The True Feast and the False

Luke 22:14-23 September 24, 2017 Pastor Chris Oswald

Audio coming soon

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Thesis The cure to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ, whose suffering and death secure eternal fellowship where all our deepest desires for affirmation are met.

Series

Luke

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

redemptive-historicalcanonicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

36 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #16

"Oswald directly applies the freedom question to the congregation, then turns specifically to teenagers. If they can identify the fear of man as a central threat to their souls now and begin making conscious decisions to seek Jesus instead of peer approval, it will be a strategic life-altering decision before the pattern becomes entrenched."

Doctrinal loci· 14 surfaced

Christology · 14 Soteriology · 13 Hamartiology · 10 Ecclesiology · 7 Anthropology · 6 Eschatology · 4 Sanctification · 4 Doxology / Worship · 3 Covenant Theology · 2 Bibliology · 1 Pastoral Theology · 1 Pneumatology · 1 Providence / Sovereignty · 1 Theology Proper · 1

Bible citations· 50

Illustrations· 1

Sunday Morning Torture personal story · unit #12 — Oswald shares his childhood experience of Sunday mornings being torture because his family struggled with the fear of man at a wealthier church. The question shifts from celebration to survival — why the fights, why the tension? The answer: unaddressed fear of man turns church attendance into painful performance.

Theological claims· 19

Sin is a false feast — bait that promises satisfaction but delivers only emptiness, sickness, and enslavement, as demonstrated throughout Scripture from Eve's original temptation to the prophets' warnings. unit #4
Worldliness operates through simultaneous seduction and fear — the world promises approval as a carrot while wielding rejection as a stick, and the disciples were caught in this dynamic. unit #6
The church has degraded from fearing martyrdom to fearing social awkwardness — we've moved from the guillotine to the fear that our neighbor might think we're weird. unit #8
Every alliance, coalition, or tribe that looks inward for hope will fail — people cannot bear the weight of being another person's source of happiness, and the fear of man is destined to break hearts. unit #9
The fear of man wastes your life by destroying what's best about you — the unique identity God created you to have in eternal worship. unit #10
The fear of man ruins your relationship with the church because you only have one place for hope — if you hope in people for satisfaction, you cannot seek God as you should. unit #11
The solution to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ crucified, bringing you into eternal relationship where all your deepest desires for affirmation are met. unit #14
This is a genuine feast featuring wine and celebration, and it is about freedom — the Passover was eaten by slaves about to be liberated, and those enslaved to the fear of man need the same urgent freedom. unit #15
This is a fellowship — Jesus breaks Passover protocol to establish a new family defined not by biological bloodline but by participation in His blood. unit #17
The biblical definition of community is participants in His blood — communion is the assembly of those who trust in the blood of Jesus as their only hope. unit #18
This relationship with Jesus isn't all it will be — even Jesus says He won't drink this wine until the kingdom comes, so faith is required because it won't always feel satisfying. unit #19
Jesus is faithful — His vow language signals He will not rest until He brings us to the fullness of the feast, making a lifetime of seeking His approval worth it. unit #20
We are profoundly forgetful, which is why Jesus commands 'Do this in remembrance of Me' — the central tenet is that we've been saved into eternal fellowship with the perfect one. unit #21
Jesus earnestly desires relationship with every person in Him — you don't need to seek approval elsewhere because the Creator of all things desires you. unit #24
Jesus has earnestly desired for thousands of years to turn people away from false feasts to share this meal of total, perfect, eternal acceptance with His people. unit #25
This feast requires a very precious, costly, pure dead thing who would not stay dead — Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection — so the feast can go on forever. unit #27
Jesus interrupts the traditional Passover liturgy, replacing the bread of Israel's affliction with His own body broken for us. unit #28
This feast has been paid for by Jesus' suffering, brokenness, blood, and betrayal — He longed with desire and paid with His life. unit #29
The feast secured by Christ's death and resurrection lasts forever. unit #34

Quotations· 6

"Be appalled and shocked at this: My people have committed two evils. They've forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns which hold no water." — Jeremiah 2 (unit #4)

"Friendship with the world is enmity with God." — James 4:4 (unit #11)

"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." — Jesus (Matthew 5) (unit #22)

"This is the bread of our affliction when we wandered in the desert." — Traditional Passover liturgy (unit #29)

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me and eat what is good. Delight yourselves in rich food." — Isaiah 55:2 (unit #30)

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." — Jesus (John 14) (unit #35)

Read it

Full transcript

30,171 characters 36 units ~34 min reading time

0 · Oswald sets the stage for a slower, more deliberate pace through Luke as the narrative approaches the crucifixion

continue in our time in Luke. The Gospels slow down as they approach the crucifixion of Jesus, and we'll slow down with them, spending more time in each chapter heretofore, here on out. You know, we're just kind of getting to know each other. I think I've been— I calculated it— I think I've preached here for about 8 months so far. You're just getting to know me. I'm just getting to know you.

