This is not what I expected. This is not fair. I am out.” Then we are Judas. We find God useful. But if we say, “God, this hurts so much. I don’t know why you would allow me to go through this disappointment. But I know that you are good. I know you are using this situation to make me better and for your glory. I may not understand it, but I will never let you go.” Then we are Mary. We find God beautiful. Listen carefully. It is how we respond to disappointment that determines whether we embrace the gospel or not. Because Judas represents a religious approach to God. Religion operates on the principle, “I obey. Therefore, I am accepted, and God owes me.” While the gospel operates on the principle, “I am accepted because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice alone. Therefore, I obey, and I owe him everything.” And the fact is, while we might embrace the gospel, part of our hearts still operates in the religious mode. We still think that if we do this and that, then God has to bless us and give us what we want. Even though we are not Judas, there is Judas in all of us. And Jesus is deliberately ambiguous in not pointing fingers at Judas because he wants to provoke heart-searching in each disciple. But at the same time, this is also Jesus’ final act of kindness toward Judas. Jesus warns Judas, “Judas, if you do what you are planning to do, there is no turning back. It would be better if you had not been born.” This is a very strong warning for Judas. Why is Jesus warning him? Because Jesus wants Judas to repent. Jesus is trying to convict Judas. But Judas ignores Jesus’ warning. But my prayer tonight is that none of us ignores Jesus’ gracious warning.

The breadth of sin

Mark 14:26-31 – ²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹ Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” ³⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Don’t panic. I realized I skip verses 22 to 25. We will come back to it for my third point. So, after dinner, Jesus and the disciple go out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus tells them another shocking news. Jesus has just told them that one of the twelve will betray him. And now Jesus says, “Actually, it’s not just one of you who will betray me. All of you will betray me. All of you will walk away from me.” And then Jesus quotes an Old Testament scripture where God said, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Note, who is doing the striking? Not Satan. Not Rome. Not religious leaders. It is God. It has always been God’s plan to strike Jesus to bring salvation to many. And when God strikes Jesus the shepherd, the sheep or the disciples will be scattered. And look at verse 28. It is beautiful. Mark 14:28 – ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Jesus is not only so sure of his death at the cross, but he is also so sure of his resurrection. And even when he knows that all his disciples will betray him, he remains faithful to them. He tells them, “Meet me in Galilee later. I’ll be waiting for you.” Wow. What a saviour. There is nothing about his disciples’ betrayal that surprises Jesus. And Jesus already makes provision for the disciples even before they betray him. Which tells us a beautiful truth. Our salvation does not depend on our commitment to Jesus but Jesus’s commitment to us. It does not depend on our faithfulness to Jesus but Jesus’ faithfulness to us. Our commitment to Jesus will waver but Jesus’ commitment to us is perfect.

And of course, Peter does not like what he hears. He objects, “Jesus, all these other dudes might fail you. They might fall away. But not me. I am different. I love you. And I will be faithful to you no matter what. Even if I must die, I will not deny you.” Peter is full of self-confidence. But Peter’s confidence is misplaced confidence. Jesus tells him that he will betray Jesus. But Peter is so sure of himself that he believes Jesus is wrong. Peter puts his confidence in himself rather than Jesus. And this is a recipe for disaster. Every time we put confidence in ourselves rather than God’s word, it is misplaced confidence. And it never goes well because God’s word is never wrong. And all the other disciples agree with Peter and say the same thing.

So, what’s the lesson for us? Many years ago, the London Times asked a series of prominent writers to write an essay on what is wrong with the world. And G.K. Chesterton wrote a simple telegram for his answer that said, “Dear sirs, I am. Signed, G.K. Chesterton.” Do you know what he was saying? He was saying that deep inside every person in the universe, there is the problem of sin. Listen. What is wrong with the world is not something out there. What is wrong with the world is something in us. There is Judas in all of us. And we must realize this. Because like the disciples, we often think that we are better than other people. We like to think that we are better than Judas. When we hear about people committing a particular sin, we say, “I would never do that. Not in a billion years. I am too good to do what they did.” But are we? Let me be honest with you. In the last few years, we are bombarded with news of many prominent pastors who got into scandals. We heard of a well-known pastor who had an adulterous relationship and kept it a secret. From the outside, it looked like he was being used mightily by God. And one day, he was wildly exposed, and the world found out about it. We heard of a well-known pastor who used the church’s money to fund his lavish lifestyle, and he was sent to jail because of it. We heard of a pastor who used his spiritual authority to abuse many people in his church and he got fired. So, the news of sex scandals, financial corruption, and spiritual abuse among pastors have become too common for us. And my first reaction whenever I heard those scandals was, “How could they? It is despicable. I would never do that. I know better than to commit those sins.” But am I? The truth is, I could easily be them. There is a seed of sin inside of me that could lead me to do what they did. If I think I am beyond those sins, I am making the same mistake that the disciples make. We should never think that we are beyond the reach of any sin. We should never think that we can withstand temptation by our own strength. Putting confidence in ourselves rather than in Christ is extremely deadly.

