Today in our series on God’s timeless call, we’re going to look at the promise in the Passover. There’s nothing like a meal, a family traditional meal that kind of brings out all the dynamics in a family. Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you seen this picture before? This is by the American artist Norman Rockwell. For decades, The front covers of the Saturday Evening Post. This one is called Freedom From Want. It’s quite a profound picture, but it’s also kind of an iconic Thanksgiving meal. You know what I mean? And can you kind of picture you and your family around that same kind of table? Family meals are like that on a holiday are very special. I remember one in the Matheson family. Uh, back in the, in the late 80s, as my wife and I, we had just been married, it was our first Christmas together and we were going to host. the Matheson Christmas Eve dinner. My folks were back from Africa. We hadn’t seen them for five years. Uh, there are missionaries there. My brother and sister was with us and I was with the church plant in California at the time. And after our Christmas Eve service, mom and my brother went off to the grocery store to pick up this wonderful meal that she had ordered. The rest of us were home waiting. When on the way home, my mom’s kind of like, Hold it, wait a minute here. This turkey is frozen solid. She thought she had ordered a cooked meal for the family and we were ready for that. Oh, I mean, thankfully we laughed about it and I think we ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken or something like that. But it was, it made for a memory and an iconic family meal. What is the iconic Christian meal? Family meal. Our church family meal. It’s not lenten soup suppers, great as they are. It’s not the church basement ladies dinner here with this image. You’ve, some of you maybe heard about this with, complete with red jello.
No, that’s not the iconic quintessential church meal. It’s communion. Communion, the feast of the lamb that we come to every time we partake. of communion together. So we’re going to look at the origins of communion and how that goes all the way back to the Passover in the Old Testament, reaches to Jesus and the upper room, and then to us today, every time we come together. So if you have your Bibles or devices, I invite you to turn to Exodus chapter 12. I’m going to read some different sections here, but starting at verse 1. This is the original Passover, the culmination of 10 plagues that eventually result in God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Amen. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. And on to verse 5. The animals you choose must be year old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the 14th day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night, they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. This is how you are to eat it, with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals. And I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is the day you are to commemorate. Amen. For the generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord, a lasting ordinance. This is the word of the Lord. Join me as I lead us in a prayer. Father in heaven, we come to you now, in the name of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb. Come Holy Spirit, and enliven our hearts to hear your words afresh, to see your salvation anew, and to be strengthened in our faith. I ask in Jesus precious name. Amen. I’m gonna give you my sermon in one sentence. But you’re not gonna get off that easy, I’m still gonna preach it. Okay? Here it is. I believe that what the Passover is to the Old Testament, Jesus is to the New Testament. And we today continue to live in that salvation narrative and plan that God ordained all the way from creation. Amen.
God’s timeless call. Have you ever asked yourself, why do we hold communion so often? Why is it such a central piece of our worship practices? Why do we, why do we return to the bread and the cup over and over? It’s not just tradition. It is not just ritual. It’s a story. that spans centuries from the creation of the world through the Old Testament to the cross of Christ and reaches to you and to me today. Today we are diving into the story in Exodus 12 and also Hebrews 9 that Fred read for us. We’re going to connect the Passover, the blood of the paschal, the Passover lamb, to the blood of Christ, the paschal lamb. that seals our salvation. This is the story of God’s deliverance then and now, even today. So first, the Passover is the pivotal event for deliverance from slavery. I mean, in understanding this profound connection between Passover and communion, it’s essential to recognize Passover as a foundational deliverance event in the history of God’s people. A pivotal moment being delivered from physical and spiritual bondage. In our text in Exodus 12, we encounter the Israelites after centuries of brutal enslavement in Egypt. Their cries for liberation echo through the generations, reaching the ears of God. We’re now ten plagues in. God is acting decisively in deliverance. So God instructs his people to select a lamb, as our text said, a lamb from each household, a lamb without defect. The Israelites were commanded to smear the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. And it’s really an act of obedience as a sign for the angel of death to then pass over their homes, sparing their firstborn from the plague that God was striking on Egypt. This blood is really both a literal protection From physical death and a profound symbol of spiritual salvation. It identifies the Israelites as God’s chosen people, protected by his timeless call, his covenant. Echoes of it back in the garden. We talked about it where it was given to Abraham. Joseph lived it, and now we get to see it happen in the Passover.
There’s this yeastless, unleavened bread, prepared in haste, emphasizing the urgency and the readiness required for their departure. Then there’s the meal itself. The Passover, it was instituted as a covenantal meal, meaning a practice to be remembered and celebrated by future generations. It was designed to be an enduring reminder of God’s faithfulness and His power to save. And then there’s the actual deliverance itself, a brutal deliverance. dark night in Egypt. God’s deliverance through the Passover, it was multifaceted. It secured the Israelites freedom from Egyptian slavery, but it also brought about a broader spiritual liberation from sin and death. The blood of the Lamb signified not just protection from physical harm, but the assurance of eternal life through God’s plan of salvation. So now comes the turn in this message. And it’s this, that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover. You gotta get this. Building on the foundational significance of Passover as a deliverance event, the New Testament introduces a profound transformation of this tradition through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Luke 22, during the celebration of Passover, what we call the Last Supper, Jesus redefines the Passover, establishing a new covenant. That shifts the focus from the Old Testament sacrificial system over and over again to Christ’s once for all sacrifice. The Last Supper, it takes place as part of their celebration of the Jewish festival of Passover, a time when the Jews indeed commemorated their ancestors liberation from Egypt. And yet Jesus intentionally chooses to share this significant meal with his disciples, signaling the importance. of what he was about to do. And by choosing this context, we get to see that Jesus aligns his mission with the themes of the Passover, preparing his followers for a new understanding of salvation.