1 · Oswald introduces his lifelong study of food and its biblical significance

It may surprise you to hear that I've made a lifelong hobby of studying food. Yeah, it's true. And in particular, over the past couple years, I have really become interested in what the Bible says about food as I try to get my understanding of food on pace with the Lord's. You know, God's first communication to mankind was a menu, right? The very first thing God communicates to man is, this is what's on the menu, and this is what the chef has taken off the menu. And of course, food is at the center of the fall. Man's curse involves food. By the sweat of your brow you will work for your daily bread. And almost right away, the very first trauma of this post-fall reality is two brothers arguing over food offered as sacrifices, ending with, in my imagination, Cain sneaking up behind Abel with a shovel.

2 · Oswald traces food through the patriarchal narratives (famine driving their movements), Joseph's salvation of Egypt through food management, Israel's exodus into a land of abundance, and the sacrificial system where food offerings constitute worship and covenant fellowship with Yahweh

Shortly thereafter, we see famine driving the plotline of the patriarchs. You ever notice that? All the patriarchs in the Old Testament sort of why they're going, where they're going, always seems to kind of come back to the question of whether food is there or not. Joseph, of course, saves the Jews and the Egyptian world by saving food. Israel is redeemed out of slavery into a land flowing with milk and honey. Their religion is based on offering food as sacrifices and eating those sacrifices with Yahweh. The dietary restrictions of the Old Testament world are really indispensably connected to social realities in the culture at that time and spiritual realities.

3 · Oswald rapid-fires through the Old and New Testaments showing food as a recurring plot device: Gideon on a threshing floor, Ruth gleaning, David anointed at a feast, prophets eating as commissioning, Daniel's diet, John the Baptist's locusts and honey, Peter's vision when hungry, and the consummation in the eternal feast

And then I could just go through and describe all of these particular moments in which food is a plot point or a plot device in God's story. Gideon is called while he's on a threshing floor. Ruth meets Boaz as she's looking for food. David's anointing to be king happens at a feast. His confrontation with Goliath starts because his dad tells him to bring cheese to his brothers. Several of the prophets had to eat something as part of their commission. The story of Daniel pivots around his diet, and John the Baptist came eating. Locusts and honey. The inclusion of the Gentiles happens when Peter is hungry, and the Bible ends with those in Christ feasting forever on a love beyond their time. The Bible is full of this food language, and very often food is used to describe sin.

4 · Oswald establishes the theological claim that sin functions as a false feast — bait promising satisfaction but delivering sickness, enslavement, and emptiness

Very often eating or drinking, eating and drinking, kind of in the same category, come off as a kind of false feast. A false feast, something that looks irresistible and delightful but winds up being nothing or even worse than nothing. Sin, the Bible says, is like a false feast that leaves you not only unsatisfied but often sick, right? Sometimes sin is actually referred to as bait, which is sort of the ultimate false feast. The representation of something that will satisfy that winds up enslaving. Isaiah 44:20 says that when we feast on the false feasts of sin, we feed on ashes. This thing that looks delightful winds up being completely distasteful. A deluded heart has led us astray. Hosea talks about feeding on the wind. Jeremiah 2 says, 'Be appalled and shocked at this: My people have committed two evils. They've forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns which hold no water.' Sin is often described as this sort of false feast, this idea that satisfaction is coming when it in fact does not come. In fact, Eve, And the original sin is rooted in this very idea that if she would eat X, Y, and Z, right, she would be X, Y, and Z, and it was completely a lie. It was bait. And as punishment, Adam must carry the load of working by the sweat of his brow to earn their daily bread. And the curse is placed on the serpent who loses its dragon-like body and becomes a snake to do what? Dust.

5 · Oswald pivots to Luke 22, identifying the fear of man as the specific false feast dominating the text

This role of food in Scripture and the way that food describes sin in Scripture is important for us as we approach our text today. One of the most common false feasts in Scripture is the fear of man. The fear of man. That's the sin du jour in our text today. In our text in Luke 22, you will see over and over again people fearing the rejection of other people or seeking the approval of other people. The fear of man is, in this text, a massive false feast. The communication goes like this: if you receive acceptance, approval, esteem, from the world, you will be satisfied. And it's bait. It doesn't work. Or the false feast says this: Do whatever you have to do to avoid rejection, avoid scorn, avoid slander, avoid contempt, and you'll be satisfied. Again, Jesus shows us that it's a false feast. So as we talk about this particular sin, I think it'd be important for you to see how it's integral into this text. Because I'm going to show you how this pivots into the solution that Jesus alone offers. So I want you to see that everybody in this text, everybody in Luke 22, is inordinately concerned with the approval and esteem of others, and they're inordinately fearful of the rejection of others. Everybody in this text. Judas, the chief priests. If you look at the beginning of Luke 22, it says that they were afraid of the crowd, right? Well, just a couple chapters previous, it says that those same people were motivated by the esteem they received in the marketplaces. They're afraid of the crowds, they're motivated to receive acceptance and esteem. We see the disciples arguing, I think in verse 24, about who is the greatest. They're hungry for esteem, they're hungry for approval, they're hungry to be elevated above other human beings. But a little bit later, we'll see those very same people running away for fear of rejection and condemnation and perhaps even death from the crowd.

