The Passover Lamb

I’ve shared this before, I grew up at a church that did not really celebrate the Lord’s Supper well. I love that church and I learned so many things from it. But every church has its strengths and weaknesses, and I would say this was one of their weaknesses, that they did not really celebrate communion well. So when I went to college, I went to a couple different churches to see how they celebrated communion. And some did it better than others, but even for those who said they took it seriously, there was really something missing. On the one hand, in some churches, it kind of becomes ceremony for the sake of ceremony. And on the other hand, it kind of becomes something that we know we have to do because Jesus told us to do it, but it’s kind of like the appendix of the church, like just an add-on, so we’re not going to worry about it too much. So that has really spurred me on int he last few years to say, “Well, wait a minute, it is more than a ceremony. It’s not the ceremony that makes it special. It is a vivid dramatic portrayal of the gospel, and it is filled with God’s Word, and through the Word in the communion meal, we are brought into the very presence of Jesus Christ and we receive him into our souls. There is something incredibly holy about the moment of communion. ANd it’s not an appendix, but rather it is at the ehart of the Christian service. I’ve said this many times before, if you want to think of the sermon as teh brain of the church service, it relays information and it teaches. But communion is the heart, and it pumps blood carrying oxygen far and wide. Now, all of this is a little bit of an introduction, but, one of hte htings that I began to appreciate as I studied communion deeper are some deep and profound connections to the Passover in teh book of Exodus. In fact, I came across this idea this week that was helpful, if the Lord’s Supper is the last supper, well the passover meal is the first supper. That the Passover is the prototype for our celebration of communion. So today we’re kind of merging our sermon and communion reflection. ANd I want to show you seven big connections to the Passover. Seven connections between the Lord’s Supper and the Passover meal.

1. At Communion we take hold of the atonement (12:1-13)

The Spotless Lamb (12:1-6): First, you should notice that at the Passover, they were commanded to take a spotless lamb. The lamb is not to have any kind of blemish, no kind of mark, no defect in it. Now, there’s to be a lamb for each family that less than a year old. ANd if there is af amily that doe snot have a lamb, remember these are slaves, then they are to bunch up. The reason for this is to show that there should be no body without an excuse. There is to be nobody who cannot be saved by teh lamb.

The Blood on the doorpost (7): Now, this detail is very important. They are to take some of the blood and to put it on their doorposts. They are to take the blood of the spotless lamb and cover the entry to their home with it. Only the spotless atonement can save them. Only the blood of an unblemished lamb will give them salvation. Only a perfectly pure sacrificial substitute will bring salvation. This is directly connected to the description of the altar and the ark of the covenant later in the book, where the priest would sprinkle the blood at the base of the altar.

The Atonement meal (8-11): Then they are to eat the meal with bitter herbs. Why bitter herbs? Because it is an atonement. It is meant to make them reflect on their sins. It is meant to make them realize how bitter this is. But they are also to eat it. One of the often neglected details of Biblical sacrifice is that after the sacrifice was slain, after the lamb or the bull or the goat or the dove took the place, that either the sinner or the priest or both would eat it. Why? To show that they were at peace. You don’t eat a meal with someone that you are enemies with. You don’t eat a meal with someone that you despise. You don’t eat a meal in open hostility. In the same way, they would eat the sacrifice before God because they were at peace with him. To show that they were at peace and reconciled. Sacrifice leads to reconciliation, sacrifice leads to redemption.

Saved by Grace (12-13): And God promises that he will pass over every house that has the blood on the doorpost. What is going on here is that God passes over those houses that are atoned for, that have the blood on the doorpost. The Israelites were saved not because of how good they were, not because of how righteous they were, not because of how smart they were. God saved the Israelites by grace alone. It is purely by his grace that the angel of death passes over. THe Israelites were as sinful as the Pharisees.

