By Douglas K. Wilson, Ph. D.
Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Mobile
OUR ATONEMENT
Matthew 26:17–30
The Old Testament is God’s progressive special revelation of His interactions with creation — both material and immaterial, living and nonliving, sentient and nonsentient, mobile and immobile, Jews and Gentiles — through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Atonement is the redemptive work of God to restore the fellowship with Him that the creatures who bear His image have broken. New Testament terms related to atonement include propitiation (the act of making atonement) and expiation (the satisfaction of the offended party).
Our passage this week focuses on the institution of the Lord’s Supper, with Jesus inaugurating the promised new covenant (Jer. 31:31–34) and completing the Passover as the Lamb of God (1 Cor. 5:7; John 1:29, 36).
In order to receive a fuller picture of the events of that night, the Bible student would benefit from a harmony of the gospel accounts.
The reader would do well to read The NIV Harmony of the Gospels (Thomas and Gundry) or the CSB Harmony of the Gospels (Cox and Easley).
Coming Betrayal (17–25)
Go where Jesus tells you to go. The Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place over seven days, beginning with Nisan 15.
Jesus and His disciples were not from Jerusalem, so they needed to find a place to celebrate Passover together. Jesus already knew the details, but He sent the disciples to go to prepare the place.
Say what Jesus tells you to say. Not only did Jesus send them to a specific location, but He also told them what to say when they arrived. This seems simple enough: Go to a certain place and speak to a certain man.
Do what Jesus tells you to do. The disciples did what He sent them to do. They went to the place, and they spoke to the man. Mission accomplished.
This is probably the greatest challenge believers face today. We know where Jesus is sending us. We know what we are supposed to say. The problem is in the doing. This is why James writes that we must be doers and not hearers only (James 1:22–25).
One among them was not a disciple. Judas went with them, and he may have spoken when they arrived. He participated in the meal, yet his heart was not in following Jesus.
Instead, he was willing to sell Jesus’ freedom for the price of a slave — 30 pieces of silver. Judas knew it, Jesus knew it and by night’s end, the rest of the disciples would know it.
Coming Atonement (26–30)
Take and eat. Jesus gave new meaning to the Passover celebration. He was the sinless Lamb (1 Pet. 1:19) who was sacrificed to protect believers from eternal death.
Every time Christians eat the bread in the Lord’s Supper, we are declaring, “By faith, I have received the broken body of Jesus on my account. I trust Jesus alone to save me.”
Drink from it. Once again, Jesus redefined the focus in the Passover. Rather than looking back to Egypt, now believers would look back to the shed blood of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promised new covenant.
Do this in remembrance of Me. When we take the cup, we say, “By faith, I have received the blood that Jesus shed as the means of my cleansing.”
The broken body and shed blood of Jesus are the entry fee into the Kingdom. Thank you, Jesus!
EDITOR’S NOTE — The Sunday School lesson outlines are provided by Lifeway.
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