What do you know about the Jewish feast of Passover and the meal that is served? Did you know the meal is called Seder and it includes 4 cups of wine along with salt water and bitter herbs? Or that God commanded the Israelites to celebrate Passover at the appointed time every year so they would always remember the day God led them out of Egypt? Did you know that the meal Jesus ate with his apostles the night he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane was the last Passover meal? I didn’t know this last bit of information. After all, Jewish people still celebrate Passover.
According to Pastor Keith, the night Jesus was betrayed was the last Passover meal and the first of the “Lord’s Supper” or as we call it, communion. Why the change? Because once Jesus broke bread and shared it with his disciples and shared the cup of wine with them, it was no longer about being freed from Egypt. Now the focus became what Jesus was about to do and what we remember today – his dying on the cross for our sins.
1 Corinthians 5:28 refers to Christ as “our Passover” scarified for us.
Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you
truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
The unleavened bread once symbolized the speed in which the Israelites had to flee Egypt. Now the breaking of the unleavened bread represents Jesus’s body broken and hung on the cross for us. The wine which symbolized freedom from the slavery of the Egyptians reminds us that Jesus shed his blood for us. Jesus, himself, tells us he is the bread of life.
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me
shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread
that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’
John 6:47-51
Communion is also a reminder to us that Christ will one day return.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he
will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Rev 21:3
When this occurs, communion will no longer be necessary because Jesus will now be with us. At present, communion represents our need to reflect on our relationship both with Jesus and with his church. Think it about it. On Sunday, when you are taking communion, there are thousands of people around our country and around the word, taking communion as well. Communion unites all of us in Christ.
The bottom line of this week’s sermon is this: “Communion is our meal that reorients our past, present and future in Christ, the son of Man.
Just for today, take a few minutes to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us and think about what his
return will mean to you!
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you
I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. “And he took bread,
gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.”
Luke 22: 17-19
May your week be blessed!
– PSG –
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