The Upper Room - Timothy Keller Sermons

the Gospel of Luke answers two basic questions who is this Jesus and what does it mean to follow him to be a disciple today on the podcast Tim Keller explores the person and mission of Jesus and what it means to go beyond knowing about him to having your life transformed by him after you listen we invite you to go online to gospeland life. com and sign up for our email updates when you sign up you'll receive our quarterly newsletter with articles about gospel changed lives as well as other valuable gospel centered resources subscribe today at gospeland life. com the scripture reading is taken from Luke 22 verses 14-34 found on page 9 of your bulletin and when the hour came he reclined a 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 and 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 a dispute also Rose among them as to which of them was to be the regarded as the greatest and he said to them the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority over them are called benefactors but not so with you rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader is one who serves for who is the greater one who reclines at the table or one who serves is it not the one who reclines at table but I am among you as the one who serves you are those who have stayed with me in my trials and I assign to you as my father assigned to me a kingdom that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on Thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel Simon Simon behold Satan demanded to have you that he may sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you have turned again strengthen your brothers Peter said to himl I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death Jesus said I tell you Peter the rooster will not Crow this day until you deny three times that you know me this is the word of the Lord one of the great questions of history is why in the world did the early Christians adopt the cross as their main symbol you know you realize why that is so odd why that is so strange the um all the other uh religious founders of all the great religions died old and successful they died old and successful so you know Moses gets the children of Israel to the border of the promised land you know dies old full of years over 100 years old uh Buddha uh lives to 80 years old and achieves Enlightenment that's why we call him the Buddha Muhammad lives into his 60s and unit but he doesn't die until after he unites all of Arabia in one Kingdom Under One Faith uh so they all died old and successful and in absolute contrast you have Jesus who dies age 33 ignominiously in agony abandoned by absolutely literally everyone in his life now you can understand why people would look at the other Founders and say God was with them look at their life that's the kind of life I want to live why in the world would anyone look at Jesus and dying on the cross and say that's the life I want to live that's the one I want to follow that's the faith for me why in the world would they do that but they did in droves so many people who who in the early church so many people in the old Ro Roman Empire had their lives completely transformed by the cross so that that whole old Society was changed how could that have happened why would that have happened and John stot a Christian writer puts it like this and he's doing a little historical deduction he says the fact that a cross became the Christian symbol and the Christians refused in spite of ridicule to discard it in place of something less offensive can only have one explanation it means that the centrality of the Cross originated in the mind of Jesus himself and see he's doing some historical uh deduction he's saying no human mind would look at the cross and say that's the central Paradigm that I want to live according to no one would do that and therefore the only reason why the cross became a transforming presence in the lives of so many people that had changed the world is because as John side says Jesus explained it himself on the night before he died Jesus gave his disciples the interpretation the explanation of the meaning of his death and afterward when it was all over they remembered it and they accepted it and it changed them it changed them it changed the world now where is that explanation where is that life-changing interpretation of what the Cross of Christ me means here it's here it's this message what he said to his disciples in the upper room the night and be before he died and so it's there for you too you know that if you take in what he says to them if you see what he says to them you take it in it'll change you too now there's four things he tells us about his death four things he tells us about his death which are the life-changing principles you might say the first first thing we're told is it's the center of History Jesus death is the center of History I want to be brief here but it's really fascinating what what do we mean by this the first thing Jesus told his disciples and tells us is if I'm going to tell you about the the my death I'm going to do it in the Passover see verse 15 I've so wanted to eat this Passover with you why is it that Jesus deliber Ely chooses the Passover as the moment in which he reveals the meaning of his death well what's the Passover we know this the Passover was a meal that was eaten the night before the Israelites were uh taken out of Egypt the night before the Israelites were removed were liberated by God from slavery from Egypt and the night before they were liberated from Pharaoh they ate a meal and God said to them I want you to eat this