Communion

Passover

Exodus 12:13 NIV84

13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

God told the children of Israel to prepare to leave Egypt by slaughtering a lamp and applying the blood from the lamb to the doorposts of their home.

The blood on the doorpost protected anyone inside the house. It did not matter what they had done previously, good or bad, the blood protected them.

Any first born male outside of the home would be killed by the angel of death.

But every firstborn male inside a home with lamb’s blood applied to the doorpost would be spared.

And so it was. From the poorest slave to the mighty pharoah, every first born male in a home without blood applied to the doorposts died: both humans and animals.

Thus the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea to enter the promised land. God was in their midst. He protected them, guided them, provided for them, taught them and disciplined them to prepare them to inherit the land He had promised on oath to Abraham.

Their journey was a model for what our journey should be.

The spotless, sinless perfect lamb died in obedience to God’s command.

The blood of the lamb applied to our hearts protects us from death.

We leave the bondage of Sin and Satan (our personal Egypt) by trusting God and following our shepherd through the waters of Baptism (our Red Sea) into our promised land of heaven.

The blood of the lamb protects everyone trust and obey God’s command to stay in the house. The Church, the Body of Christ, is our new house. We must remain in Christ to be saved.

This is why Paul said to examine ourself. Not to see if we are good enough for salvation, for we will never be good enough. That is why we are saved by faith and not works. We look to Christ, our passover lamb, to save us from our sins.

So today as we celebrate communion, as you prepare your hearts to receive the body and the blood, the bread and the juice, examine your heart and ask yourself this question: am I in the house? Am I saved? Am I trusting in Christ? If the answer is yes, then repent, turn away from your sins, thank God for His mercy and forgiveness, and receive the elements of communion with thanksgiving, remembering all that God did for you.

And as you do, remember the passover lamb.

His Blood speaks of:

Protection From Death

Provision of Life (food)

Promise of Liberty (the promised land)

So take the bread this evening and thank Jesus for giving His body as a sacrifice and His blood as an offering to God to cleanse your sins to protect you from death and free you sin and slavery.

Would you take the bread now, eat it and take a moment to give thanks to Jesus, our great Spotless, Sinless Passover Lamb.

Now would you take a moment to drink the cup and thank Jesus for the blood of the lamb that protects you from death and gives you eternal life.