Setting the Lord's Table: Exodus 12:1-27

Setting the Lord’s Table Intro:

When you were a kid, did you mom ever make you set the table? We didn’t do it every time, but any time we had a guest come over or have a nice meal or some special occasion, we always set the table so that we were all prepared for the meal. Mom had me wipe the table clean, taught me to place the plate, lay down the napkin, arrange the silverware and where to put the food on the table. And once everything was arranged and prepared we’d all sit around the table, Dad would pray and then we’d enjoy a meal together.

That’s what we are doing today and what we do every time we have communion. When we have the Lord’s Supper I like to set the table and get us prepared to have this special time of worship and remembrance.

Message Intro:

Last week Pastor Derek preached from John 6 and shared with you the miracle of the feeding of the 5 thousand. Let me read for you again, the first 5 verses of the text Derek preached.

John 6:1–5 NASB

1 After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”

Two things… 1) The people needed bread. If you keep reading John 6, you see that Jesus explained the He is the Bread that came from heaven and His body is the bread we need. He goes on the explain that His blood is the drink we all need as well. Pastor Mike Fahey will be preaching on that in a couple weeks. So I won’t way any more about that. 2) Notice that verse (4) says that the time of Passover was near. What I would like to do today is use Passover to set the table for the Lord’s Supper. After all, it was at the Passover meal that Jesus instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper or Communion.

Exodus 12:1–27 NASB

1 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 ‘Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 ‘You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 ‘They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. 13 ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. 18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ” 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. 22 “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. 23 “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. 24 “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 “When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ ” And the people bowed low and worshiped.

Passover Points us to Jesus.

Jesus is the Unblemished Lamb

(v. 3) “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.

John 1:29 NASB

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

(v. 5) “‘Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.”

A “Male”, “Unblemished”, “Lamb”.

(v. 6b-8) “...the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 ‘They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.”

All the people are responsible for the lamb’s death. The blood was the be put on the door posts and the lintel (cross motion). The were to consume the lamb. They ate it with unleavened bread (more on that in a minute) and with bitter herbs. The Bitter herbs reminded the people of their suffering that they were being delivered from, which point to the suffering we all have because of sin and that Jesus came to deliver us from that suffering. (John 1:29)

Jesus is the Unleavened Bread

(v. 18-20) “18b ...you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

Leaven is used in the Bible as a metaphor for sin.

Mark 8:15 ESV

15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Luke 12:1 ESV

1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

1 Corinthians 5:6–8 NASB

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Luke 22:14–19 ESV

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus was the Son of God and a Son of man.

Colossians 2:9 NASB

9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Jesus never sinned.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus is the Utilized Blood

(v. 21-22) “21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. 22 “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.”

His blood was afforded for you.

Luke 22:20 ESV

20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

His blood must applied to you.

(v. 22) “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts.”

Psalm 51:7 ESV

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

(v. 23) “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.”

If the blood was not applied the first born would have died.

Two last thoughts from Passover that remind us to point people to Jesus all the time, especially when we have the Lord’s Supper.

(v. 24- 27a) 24 “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 “When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ ”

We need to be doing these things consistently and teach the meaning to our children and our children’s children.

(v. 4) “Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.”

The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, by definition, it too much for just us. His blood can take away the sins of the whole world. So we are obligated to share it with out neighbors. We are to love God, love others and make disciples.

Lastly, the end of (v.27) says, “And the people bowed low and worshiped.”

Now that the table is set, let’s pray and then worship Jesus through partaking in communion together.

Communion:

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NASB

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “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.

Memory Verse of the Week:

John 12:46 NASB

46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Discussion Questions: (Exodus 12:1-27)

Why do you think God put Passover in the 1st month of the year? (v. 1-3)

How many different ways do you see Jesus in the Passover lamb? (v. 3-11)

What does (v. 12) teach us about the wrath of God?

In what ways is the blood a “sign for you”? (v. 13)

In what ways do do still obey the Passover’s “permanent ordinance”? (v. 14-20) In what ways could/should you do it more fully?

Why was it important to do this “according to your families”? (v. 21) How does that align with salvation today?

Do you see anything in (v. 22) that parallels parts of your relationship with Jesus?

Why was blood the only thing that could rescue the people? (v. 23)

Why do you think God made it clear that children needed to know about the Passover? (v. 24-27)

What do you believe led the people to bow down and worship God? (v. 27)

What has God done for you that makes you want to bow before Him in worship?

What else does this passage tell us about God? Why does it matter?

What else does the text teach us about ourselves?

Did anything else stick out to you?

How do you believe God is leading you to respond to His word today?