meal repeatedly every year as a Perpetual Memorial I never want you to forget this night I never want you to forget uh my how I saved you by my grace and my power and therefore this was what had been happening now for centuries that they ate the Passover meal together once a year and when Jesus you see in verse 17 Jesus gets up and he takes a cup and He blesses or he gives thanks and he begins to speak that fits in exactly with what has always what had been happening for centuries because here's how Passover me worked the presider the head of the family would get up and take a cup the first cup of wine and he would give thanks and then a question would be asked to him and the question would be usually from the youngest child there and the question would be why is tonight different from all other nights and then the presider would speak and and it would explain the meaning of the Passover and he would do so generally by expounding texts in Deuteronomy because Deuteronomy explains the meaning of the Passover so in Deuteronomy 26 for example uh he would the presider would say something like this on the basis of Deuteronomy 26 he'd say our forefathers our ancestors they were slaves but God looked upon their Affliction they suffering and then Deuteronomy 16 he would say and you see this bread this bread is the bread of our Affliction the bread of of our ancestors Affliction that they ate in the wilderness and so he explains the meaning of The Liberation and the suffering and so on so Jesus Christ picks up the cup and he opens his mouth the way it's been done for centuries but as soon as he begins to speak Jesus begins to say things that must have absolutely astonish the disciples because he says things that had never been said in any Passover before never first of all he begins to say that the meal we're eating tonight does not have reference to the Past but to the future notice he says he says I'm not going to eat this again until we eat it in the Kingdom so first of all he's talking about something that's about to happen something that's ahead but the most astounding thing he says he does not say he does not get up and say this is the bread of their Affliction that our ancestors ate in the Wilder he says no he says this is the bread of my Affliction this is my body as this bread has to be broken for you to be fed my body is going to have to be broken my life is going to have to be poured out for you to have life now when Jesus talks about his he chooses the Passover as the context for talking about his death do you know what he's saying he he's saying I mean let put it three or four ways he is saying years ago they ate a meal before God redeemed them from political and economic slavery from Egypt but tonight we eat a meal the night before God will redeem us from sin and death and evil itself all other sacrifices all other deliverances by all the other leaders is pointing to here to me I'm the ultimate Moses this is the ultimate Exodus this is the night that's the night that's different from all other nights so see when Jesus says in the middle of the Passover it's about me here's what he's saying he is saying my death tonight is the climax to which all of history has been moving this is astounding this is sounds crazy but it's the first thing you must believe about the death of Jesus if it's going to actually transform your life the way it transformed the disciples Jesus Christ says my death the cross it's the center of History that's the first thing the second thing he says is his death is not just the center of history but it's the foundation for a whole new community it's the foundation for a radically new profoundly different Community the middle part of the passage you notice is uh happens after there's this jostling because they're arguing who's going to be the greatest and Jesus said to them the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority over them are called benefactors but it shall not be so with you now what's going on Luke is the only one of the gospel writers it tells us that this arguing over who's going to be the greatest and Jesus discussion happened at the Lord's table at the Last Supper he's the only one to bring this out and here's what he's trying to say he wants us to see that the cross does not just change us as individuals it does not just give us forgiveness and happiness or peace in some just in an individual way if you understand the meaning of the Cross if the cross comes into your life it puts you in a community a radically new and different Community you haven't really understood the meaning of the Cross till that happens you haven't gotten it as it were the penny hasn't dropped you haven't really understood the meaning of the Cross if you just dropped into church every so often and you don't let the cross compel you attract you seal you into a whole new community what do we mean by that well there's three things here that we're told are marks of this community that the cross creates the cross creates a community that is an intimate family a radical society and a reverse meritocracy an intimate family a radical Society a reverse meritocracy first first thing we're told here is the cross makes creates an intimate family one thing that you kind of miss and I certainly missed it over the years reading it but it's it's it's one of those parts of the passage one of those facts about the passage it's so obvious you miss it where did people celebrate their pass over every every night every year where do you celebrate your Passover you celebrate your Passover with your family you didn't celebrate you celebrate with your family and every one