Taking hold of the atonement: What we see in all this is a presciription to take hold of the atonement. That’s really what they were doing in the Passover meal. They were taking a spotless lamb. They were taking the blood. They were eating the meal. they were saved by grace. They were taking hold of it, believeing in it, having faith. That is exactly what faiht is. It is to reach out and take hold, to cleave or grasp onto it. And it is this “taking hold” that perfectly describes communion in the New Testament. So Jesus says in … There we see all the same elements of the atonement, Jesus Christ is himself the spotless lamb, who, as the gospel of John says, takes awya the sins of the world, Jesus pours out hsi blood for our sins, sprinkling himself over our doorpost, Jesus says feast on me. Eat me, because you are now at peace with God. I am your peace-meal. In communion we take hold of the atonement.

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2. At Communion we feast on the bread of life (12:14-20)

Week of unleavened bread (14-19): We see in this next portion that they are to celebrate what is known as the feast of unleavened bread. Now, there is a great deal of emphasis here on the fact that this is to take place for seven days. So for seven days following the passover, they were to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread. And the reason that you see this “seven” come up again and again like 3 or 4 times is because 7 is the number of perfection in the Hebrew numerical system. 7 means wholeness, or completeness, or perfection.

Unleavened: Secondly, you will notice that it is supposed to be unleavened. That means that it is to be without yeast, so that it does not rise. The reason for this is that they would not have had tiem to let the bread rise. WIthout modern baking methods, it could take a long time for bread to rise. But if there is no leaven in it, then it is ready a lot faster. So they could eat it, and whatever they would not ahve been able to eat, they could bring with them on the journey. This was to be bread that was supposed to sustain them for their journey.

Manna: Now, what is interesting is that just like the passover lamb pointed forward to the atonement of the tabernacle, so this unleavened bread points forward to the manna that Israel will later receive in the desert. And so we see here in this bread an inherent promise of God to sustain them in the desert. This bread for them is a symbol of God’s provision, God’s sustenance, God’s supernatural intervention that is coming to nourish them in the desert.

Bread of Life: This too points us forward to God’s saving work on their behalf. In … At communion, we like the Israelites are eating the unleavened bread, the bread of life that will sustain us in teh wilderness. But the bread that we have is nothing else than Christ himself. We feast on him and are nourished by him and receive him and grow through him. He is the one who sustains us, he is the one nourishes us, he is the one who carries us through the wilderness. We not only take hold of the atonement, but we feast on the bread of life.

3. At Communion we celebrate as a community (12:21-28)

Sons and Children: now we see in this that this is mainly a repetition of God’s instructions earlier in the chapter about the atonement. So much of this section is just reiterating what God has already said. But there is one crucial distinction. We see, starting in vs. 24, that God emphasizes again and again and again the element of “sons” and children. That the Passover is not for one Isaraelite, it was for all Israelites. God instructed Israel that the Passover would be carried on from one generation to the next. The Passover was to be a community event, it was to be a place where the whole people was to celebrate as one body. Passover was to be celebrated as a community meal.

1 Corinthians: Now, we see that the communion meal in the New Testament was meant to be exactly the same thing. After all, Paul says this in … So what was happening was some of the people would come to church early and think, “hey first come first serve,” and they would drink all the communion wine and eat all the communion bread ahead of time so by the time other people got there, there wasn’t anything left for them. Now Paul’s point is that this is totally antithetical to the whole nature of communion, because at communion, we are to eat it together as one body, in unison. The communion table is meant to be a time of great unity in the church.

It takes a Church to raise a Christian: Now you have heard me say it before, and I will say it again. It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a churhc to raise a Christian. You cannot do the Christian life alone. you cannot turn on a sermon on your phone while you’re doing eosmething and say that you ahve gotten your spiritual fill for the week. There is something that happens when we gather together as one body to take communion that you cannot replicate at home, you can only have it here with us as a church body.

Intergenerational Church: You will notice too how incredibly important it was for the passover that there were intergenerations. That there were many generations that were taking the bread and wine alongside one another. IN our day and age, this is absolutely powerful that the church gives osmething that culture does not. At communion, we shine brightly because we have young and old together in teh same pew taking hte same meal. that is powerful.

