Who may sit at the Passover Table?

Introduction

Religion is by nature discriminatory. It has ordinances that are exclusionary. It creates classes or kinds of people and declares they will be treated directly. Only those whom are willing to adhere to its requirement can partake of its most sacred institutions and reap its benefits. The rest are told of the consequence for their refusal. It is no different with biblical Christianity. As the same time the gospel of Jesus Christ also declares broad inclusion. All the world is to hear the message and there is no partiality as to those can enter the kingdom. This is what Peter learned with Cornelius (Acts 10:34-35) A stark example of this differentiation and inclusion is the passover, or the Lord’s Supper today for Christians. Both are reminders of what the LORD has done to save His people and only those people may partake of it. Anything else is an affront to the Holy God that instituted them.

Background

Over the text two weeks we will examine again the Passover and feast of unleavened bread. This is not be a rehash of what we discussed before but fresh examinations of the sacred feasts of remembrance Yahweh instituted. In doing so, we will gain fresh insights into the great commemoration we Christian believers observe today, the Lord’s Supper. At the end of it my prayer is that we have a greater appreciation for the meaning of significance of the Lord’s Supper and the reverence with which it must be treated.

Exposition

Verses 43 - 45: As we just said, the passover was to be partaking only by worshippers of Yahweh. Only those who declared with Ruth later: ‘your people will be my people and your God my God (Ruth 1:16-17)’ would be permitted to eat of it. If someone is residing in the land temporarily, for business purposes or otherwise, it was an abomination for them to eat the passover. The foreigner or temporary resident had not committed to the worship of Yahweh alone and were not under the covenant. He or she didn’t fully submit to His law. He or she did not necessarily regard what Yawheh did for His people. In short, the foreigner of temporary resident didn’t identity with the God of Israel and His people. To partake of the passover was to lie and dishonor to the sovereign Lord of the universe. On the other, as verse 44 indicates, a foreign slave in the house whom wanted to identity with his master’s people and their God via circumcision could eat of it. This is significant as it means that salvation and a relationship with the one true God was not restricted to being natural born Israelite. All those, regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status, who called upon the name of the LORD could be saved. Through Yahweh came for Israel first and foremost, he did not act to the exclusion of everyone else. As the example of Ruth shows us, what matters wasn’t ethnicity but rather internal trust and obedience. Christ himself affirms this in Matt. 8:11 All this bears direct relevance for was today.

As it was with the passover, so it is with the Lord’s Supper. Indeed, on this side of the NT, we can look back on the Passover as a type of the future greater redemption. This is the redemption from the bondage of sin and out the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. We commemorate this with the Lord’s Supper, which for Christ and the Apostles would have been a Passover meal. Paul calls Christ our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) and informs us that he who eats or drinks unworthily brings damnation on themselves (1 Cor. 11:27-29). Those who don’t belong to the LORD have no business claiming that they do or treating lightly the life and death or Christ. Indeed, it is the job of the preacher/pastor/elder to warn against taking the passover if one is eligible. Commentator Philip Ryken gives us sample verbiage that can be used to explain why: "It is my duty to tell you that the Lord's Supper is for the people of God. It is for those—and for those only—who have confessed their sins, who have publicly professed their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and who remain members in good standing of a gospel-preaching church.”[2] On the other hand, all without distinction are called to repent and thereby are to partake of the Supper. Indeed that great marriage supper of the Lord will be quite diverse (Rev. 5:9; 7:9-10). Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Verses 46 - 47: The passover was to be eaten in one house at one time. This hearkens back to the fact that the Israelites had to stay in their homes, behind their blood covered doors, to avoid the judgment of the destroyer. This would also prevent someone unqualified from eating it or the meal otherwise being defiled, bringing judgment[1]. The prohibition on the breaking of the bones seems given to prevent the above as well as to signify unity. This also goes for the command that all Israel observe the passover. The fact that bones weren’t broken foreshadows Christ’s crucifixion (John. 19:36) Even as all Israel was saved from judgment and freed from bondage, so all Israel so remember and memorialize the LORD’s salvation.

