Lord's Supper A Perspective On Passover Exdous September 2 Dec 31 2006

A Perspective On Passover

Exodus 12:1-14

Only Jesus Can Fix the World
One Sunday morning, a man woke up around 5 a.m., his wife and children still asleep. Glad to have time to himself, he went downstairs, brewed some coffee, and began to read the morning paper.Three sentences into an article, he saw his five-year-old daughter descending the stairs.

He said, "Honey, go back to bed." "But I'm not sleepy," she insisted.Determined to read his paper, he again urged her to go back to bed. Again, she told him she was not tired. Looking down at the newspaper, he conceived a plan. In the paper was a picture of the world, which he cut into several pieces. Handing his daughter some Scotch tape, he instructed her, "Go sit in the dining room, and see if you can put the world back together." His daughter accepted the challenge, and he went back to the kitchen to finish his coffee and read the paper. After only a few sips of his coffee, though, his daughter came bounding into the kitchen. "Here, Daddy, I'm finished!" she said, showing him the picture of the world put back together.Amazed, he asked, "Sweetie, how did you do that so fast?"She replied, "It was easy, Daddy. On the back side of the page was a picture of a man. When you make the man right, you make the world right."

IRONY AT THE CROSS
Only at the cross of Christ does man see fully what it is that separates him from God; yet it is here alone that he perceives that he is no longer separated from God. Nowehere else does the sacred holiness of God, the impossibility of overlooking the guilt of man stand out more plainly; but nowhere else does the limitless mercy of God, which utterly transcends all human standards, stand out more clearly and plainly.
SOURCE: Emil Brunner

   In his book Dare To Believe, Dan Baumann shared some thoughts about crucifixion that should deepen our gratitude for what the Savior did for us. He wrote, "The twentieth century has forgotten how cruel and hideous crucifixion really was. We have perhaps unwisely and sometimes unconsciously glamorized the cross. Jewelry and steeple alike are often ornamental and attractive but carry nothing of the real story of crucifixion. It was the most painful method of public death in the first century. The victim was placed on a wooden cross. Nails, undoubtedly wooden, were driven into the hands and feet of the victim, and then the cross was lifted and jarred into the ground, tearing the flesh of the crucified and racking his body with excruciating pain. Historians remind us that even the soldiers could not get used to the horrible sight, and often took strong drink to numb their senses."

It is of insurmountable comfort to realize that because of Christ's enduring everything that He did, He is supremely able :T0 identify with us and to understand all our hurts and needs.

·        Have you experienced suffering and adversity? So did Jesus.

·         Have you experienced being separated from loved ones? So did Jesus.

·         Have you experienced a broken heart? So did Jesus.

·         Have you experienced being left out, overlooked, or for­saken? So did Jesus.

·         Have you experienced physical pain? So did Jesus.

·        Have you struggled with strong temptations? So did Jesus.

·         Have you walked life's most difficult paths? So did Jesus.

Jesus went beyond what we experience in this life.

    Jesus endured 6 hours of such anguish, just for us so that we might be forgiven of all our sin!

We recognize Communion because of the significance of the Crucifixion of Christ, and the relevance of the last supper He had with His disciples before His death.

Ø      And though that particular instance took on greater meaning, there was really nothing unusual about the meal itself. It was the time for all Jews to observe Passover, which God had commanded them to do.

Ø      The Passover was merely a type and shadow of this last supper, and also of the Crucifixion and death of Christ, but was first initiated on a night of judgment, back in the land of Egypt

| The Lord spoke by Moses and Aaron, and said, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months..." |

Now I like that. Right in the middle of the year, God gives them a new beginning.

The relevance of course, has to do with our SALVATION.

Because, it doesn’t matter whether it’s June, October, or March, when you ask the Lord’s forgiveness for your sins, and the blood of Jesus touches your heart, it is right then the first moment of a brand new life for you! I thank God for a new beginning!
 