of these disciples there they had fam someplace that were celebrating the Passover that night but Jesus and this is almost this is very there's audacity here Jesus has the audacity to pull every one of his disciples away from his family on Passover night and bring him into this room and celebrate the Passover with them now what does that mean the Passover is celebrated by the F head of the family gets up and and and does the presiding and the family gathers around and the youngest child says wise tonight like all other nights what is Jesus saying here's what he's saying and it's pretty radical he says if you understand the cross you will find that the cross does not just make you a member of a club that all have the same beliefs but it puts you into a family everyone else who has understands the cross you have a intimate family relationship with or let me put it like this what makes the family bond so strong is not really blood the reason why your brothers your sisters you know the reason why people that you're in the same family with you you feel this great strong bond to is not just because of blood my own my sister for example has five children two are adopted three biological and there's no difference there because what makes them feel like family is the experience it's not the blood they just they it's so they've been so proundly changed because they had had so much common experience they've lived in the same rooms they've lived in the same homes they' lived in the same places they have the same geography the same experiences the same experiences of father and mother and so on they had so much of the same experience that when you grow up as different as you may end up being the person you were raised with there's so much common experience that you feel a bond Jesus is saying here here by pulling the disciples out like this Jesus is saying that as strong as that Bond can be from all that common experience the experience of the Cross is greater or put it this way when you grasp the cross of Jesus Christ it creates it puts you into an experience it's an experience it's such a radical identity change that the commonality you feel with anyone else who's had that experience is deeper than the commonality you will feel with someone you were raised with if the other person who believes in the cross has nothing else in common with you different race different income different politics different econ economics different doesn't matter you have the basis for a deeper Unity with anyone else has experienced the the cross of Jesus Christ that you do with someone you were raised with and that's what he's saying he's saying there's is when you become a Christian when the cross becomes the center of your life you will be sealed in if you come to understand what the cross means into an intimate family that's the first thing but secondly it's not just warm relationships the cross doesn't just create a family of warm relationships the second thing Jesus tells us is he gives them a kingdom which means he's making the community that's created by the cross is not just a warm family but an alternate Human Society you see they have this argument right and what does Jesus say very very important it's actually he's really saying you are a counterculture he says the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in Authority cover over them are called benefactors but it shall not be so with you now the word benefactors is a very important word here and uh for us as English readers it doesn't doesn't hit us but it is very important because what the benefactors is the patronage system of the Greco Roman society Greco Roman society ran on a patronage system and what this me meant was the people higher up in the social order social economic order would give help to people lower down but it was only help that paid off if you had a benefactor who helped you you owed them the rest of your life you owed them political favors you owed them perks you owed them support you owe them favors uh that's the way it worked now Jesus says that's how the world works and it does benefactors here's how the world works I help people I relate to people but the ones that will pay off for me I help people I relate to people I hang out with people but I only relate hang out with people when there's a payoff for me I want to I I want the most powerful people I want the status people I want the beautiful people I want the smart people as much as possible because that helps me and Jesus says when the cross comes into your life that absolutely normal instinctive way of sorting through people and choosing some for relationships and rejecting for others is gone gone gone he says it shall not be so with you other people help and relate to those with a payoff I want you to love people indiscriminately I don't want you to love people for your sake I want you to love them for their sake for Love's sake indiscriminately it should M whether whether or not there's a payoff and that's the reason why when he says I'm giving you a kingdom man what he is saying at this point is he's saying I don't just just want you to have warm relationships do you realize the cross will so radically change you that a community of people that have the cross in the center of their lives will be an alternate human society in which so socioeconomic status means virtually nothing you leave it at the door power recognition status money those things don't control you this would be it's comp what a new different radically different Human Society this would be and the cross does that it creates an intimate family it creates a radical society and last of all the