6 · Oswald articulates the dual nature of worldliness — simultaneous seduction (the promise of approval) and fear (the threat of rejection)

You may remember, I think it was 3 Sundays ago, we talked about how there's this unique thing that happens in worldliness where we are simultaneously seduced and scared. That there's always this sort of undercurrent to our interactions with the world And very often, if you think about it, this is actually something you can see happening in real time. Essentially, if you do what we want you to, world says to you, we will give adulation, acceptance, approval, and so on and so forth. That's the carrot, right? But right behind their back is the stick. It says not only if you don't do what we want you to, We're going to come down on you. We're going to make your life really hard. The disciples were experiencing, were hearing from Jesus this common problem of being simultaneously seduced by and scared of the world. And it begins to show up in their relationship with other people, in the way they viewed other people. I say begins, it was always there.

7 · Oswald makes the direct application: everyone in this room struggles with the fear of man just as everyone in Luke 22 does — except Jesus

So I want you to see that everybody in this text struggles with the fear of man, except for Jesus. And that makes this text a very relevant text, because everybody in this room struggles with the fear of man, except for Jesus. Last week I said that the love of money is one of the most tolerated sins in our culture. And I would say that the fear of man is an even more tolerated sin in our culture and often connected to the love of money. I need you to be able to see, hopefully you do, that huge swaths of your past and present, and if God doesn't help you, your future, are motivated by the desire to be approved. By other people or to avoid rejection by other people. I need you to see that that's a huge part without Christ of every person's modus operandi.

8 · Oswald maps the fear of man on a continuum from martyrdom (guillotine) to social awkwardness, exposing how drastically the church's threshold has degraded — from fearing death for Christ to fearing social discomfort

This is the primary false feast for which most of us waste our lives. Sometimes I think there's a kind of a continuum, right? And on one hand you've got the fear of rejection and all the way on the extreme end of the fear of rejection is like a guillotine, right? It's death. We're afraid that someone would kill us for standing up for Christ, right? That's the far end of the rejection scheme. And then you bump it up a little bit, a little bit closer towards center, and maybe you're just afraid of them physically hurting you. And then you move a little bit further and you're afraid of them physically stealing from you. And then you move a little bit further toward the center and you're afraid of them verbally assaulting you. And then you move a little bit further toward the center and you're just afraid of awkwardness. Friends, do you realize how far the church has moved in their fear of rejection? We used to be afraid of guillotines, and now we're afraid that our neighbor might think we're weird.

9 · Oswald declares the fear of man a snare and bait, doomed to fail

The fear of man is a snare. It's a false feast. It's bait. And it's keeping you and holding you and hurting you more than you realize. I want you to understand that this pursuit of esteem, this pursuit of of cultural or community-based adulation is, as soon as you decide to seek it, is destined to fail. Every alliance in this text fails. For a moment, people who were simultaneously motivated by the fear of man were able to walk together for a season. But eventually, because they needed people to bring them their happiness, and because people weren't built to bring other people happiness in that way, eventually every person who trusts in another person to make them happy will turn on that person. Every coalition, every group, Every tribe that looks inward for its hope and satisfaction will fail. Friends, if this is a large piece of what motivates you, if this is a large driver of why you do life or how you do life, the clock is ticking. This isn't going to end well. You will be brokenhearted. You may be broken more than brokenhearted.

10 · Oswald escalates the cost: the fear of man doesn't just make you sick — it wastes your life by erasing what's best about you

The fear of man is a snare. It's a false feast. And the longer you sit at that table, the sicker you're going to be. Not only that, but you're going to waste your life. The most amazing thing about you is that you are an individual created by God to worship Him as a unique individual for all of eternity. When you pursue a path of conformity for the sake of approval or for fear of rejection, you eliminate the thing that's the best about you. God created you to be uniquely you in a chorus of worshipers for all of eternity. The longer you sit at the false feast of the fear of man, the less you, you are.

11 · Oswald diagnoses the fear of man's most tragic ecclesial consequence: it prevents the church from being the resting place, source of help, and place of peace God intended

One of the most tragic consequences of the fear of man is that it really screws up your relationship with the church. If you can't get over your fear of man, the church will never be the resting place it was intended to be. The source of help it was intended to be, the place of peace it was intended to be. The longer you go motivated by fear of rejection and love of esteem, the more time you waste in what could be a precious thing—the church. So many people are discouraged by the church. Disappointed by the church. And if you really peel back the layers, you'll see that what's happening, at least partially what's happening— I'll be a little careful— is that they've never learned to put away the fear of man and replace that with the fear of God. They've never learned how to have a relationship with God, and it shows up in all sorts of other areas of their life. And they are so entirely dependent on other people in an unhealthy way to make God real and true to them that we can't help but disappoint them because we're not Jesus. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. That's from the Bible. Everything I've described up to this point is simply a symptom of a larger issue. And that larger issue is that you only have one muscle, one storehouse to devote to seeking someone's approval, fearing someone's rejection. You only have one way to go. So much bandwidth. So much— one place for hope. And you will either hope in people or you will hope in God. And if you hope in people for your satisfaction, if you are motivated significantly by fear of rejection or desire for affirmation, you can't be motivated to seek God the way that you ought to be. Because that bandwidth is already occupied with another love, with another fear.