Parents and children: And I just have to say this, and believe me, I am saying this iwht all the pastoral sensitivity that I can. If you are a parent of a child, you need to know that it is your responsibility to make sure your children understand htis is what is happening. You are to pass this on to the next generation. That you need to do everything in your power to get them to church. Now, maybe you say, “Well, wait a minute, my kids don’t want to come to church.” And I understand that, and I emphathize with that, but your kids don’t want to eat vegetables either, and you still make them do that, don’t you? That’s why you’re the parent and they’re the kid. Now, I know when I say this, I ahve to also say, there is only so much you can do as a parent once your child leaves the house, right? There is only so much you cna do to force your kids, out of the house, and so when they leave, you push, and you beg, but you just don’t have teh ability to demand anymore. So just know, that God sees that, and GOd knows, and God has compassion. And so don’t stop praying, don’t stop pushing, don’t stop begging, but you need to let God be the Holy SPirit. I also know that for some of you, when you hear me say this, maybe looking back on your life, you think that htis is an area where you could have done better, and looking back on your life, you see that this was a missed opportunity for your kids. That you didn’t insist on them going to church, you didn’t force them to, and you didn’t make them do that. And If that is you, you need to know two things. First, you might want to think about apologizing to your kids for that. yes, it will awkward. Yes it will be humbling. But, if there is ever going to be any chance of getting them to church, it will take authenticity, and honesty, and vulnerability. If they don’t know that you know you need forgiveness, why would they go to church? But secondly, you need to know there is grace and mercy at teh cross. Nobody here is playing any games. THere’s no pretension. No, the whole point of this is that we are covered by the atonement and saved by the corss. And so maybe you didn’t do this well. Well, confes syour sins to God, and he is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That God is quick to forgive, quick to justify, quick to sanctify.

At Communion, we take hold of the atonement, we feast on the bread of life, we celebrate as a community, and we receive our deliverance.

4. At Communion we see God’s glory (12:29-32)

God does what he promises to do: So we see here that God does what he promises to do. The angel of death attacks and he strikes down all the firstborn in teh land of Egypt. Both high and low, every firstborn is slain. And there is this great cry and Pharaoh finally calls in Moses and Aaron and asks them to finally leave, and to “bless me also.” God here keeps his word.

The one who blesses: Now, that little phrase is incredibly important where Pharaoh says, “and bless me also.” Now, in the Bible, very rarely, if ever, do we see the lesser bless the greater. It is almost always the greater that blesses the lesser. And so when pharaoh here finally says, “bless me” he is acknowledging and admitting that God really is greater, that God really is stronger, that God really has won teh day. Pharaoh here is throwing in the towel. he is saying, in effect, “I give up. I can’t do it anymore, God has won.”

God shows that he alone is God: What we see is that teh moment of Passover is when God has given deliverance to his people. The moment of Passover is when God shows Israel that he relaly has vanquished and that he really is the deliverer. It is at the moment of Passover that we see God’s glory. It is at the moment of Passover that God shows that he is the true God and Pharaoh is no God at all. it is here at this moment that we see that God answers the question that teh whole book of Exodus has been about until now: Who is the true God? Who is the real GOd? Who is really on the throne and in charge? Yahweh, the Lord of hosts is his name! This is why Paul says in … That in the Lord’s Supper, Paul tells us to flee idolatry by taking part in teh Lord’s Supper. Why, because God is true and idols are not! THe Lord’s supper shows us that God’s glory is revealed

5. At Communion we walk with God’s favor (12:33-36)

Loaded: So we see that the Egyptians are freaked out and “filled with dread.” They think that they will all be dead. So they want to help the Israelites get out the door. They give them silver and gold jewelry and clothing. THey give them everything that they need. So it says that the Israelites “plundered” teh Egyptians. They finally get back for all the years of slavery that they endured at the hands of Israel.

