This morning I decided to take communion all by myself. Well God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was with me.
I was reminded that in the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi in all these books there are events that took place that point us to the coming of Jesus/Yeshua, the Messiah. Specifically we see Him in the Passover. When the Lord, told Moses to tell the Israelites to take the blood of a young lamb or a goat and apply to the top of their doorpost of their homes; that when the Angel of the Lord passed over them in the night, that their firstborn would live and not die. That included animals too. All who did not have the blood applied to their doorposts, the firstborn, people and animals would die. Pharaoh hardened his heart over and over again, against God’s children and would not let them go, so from Pharaoh’s own mouth the final plague would be that the firstborn would die.
Exodus 12: 17-27
“Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation. The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month. During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These regulations apply both to the foreigners living among you and to the native-born Israelites. During those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread made without yeast.”
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
“Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever. When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished
Move forward in time to the time when, Jesus was with His disciples, it was the time of Passover the night of the Lord’s arrest.
For about two weeks now this has been on my mind and in my heart. How often do we remember what the Lord did for us on that night? The night of Passover.
(Remember the first Passover all those years ago…it was at twilight…The Lord was there then too.)
While they were eating Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take and eat this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:26-29New International Version (NIV)
He never said to stop doing this…he said whenever you do this, you are remembering Him, and what He accomplished for us.
Just as the Lord delivered His people out of bondage all those eons ago; Jesus delivered us out of bondage when he died for us. He is the same yesterday, today and forever!
When Jesus was on the cross they used the hyssop plant to give him drink. Remember the hyssop used to wipe the door posts of houses. Jesus’ arms were stretched wide as the blood ran from his hands, and head and feet…
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. John 19:29New International Version (NIV)
Are we remembering Him? Are we doing what He said to do?
Many people of the Christian faith don’t even know what Passover is anymore? Why? Because the Church has stopped remembering. Stopped teaching. If the body of Christ doesn’t set the example of Jesus, who will? When we take communion it is remembering Jesus is our Passover.
In I Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul said,
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
And then he goes on to say…in I Corinthians 11:27-32
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep, died. I’m not saying this to cause condemnation, but it is to remind the Church, that we need to remember just Who Jesus is and that His body was broken for us, and that His blood is for the remission of sin. And as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death til He comes.
He came, and He is coming back…
God loves us so much and His discipline is not to hurt us. It is to show how much He really loves us.
Thanks for listening. Be blessed! Be happy!
Remember… Jesus said, this is my body, take eat…this is my blood, take drink…it is poured out for you, for the forgiveness of sin.
A young lamb, the Lamb of God, when His blood is applied to the doorpost of our hearts and the Lord passes over us we will not die but have everlasting life.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill – February 22, 2017