12 · Oswald shares his childhood experience of Sunday mornings being torture because his family struggled with the fear of man at a wealthier church

Friends, I grew up in a home— these sermons are recorded, and I want to honor my mom and dad, but I think they would be okay with me saying this. I grew up in a home where this was a problem. Primary, this was a big issue, the fear of man. We went to a church that was probably on the higher end, on the higher economic end, on the higher economic spectrum, and we didn't have much. I think we were the only car that pulled up into the church parking lot with the squeaking brakes and the so on and so forth. And friends, preparing to go to church on a Sunday morning was torture. Why were all the fights breaking out? Why was everybody unsettled? Why was dad upset? Why is mom on edge? What's going on? Why aren't we marching into celebration? Why aren't we walking through the Psalms of ascent? Why aren't we looking forward to this? And the answer is, if you don't have this issue in check, this is not great. This is pressure. This is pain. This is memories of people disappointing you in the past. This is grudge-holding. This is suck it up, suck it in, and act like everything's okay.

13 · Oswald reads Luke 22:14-23, the institution of the Lord's Supper, in full

We'll look at chapter 22, verse 14. 'When the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.' before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.' And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.' And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying, 'This is My body which is given for you.' Do this in remembrance of Me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, the cup that is poured out, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays Me is with Me on the table, for the Son of Man goes as it has been determined. But woe to the man by whom He is betrayed! And they began to question one another which of them it could be who was going to to do this.

14 · Oswald declares the main thesis: the solution to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ crucified

Friends, the solution to your false feast is the true feast of Jesus Christ, Him crucified to bring you into eternal relationship with Him forever, in which all of your deepest desires and needs for affirmation are met. The solution to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ. And what I want you to see this morning is that only by pulling up to that table will you ever be free of the false feast of the fear of man.

15 · Oswald unpacks the first dimension of the true feast: it is genuinely a feast (4 cups of wine, 80 days of feasting on the Jewish calendar) — God is saying that life centered on Him is abundant celebration

The first thing I want you to see, verse 14, 'When the hour came, He reclined at table and the apostles with Him.' First thing I want you to see is this is a feast. This is a feast. Originally when this was done, when the Passover began, the thing was done in a spirit of haste. You did it in a way that sort of evoked, we have to leave, we have to move out, we have to get out of here. But over the years, this became a celebration. Did you know that this feast featured 4 cups of wine? No wonder they went out singing. Afterward. I was thinking about this. 4 cups of wine. I mean, that's a serious amount of wine. I mean, I'm sure they weren't like the size of the cups that I have at home, but they weren't the size of me either. So I think it's all relative. 4 cups of wine. That's a serious amount of wine. Did you know that the Jewish calendar has over 80 days 80 days of feasting on it. 80 days of feasting on it. Friends, what's God trying to say with 4 cups of wine and 80 days of feasting? He's trying to say that if you will make Him the central figure of your life and move so as to please Him and walk in His affirmation and love, life will be a feast in all the proper senses. In the true senses. So this is a feast. This is also about freedom. He says, 'I've earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.' Because the very first time the Passover was observed, the people who ate were slaves. I sometimes will in pastoral counseling moments just go straight to the issue, kind of surprising people by my directness. Do you know? Do you feel the urgency right now of someone who is enslaved to an inferior, cruel, Master. Friends, if I'm in your kitchen right now, if I'm describing you, I want you to feel a sense of urgency. I want you to see that this has to change. That God wants it to change. I want you to know that apart from His help, you will be a slave to a cruel Not to mention fickle master. This is a feast, and this is a feast about freedom. I was reading in Numbers where the people of Israel are complaining to Moses about the conditions of their freedom, and they actually say to him, we used to eat for free in Egypt. No, you didn't! You were giving your lives.

16 · Oswald directly applies the freedom question to the congregation, then turns specifically to teenagers

Do you need to be free this morning? Do you need to be set free from this particular form of slavery? This particular bait that you've probably already gone for and now find yourself entrapped? Teenagers— let me just mention teenagers for a minute. Although I wish my son was here, he's in the nursery. I'd talk to him too. You're gonna make— this is probably, this should probably be, if you're late 20s, mid-teens, this should probably be the thing that you seek to change most earnestly in this season of life. If you can begin to see this issue as central and a threat to your soul. And begin, you're not going to win every time, but if you will begin to say, 'I don't want to be 25 or 35 or 45 and wake up in bondage to the fear of man.' If you would start to think about that right now and start to make conscious decisions to not seek the approval of others when the approval of others doesn't matter. Right? To not fear the rejection of the group when the rejection of the group doesn't matter, but instead to seek the true feast of Jesus. It'd be a pretty strategic moment in your life to make that decision. Some of you are such overachievers that I think you'll probably do it.

