I realize Facebook is dated, but one of the things I love about it is the memories that will pop up from years past. It’s generally a reminiscent moment for me.
For example, this week, as I was preparing for this sermon, I got notified that one year ago, on September 7th, our son Liam was going to preschool for his last first day.
That was a sweet day for our family. We were excited for Liam. He was eager to see his friends that he’d been in class with since he was just a few months old.
In the Bible, there are many memories that the Lord had His people establish to remember certain things. One is called the Passover. The Israelites, God’s covenant people throughout the Old Testament, celebrate it once a year. It reminded them that God is faithful and keeps His promises to deliver His people.
At the first Passover (Exodus 12), God’s people had been in slavery for a very long time in Egypt, but God had prophesied and promised to deliver them from slavery long ago when He made a covenant with Abraham.
Genesis 15:13-14
13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. 14 “However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
While Israel was in slavery, God raised up a leader, Moses, to free His people from the Egyptians. God inflicted 9 plagues on Egypt, but each time Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened – refusing to let God’s people go (see Exodus 7-10). However, God was about to deliver a 10th plague that would display His ultimate power. His 10th plague would be a righteous act of judgement to kill the firstborn throughout Egypt. But, just before inflicting His judgement on Egypt He gave His people a Memorial Day – the Passover.
The Passover had some very specific instructions (see Exodus 12). God’s people had to…
- Kill a year old male lamb without blemish
- Take the lambs blood and paint it on their doorposts and lentils of their home
- Roast the lamb
- Remove all leaven from their household
- Eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs
- Feast with their entire household
- Be dressed and ready to leave while they ate
Exodus 12:12-14
12 “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the LORD; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. 13 “The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
The Passover became a reminder each year of what God had done, what He was doing, and what He would do for His people. God is faithful to deliver His people from bondage.
Sadly, even after being delivered from Egypt, the people did not remain faithful. They sinned over and over again.
Does that sound familiar in your own life?
God delivers us from a situation. We are thankful for a season, but then a week or a month passes and we grumble about our circumstances. We are generally unable to recall the memory of God’s grace and mercy.
The Passover wasn’t just a memorial. It was also a foreshadow. A foreshadow to a better Passover. A greater delivery. The delivery from the shackles of sin and death.
About 2,000 years ago, Jesus sat with 12 men to partake of the Passover meal. Except this time, He’d leave them with something new. Something that would become our memorial as Christ-followers. Something that would become our hope for what’s to come. He would institute what we call, the Lord’s Supper.
In Luke 22:7-13, Jesus give His disciples instructions to go and prepare the Passover meal for them. Then, in verse 14 the moment Jesus had been waiting for has come. Let’s pick it up there.
Luke 22:14-15 CSB
14 When the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Jesus “fervently desired” to eat this Passover meal with His disciples. Why? Because, He was about to instill a new memorial. He was about to establish a new covenant with these men that would change the world.
Luke 22:16-18 CSB
16 “For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 “For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
While we continue to celebrate the Lord’s Supper when we gather together Jesus does not observe it as High Priest in Paradise. No, He is awaiting the day of His return when He gathers all His saints together to dwell with us forever. We will enjoy the feast of the Lamb with our Savior!
Revelation 19:9-10
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
Luke 22:19 CSB
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.“
During the Passover, this bread was likely unleavened because the Israelites did not have time to leaven the bread and let it rise. The angel of death was coming and they had to be ready to leave when God delivered them from the Egyptians. However, in other areas of Scripture, leaven represents sin (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
At the Lord’s Supper, we eat unleavened bread to remind us that Christ’s sinless body was broken for our sinful one.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Luke 22:20 CSB
20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
The wine at the Passover represented the freedom that the blood from the sacrificial lamb that covered their door posts and lentils gave them. This blood let the angel of death know that these were God’s people and to leave them unharmed. So, the angel passed over their sin. The Israelites were just as deserving of death as the Egyptians were, but God mercifully chose them as His covenant people. The people who He would dwell with. The people that He would love even when they were unloveable. Therefore, by faith, the Israelites covered their door posts and lentils with blood.
Now, Jesus is telling these Jewish men who had celebrated the Passover for decades that He was establishing something new. Something better. He was giving them a new covenant. He was foreshadowing that He would in fact be the sacrificial Lamb slain on their behalf.
- His blood would forgive their trespasses once for all.
- His blood would deliver them from the power of sin and death once for all.
- His blood would redeem their souls from eternal separation once for all.
- His blood would make them holy in God’s sight once for all.
By faith, the Israelites took Passover. They trusted that the Lord would deliver them just as He had promised.
By faith, we take the Lord’s Supper. We trust that Christ has delivered us from all our iniquities. He has set us free from sin. He has welcomed us into His family – warts and all. He doesn’t ask us to get cleaned up for Him. He asks us to trust Him and then He will clean us up by His Word, Spirit, and Church.
The Lord’s Supper reminds us what Christ did, what He is doing, and what He will do.
One more observation. Notice that Jesus did not take the Lord’s Supper alone. Notice that He did not take it with the large crowds. He took it with the disciples He chose. The Lord’s Supper is not meant to be taken alone. It’s meant to be taken with a community of believers. Non-believers can be present, but they do not partake. This is meant to build community among believers as we remember what Christ did, what He is doing, and what He will do. It give us hope!
As I shared at the beginning, this day was sweet for our family. Liam’s big smile says it all. But, to be honest, this memory was also bitter. On this day, we didn’t just celebrate, we mourned. We mourned because we were supposed to be taking two boys to their first day of preschool. Lenox would have been entering his second year of First Flight Preschool, but God had different plans for our family. We lost Lenox in a tragic drowning accident only months earlier. We were blessed to watch one boy mature, but broken to not see the other grow.
As I looked at that memory this week I did get sad, but I also got happy. However, most of all I got hopeful. Hopeful about the plans God has for Liam. Hopeful about the plans God has for our family. Hopeful about the day when I will hold Lenox once more. You see, this memory reminds me of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do. How He has been faithful, good, unchanging, kind, and merciful – even when I haven’t been. I’ve witnessed mighty acts and I’m more convinced now that our God is all-powerful. He reigns above it all. He fulfills every promise that He makes.
So, as you take this Lord’s Supper and we worship together take a moment to remind yourself what Christ has done for you, what He is doing for you, and what He will do for you.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 CSB
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