cross creates a reverse meritocracy a reverse meritocracy what do you mean by that look at the very end of the passage Jesus turns to the ultimate leader of this church this new community that he's building he turns to uh to the person who's going to be we know is going to be the the high leader of this whole group of people Simon Peter and what does he do does he turn to Simon Peter and say Simon Simon you know why I'm going to use you to strengthen the Brethren you know why you're going to be the one that is going to be the strengthener the the the leader because your record is so impeccable because your performance is so Flawless that's why I've chosen you to be a leader like everyone else that's the way the rest of the world is only the best to be leaders of the Christian Community no that's not exactly what he says he says Simon Simon you're going to fail me tonight the cowardice the self-absorption the weakness the lack of integrity at the foundations of your life will be laid bare for everyone to see including you and you see when you when you live a life like that when you do selfish Deeds when you look out for yourself to save your own skin and trample on the needs of others which is really what Peter's going to do tonight Jesus tells us here you play into the evil force field that pervades the world that aids and abets people in selfish unjust behavior and that when you give yourself to that kind of behavior you give yourself to those evil forces and the leader of that evil force Satan Jesus says Peter Satan's going to want to have you he's going to demand his rights to you but I will not let you go I will hold on to you and when you turn again here it is listen look at this you see where it says when you turn again when you repent strengthen the Brethren you're going to be the leader see look this is what Jesus is saying out there in the world who are the leaders the biggest successes here in my community who are the leaders the biggest repenters out in the world who are the leaders the people with with the best record in my community who are the leaders the people who' have messed up the most but who've repented and thrown them El on the grace of God and look let me give you a little bit of math a little bit of chemistry a little bit of chemistry failure thrown into a vat of repentance and Reliance on the grace of God will turn that failure to Gold it will turn your failure to wisdom it will turn your failure to compassion it will turn your failure to self- knowledge and understanding it will make you a leader at least a leader in this kind of community there's never been a community like this and Jesus says the cross creates it Jesus was the most influential man to ever walk the earth and his story has been told in hundreds of different ways can anything more be said about him in his book Jesus the king Tim Keller Journeys through the gospel of Mark to reveal how the life of Jesus helps us make sense of Our Lives DrKeller shows us how the story of Jesus is at once Cosmic historical and personal calling each of us to look a new at our relationship with God Jesus the king is our thank you for your gift to help gospel and Life share the transforming Love Of Christ with people all over the world so request your copy today at gospeland life.

com that's gospel and life. com now here's DrKeller with the remainder of today's teaching so first the cross is the center of History my death he says it's the center of History secondly my death is the found foundation for a whole new community thirdly though my death the third thing he tells us is so important is my death is the solution to the mystery Center of History foundation for community and the solution to the great mystery now what is the great mystery well let's look at this there's a modern version as well as an ancient version of this mystery it has to do with this big word sin Let me give you the ancient version of the mystery the ancient version of the mystery is the Passover itself remember we said that the the that the main course of the Passover was the lamb why a lamb well here's the history go back into the book of Exodus go back to the original Passover and here's the problem the Israelites were slaves they were being killed they were being enslaved they were being oppressed by Pharaoh God says to Pharaoh let them go stop your tyranny stop your oppression stop your murder and Pharaoh says no no no no finally God comes to Moses and he says tonight one place one spot I'm going to send my angel of Justice I'm going to bring judgment down on Egypt I'm going to bring judgment down on their oppression and Injustice tonight one spot one night the angel of Eternal Justice will come down but my Justice is just my Justice is fair there's no Prejudice to it there's there there you see there there's no favoritism and that means that everyone in Egypt will be subject to Justice not just the Egyptians Moses not just the Egyptians every Israelite household will also be judged do they live up to the law of God do they live up do they love their neighbors of themselves do they live up to their own standards and the fact is that every human being every family on the face of the Earth the answer to that is no no no one can pass Justice no one can pass judgment so Mo so Moses God says the only way the Israelites will survive this night is if every family takes a lamb a little wor furry lamb and kills it and eats it and puts the blood on the door and if the blood is on the door when the angel of Justice comes it'll pass it over and you'll be saved and you know what God is saying here what it's amazing what God is saying is