So, Judas and the disciples represent us. Maybe we haven’t actually walked away from Jesus but that’s not because we are better than those who did. The only reason we haven’t walked away from Jesus is because of God’s restraining grace. We have no reason to boast about ourselves at all. Imagine me and Edrick decided to rob a bank. We watched Money Heist and thought it was possible to do it in Sydney. And before we do it, we come to Jejep and ask for his wise input on our amazing plan. Jejep says, “Are you guys crazy? I am not going to let you do it. It will ruin your life.” But we ignore him, and we sing, “Bella ciao, ciao, ciao.” And on the day of the robbery, Jejep is waiting for us in front of the bank, and he grabs both of us by our shirts. But Edrick’s shirt rips and he gets away. He carries through with the plan, kills a guard, and gets arrested. But not me. Because my shirt did not rip, Jejep managed to hold me back. Now when I visit Edrick in jail, what do I say? Do I say to him, “You idiot. Why would you do that? What’s the matter with you?” No. The only reason I am not in jail is that Jejep restrained me from robbing the bank and my shirt did not rip. I should be in jail with Edrick if it were not for those two things. And this is what God is doing in our life. Listen. If we can put our faith in Jesus, if we can still trust him today, it is not because we are better than others. It is purely because of God’s grace alone. If it were not for God’s grace, we would not be where we are today. If it were not for God’s grace, we could have been Judas. So, don’t think for one second that we are better than others because we are Christians. Knowing the breadth of sin should make us less confident in ourselves and more confident in God.

The cure for sin

Mark 14:22-25 – ²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

This is the weirdest Passover dinner in history and the most beautiful one at the same time. We will see why. But what’s interesting is that Mark sandwiches the story of the last supper in between the two betrayal predictions. Do you know why? Because Mark wants us to know that the sin that necessitates Jesus’ death is not someone else’s sin. It is not the sin of tyranny like Nero, Hitler, or Stalin, but his own disciples, Peter, John, you, and me. So, every time we celebrated the Lord’s Supper, or what we call Holy Communion, we are celebrating God’s forgiveness of our sins. Let’s look at what happens. Usually, during a Passover dinner, it is the responsibility of the father, the head of the family, to tell the story of Passover. So, the father would say, “Let me tell you a story. We were slaves who had no future. We were oppressed and in pain. But the Lord delivered us out of Egypt and brought us into the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. And he did so by killing the firstborn of every family in Egypt. But the Lord told us to slay a lamb, eat the lamb, and shed the blood of the lamb on our doorpost. The lamb became our substitute for God’s punishment for our sins. So, when the angel of death saw the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, he passed over the house. We were saved because of it. That’s why we are eating this Passover meal together as a family.” That’s the normal Passover script. But on this Passover dinner, Jesus changes the script.

As they are eating, Jesus breaks the bread, gives it to them, and says, “Eat it. This is my body.” Wait. What? And then he takes a cup of wine, gives thanks over it, gives it to them, and he says, “Drink it. This is my blood of the covenant.” Wait. What? Jesus changes the Passover script, and it shocks everyone at the dinner. Do you know what Jesus is saying when he says, “This is my body. This is my blood”? Jesus is saying, “All this time you have been eating and drinking this meal to observe the night that God redeemed you from the slavery of Egypt through Moses. But no more. Tonight, we are eating and drinking this meal to celebrate what I am going to do. I am going to redeem God’s people from the slavery of sin. I am the ultimate Moses. I am the ultimate exodus. I am the ultimate Passover.” And do you realize that something is missing in this Passover meal? They have bread and wine, but they are missing the most important thing. They are missing the main course, the lamb. Why? There is no lamb on the table because the Lamb of God is at the table. Jesus is the main course.