The passage reveals that for the first ten (10) days, they were to do nothing. Just prepare themselves mentally, and inwardly, for what was about to happen.

Ø      Judgment was going to fall, and only those where the blood of a lamb was applied would escape.

And it is the process of the preparation and partaking of the lamb that I want to deal with.

In this, there are five (5) specific things I want us to look at.
1. THEY WERE TO KILL THE LAMB.

This was prophetic of the death of Christ.

v     The Lamb of God has been slain, crucified for the sins of the whole world.

v     The sacrifice has been made, and the blood shed.

  A woman wrote J. Vernon McGee: "Our preacher said that on Easter Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed him back to health. What do you think?" McGee replied, "Dear Sister, beat your  preacher with a leather whip for thirty-nine heavy strokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for six hours Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for three days. Then see what happens."

2. THEY WERE TO APPLY THE BLOOD TO THE DOORPOSTS.

For man, this happens when they truly repent and ask forgiveness of their sins.

At that very moment, the blood of Jesus Christ, however it may happen, cleanses their hearts by faith, and we are set free from the judgment and wrath of God which is to come upon the world.

 The blood, therefore, must be on the door of your heart for you to escape.
3. THEY WERE TO STAY IN THE HOUSE.

I believe that we are to stay in the house of God.

…… We are to stay in fellowship with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to remain in the house.

…… We all need the house of God,

for it’s a place of sustaining substance,

of power and prayer,

of exhortation and encouragement.

We need to stay in the house!

4. THEY WERE TO EAT THE LAMB.

 This is extremely important, especially as it relates to Christ and the Church.

 We are not only to get saved, to ask forgive-ness, and have the blood applied, but we are to continue to partake of the Lamb.

 It is also very interesting to me, that, none of the lamb was to be wasted.

 Nothing was to be kept until morning. ***We, then, must consume Christ, eat and partake of His substance daily, and not let any of Him go to waste!

 I want more of Him!

 I want ALL of Him!

But notice this fifth and final thing....
5. IF THE LAMB WAS TOO MUCH FOR ONE HOUSE TO CONSUME, THEY WERE TO CALL THEIR NEIGHBOR INTO THE HOUSE AND SHARE THE LAMB.

That’s the call for us, as well.

 Jesus Christ, Who is the Lamb of God, is so vast and great, so eternally enormous, that we are to call our neighbors, sharing the slain Lamb, the atoning and preserving sacrifice!

When you look into the New Testament, and see that Jesus came to the Jews first, or, to His "own house of Israel," and

then was shared with the Gentiles,

We can see that there is no need that another sacrifice be made.

Well, when God’s Lamb was slain, He was so vast and large, that God did more than call all of Israel together.

God called together all the nations of the world to come to His Table of Grace, and partake of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world!

Whosoever will can come and eat, and partake, and feast on the Lamb of God.

And I believe that more and more people will, if we will obey the command to call our neighbors into the house!

One final note, that speaks great volumes of truth out of the text (KJV).

In v. 3 it’s "A lamb,"

In v. 4 it’s "THE lamb,"

but in v. 5 it’s "YOUR lamb."

That’s the progression of Passover.

"A" Lamb, must become "THE" Lamb, but then He must become "YOUR" Lamb.

And when A Lamb, becomes THE Lamb, that has now become YOUR Lamb,

Communion will become more significant, and you will have a new PERSPECTIVE ON PASSOVER.

  Who can estimate the value of God's gift, when He gave to the world His only begotten Son? It is something unspeakable and incomprehensible. It passes man's understanding. Two things there are which man has no arithmetic to reckon, and no line to measure. One of these things is the extent of that man's loss who loses his own soul. The other is the extent of God's gift when he gave Christ to sinners. ...Sin must indeed be exceeding sinful, when the Father must needs give His only Son to be the sinner's Friend!

   -- J. C. Ryle in Foundations of Faith. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 7.