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THE MESSAGE OF JESUS’ DEATH
A. Introduction: In our current series we are looking at something that happened at the Last Supper, Jesus’
final meal with His twelve apostles, the night before He was crucified.
1, Anyone who has been involved in any type of Christian church (be it protestant or Catholic) is
familiar with what Jesus did that night, because it developed into what Christians call the Lord’s
Supper or communion, and is still practiced today.
a. Luke 22:19—And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is
My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me (NKJV). And He took the cup,
and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “All of you drink from it. For this is My blood of
the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt 26:27-28, NKJV).
b. We are taking time to talk about what happened that night at that last meal in the hope that
communion will become for each of us, more than simply a ritual or ceremony that we practice
at our particular church from time to time. It will deepen our relationship with the Lord.
2. To help us reach this goal, we’re considering what Jesus’ actions meant to the twelve men who sat at
the table with Him that night, as well as how what He did fits into God’s overall plan for mankind.
a. The twelve apostles were all Jewish men whose world view was shaped by the Bible (what we
call the Old Testament). Because they believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, these men
would have interpreted everything Jesus said and did in terms of what the Scriptures said.
b. The Scriptures reveal the big picture, or God’s plan for man. God created human beings to
become His sons and daughters through faith in Him. However, sin has disqualified all of us
from God’s family. Jesus (God Incarnate) came into this world to die as a sacrifice for sin, and
open the way for all who believe in Him to be restored to the family through faith in Him.
1. When Jesus offered His apostles bread and wine that night at the table, telling them that my
body is given for you and my blood is shed for you, they didn’t realize that Jesus meant He
was going to offer Himself as a sacrifice for their sin.
2. When Jesus called His blood the blood of the new covenant, He meant that His sacrifice
would usher in a new relationship between God and man, one in which sins are remitted
(wiped out), and God indwells all who believe on Him by His Spirit and life. They didn’t
realize that this new covenant would restore them to God’s family as His literal sons.
3. Once Jesus returned to Heaven following His death and resurrection, the first Christians continued to
partake of the bread and the wine meal. Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7
a. We don’t have a lot of details about the procedures they followed. But Paul the apostle gives us
some insight in an epistle that he wrote to Christians living in the Greek city of Corinth.
b. Paul was not an original apostle, so he wasn’t at the Last Supper. He got his information later
from the resurrected Lord Jesus and interaction with the apostles. Acts 26:15-16; Acts 9:27-28
c. Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians to address problems that they were having—one of which
was how they behaved when they ate the Lord’s Supper.
1. Paul reminded them: For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass on to you just as I
received it. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my
blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it” (I Cor 11:24-25, NLT).
2. Paul said: I Cor 11:26—For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are
announcing (proclaiming) the Lord’s death until he comes again (NLT); you are retelling the
message of the Lord’s death, that He died for you. Do this until he comes again (TLB).

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4. In this lesson we’re going to consider the message of Jesus’ death. This is the message: Through
His death, Jesus opened the way for men and women to receive eternal life through union with God.
In doing so, He showed His wisdom, love, and power.
B. Death is not part of God’s plan for man. The Lord not create any living thing to die (human beings,
animals, plants). Death is present in this world because of sin, going back to Adam, the first man.
1. The Bible mentions two trees in the Garden of Eden, God’s original home for Adam and Eve—the
tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen 2:9
a. Had the two eaten from the tree of life, it would have been an expression of submission to God
and united them to eternal life, the life in God. Eating from other tree was an expression of
independence from God and cut them off from the life in God. And they died. Gen 2:17
b. Death is bigger than physical death. Death, in its fullest expression, is separation from God who
is life. That’s the first thing that happened to Adam and Eve. Physical death came later.
Gen 3:22-24; Gen 5:5
1. Because Adam was the head of the human race and earth’s first steward, his actions affected
both the race resident in him and the earth itself (which was meant to be the family home).
2. Rom 5:12—When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death
throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned (TLB).
3. All pain, suffering, hardship, and loss is in this world because of sin (not necessarily your sin,
but Adam’s). Every problem in this world is a lesser form of death.
c. Jesus came to this world to abolish death and bring eternal life: Our Savior Jesus… abolished
death and brough life and immortality to light through the gospel (II Tim 1:9-10, NKJV).
1. To abolish death means to open the way to God who is life: Christ…died for sinners that he
might bring us safely home to God (I Pet 3:18, NLT).
2. To abolish death means that Jesus will eventually raise dead bodies from the grave so that
God’s family can live on earth again, once it is renewed and restored. John 5:28-29
3. To abolish death means ultimate and complete deliverance from all lesser forms of death,
some in this life, most in the life to come—no more sorrow, pain, or loss. Rev 21:1-5
2. In the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion some Gentiles (Greek converts) who came to Jerusalem
to worship during Passover, asked Philip (Jesus’ apostle) if they could meet Jesus. John 12:20-22
a. When Philip spoke to Jesus, He used another word picture to describe who He is and what He
has come to do. Remember, while on earth, Jesus used a number of word pictures to help us
understand how He, the Infinite, Eternal, Almighty God, interacts with finite human beings.
1. Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life. When we eat bread, the nutrients are assimilated
into our body and become life-giving nourishment. When we believe in Jesus and His
sacrifice, He becomes our life. John 6:35
2. Jesus called Himself the Vine and believers branches, depicting union and shared life: I am
the Vine, you are the branches. Those that remain united to me while I remain united to
them are those who bear fruit (outward evidence of life) plentifully (John 15:5, 20th Cent).
3. Jesus said that He gives living water to those who believe in Him, and those who believe on
Him will have rivers of living water (the Holy Spirit) flow from within. John 7:37-39
b. When Jesus addressed the Gentiles and His disciples, He Jesus compared His upcoming death to
a seed being planted in the ground.
1. John 12:23-24—The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. The truth is,
a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies, it will be alone—a single seed.
But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives (NLT).
2. The glory of a seed is the abundance it produces after it dies, after is it planted in the ground.

