Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Christ, Our Passover Lamb." I read from Exodus 12: 21-27 (NLT). All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the LORD will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
24 “Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever. 25 When you enter the land the LORD has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. 26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
The Death of the Firstborn was the tenth and final plague of God against Pharaoh and the land of Egypt. For Moses and the Israelites, God called this day the "Lord's Passover." As Moses relates, "For the LORD will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the LORD will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down." The Israelites were literally saved by the blood of the lamb! So important was this deliverance from death, God commanded the Israelites, "Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever." For Israelite families, this statue and ceremony became a teaching moment. As they participated in the Passover meal, the parents had an opportunity to pass on to their children the story of the salvation of the Lord. That we also are to learn something about the work of Jesus from the Lord's Passover is clear. It was John the Baptist who said of Jesus (John 1: 36 (NLT)), "Behold, the Lamb of God," and Paul, who writes to the Christians at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5: 7 (NLT)), "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us." The crux of the comparison is that we are saved from death by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We are covered by His blood through faith in Jesus Christ. As the church and family of God, we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup of blessing to remember our Savior Jesus. He suffered and died and rose from the grave to save us. While the Passover is commanded by God, Jesus asks us to remember Him. What child or guest among us does not want to know what the significance is of what we are doing. We, too, have a teaching moment to tell the story of the salvation of the Lord. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Thank-you, Abba, Father, that we are saved by the blood of Your Lamb, Jesus Christ. We are not first century Jewish Christians who are familiar with sacrifices. We have to stop and think, Abba, Father, that we are not talking about some type or symbol from the Scriptures. Your Son, Jesus, literally suffered and died on the cross, and poured out His own blood for us. That was the price of our deliverance from sin and death. He was our sacrifice. We are covered by His blood. Thank-you, Abba, Father, for saving us. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Jesus, the Lamb of God. In His name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. Please note there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!