what will save you tonight not being Jewish see it's not a racist thing God's God's salvation is not racial it you know you won't be saved but because being Jewish in fact there's one place where he says if an Israelite is found outside out ofd doors if there's an Israelite that's found outside tonight not taking shelter under the blood of the Lamb his life is forfeit H so you won't be saved by being Jewish you you won't be saved by having the right religion versus the wrong religion you'll only be saved through faith in the provision of the substitute you'll only be saved by Faithfully taking your shelter under the blood of the Lamb it's the only way but if you do justice will pass by because your debt to Justice will be paid okay that's the story that's why the lamb is the is the uh uh the main course but doesn't that leave him major huge mystery boy it sure does it's a huge mystery what's the mystery well there's an intellectual mystery and there's an emotional mystery of this lamb here's the intellectual mystery I mean surely some of you already thought about it why in the world would the death of a a furry little animal satisfy Eternal Justice and there's an emotional side to it too of all the of all the animals chosen to show how God Saves why a land I mean why not find let's find couldn't we find an animal that you want to kill like a wild boar you know you know and and you know and and the fangs and all that and they come after you and they're trying to bite you you just kill it kill it I mean you know everybody wants to kill a wild board but a lamb why would God choose the most pathetic heart-wrenching possibility you know uh there is nothing nothing more pathetic than a a furry little animal crushed or dying I never never forget when we were moving a couch and our little kitten accidentally got stuck underneath it and we crushed its leg and it weled and it cried and it came running across the the uh the uh the floor you know limping and you know my son Jonathan and my wife Kathy got in the car to take her to the to the uh to the animal hospital and Jonathan was crying saying I wish it had been me and uh and Kathy says I wish it been you too you're on the insurance and I was extremely and and just there's I I can remember I can I'll never forget it's been years ago now it was so unbelievably pathetic why would God choose the most heart-wrenching the most gut-wrenching the most get to your heart possible sight of a of a of a sacrifice well years later you know there was a hint there was a hint I know this is a mystery what what the mystery of the Passover years later Jesus Christ gets up at a Passover and it's the weirdest Passover in history because there's the wine right we see the two cups of wine or there's more than two but we see the cups of wine secondly there's the unleavened bread but Jesus never gives them the main course there's no main course you know some people say well maybe Luke was just you know Luke is very spare in his uh you know his uh you know narrative and maybe he just left it out but Matthew leaves it out and Mark leaves it out they all leave it out oh no no no oh no no it's startling here's the point this is astounding there's the wine there's the unleavened bread there's no Lamb on the table because the Lamb of God was at the table when Jesus Christ says this is the blood of the New Covenant the word covenant is a relational word a covenant is a binding intimate relationship and he says do you remember the first time you're able to enter into a loving Covenant a loving relationship with God in and and justice was turned aside was because of the blood of the lamb but I am the ultimate Lamb of God it's no the answer is the blood of those little woolly animals did not pay for sin all those animals are pointing to me and why am I a lamb now you're beginning to get just the slightest you know why not a wild boar not why not a bull why not a cow why a lamb you're getting just in the slightest dimmest way we understand something of the cost of God the father in letting his son die for our sin he's the apple of God's eye he is the jewel of his heart he is his own firstborn but because Jesus Christ died our sins were put away well you know what that doesn't satisfy the average New Yorker that's the ancient version of this mystery but there's a modern version because the average New Yorker and I know this because I talk to them all the time says you know this is a part of this is the part of the Christianity I just don't get why all the blood why all the goop why all the gore why is all this necessary why can't God just forgive if God wants to forgive that's fine isn't he a forgiving God why doesn't he just say I forgive you why all this if you were here three or four weeks ago when we talked about forgiveness you have a leg up but let me give you the answer if someone really wrongs you really wrongs you really hurts you really betrays you you we talked about this about a month ago there's only two things you can do the first thing is you can just resent and hate the person just hate them resent them and you know what happens then the evil that was done to you passes into you the evil wins if you hate them you become hard you become cold you become disillusioned and all sorts of things we we traced that out about a month ago so the one thing is if somebody really wrongs you you can hate them the other thing and the only other thing you can do is forgive them but just try it just try just saying I forgive you oh yes why can't God just say I forgive you you try it if someone wrongs you and if you say well I somebody wronged me and I forgave them it was