17 · Oswald unpacks the third dimension: this is a fellowship

So this is a feast. This is about freedom, and also this is a fellowship. Jesus actually takes the cup and passes it around. This first cup was not typically consumed that way. Everybody typically had their own cup of wine. Jesus actually says, 'Take this cup and divide it amongst yourselves.' And divide's probably not the best word. Share. Share is probably a better word right now. What Jesus is saying essentially is, everyone who partakes of this cup is in my family. This Passover meal was typically taken as a family group. It's extremely unusual to see a group of dudes in an upper room celebrating the Passover together. This was something you'd go home to do with your family, or not go home, but you'd pull your family in and do this together. Together with them. It's extremely weird to see a bunch of guys celebrating this together, but what Jesus is saying is that there is a family that moves above bloodline into His bloodline.

18 · Oswald defines biblical community over against cultural buzzwords — it is not vague relational expectations but a precise theological reality: participants in the blood of Jesus

You know, community has become quite a buzzword these days, especially among the younger hipper folks in the church. Community, community, community. Friends, often don't hear a good biblical definition for that. Hear a lot of expectations that kind of come from culture, not so much from Scripture. What's the biblical definition of a biblical community? Participants in His blood. Participants in the blood of Jesus. That's the biblical definition of community. That's what communion is. It's the assembly together to participate in and trust in the blood of Jesus as the only hope we have.

19 · Oswald does not bury the fine print: Jesus says twice He will not eat or drink this feast until the kingdom comes

So this is a fellowship. But I always want to try to make it clear. I don't want to bury the fine print. Luke 22:18 says, 'For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the vine until the Kingdom comes.' In 18, Jesus references the same thing. 'I will not drink of this wine until the kingdom comes.' I'm standing up here right now telling you to stop chasing the approval of people, stop fearing the rejection of people, and start hoping in Jesus for the affirmation you were built to have. I'm standing up here telling you that you need to turn your back on this extremely common sin and to begin to seek true meaning in a relationship with God. But I also want to stand up here and tell you that this relationship isn't all it will be. Even at this peak moment in redemptive history, when Jesus is extremely excited to have this feast with them, He has to tell them this has not been fully fulfilled. What I'm saying is you should only trust in Jesus for your hope, for your satisfaction. You should only fear God. You should only love His approval. But I don't want you to think that that's always going to feel like a bowl of warm soup. Or that that's always going to wrap you up in the blanket that you hope it will.

20 · Oswald offers pastoral realism wrapped in eschatological hope

My mom used to— we would sit there and watch TV and my mom would disappear for a minute and she would come back and she'd put blankets in the dryer and she would drop these blankets on us. It was so beautiful. I would love to tell you that that's how a relationship with Jesus feels all the time. I think some of you have far more warm blanket experiences than I do. Some of you might have less. What I want you to hear is that faith is central to trusting God, to trusting in God's approval, to seeking to obey God. Faith is central. This relationship I'm telling you to pivot to, this Feast I'm telling you to pivot to, is just getting started. You will be tempted repeatedly to say, 'But this feast over here in which I live for the world and I live for people and I seek their approval and I—' I put my hope in them. That's real. That's here. That's now. It's also false and will leave you in slavery. The thing Jesus offers isn't all the way here yet. But it's coming. And man, it will be worth it. Friends, I hope this is encouraging to you. Christian, one day it'll all be easy. Every pleasure will be godly, and every bit of godliness will be pleasurable. There'll be no gap in our perception between holiness and happiness, and it'll feel like it's supposed to feel. Here right now. God is gracious to give us beautiful moments of a foretaste of this, and I want us to seek those. But I also want you to understand that God will give you the faith to turn— and it will be a lot of faith— to turn away from seeking the approval of others and trusting in Him. He is faithful. When Jesus says, 'I won't eat of this until it's been fulfilled,' He's using biblical language of a vow. That's how people in the Bible make vows. 'I won't eat or drink until I do such and such,' or 'until I see such and such happening.' Jesus is saying, You can trust me. I will make the relationship I promised you to be all I've promised it to be. And I will make a lifetime of seeking me and my approval and resting in my approval— I will make that worth it. Jesus is faithful. He is not going to rest until we are at that feast with him in its fullness, enjoying Him forever.

21 · Oswald reminds the congregation of their forgetfulness

Next thing just to keep in mind is you are likely to forget all of this. Jesus says, 'Do this in remembrance of Me.' Why do we do the Lord's Table every day, every Sunday? Because we probably need to do it 3 times a week. We are so forgetful. Of the central tenet of our faith, and that is simply this: we have been saved into a family that will enjoy the presence of the perfect one for all time. We already have all the question marks answered. We've got all the blanks filled in. We can't see them, but we know that through what Jesus did on the cross, They're there.

22 · Oswald focuses the congregation on four words from Luke 22:15 — 'I have earnestly desired

Now, I've left out the best part on purpose. You've got to end with your best stuff. Look at v. 15. If you've heard all of this about freedom and about fellowship and about the coming fulfillment, if you've heard all of this and it did not move you, maybe this will do it. V. 15. I just want you to lock in on 4 words: 'I have earnestly desired.' I've earnestly desired. Jesus is saying, 'I have earnestly desired.' The original translation says something like— the original words say something like this: 'I have desired with desire.' The word used there carries the sense of deep longing. It's often translated as covet, It's one time translated as lust, where Jesus says in Matthew 5, 'But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.'

