April 13, 2025
Once Again!
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
There are NO neutral encounters with God.
Luke 22:14-16 NIV
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
The Passover Seder is a meal celebrating the story of the Exodus (Israel’s deliverance from bondage, slavery, and oppression). This happens by eating symbolic foods and drinking four cups of wine in a special order.
John 13:2-4 NIV
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
John 13:5 NIV
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:6-7 NIV
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
John 13:8 NIV
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Jesus is modeling for us that everyone who wants to follow Him must first become a servant of all.
Luke 22:26-27 NIV
“But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
The four cups represent the four expressions of deliverance promised by God in Exodus 6:6–7: "I will bring you out of slavery”, "I will free/deliver you (from oppression and bondage)”, "I will redeem you”, and "I will take you as my own”.
Exodus 6:6 NIV
“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and (cup 1: before the meal) I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. (cup 2: after reading the Passover story) I will free you from being slaves to them, and (cup 3: after the meal) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”
Exodus 6:7 NIV
“(cup 4: after singing a hymn) I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”
Luke 22:17-18 NIV
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Luke 22:19 NIV
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Leaven = sin and the need to immediately get rid of it!
1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 NIV
“Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
John 6:48-50 NIV
“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.”
John 6:51 NIV
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Isaiah 53:5a NASB
But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
Isaiah 53:5b KJV
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Luke 22:20 NIV
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
To redeem means to buy back or reclaim something or someone.
Colossians 1:12-14 NIV
and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The story of the Exodus is our story!
Romans 6:17-18 NIV
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
So, what is happening when we take communion?
“(in both Baptism and Communion) God calls us into this moment or experience because he intends to do something there, but it’s not a simple act of obedience. God intends to do something. So, he asks us to obey because He intends to do something in that moment.” – John Mark Hicks
Acts 2:42 NIV
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.