Passion Week Thursday - Passover and the Lord’s Supper
As the Jews celebrated the Passover, they would recall the vivid events of the first one, recorded in Exodus 12. From the 10th to the 14th day of that first month, each household kept and cared for their own spotless lamb. At sunset on the 14th day, every family in Israel killed the lamb that they had cared for and smeared its blood on their doorposts and doorstep. They roasted and ate its meat along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
That evening, the LORD would pass through the land of Egypt and carry out His judgment by striking down all the firstborn men and beast in the land of Egypt. As the Egyptians faced the fury of the wrath of God, the Israelites would grasp that they had been spared because they were covered by the blood of the spotless lamb that was sacrificed. Through His gracious provision, God’s wrath had “passed over” them.
The Israelites were commanded to celebrate the Passover so that they would not forget what God had done to spare them from His judgment and bring them out of Egypt, and they were to respond with hearts of praise and gratitude.
In Matthew 27:17-29, shortly before his death, Jesus celebrated a final Passover with his disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Israelites were spared from God’s wrath on that day because of the death and blood of a spotless lamb, but through Jesus’ death and shed blood those who trust in him are completely forgiven forever. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
As Jesus prepared the disciples for his death, he called to them to take the bread and drink of the cup together in remembrance of him until he returned. We are also called to remember our hope in the gospel and to praise God for His glory and goodness. We’re so prone to forget but there is so much to rejoice in and celebrate.
As we prepare to celebrate Good Friday and Easter, remember and worshipfully recall the gospel and your salvation. Consider God’s holiness, your sin and the hope you have in Christ. He humbled himself to walk upon the very earth that was created through him and for him.
He didn’t arrive in a king’s carriage but was born in a feeding trough. He didn’t demand praise at that time, but came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. He lived the perfect life that we could never live, and as he endured rejection and insult from those that should have praised him. He humbled himself to die the death that we deserve to die, to bear the justice demanded by God for our sin.
Do you remember, recall and rejoice in the gospel? Do you consider God’s goodness to you made possible only through Christ’s life, death and resurrection? If this is your hope, are you turning from sin, turning to God and clinging to your crucified, risen, and exalted Savior as your King, hope and treasure?