23 · Oswald steps out of the exposition to ask a direct pastoral question: How many of your sins are motivated by a desire to be desired? The question lands the intensity of Jesus' desire directly onto the congregation's own distorted longing for human approval

Friends, let's just pause right now. It seems like an interesting intersection of application. How many of your sins are motivated by a desire to be desired? Probably a lot.

24 · Oswald extends Jesus' earnest desire to the whole church

Jesus is saying, 'I have desired with desire to have this meal with you.' And when you stretch it all out and you apply it to the whole church, what is He saying? He's saying this meal is this relationship, this friendship, this fellowship, this freedom. Jesus has earnestly desired desired, coveted, longed for, having that relationship with every person who's in Him. You don't need to go out seeking to scratch the itch of a desire to be desired. Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things, desires you earnestly.

25 · Oswald meditates on the duration of Jesus' desire

He isn't only your freedom. He is eager to be your freedom. He isn't only your friend. He is eager to be your friend. 'I have earnestly desired.' I was thinking, how long? How long, Jesus? How long did You earnestly desire? Well, He's watched human beings leave one false feast after another for a very long time, thousands of years. He's seen them, He's seen us take the bait time and time again. He's seen us labor for food that does not satisfy. He saw sin bring a spiritual famine to the whole earth, and He's watched as we all eat dust. How long? How long has He earnestly desired to share this meal of total, perfect, complete, eternal acceptance with His people? A long time. This is an earnest and eternal longing that Jesus has had to turn people just like you, to turn you away from the false feasts, away from the stupidity of seeking hope and happiness in other people, and to Him, the one true source of joy.

26 · Oswald transitions from Jesus' earnest desire to the cost of the feast

I have earnestly desired— you know, this feast has a dark side. Every feast has a dark side. Every meal consists of something that had to die. Think about that. A feast is just a lot of dead things.

27 · Oswald declares that the true feast requires a very precious, eternal, costly, pure dead thing — but one who would not stay dead so the feast can continue forever

This feast, being the one true feast, needs to have a very precious, eternal dead thing, a very costly, pure dead thing, but a dead thing who would not stay dead so that this feast can go on forever.

28 · Oswald identifies the dark words embedded in this text of longing: 'suffer' (v

You see, buried in this, this text of Jesus longing to feast with His disciples on His provision are words like 'suffer' (v. 15) and 'broken' (v. 19). When Jesus says, 'This is My body which is broken for you,' He's interrupting, He's actually changing the script that the Passover host was supposed to use.

29 · Oswald traces the cost language through the text: 'suffer' (v

You're supposed to say in that moment when you break the bread, 'This is the bread of our affliction when we wandered in the desert.' And Jesus says, 'This is the bread of My affliction.' This feast has been paid for by an incredible amount of suffering. The word 'suffer,' verse 15. The word 'broken,' verse 19. The word 'blood,' verse 20. The word 'betrayed,' verse 22. Jesus is saying, 'I have desired with desire. I have earnestly longed. I have suffered.' I have been broken. I have bled. I have been betrayed.

30 · Oswald concludes with Isaiah 55:2, calling the congregation away from laboring for what does not satisfy

And I say to you now from Isaiah 55:2, 'Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me and eat what is good. Delight yourselves in rich food.' Friends, the cure to this false feast that honestly is ruining all the good stuff about your life is the feast Jesus prepared in His own obedience, where He offered Himself as a Lamb to take away— not only to take away your sins, and not only to bring you freedom from this bondage, but also to bring you into a feast that will last forever. He is good. He longs for you. It won't always feel that way, but there's more to come. For now, you have enough information to decide. False feast or true feast?

31 · Oswald leads the congregation in prayer, asking if they feel conviction about the fear of man

Let's pray. As we bow our heads and try to continue to hear from the Lord and to interact with the Lord, let me just guide you through some things. Do you feel a sense of conviction? Do you see this is a problem in your life? Do you see how unstable it is? It's passing. It will eventually turn on you and break your heart. It might have already happened. Lord, do You— Lord, You've promised to set us free from our captivity. Honestly, Lord, I hope that Your Holy Spirit has evoked in our hearts a clear sense of the kind of captivity that the fear of the Lord brings. Lord, if anyone here today, just maybe many people here today, Lord, just have Your finger on their hearts, they know that they're here right now, they're hearing this, they're with You, they're in agreement with You, Jesus, as we partake in the Lord's table, as we sing, as we move into discussions, both formal and informal this week about this sermon, would you do a miracle? Would you set us free? Would you give us faith to feast on you? Lord, if You don't do that, I don't know what we can do. I don't know where we go from here without that work. We are desperate, Lord, for You to set us free in this way. Please, God, give us grace. Please, Lord. Please, Lord Jesus, set us free. In your name we trust. In your name we pray. Amen.

