Passover Fulfilled
We are getting ready for a trip this coming week. So today has been our “prep” day getting final arrangements completed for being gone to Orlando, Florida. We are connecting with Stephanie and Nathan and the grand kids for the next week.
Besides packing and taking care of all those things that all of a sudden seem to be important when you are gone a few days, I did have my session with my trainer. I walked 25 feet with one crutch which was a new record for me. I believe I can tell some results in just the last few sessions.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… Jesus and the apostles were sitting at the table. He said to them, “I wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer. I will not eat another Passover meal until it is given its true meaning in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:14-16 NCV
The Passover meal was the most significant feast in Israel’s history. I say that because, it is during the “Passover meal” when Jesus instituted the “Lord’s Supper.” The Lord’s Supper or communion has tied Christians together since the last meal Jesus shared with His disciples. The Passover meal was significant because Jesus told His disciples that there would be a future meal shared by Christ with His disciples when God’s kingdom comes in its fullness. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper and said, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV)
So we see that one meal, one feast in Jewish history ties the timeline of history to the exodus, the death of Christ and the return of Christ. There are some observations about the Passover that help us understand its significance.
We see that it was established and first eaten, just before the final plague, the death of the first born, came upon Egypt. It would mark the beginning of their year and the establishment of God’s people as a distinct “nation” free from slavery and moving toward God’s divine purpose and promise. In the first Passover it was the blood of the lamb on the doorposts that provided the protection from the wrath of God and allowed death to “pass over” God’s people.
We see the significance in communion, because Jesus was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the word.” It is through the blood of Christ that we are spared from the wrath of God’s judgment and by which we become “His people.” Peter declared, “You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:8 NLT)
Then we see that the Passover was a feast, a meal. It was eaten by a family and if the lamb they had was too big for the one family they were to share with others. The Passover is a community event, it is connection, it is fellowship, it is remembering and it is celebrating, it is anticipating. The event we see referenced in Revelation is called the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” (Rev. 19:9)
The Passover meal included “bitter herbs” and “unleavened bread.” The bitter herbs were a reminder of their suffering as slaves. While leaven became viewed as a type for sin. The main reason for the unleavened bread in the original Passover was that it was to be “eaten with haste” because deliverance was coming and they were to be ready.
For believers today, we realize that this life may have its trials and sufferings. But the Lord has marked a day when all of those will come to an end. Our duty is to not be bogged down and discouraged by our present circumstances because the Lord has a plan and destiny prepared for His children. We are to live in anticipation of the day when… “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15 NLT)
The “Kingdom of God” speaks deliverance from this world. It speaks of being rescued from God’s wrath by the blood of Christ, God’s lamb. It is a place of God’s rule, it is a new home for the people of God. It is a place of fellowship and communion with the Lord and God’s people forever. And all of this seen in the Passover and our celebration of the Lord’s Supper each time it is eaten.