Exodus 12:1-12, Numbers 9:1, Matthew 26:17
Audio of this message at the end of the text.
Do you ever think about the depth of our faith traditions? Today as we observe what we now call, "The Lord's Supper," let's look back at the roots of this.
Audio of this message at the end of the text.
God told the Jews who were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years that they needed to prepare to leave. God, through Moses, told the people to: find a perfect lamb on the 10th day of the month; keep it penned up until the 14th day then slaughter it; take blood from the lamb and apply it to either side and across the top of their front door; roast the lamb over an open fire; eat the meat with bread made without yeast and bitter herbs; while eating be fully dressed with sandals on and walking stick in hand; eat fast; and, burn over the fire any leftovers.
What must the Jews have been thinking of their leaders, Moses and Aaron? They were thinking, "this sounds crazy. We are slaves, we're not going anywhere. Where are we going to find a perfect lamb? There are 3 million of us that have to find a perfect lamb! Bread with no yeast tastes terrible and bitter herbs taste even more terrible." We know that Moses had been pleading with the Pharaoh to let the Jews leave and God had sent down plagues so God had the attention of the Jews and they were at least open enough to the idea that Moses knew what he was doing. So, they followed the weird set of instructions and every family that kept to the plan was spared. Remember that passover means, God "passed over" every home in Egypt. Homes without blood on the door lost their firstborn child and firstborn animals. If a home had the blood on the door, it was spared this disaster.
In verse 14 of Exodus 12 God instructs us to celebrate this mighty act of faith. So once a year the Jews celebrate Passover to remember the exact day that they were obedient to God and that they were set free from Egypt.
What are you a slave to today? What enemy has you captured? Envy, greed, addiction, jealousy, anger? You need to travel away from what has you enslaved. You need to trust God's instruction for your life even though it might not make sense to you. For about 6,000 years God has been loving us and teaching us how to realize our full potential and that only comes when we are obedient to him. This is not some fly-by-night religion we are engaged in; what we study and what we do is steeped in tradition.
In Matthew 26 we find the story of Jesus keeping the annual Passover celebration. Jesus and his disciples were observant Jews so they stopped their regular activities of healing and preaching to follow the law God put in place thousands of years before. In verses 26-29 we receive the new instruction from Jesus. From this moment forward, Jesus will be the perfect lamb, he will die and his blood will cover us and when we stand face-to-face before God we will be seen as chosen. When we choose Jesus, God chooses us. We are God's chosen people, we are new Jews, we are protected from destruction, disaster and death. The blood of Jesus washes us clean. God sees us as his perfect lambs made perfect by the blood of Jesus.
What do you choose today? Will you follow the instruction God gives us as millions have over thousands of years? Or, will you decide that you can do life just fine on your own. What do you put your trust, God or yourself?
