The Lords Supper

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The name Passover recalls the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex. 12:1–13:16). God sent His angel to kill all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians in order to persuade Pharaoh to let His people go. Hebrew families were instructed to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on the doorpost of their house as a signal to God that His angel should “pass over” them during the judgment.

Passover was observed on the fourteenth day of the first month, Abib (March-April), with the service beginning in the evening (Lev. 23:6). It was on the evening of this day that Israel left Egypt in haste. Unleavened bread was used in the celebration as a reminder that the people had no time to leaven their bread before they ate their final meal as slaves in Egypt.

In New Testament times, Passover became a pilgrim festival. Large numbers gathered in Jerusalem to observe the annual celebration. Thus an unusually large crowd was on hand to take part in the events surrounding Jesus’ entry into the city (Luke 19:37–39) and His arrest, trial, and crucifixion (23:18, 27, 35, 48). Apparently many stayed on until the Feast of Pentecost, when they heard Peter’s persuasive sermon (Acts 2:1–41).

Like the blood of the lambs which saved the Hebrews from destruction in Egypt, the blood of Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, saves us from the power of sin and death.

In celebrating His final Passover meal, Jesus ate food that was highly symbolic. See Matt. 26:19.

22:19 The eucharistic words of Jesus are easily understood. The disciples knew that Jesus spoke metaphorically of the bread as His body and the fruit of the vine as His blood. The literal presence of Jesus was evident. The supper would serve as a memorial that God Himself secured man’s redemption, through the suffering of the incarnate Christ (the bread) and the shedding of His blood (the cup), in vicarious atonement (cf. 1 Cor. 11:23, note).

22:20 This is the “new covenant” because it is a covenant of grace and forgiveness based on the shed blood of Jesus (Jer. 31:31).

“In remembrance” (22:17–19). These words in Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper harken back to the O.T. concept of zikkaron. The word, translated “memorial,” or “remembrance,” indicated a festival or practice or object intended as a link for future generations with a distinctive act of God. Through the zikkaron God’s people sensed their personal participation, along with the original generation, in the act God performed for them.

Thus, the Lord’s Supper is a unique institution or sacrament. In observing it we are drawn back into history and realize that we truly were there at the Cross. What Jesus did then echoes throughout history, as real today as in the 1st century, for we appropriate by faith all that Jesus accomplished in giving His body and blood for our sakes.

Christ our Passover sacrificed for us” (1Co 5:7)

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