Passed Over

I have not been able to post updates lately, since I’ve missed church because of my busy schedule. But my mom took wonderful notes last week, so here is a summary of Sunday’s message.

Exodus 12:1-13 gives orders for the first Passover—an unblemished lamb, blood over the doorposts, etc. Blood was to be a distinguishing mark for the Israelites, a sign for them to remember how God had passed over them in His judgment.

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples were celebrating this Passover, as good Jews would. Jesus’ actions on that night brought an ancient Israelite custom into the realm of the New Covenant, investing it with a new meaning we can understand and identify with today.

Let us examine two main points.

1.       Spared judgment

Jesus is “The lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” His blood spares us judgment, just as the lamb’s blood saved the Israelites in Egypt. As part of this world we are born under judgment, like children of slaves born into slavery. The Good News is that we can be passed over when God’s judgment threatens. The Passover feast was a physical ritual looking ahead to the spiritual reality.

2.       The Lord brought us out of Egypt and slavery

Exodus 12:42 and 13:14-16, Jesus has delivered every Christian from bondage! Now we aren’t just given a ticket straight to Heaven, but we are spared from lives of sin and slavery.

Luke 22:14-20

We are to reenact the Passover—as we do in communion—in remembrance of Jesus. We should all remember how we were passed over, how we were delivered from judgment.

Everyone was asked to share how they were saved from bondage. We were spared judgment, but believe us, that is no guarantee that life will be perfect or that “time and chance” won’t come to all of us. But we can go back to the Lord’s Supper over and over again to remind ourselves that nothing, no matter what, can compare with being damned to an eternal Hell and being in bondage with no hope, no relationship, and no salvation. Communion helps us remember how God has passed over us.

Bread and Wine (Cracker and Juice)_2048, a photo by hoyasmeg on Flickr.