A physical set of guidelines is found in the old testament, which serves to tell us a story of everything spiritual that is to happen as we move forward through the new testament and on to the end of this Earthly journey. Does that sound like a foreign language? Do I sound like I am on crack? Ok. Laugh on my account but hear me out.
Our Scripture today deals with the preparation of the passover. Prior to it, Jesus spoke about the end of times. In order to understand the passover’s significance, we have to go back to the old testament and see why the Israelites (God’s chosen people originally in charge of telling His story) celebrated it and how…
Exodus 12:1-2 begins as follow: Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
We had been in slavery in Egypt for many, many years! I will tell the story of the night before we exited and were to be free from Pharaoh and the Egyptians.We were not sure what to expect, and to tell you the truth, some of us were scared. Two men had claimed to have been sent from God to redeem us and take us to a free land. Where that was, we did not know.
We had initially come to Egypt through one of our fathers whose name was Joseph. He had become a leader in Egypt and at first we were treated with honor and respect. Our father Joseph walked closely with God and he was loved by the Egyptians for his contributions that allowed the land to be saved from famine. After our father Joseph died and a new Pharaoh took over, we were treated harshly and we became their slaves.
Moses and Aaron were the two men that claimed to be sent from God to get us out of slavery. After a series of plagues and miracles that God performed through them, we were released and let go free. Pharaoh put a fight and did not want to let us go. Sometimes, our people wanted to stay and remain in slavery because they felt safer that way.
Moses and Aaron kept saying that God was going to lead us to a beautiful land where there would be plenty of provisions (Milk and honey) for our needs and most of all, we would be free! Free to live, love, enjoy the fruit of our labor and freely worship the God that had protected us always.
We knew He was the God of our fathers and the Creator of the Universe. We had heard that He had shown our people who He truly was; The only real God. All others were made up or created. Some people; even as hard as we had it, claimed to be walking hand in hand with Him.
In preparation for that scary and promising night, they said that for our freedom, a price had to be paid. God had instructed us to slain a lamb, eat from it and spread its blood on our door posts to protect us from the angel of death that was to come that night to take the first-born of all Egypt as Pharaoh was refusing to let us go.
I did not know it at the time but it was a message to be passed on, to help us understand what was to come. The ultimate price that the Messiah was to pay for humanity. The Lamb was a symbol of the Messiah and not the other way around. Pharaoh was a symbol of evil and slavery the symbol of sin.
Do you see the significance? With our exodus from Egypt, we were telling you a story of our true Spiritual reality and what God intends to do with us through Jesus! We were the chosen people in the story as Christ redeemed are the chosen people to live with God in the promised land for eternity.
You and I are to experience an exodus from a broken and sinful world! The ultimate passover lamb is Jesus, the lamb of God! He paid for all the sins of the world and you and I are to take on His blood and eat of His body as a symbol that you are God’s. Are you covered? Are you eating at His table and is your home covered with the blood of the true lamb?
Pharaoh and Judas played the part of evil. Do we know for sure where both of them stand now? Not really. Didn’t the apostle Paul say in Romans 9:22-23 the following? “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory?”
Perhaps they were used as part of the play to tell you the story! What is not a story is the fact that there is a sinful world that has been badly corrupted. God has ALWAYS had a plan to redeem it because He loves us and made you and I for Himself! In order to be with Him, we have to go through a process of transformation and Jesus, after redeeming us, offers to do just that for us if we let Him!
Remember what John says in chapter three about what Jesus told Nicodemus? Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
In your Scripture today, the Lord Jesus was entering His last week on this Earth. It was Thursday, the day when the lamb was to be slain during the traditional Feast of Unleavened bread, previously commanded by God and followed from generation to generation to continue to remind us the story.
It was no news that our teachers of the law were attempting to get rid of Jesus. They could not publicly do it because they were afraid of the people. Judas was always on the sidelines. He was one of the twelve apostles but did not spend much time really listening to Jesus. As far as we could tell, he was Spiritually weak and Satan was able to take advantage of him. The scripture says that Satan entered into Judas.
Judas and the teachers of the law made arrangements to find Jesus in a spot where He could be arrested. The teachers of the law were really happy to have found just the right person for the Job and offered him money, but truly, It was not about the money. For all Satan care about was to destroy Jesus. Little did he know! Meantime, Jesus knew!
Jesus knew what Judas was going to do to Him. As difficult as it was, He knew that His time to be the Lamb that was to be slain was coming. His time was close. It was to be on this week of passover, the week of unleavened bread. It needed to remind His people who He truly was! Who He truly is!
Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to prepare the passover meal that He was to have with them and the rest of the disciples, including Judas Iscariot. It needed to be meaningful!. Peter and John asked: “Where do you want us to prepare it?” He knew that God the father had placed in the heart of His people instructions as to what His needs were at this time.
He told Peter and John that as they were to enter the city, they were to encounter someone with a pitcher of water. They were to follow him to the house he was to go to and ask the owner of the house the following: “The teacher says to you, where is the guest room in which I may eat the passover with My disciples?”
Everything happened as He had said and they were provided with a large furnished room to accommodate Him and His disciples! Jesus was to have His last supper here.
John the Baptist had said previously as recorded by John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! That my friend is who Jesus is! Yours and mine! Our Passover Lamb! Do you believe it? Ask Him in your heart if you haven’t and make use of the redeeming grace He has for you! Place His blood on your door post and eat at His table. Today is the day of Salvation! TAKE IT!
Dining with the Master: Jesus. Milagro Gessler's blog and Miracle quest. 