32 · Oswald transitions from prayer to the Lord's Supper, inviting the congregation to come celebrate what Jesus has made possible

This table has received plenty of introduction. What it needs now is a time of you coming to celebrate what Jesus has made possible. Today, as you partake in this feast, I want you to really lock in on the transformation Jesus is offering you, still to this day. Come.

33 · The congregation sings two hymns during communion

[Congregation sings during communion: 'My Worth Is Not in What I Own' and 'Here Is Love']

34 · Oswald summarizes the central promise in five words: the feast that lasts forever

The feast that lasts forever.

35 · Oswald closes with John 14:1-3, shared with him by his sister

It's actually my sister that was sharing with me from John chapter 14, saying, let not your hearts be troubled. Lots of trouble in our hearts when we seek or live in the fear of man. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jul 9, 2017

Together in His Presence

We can only pursue and experience the manifest presence of God together through the church's corporate ministry, and this requires humility both to maintain unity and to properly engage in the prescribed practices through which God promises His presence.

Ephesians 4:1-16

Jul 16, 2017

Where Two or Three Take Sin Seriously

God's special presence—the ultimate privilege of the church—will be manifest when believers gather in His name with deadly seriousness about sin, which means individuals must humble themselves and expose hidden sin while the church receives the broken with grace and maintains holiness through biblical discipline.

Matthew 18:15-20

Aug 27, 2017

Sowing into Flesh or Spirit

We are always sowing into either the flesh or the Spirit, and whatever we sow we will reap in multiplied quantity—both in earthly consequences and in eternal harvest—but Christ transforms those who trust Him by giving them the Spirit to sow into and by walking with them through the consequences of past sin, turning even the harvest of corruption into the harvest of character.

Galatians 6:7-8

September 24 · This sermon

The True Feast and the False

The cure to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ, whose suffering and death secure eternal fellowship where all our deepest desires for affirmation are met.

Luke 22:14-23

Earlier in the corpus · December 24, 2017

A prior sermon on Luke 22:69

You preached this same passage — 2 Luke 22 citations in that earlier sermon. Worth re-reading before the next time this text comes around.

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

What do you notice about the desires driving each person at the table in Luke 22:14-23? What are they each hungry for—not physically, but in…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week traces the arc from sin's false feast to Christ's true feast, moving from the bondage of fear to the freedom of eternal fellowship with Jesus.

Prayer

From False Feast to True Fellowship

Father, we come before you in awe of Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to break the ancient Passover and offer His own body and blood as the…

Family table

The True Feast vs. the False Feast

This prompt invites your family to name the 'false feasts' — the things we chase for approval or acceptance — that Chris mentioned in the se…

Couples

From False Feasts to the True Feast

Where did you feel the sermon's exposure of the fear of man touch your own heart—what specific area of your life came to mind as you listene…

Memorize

Luke 22:15

This verse captures the heart of the sermon's solution: Jesus' earnest desire for fellowship with His people stands as the antidote to the fear of man that enslaves us. It grounds our worth not in human approval but in the Creator's passionate longing for our company, paid for by His suffering and secured forever.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

What do you notice about the desires driving each person at the table in Luke 22:14-23? What are they each hungry for—not physically, but in terms of what they're seeking from others?

Luke 22:14-23

→ How does Jesus' behavior at this meal contrast with what everyone else around the table seems to want?
Chris traced food and feasting language throughout Scripture—from Eve's temptation in Genesis 3 to the Passover itself. Why does the sermon keep returning to the image of a feast when talking about sin and salvation?

Genesis 3:1-6; Exodus 3:8

→ What does it mean that sin promises to satisfy us like a real feast, but only leaves us empty?
The sermon says the fear of man operates through both seduction ('I'll give you approval') and threat ('I'll reject you'). Where do you see this double movement in your own life—the carrot and the stick?
According to the sermon, how does hoping in people for affirmation and acceptance actually destroy your relationship with Jesus and with the church? What becomes impossible when your primary source of hope is human approval?

→ What would change in the way you pursue Jesus if you believed His affirmation was enough?
Jesus says in Luke 22:18 that He won't drink of the fruit of the vine again until the kingdom of God comes. The sermon calls this a 'vow'—a promise that Jesus will not rest until the feast is complete. What does it mean for your daily life that Jesus has made this promise and paid this price?

Luke 22:15-18

→ How does knowing Jesus 'earnestly desires' relationship with you—that He longs for you—reshape what you're looking for in approval and acceptance?
Jesus commands us to 'do this in remembrance of Me' because we are profoundly forgetful. What specifically do we need to remember about this meal—what is the central truth that the Supper is meant to anchor in us week after week?

Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

→ How might regularly rehearsing that truth weaken the grip of the fear of man on your heart?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week traces the arc from sin's false feast to Christ's true feast, moving from the bondage of fear to the freedom of eternal fellowship with Jesus.

Monday Genesis 3

Eve's temptation mirrors every false feast we face: the serpent seduces with the promise of wisdom and satisfaction, yet the fruit delivers shame, death, and exile from God's table. Scripture traces this pattern throughout history — the bait always gleams, but the hook always tears. We recognize this because we feel it: the world's offers promise peace but leave us fractured and enslaved.