Notice the importance of corporate worship in the passover instructions. Yahweh didn’t just save disconnected individuals. He saved a nation. Yahweh’s focus was on the people as a whole. He was raising up a nation that would be a light to the gentiles and a kingdom of priests. It is certainly true that no one was saved based on the group. Every individual household had to observe the passover, just as every individual male had to be circumcised. Nonetheless the LORD was raising up a corporate entity to do His will on the earth. Even more so today the Christian must be connected to the body. Our savior spoke of building his church (Matt. 16:18), which by definition is greater than one. Acts 2 which recounts the outpouring of the Spirit ends by stating the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (Acts. 2:47). Notice the words “added to the church”. When the Lord saves, he adds to the body. Throughout his writings Paul speaks in the plural (Rom. 5:3-5;8:28-30,35-39, Titus 3:4-7) concerning the work of God in salvation. The body of Christ is diverse with diverse gifts and still is one body (1 Cor. 12:27). All parts of the body need one another (1 Cor. 12:12-17). Finally, we are not to reject the assembly of ourselves together (Heb. 10:25). It is not either/or. It is both/and. Let me make one last point

Even as the passover was not to be eating by just anyone so it had to be administered in the proper fashion. The passover, and the Lord’s Supper for Christian, signified a specific event in which specific actions took place at a specific time. Israel was not free to make this up as it went along and so it is with the Body of Christ today. Everything about the passover was and about the Lord’s Supper is sacred. It is holy and must be handled as such.

Verses 48 - 49: The stranger must be willing to come under the mosaic covenant to partake in the passover. As stated he must acknowledge and accept that Yahweh is the one true and living God who alone is worthy of worship. He must be willing to keep the statues and ordinances of the LORD and sanctify Him as holy. Inclusion in God’s covenant community must be done according to His standards. Nothing else is acceptable and no one unwilling to do this is fit to eat of this sacred gift.

Verses 50 - 51: The people keep the commandments of the LORD.

Practical Application

We must treat the things of God as holy. God’s acts of salvation, in the Old and New Testaments were magnificent and awe-inspiring events. Our celebration of them must be the same. Our text tells us that entering into the community of God via circumcision was the only means of becoming part of the covenant community. It also tells us that becoming apart of God’s family was open to all. The non-Israelite wasn’t excluded if they turned toward Yahweh. It also tells us that one law applied to all, native and foreigner. The native could just as easily be cut off and the foreigner could be grafted in. What mattered was the condition of the heart. As it was then, so it is now. We have one savior and lord who gave one word and is shaping on body: the body of Christ. All are welcome into that body. None are so unworthily as to warrant permanent exclusion, nor can any enter in just based on legacy. In our time of ethnic upheaval, this is a great stabilizer. There is one God who made all in His image and through the one savior is reconciling many for the one world to Himself. If we remembered this, if it stank into the heart of man, how much different would this world be. What would earth look it if the people of God were truly on one accord? This is what we must ask. This is what we must seek via gospel proclamation. This is what we will rejoice over when Christ returns.

Gospel Application

What is the answer to the question: who may sit at the passover table? The answer for ancient Israel was all those whom trusted in Yahweh. In 2020 the answer to the question, concerning the Lord’s Supper, is all those who place their trust in Christ and him alone. So then, the real question is where do you place your trust? Do you trust in good works? They are good apart from God? Do you trust in your inherent goodness? This is bad because scripture is clear we have none. Do you trust in the grace and mercy of God, that he understands? Upon what basis can you make this claim. On the other hand, if you have realized your source of trust in misplaced and your position dire, I I call you to repent and believe the gospel. Acknowledge and confess your sin. Asked to be recieved into his kingdom. Please your trust in Christ alone. Declare like Ruth that the supreme LORD of the universe will be your God and His people your people. Don’t delay. We are all learned that tomorrow can be gone in an instant. Repent and believe the gospel today.

Bibliography

[1] Stuart, D. K. (2006). Exodus (Vol. 2, p. 309). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God's Glory, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 361