Don’t miss the point. Jesus is saying, “Instead of having a lamb as a substitute for your sins, I will be your substitute. I am the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. I will pay the death penalty for sin. The judgement of God over sin will fall on me. So that when you put your faith in me, death will pass over you. If you are covered in my blood, you will be saved.” So, when Jesus gives the bread and says, “This is my body,” it refers to his life. Jesus has lived the perfect life that no one could. He lives a sinless life in a human body. And yet he will die and receive God’s punishment for sins. Why? So that we may share in his triumphant over sins. When we eat the bread of Communion, it is our way of saying that we are partaking in the life of Jesus. His life is our life. This is what the bread of communion means to us. And when Jesus gives the cup of wine and says, “This is my blood of the covenant,” it refers to the payment of sin that Jesus will make. The law of God demands that blood must be spilled for every wrongdoing. And for thousands of years, the blood of many lambs has been spilled. But that day is no more. Because the blood of the Lamb of God will be spilled as a payment for sins once and for all. And Jesus’ blood will cover all the sins of everyone who put his faith in him. When we drink the cup of communion, we are saying that the blood of Jesus has forgiven us of all our sins. God is no longer angry at us for our sins because Jesus has paid for them. J.C. Ryle puts it beautifully. “The two elements of bread and wine were intended to preach Christ crucified as our substitute. They were to be a visible sermon, appealing to the believer’s senses, and teaching the old-foundation truth of the gospel, that Christ’s death on the cross is the life of man’s soul.” This is the meaning of Holy Communion. Every time we take Holy Communion, we are celebrating Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice for us.

At this time, some people might object, “Why do we need a sacrifice? Why do we need Jesus to die and shed his blood for us? Why can’t he just love us? Why can’t he just forgive us? What’s up with this ancient primitive bloodthirsty God who needs to be appeased with blood?” These are fair questions. But here is what I want you to consider. All real life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice. We have never loved a broken person, a guilty person, a hurting person, without substitutionary sacrifice. Think about it. If we love a nice person, a person who has it all together, everything is fine. They don’t need changes. It costs us nothing to love a person like that. There are only two or three of these people in all of Sydney. Good luck finding them. But if we ever try to love someone who has needs, someone who has brokenness, someone who has wounds, if we ever love someone who needs a change, it is going to cost us. We can’t love them without sacrifice. When we love them, their troubles, their wounds, somehow become ours. All real life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.

Let me give you one example that I stole from Tim Keller. Let’s say you are one of the cool kids in your school. And there is a classmate who is uncool and nerdy, and nobody likes her. She doesn’t have any friends and she is a loner. So, you try to be nice and be her friend. The next thing you know, the other cool kids are coming to you saying, “What are you doing with her? You should not hang out with her.” What’s happening is, some of her uncool-ness is rubbing off on you. You are not so cool anymore because you hang out with her. There is no way for you to diminish her uncool-ness without some of it falling on you. All real life-changing love is costly. It is a substitutionary sacrifice. So, at the cross, what we have is not a bloodthirsty God. What we have is a God who loves guilty and broken people. But the only way for him to love broken people, guilty people, uncool people, and wounded people like us is for him to do it through substitution. Our sins fell upon him. Our brokenness fell upon him. Our guilt fell upon him. He got what we deserve. He took our penalty upon himself so we could be forgiven. At the cross, Jesus is loving us in a real life-changing way. He loved us so much that he took God’s divine justice upon himself so that we could be passed over forever.

Let me close with verse 25. Mark 14:25 – ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” In ancient times when someone said, “I’m not going to eat and drink until I …,” that person was making an oath. That person was saying, “I’m going to do this if it kills me. I’m going to do it or die.” So, when Jesus says that he will not drink wine again until he drinks it new in the kingdom of God, he is making an oath. He is making an unconditional commitment. He is saying, “I will not fail to bring you into the kingdom of God no matter what. I will finish what I started. I am committed to blessing you. And one day I will drink this cup of wine again with you in the future kingdom of God.” But Jesus is not saying, “I am going to do it or die.” No. It is much better. He says, “I am going to die to do it. This is the proof of my absolute unconditional commitment to you.” And do you know to whom Jesus is making this unconditional oath? To the very people who will betray him. Jesus is declaring his unconditional commitment to the people who are not committed to him. And whenever we take Holy Communion, this is what we are celebrating. When we take Holy Communion, we are not celebrating our commitment to Jesus. We are celebrating Jesus’ radical unconditional commitment to us who put our faith in him. We are celebrating the gospel. This is the purpose of Holy Communion. Every time we take the Holy Communion, we are hearing God says in our hearts, “I will not fail you. I am unconditionally committed to you. I will bring you to my future kingdom. And I will do it not because you deserve it. I will do it because I have given you my life and my blood.” And this is the food that our hearts need to live a life worthy of the gospel. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. What is the main difference between religion and the gospel? Give daily life examples.
3. Can you see Judas in you? Share your story.
4. How does the gospel humble us in our relationship with others?
5. Explain the meaning and significance of Holy Communion. Why do we have to take it very seriously?
6. Why can’t God just love us and forgive us?