Sermon Mark 14:12-25 - The Law of God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
Sermon Mark 14:12-25 - The Law of God
March 8, 2009


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Today is the second Sunday in the season of Lent and we have already started on our way with Jesus to the cross with the Gospel of Mark leading us. We saw last week how the High Priests and scribes wanted to arrest and kill Jesus, and how one of Jesus’ followers, Judas, decided to help them after being disillusioned with Jesus who had started on the road to the cross after being anointed for death in Bethany. Today we will gather with the 12 as they eat a last supper with Jesus and our confronted with the reality of Jesus’ upcoming death.

But before we do these things please pray with me. Father in heaven, show us how we have offended you by breaking your law. Convict us of the seriousness of our actions and omissions. Wash us clean by the blood of Jesus. And teach us to live our lives as forgiven sinners. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, our Lord, our rock, and our redeemer.

You have probably noticed that we have been saying the Ten Commandments in worship each week during Lent. And some of you have been wondering why we say them after the Prayer of Confession and the Assurance of Pardon. Wouldn’t the Ten Commandments make more sense if we said them before the Prayer of Confession to convict ourselves as sinners with our need for forgiveness? Of shouldn’t we place the Ten Commandments at the end of the service where they would be a warning to us that if we did not keep them in the coming week we could expect God’s wrath to come upon us? Why worry about the law after we have confessed and have been forgiven; isn’t that too late? Others may be wondering why we say the Ten Commandments at all. Aren’t they in the Old Testament? We are not a people of the law anymore. We are a people of the new covenant of grace; graciously forgiven by God. So why are we worrying about God’s law anyway?

All of these questions are reasonable. And they can be answered with the understanding of how God’s law is used. Accord to John Calvin (Institutes II-VII-6-12) there are three uses of the law. First, the law exhibits God’s righteousness and by comparison we fall short. Through this we realize that we are sinners in need of forgiving God. With this use we are convicted of our sin and humbled ready to confess and receive the grace of God. To use the law in this way in worship we would say the Ten Commandments before the Prayer of Confession so that we would realize the reality of our sinful nature and willingly fall on our knees in prayer.

The second use of the law, according to Calvin, is to teach people what God requires and the consequences of disobedience. This is especially useful when teaching children so that they learn what God expects and develop appropriate attitudes and behaviors. It also helps us to repent, amend our lives, and cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit in restoring God’s image within us. To use the law in this way I would preach on the Ten Commandment telling you concrete ways that you could live lives pleasing to God.

The third and final use of the law is that it helps to enable the forgiven and restored believers to have knowledge of what the will of God is for them each day. This helps believers to conform their lives to the wishes of God. In this way the law becomes an instrument of God’s grace helping believers to lead holy lives. To use the law in this way we would recite it with joy after hearing of how God has graciously forgiven our sins and offers us the opportunity to start over with new lives. This is why I have put the Ten Commandments after the Assurance of Pardon to help you to know what God expects of you as his forgiven children.

Jesus used the law in all three of these ways in today scripture.
Mark 14:12-25 12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 13 So he sent two of his disciples, saying 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 owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." 16 So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

17 When it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." 19 They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?" 20 He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."

22 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24 He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Today’s reading is divided into three episodes. In the first episode Jesus commands two of his disciples to go into Jerusalem, find a man with a water jar, follow him into a house, ask the owner a question, find the room, and prepare the Passover meal. Jesus is using law as a way of teaching the disciple what he wants them to do. The disciples now know what Jesus wants and can either obey or disobey the law. In this instance they obeyed the law by doing exactly what Jesus wanted them to do. Jesus was using the law as a teaching tool, Calvin’s second use of the law.

But in the second episode the scene shifts to the Passover dinner and there Jesus uses the law in a very different way. During dinner Jesus informed his disciples that one of them was going to betray him. Of course we have already heard of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus to the authorities. Certainly this was what Jesus was talking about. But only Jesus and Judas knew that. All of the others began a self examination to determine if they too were capable of betraying Jesus. Each one was worried that Jesus was talking about him. So Jesus was using the law to convict each of his disciples of their sin, humbling them to the point of confession and repentance in preparation for what was to follow. Jesus was convicting the disciples of their sin, Calvin’s first use of the law.

The third episode is a scene most familiar to us. We repeat it each month as we gather around this table for the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The twelve disciples have gathered around the table with Jesus. Here Jesus explained his death. Just as bread can be torn in two so too will Jesus’ body be torn in his crucifixion. And just as wine is poured from a pitcher into a cup, so too will Jesus’ blood be poured on the ground in his death. And just as the bread and wine our symbols of the death of Jesus Christ, so too will his death be a symbol of the covenant between God and us. In this covenant God promises to forgive us all of our sins though the death of his son, and give us new life in the kingdom of God. It is in this new life, free from sin, where we have the strong desire to obey God. God’s law for us is a great blessing because it tells us how to lead our new, forgiven, and restored lives; the way God wants us to live them. Therefore the covenant that Jesus proclaimed at the Lord’s Supper paved the way for Calvin’s third use of the law as a joyous response to the grace of God.

So where do we fit in all of this? We need to use God’s law in all three ways. The law should humble us because it shows us how far we fall short of what God expects of us. We were created in the image of God, free from sin and enjoying the fruits of the tree of life, but as a result of sin our very nature has been corrupted; the image of God in us has been defaced. We deserve punishment for our disobedience. We therefore have a need to approach God and ask for forgiveness. And we satisfy this need by coming to church and confessing our sins before God. In church, while truly sorry for what we have done, we humbly open ourselves to God’s instructions teaching us what God expects of us. Then when we received God’s grace and the full forgiveness of sin through the death of Jesus Christ, we express our great joy by desiring to obey God and by living according to God’s laws.

Lord Jesus we are grateful for the sacrifice you made for us. In your death on the cross, your body was broken and your blood spilled to the ground. Through this all of our sins have been forgiven. You have offered us new lives in your kingdom, which we joyfully accept. And we now desire to follow you and obey God will. So we thank you for the law which blesses us with the knowledge of what God requires of us. In great joy we praise you! Amen.