no big deal then they didn't really wrong you you know if someone has really hurt you really wronged you really really betrayed you just try saying I forgive you and go home and you'll see it didn't happen because words is not the currency of forgiveness as it were words is not the currency of forgiveness let me tell you how you have to forgive if you're going to forgive someone when you want to see them pay but you forgive you refrain from hurting them you refrain from harming them you refrain from Vengeance you even refrain from thinking bad thoughts about them ill will in your heart you refrain from gossiping you refrain from slandering them you refrain from carving their up their reputation with others we talked about all this you refrain and you know what that hurts that's Agony that's s suffering it is an emotional fact of life that you cannot forgive without suffering yourself you know here's where it's weird if someone wrongs you if somebody wrongs you and you hate them you'll suffer but in the process evil wins it it it beats you and if you try to forgive them you'll suffer too but in that case you beat out evil you triumph over evil but either way you suffer the only way to forgive somebody is to refrain and to stop and and it hurts and it's Agony you know why because the currency of forgiveness is not words it's Nails Thorns blood tears sweat and so here's where we stand if you and I as fallible weak IM imperfect human beings if you and I can't even forgive without suffering how in the world is God going to forgive us listen if someone wrongs you you know there's a debt and either they pay it or you pay it right how much more would that be the case with God think of all the crimes we've done against each other think of all the crimes we've done against God there is a debt and there's only two things God can do with it he can hate us or he can forgive us but if he's going to forgive us he will have to pay the debt himself he will have to suffer and he did because you see Jesus Christ is man therefore he can suffer and die but because he's God his suffering and death pays for our sin and that's the mystery that's the solution to the mystery there's an ancient form there's a modern form and by the way it's also a solution to another mystery how does the cross really turn you into a person that can have this kind of love and Community remember what we said we said Jesus says I will not have you working on the patronage system I will not have you being benefactors he says here's how people in the world work they see two people out there here's one who's beautiful smart powerful here's one that's ugly dumb and weak who do you want to sit next to I mean after all you know you come in and you see these two kinds of people in New York they're sitting in here who do you sit near who do you want to relate to who do you want to help he says people in the world they have to go toward the folks that give them payoff he says I don't want you to be like that well I mean how do you avoid it and here's why because inside don't you have a problem isn't there an inner emptiness isn't there an inner doubt why do you hang out with the smart people because you don't want to feel dumb and you're afraid you might be why do you hang out with with why do you hang out with the powerful people because you don't want to feel weak and you know you are well there's only one way to solve this and now we know Jesus says look in order to feel powerful in order to feel brilliant in order to feel beautiful you need to seek out the be seek out the most powerful the most beautiful the most brilliant the highest the most magnificent person in the universe seek him out and experience his love and then and only then will you finally be free to no longer be mercenary in your other relationships mercenary in other words in other relationships you'll be a to be indiscriminate you won't have to say well I need to give a relationship over there because then it makes me feel better about myself you won't need to do that anymore you won't need to pay off no more because the ultimate Beauty the ultimate brilliant the ultimate powerful person loves you and you know what where does that happen look at verse 16 at the very top it says and he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you you know that word earnestly desired the English translators no matter how hard they try they're not going to be able to get it across in English he literally says here with desire I have desired this that's a Semitic doubling which gets across intensity of emotion but actually the word desired the Greek word desired that he uses is the word epithemia which is often translated in the New Testament lust and you know what he's saying here's what he's saying he's saying you have no idea how much I love you you have no idea how much my heart is bursting with love for you you have no idea what I'm about to do for you you have no idea the depths of my love the height of my love the width of my love the length of my love but you will when you find out the meaning of the my death you will when you finally understand what I did for you on the cross and when you find that out then you'll be different then you'll be totally changed then it'll come in you'll be full and you won't have to be mercenary you won't need payoff you won't need it that is a solution to how the cross turns you into a person that creates this radical new community now there's the three things there's just a fourth number one what about his death it's the center of History it's the foundation for a new community it's the solution for the great mystery that is sin