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Jesus’s one death will open the way to life for multitudes who believe in Him. God the
Father offered up one Son and gained multiple sons and daughters.
c. Jesus knew the agony that awaited Him as His death approached, but He saw beyond it. He
knew that His death would provide a great harvest of both Jews and Gentiles. Paul wrote:
1. I Cor 15:20-21—But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become
the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. So you see, just as death
came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun
through another man, Christ (NLT).
2. I Cor 15:22—Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all
who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life (NLT).
3. I Cor 15:45—The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But
the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit (NLT).
3. God wants His family back, the family He created in Adam and lost to sin. Motivated by love, the
Lord devised a way to recover His family. Almighty God gave His only Son to gain many sons.
a. Jesus incarnated (took on a human nature) so He could die as a sacrifice for sin, remove it from
His family, and bring life to all who believe in Him. He offered Himself as the final, once for
all sacrifice so He could deliver the family from every form of death and give them His life.
1. Heb 2:14-15—Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus
also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could
he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death.
Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of
dying (NLT).
2. Heb 2:9-10—Yes, by God’s grace Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world… Through
the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, one fit to bring (his children) into their
salvation (NLT).
3. Heb 10:14—Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever…By his one sacrifice
he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God (CEV).
b. Paul the apostle, making reference to the sacrifices carried out by the Jewish people to cover
their sins before Jesus came, wrote: Under the law (of Moses) almost everything is purified by
blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:22, ESV).
1. Jesus’ death was a means to an end. Through His death Jesus cleansed us from the guilt of
sin and opened the way to eternal life.
2. Eternal life is not live forever life. No one ceases to exist at physical death. Every human
being will live forever. The only question is where—with God or separated from Him.
A. Eternal life means resurrection from the dead. Eternal life means the uncreated life in
God Himself, God indwelling those who believes on Him, by His Spirit. I John 5:11-12
B. I John 4:15—All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and
they live in God (NLT
1. God’s indwelling life (eternal life) makes us His sons and daughters through a new
birth when we believe on Jesus. John 1:12-13
2. God is in by His Spirit to deliver us from the power of sin and begin a process of
restoration that will fully restore us to everything God intended us to be before sin
damaged the family. Rom 8:29-30
3. Col 1:20-22—(Christ) has reconciled everything to himself…by means of his blood on the
Cross. You were God’s enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet
now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross,
in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and

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you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (NLT).
A. Rom 5:10—If, while we were his enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by dying for us,
surely now that we are reconciled, we may be perfectly certain of our salvation through
his living in us (J.B. Phillips).
B. Rom 5:10—For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved
[daily delivered from sin’s dominion] through His [resurrection] life (Amp).
C. Conclusion: What is the message of Jesus’ death? What are we remembering and proclaiming when
we eat the bread and drink the wine of communion?
1, We are proclaiming the brilliance of God’s plan for mankind, exalting His wisdom and power. The
Second Person of the Godhead, God the Son, incarnated and offered Himself as a sacrifice for our
sin, died, was buried, and then rose up from the grave. That’s the gospel, the good news.
a. Jesus joined God’s lost family in death to bring the family out of death. He defeated mankind’s
greatest enemy—death. I Cor 15:57—How we thank God who gives us victory over sin and
death through Jesus Christ our Lord (NLT).
b. The Lord actually used mankind’s greatest problem (trapped in death due to the guilt and power
of sin) to solve the problem. By dying for our sin, Jesus broke the Devil’s hold on humanity for
all those who acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord (lessons for another day).
1. I Cor 1:18—For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved, it is the power of God (NKJV); I Cor 1:24—To those who are called
Christ (is) the power of God and the wisdom of God (NKJV).
2. I Cor 2:7-8—The wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God, which was hidden in
former times, though he made it for our benefit before the world began. But the rulers of
this world have not understood it; if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious
Lord (NLT).
2. We are proclaiming God’s great love for His family. He wants His family back. Jesus came to
seek and save God’s lost family. He willingly laid down His life for God’s lost sons and daughters.
a. The Lord’s death is the supreme demonstration of his love for us. Rom 5:8—But God showed
His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (NLT).
b. I John 4:9-10—God showed us how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so
that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but
that he loved us, and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins (NLT).
c. At the Last Supper Jesus said: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:13-5, NLT).
3. Why did Jesus tell us to remember and proclaim that His body was broken and His blood was shed
for us? Because there are constant challenges to it.
a. Our circumstances, emotions, and thoughts give us contrary information. Because of the pain
and hardships life, it can look and feel as though God doesn’t even know our name—let alone
love me enough to help for me. We must call to mind (remember) what He has done for us.
b. Communion is a visible reminder of God’s love for us, of the fact that we do have a future and a
hope, a purpose that is bigger than this life, and that ultimately every loss and pain will be
reversed.
4. We have more to say next week. But consider one more thought as we close. When we take
communion, we’re proclaiming our belief in the fact that Jesus will return to complete God’s plan of
salvation and redemption. He will renew and restore the family home (this earth), and establish His
visible, eternal kingdom here—Heaven on earth (lessons for another day).