God gave favor: But the most important part of this passage is that word, “God gave them favor.” NOw, that word for “favor” there is also the same as “grace” and there is probably more than the idea that they just got approval from teh others. It was that they had God’s grace with them. You see, God’s people don’t always get a lot of wealth. We don’t always get a lot of stuff. We don’t even always get other people to like us. But at passover, we get God’s favor. We get God’s approval. And sometimes that means favor with others, but at Passover, we relish in the forgiveness of sins.

For the forgiveness of sins: This is why in teh passage in Matthew that we read a bit ago, we saw that Jesus told his disciples to take and drink because this is the blood of hte covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. That in Communion we take and eat not in order that we will be forgiven, but because we have been forgiven. Communion is a handle by which we hold on to Christ and say, if I am in him then tehre is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. At communion, we walk with God’s favor just as the Israelites do.

6. At Communion we wait on the Lord (12:37-42)

Sent out unsuspecting: So this is kind of comical. Because in these verses, it says that Israel was “thrust out” from Egypt and didn’t have any time to put together any kind of plan or any kind of provisions or any kind of idea of what would come enxt. they were basically flying in the dark. That they were cast out, thrust out unsuspecting.

Had been waiting 430 years: Now, the irony behind this, is what is said in vs. 40-41. That they were in Egypt for 430 years. So the irony behind the fact that they had been brought out unsuspecting is that they were waiting on the Lord for 430 years. That they were waiting so long on God but they were surprised when he finally brought them out.

Night of watching: This is why it is called a “night of watching.” They are watching for the Lord, and the Lord is watching for them. They are watching and waiting to see what the Lord would do. Passover is for Israel the idea of watching for the Lord to see what the Lord will do. Passover is all about waiting on the Lord to see what he might accomplish.

Communion is waiting: In a very similar way, communion is waiting for the Lord, isn’t it? We are waiting for our king, our savior, our messiah, our Lord Jesus to return. We are waiting for him and earnestly hoping that it is before the 2020 elections. But when he finally does come, it will catch all of us off guard. And we will be with him and he will be with us and there will be no more darkness, no more pain, no more anxiety any more. The watching and thew waiting will be over, and we will be totally caught off guard. This is why one of the last images of teh book of revelation is the wedding feast of the lamb. Because that will be the last last supper. And it is not hte last last supper because we never celebrate it again, but because it will be a feast without end. At Communion we wait on the Lord.

7. At Communion we invite outsiders in (12:43-51)

Passover: Circumcise the foreigners and slaves among them: Now one of the things that we just saw in the previous section was that there was a great mixed multitude that went up from Egypt with the Israelites. NOw, here, God has to legislate what to dow with this mixed multitude. I mean, are they going to be allowed to celebrate with the Israelites? Well God says, that they ahve to become circumcised. And what that basically means is that they ahve to convert. Because circumcision was the mark of the covenant, so that everyone who would be circumcised would become a Jew. What we see then, was that Passover was a prime way to welcome those who are sinners in, welcome those who do not know God in.

At Communion we invite others in: This is the stance for Paul in the New Testament. In , Paul gives instructions about those who were sinning at the Lord’s table. He tells them that whoever eats in an unworthy manner eats judgment on himself. For Paul, Communion is an important time to celebrate what GOd has done by examining our own hearts and repenting of our sins and coming to Jesus. I would think that for Paul, there could be no better time for this than if you do not know Jesus. If he is not your Lord and savior, what could be a better time to put your trust in him than before communion is passed out.

You have probably noticed if you have come to our church for ansy amount of time that often before we distribute communion, we ask people not to take the cup in an unworthy manner, relying on this passage. And that might seem like we do that to exclude others and make others feel like they’re outside. But really, the only reason we do that is so that people who are outside would know that they are welcome to come in at any time. At communion, we invite all those who have unconfessed sins to confess their sins and to be cleansed. We invite all of those who do not have belief, to put their belief in Christ. We invite all those whose hearts are hardened, to give their heart to Christ. Dear friends, at communion, we invite all those who are outside in.

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