So Jesus takes the bread. He gives thanks. He breaks it and declares, This is my body given for you. And this act connects the unleavened bread of Passover Passover. with that of his own body, showing that his physical sacrifice is the foundation of the new covenant. And then he takes the cup saying, this is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you. The wine traditionally representing joy, as well as the blood of that Passover lamb. It’s redefined as the blood of Jesus Christ, the Paschal lamb, highlighting the establishment of a new and an everlasting covenant between God, the humankind. Jesus is actually presenting himself as the ultimate Passover lamb. In Exodus 12, the lamb’s blood protected the Israelites from the plague of the firstborn death, providing God’s deliverance. Jesus fulfills this role as the ultimate Passover lamb. His sinless life and sacrificial and substitutionary death provides protection and deliverance for us from the ultimate plague of sin and death.
John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the lamb of God who takes away The sin of the world. And in 1 Corinthians Paul writes, For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. In the book of Hebrews, I encourage you this week, in part of your God time, if not, In God’s Word, read the book of Hebrews. It elaborates on the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over the Old Testament’s sacrificial system. Uh, it says in, uh, chapter 9, verse 12, He, that’s Jesus, did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most holy place, Once for all, by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. This contrasts the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament with the singular, perfect sacrifice of Christ. While the Passover provided temporary physical liberation, Jesus sacrifice offers everlasting. spiritual freedom. And this new covenant, it’s based on grace, what God has done, not on what we do, not adhering to the law, but it provides a permanent solution to humanity’s separation from God, by God himself bearing our sin, paying the death penalty on the cross, that we might be freed from that death sentence, liberated and granted new life. And now, through communion, we partake in that remembrance of Jesus sacrifice. 1 Corinthians 11 records Jesus instructing his disciples to do this in remembrance of me, linking this act directly to the Last Supper and, by extension, to the Passover meal. Jesus sacrifice not only delivers us from sin, but grants us a new identity as children of God, marked by his blood. It’s what we just heard in our liturgy worship today, that to those who believe in Jesus Christ, He gives the power. to become the children of God. In this identity, it’s characterized by freedom and righteousness, God’s righteousness, eternal life. So for us today, communion is our direct connection to God’s plan of salvation. It’s our direct connection to God’s over arcing plan of redemption. This sacrament, it transcends time, linking us to God. Intimately, with the divine narrative, the divine purpose and intent that began long before our existence, but continues to unfold in and through us today. From the Passover in Egypt to the Last Supper, each communion experience today showcases God’s deliberate strategy for salvation. And by partaking in communion, we connect with that narrative that spans generations from Israel’s liberation to Christ’s sacrifice, and now to our experience as his people. Communion embodies this ongoing reality. Of Christ’s sacrifices. It bridges the past with the present and defines our future, allowing us to experience and live out the fullness of salvation today.
Hebrews nine 14 says, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works and why to serve the living God so Christ sacrifice actively purifies. and empowers us, making salvation a living experience for us. And communion also transforms us from observers to participants in God’s mission. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11, For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, get this, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. In other words, communion serves as a catalyst for living out our faith dynamically. Communion is a means of grace. It sanctifies us, reflecting God’s transformative power. Communion offers moments for personal reflection and repentance that fosters spiritual growth, as well as builds community bonds among us as God’s people and his church family. And it empowers us to serve others with humility, and courage, and compassion. In short, I’d say communion embodies God’s covenant. This timeless call from Eden, through Abraham and the patriarchs, to the Passover, to Jesus sacrifice on the cross. And for us here, for all Christians today, communion invites us to actively participate in God’s eternal plan of redemption, and and restoration and it strengthens our commitment to live according to his promises. Now it would be ideal to celebrate communion today, wouldn’t it? We’re going to do that next week and there’s going to be more teaching on communion next weekend. But for us today, I pray that whenever you prepare your heart for communion, I invite you to see the bread in the cup, perhaps in a new, in a new way. Let it remind you of the Passover and God’s promise to redeem and deliver his people. And then let it remind you of Christ’s sacrifice and the new covenant poured out for you in his blood. And perhaps, just as importantly, let it connect you with God’s unbroken plan, which began in the garden, passed through Egypt, fulfilled on the cross, and continues in your life. Even this very day. Join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your Son, the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world and established a new covenant of grace. As we reflect on your eternal plan of salvation, may our hearts be filled with gratitude. May our faith be renewed every time we partake in communion and strengthen us even this day to live in the freedom and love that you have secured for us. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name I pray, Amen.
