[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 3rd of May, 2026. If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]
Family, we observe the sacred rite of Holy Communion six or seven times a year, depending on which Sunday Easter falls. We take Communion on the first Sunday of each quarter, on Maundy Thursday, on Easter Sunday, and on Christmas Eve. Sometimes, like this year, Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday of the quarter, so we only have six times those years.
We observe Holy Communion to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. We eat the bread, His body beaten and broken for us. We drink from the cop of the new covenant, sealed by His blood.
You know all this – it’s nothing new. But did you know that our observance of Holy Communion has its origins in the last supper Jesus enjoyed on this earth with His chosen disciples? Maybe you remember me beginning the rite by saying, “On the same night in which Jesus was betrayed…”. It was at that supper that Jesus broke the bread and shared it with His friends, commanding them to eat in remembrance of Him. It was just after they ate that Jesus passed the cop of the covenant, again so that they might remember Him. And it was after that meal that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, arrested, tried, and crucified. We are also commanded to remember Him.
No, we’re not going to have Communion today. I just want us to remember that night, so long ago, that night when Jesus observed the Passover meal with His friends. All four of the Gospel writers gave us an account of that night, but the Apostle John saved the most extensive record of the events of that evening. His is also the most detailed account, focusing not only on the bread and wine part, but also on the foot washing and the general discourse and conversation of the evening.
I’d like to read just a little from John’s account as Jesus speaks with His friends for the last time in His mortal life before His resurrection. He knows His time on earth is at an end, and He wants to soften the blow a little for them, letting them, and us, know that the way is now ready, the way we can follow. Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle John recorded of the conversation between Jesus and His disciples, in the 14th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New Life Version of our Holy Bible this morning…
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled. You have put your trust in God, put your trust in Me also. 2 There are many rooms in My Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to make a place for you. 3 After I go and make a place for you, I will come back and take you with Me. Then you may be where I am. 4 You know where I am going and you know how to get there.”5 Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way to get there?” 6 Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would know My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him.”8 Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we ask.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time and you do not know Me yet? Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? What I say to you, I do not say by My own power. The Father Who lives in Me does His work through Me.11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me because of the things I do. 12 For sure, I tell you, whoever puts his trust in Me can do the things I am doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so the shining-greatness of the Father may be seen in the Son. 14 Yes, if you ask anything in My name, I will do it.15 “If you love Me, you will do what I say.”
--John 14:1-15 (NLV)
Let us pray… Father God, You sent Your Son, Your Christ, to carry out Your plan for the reconciliation of mankind. You and He both knew how it would all come down, how it would play out, how much He would have to suffer. And You had to stand by and watch, a father watching his only son beaten and executed – how horrible! And it was all for us, so that our sins would be forgiven and that we might receive salvation if we only follow Your Son, honor Him, obey Him. Sadly, Father, we don’t always give enough consideration to just what He went through for us. We struggle to carry out the mission He gave us, to obey those simple commands. Please help us be more obedient, Father, and more appreciative of His sacrifice. Remind us that we would be eternally lost had He not given of Himself for us. Help us never forget. And please help us be more like Jesus as we walk through this life. This we pray in the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In November of 1975, 75 convicts started digging a secret tunnel designed to bring them up at the other side of the wall of Saltillo Prison in northern Mexico. On April 18, 1976, guided by pure genius, they tunneled up into the nearby courtroom in which many of them had been sentenced. The surprised judges returned all 75 to jail.
Also in 1976, a man on a flight across America rose from his seat, drew a gun, and took the stewardess hostage. "Take me to Detroit," he demanded. "We're already going to Detroit," she replied. "Oh... Good", he said and sat down again.
Sometimes our sense of direction can get a tad bit skewed, a little off. Maybe that's why Jesus felt it important to let us know that He is the way. He is the direction we must go. He is the path we must follow. Otherwise, we might get lost and end up in someplace far worst that jail or prison.
Our scripture passage opens with Jesus reminding His disciples that they have trusted God, trusted in His word and promises, all their lives, so they should trust Him as well. Now we today know that Jesus is God, one of the three persons of God, but His followers were still grappling a little with that concept.
“Trust Me”, He told them, “when I tell you that I am going away soon, but I’m going so I can get things ready for you to come join Me. You know where I’m going, and You know how to get there – I’ve been telling you for quite some time now.” And of course it was Thomas who needed more detail. Leading Jesus to give the great statement of promise: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus is the way and He has made the way ready for us to be with Him forever.
And can’t you just feel His frustration when Philip blurts out, “Show us the Father”? After all this time, after all they’ve been through together, all they’ve seen Him do, all He’s told them, they still don’t quite get it. “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.”
No one can see God. God is spirit. He has no physical presence, unless He want to take one on at any given time. But people could see Jesus, touch Him, hear His voice, walk with Him, eat with Him. Jesus came to us so that we could see God. Of course, we today haven’t seen Him, not with our eyes, but we have the eyewitness accounts and we have faith, so we can believe without seeing.
And in believing, we love our Lord, so we do what He says. Right? Well, at least we try to. Don’t we?
About six months before Jesus was born into the world, another baby was born, and this one to parents well past their childbearing years. This baby was ordained and sanctified by God with a special calling in life, a very special mission. John, the Baptizer, came into this world to make the way ready for Jesus. Jesus came to make the way available to us.
Zacharias spoke to his infant son John and to those gathered at John's bris, his naming ceremony. The Apostle Luke saved for us what Zacharias said that day, in the 1st chapter of his Gospel account, verse 67 and verses 75 through 79...
67 Zacharias, the father of John, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He told what was going to happen, saying, 75 “We can be holy and right with God all the days of our life.76 “And you, my son, will be the one who speaks for the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to make the way ready for Him. 77 You will tell His people how to be saved from the punishment of sin by being forgiven of their sins. 78 Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us. 79 It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death. It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”
--Luke 1:67, 75-79 (NLV)
I think that short passage contains one of the more beautiful lines in our bible. The heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us. God loves us. He loves us so much, He wants us to be with Him forever. So He sent His Son to atone for our sin. And He sent John to prepare the way for His Son, to make the way ready.
Well Family, John did his job. Jesus set the way. Jesus is the way. Follow Him. Obey Him. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for all that You set in play to reconcile us back to You. Thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Jesus as Your Son and to accept Him as our Lord. And thank You for our bible that has all the details for us. But sometimes, Father, we tend to take Your loving kindness, Your many blessings, for granted. Too often we don’t truly appreciate what You did for us, what Your Son went through for us. Please forgive us these times, Father. Please strengthen us to stay on the path Jesus set.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your all so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be granted eternal life by our belief and obedience. Thank You for establishing the rite of Holy Communion so that we are regularly reminded of Your sacrifice on our behalf. Please help us be more observant of Your sacrifice. Help us show our love for You by doing as You command, reaching out to others as You did, sharing Your words and Your works, offering Your love. Help us carry out the mission You gave us, seeking the lost sheep and leading them to You.
Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises. Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares. Help us see though his temptations. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer. All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