and last of all it is appropriated personally now why did Jesus Christ choose as the ultimate symbol of his death a meal a meal why well first of all it's because a meal has to be personally appropriated you know you can look at a a table filled with food and say yep that's a great cake that's a great stake yep that's wonderful this and that's wonderful that and you know what no nutritional value to believing in it no nutritional value to praising it not a bit you could starve to death doing that and in the same way you can believe in the cross and believe in Jesus died for your sin in some general way but have you personally appropriated it have you stepped out on faith have you said God I'm going to base my relationship with you not on save me not because of what I have done but because what Jesus done on the cross have you personally made it your own have you said he did this for me and I'm going to live my life on the basis of that so first of all it's it has to be personally apprpriate and has to be continually appropriated that's the other thing about a meal when Jesus Christ says my death is like a meal here's what he's saying he is saying uh you know it's not enough just to have one meal is it you can't say well I had this great meal in 1970 haven't needed to eat since uh-uh still picking it out of my teeth it's pretty good no I don't think so you're going to die you have to keep eating and here's what Jesus says do this in remembrance of me what does that mean remember literally means it is your job to continually take what I did for you on the cross and put it into the center of your Consciousness remember remake it part of your life stick it in the center in other words Jesus is calling you to think out and live out the implications and the ramifications of the cross in every area of your life think is there anybody here who's haunted by their past you just can't get over the past something you did some terrible failure that you did the cross wipes that out you know the old hymn well may the accuser Roar of things that I have done I know them all and thousands more Jehovah knoweth none why the cross have you brought it in the center are you are you continually reappropriate it personally here's another are some of you going through some suffering right now amazing suffering and you're mad and you're saying I don't see what God how God could bring anything it out of this well imagine how many people were sitting around the cross as Jesus Christ the most wonderful man had ever that they ever knew was dying and they looked up imagine people saying I don't see how God could bring anything good out of this and lost their faith looking at the cross which is the most incredible thing that God ever did for the human race and they may have lost their faith because they couldn't work it into their little their little categories their little mind their little understanding this is one of the reasons here's how the average person looks at suffering they say because I can't think of any any reason why God would let this happen therefore there can't be any reason why God would let because I can't think of any good reason for this there can't be any good reason for this oh that's logical the cross says the greatest failures and the greatest suffering could be a way for God to do something incredibly good something on the surface looks like a disaster could end up being something that's turned to gold all that is gold does not glitter not all those who wander are lost do not judge a book by its cover do not judge a circumstance by its cover do you understand the cross you see you bring the cross in or here's one last thing you bring the cross in you can handle your past you bring the cross in you can handle the suffering another thing bring a cross in and you never lose hope never notice the the future reference of this Jesus continually says I won't eat this again till I eat it with you in the Kingdom you know what he's saying he's saying this meal is just a foretaste of bliss foretaste of absolute Joy which I have secured by dying it's guaranteed so whenever you eat of the Lord's Supper think like this you remember that place in John Chapter 2 Jesus is at a wedding feast and he's surrounded by joy and he's sitting there thinking about his death I had a professor once that put it like this Jesus Christ sat in the midst of Joy sipping the coming sorrow but you know what that means for us because he died for us you know what that means now you and I can sit in the midst of incredible sorrow around us and sip the coming Joy there's always hope our bad things will turn to good our good things can never be taken from us and the best things are yet to come and when you partake of the Lord's Supper you're sipping the coming Joy because his death has secured your future secured it go and learn what this means the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin let us pray Our Father we thank you that you've told us the meaning of your son's death help us to take it into our center help us take it into the center of our Consciousness so that we can remember what he did for us and it let it let it change us tonight uh from one degree of Splendor into the next into the image of your son in whose name we pray pray amen thanks for listening to today's teaching it's our prayer that you are encouraged by it and that it equips you to apply the wisdom of God's word to your life you can find more resources from Tim Keller at gospeland life. com just subscribe to the gospel and life newsletter to receive free articles sermons devotionals and other resources again it's all at gospeland life.