Last week we took our first look at the Lord’s Supper, and the goal was for us all to remember the sacrifice Jesus made every time we ate this past week. If you didn’t do that, I would encourage you to make that a priority this week. Don’t just thank God for your food, but take a moment and reflect on what Jesus did for you on the cross. Now we turn our attention to the first Passover, which you can read about in Exodus 12. This is less of an article, and more just a list of observations that I feel we often miss.
The first thing that stands out to me about this passage is that God wanted Israel to remember this event, so much so that they were to rearrange their entire calendar system around it! This goes far beyond simply observing a holiday…their entire year would begin with this feast. This shows how important, and how seriously God wanted the people of Israel to take this feast. “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ‘This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.’” (Exodus 12:1-2)
What would our worship services look like if we gave The Lord’s Supper that sort of prominence?
Next, this was a community event. Every household participated in this feast at the same time, in the same way. In addition, smaller households who couldn’t eat the entire Passover lamb by themselves were told to get together with the neighbor closest to them and share a Passover lamb. Participating in the Passover was a unifying event. All divisions were removed and the whole of Israel participated in this event together. It was a uniting experience. And this experience was not a one time event. This memorial feast was to be a permanent fixture in the lives of the Israelites. “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.” (Exodus 12:14)
Does a sense of unity come over you when we take communion? Not just with those around you, but those all over the world doing the same thing?
It also reminded the people that God had saved them because of the blood of a lamb. “Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.” (Exodus 12:22-23)
We too should live our lives like the only reason we’ve been spared is the blood of The Lamb.
There are many more connections between the Passover memorial, and what Jesus did for us on the cross. This week I encourage you to read through Exodus 12 and consider the parallels for yourself.
Read the rest of my series on this topic by using the links below:
Connections: The Passover and the Lord’s Supper – Part 1
For further reading on this subject, you can visit Jews for Jesus, or Chabad.
Living in the Word 