As many of us are home and are practicing social distancing, we can appreciate the parallels that our current situation can remind us about the Passover. The Passover was instituted for the tenth plague prior to the Exodus when God would set the people of Israel free from their bondage of slavery in Egypt. If you remember, the tenth plague was actually not a danger for everyone because only the firstborn were in danger; however, the entire house was required to stay home and keep the Passover. The people stayed home and worshipped God. Exodus 12:21–32 (ESV) 21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike 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 enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” The blood of the Passover Lamb was the sign that caused death and the destroyer to pass over that house. The people in the house were to eat the Passover together and they worshipped. It is not simply a coincidence that Jesus Christ's death is during the Passover and that the Lord's Supper is instituted during the same period. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And now the Lord's Supper is the new covenant that we share with God in Christ. We share in the same bread and the same cup in a way that is not just following an old tradition but the Lord's Supper shows our participation in the blood and body of Christ. This is why the Apostle Paul argues as he does in 1 Corinthians 10:16-18: 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? Though we may be separated physically during this period, we are united in Christ together by faith. The people of Israel were in their individual houses as they kept the Passover but that did not fracture their unity. Now we too share in Christ by faith and we are one with him and with one another. Hopefully soon we can join together in celebrating and remembering Christ in his death and resurrection when we come together in faith and in communion. But until then let's look to him in faith and remember the communion we have in Christ as we remember him and worship from our homes. This week please read Mark 15. Grace and peace, P. Kenny
Kenneth Noh
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