Tuesday Luke 22:54-62

Peter's denial shows us the mechanism: he wants the warmth of the crowd's acceptance, yet fears the cold of their rejection if he confesses Jesus. The world simultaneously flatters and threatens, and caught between these forces, even a devoted disciple abandons his Lord. We see ourselves in Peter — the same dual pressure squeezes us daily, and without Christ's power, we too will deny what we know is true.

Wednesday Exodus 3:8

God's purpose for His people was always liberation into worship — He called them out of slavery not merely to survive but to bring them to a 'land flowing with milk and honey,' a place of abundance and joy. When we remain enslaved to the fear of man, we forfeit this calling: we cannot become who God designed us to be because we are constantly performing for invisible judges. Freedom in Christ restores what the fear of man steals — the capacity to be fully, authentically ourselves in worship before our Creator.

Thursday Revelation 19:9

The Scripture declares us 'blessed' when we are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb — this is the feast we've been created for, where we sit not as servants seeking approval but as the beloved bride of Christ Himself. This isn't metaphor but reality: the deepest longing of the human heart, the hunger for perfect acceptance and belonging, finds its only true satisfaction in Jesus. All other feasts are shadows of this one permanent, perfect, and eternally satisfying communion.

Friday Luke 22:1-6

Judas's bargain — trading Jesus for thirty pieces of silver — represents the ultimate choice between false feast and true: he exchanges eternal fellowship with the Son of God for temporary material gain, betraying the one who longed with fierce, costliest desire to seat him at the table of permanent belonging. Yet even Judas's betrayal cannot thwart Christ's purpose; Jesus moves forward to the cross knowing it will cost Him everything to secure this feast for us. The measure of His earnest desire is the measure of His sacrifice — He will not rest until He brings us home.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

From False Feast to True Fellowship

Father, we come before you in awe of Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to break the ancient Passover and offer His own body and blood as the cure to our deepest slavery. We confess that we, like every figure in Luke 22 except Jesus, have been enslaved to the fear of man — seeking approval as our sustenance, flinching from rejection as though it were death itself. We have feasted on the false promise that other people's affirmation could satisfy the hunger only You can fill, and we have wasted years of our lives pursuing a happiness that people were never meant to bear (Luke 22:24). Yet in the gospel we have been liberated: Christ has paid with His own suffering, brokenness, and blood to bring us into eternal fellowship where all our deepest desires for affirmation are met in Him alone (Luke 22:19–20).

Grant us grace this week to turn from the false feast and to feast genuinely on Jesus. Free us from the bondage of seeking approval from those around us, and teach us instead to seek the approval of the one who has already paid everything to have us at His table. Give us courage to live as those who belong to the perfect one, no longer enslaved to our neighbors' judgments or our peers' rejection — especially our young people, who can still choose now to anchor their identity in Christ rather than spend decades in captivity (Luke 22:15). Remind us that this feast is real, this fellowship is genuine, and this relationship with Jesus will not rest until He brings us to its fullness in the kingdom (Luke 22:18). We commit ourselves to remember, again and again, that we have been saved into eternal communion with Christ, and that is enough. To Him be all glory and our grateful allegiance.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

The True Feast vs. the False Feast

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to name the 'false feasts' — the things we chase for approval or acceptance — that Chris mentioned in the sermon. Listen for what your kids identify as most tempting, then gently connect it to Jesus' invitation to seek Him instead.

Chris talked about how we're all tempted by 'false feasts' — things that promise to make us happy or help us fit in, but actually leave us empty. What's one false feast you've noticed yourself reaching for this week? It could be trying to make someone like you, or chasing something you think will finally make you feel okay.

works for ages 8+ — younger kids can listen and offer one-word answers with help; teens and adults engage at full depth

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

From False Feasts to the True Feast

Where did you feel the sermon's exposure of the fear of man touch your own heart—what specific area of your life came to mind as you listened?
How do we, as a couple, enable or sometimes reinforce each other's pursuit of human approval rather than pointing one another toward Jesus as our true source of affirmation?
What is one specific way you'd like to pray for your spouse this week—that they would experience deeper freedom from the fear of man and greater satisfaction in Christ's approval alone?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Luke 22:15

And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.'

Why this verse: This verse captures the heart of the sermon's solution: Jesus' earnest desire for fellowship with His people stands as the antidote to the fear of man that enslaves us. It grounds our worth not in human approval but in the Creator's passionate longing for our company, paid for by His suffering and secured forever.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Together in His Presence (Ephesians 4:1-16, 2017-07-09)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/07/july-9th-2017)
- [Where Two or Three Take Sin Seriously (Matthew 18:15-20, 2017-07-16)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/07/july-16-2017)
- [Sowing into Flesh or Spirit (Galatians 6:7-8, 2017-08-27)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/08/aug-27-2017)
- [The True Feast and the False (Luke 22:14-23, 2017-09-24)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/09/sept-24-2017)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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