JESUS— OUR PASSOVER LAMB
JESUS— OUR PASSOVER LAMB
The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” —II Kings 23:21
I have always loved this illustration. It is told in different ways, buy gets the point across—
“A young girl was watching her mother bake a ham for a family gathering and noticed her mom cutting off the ends before placing it in the oven. “Mom, why do you cut the ends off before baking the ham?” she asked. “Hmmm… I think it helps soak up the juices while it’s baking. I’m not sure, though. That’s just the way your grandma always did it, so I’ve just always cut them off. Why don’t you call grandma and ask her?”
So, the little girl phoned her grandma and asked “Grandma, mom is making a ham and cut off the ends before placing it in the oven. She said that it’s probably to help soak up the juices but wasn’t sure. She said you’d know because she learned how to cook from you.” “That’s true. I do cut off the ends of the ham before baking. But I’m not sure why either. I learned how to cook from my mom. You should ask her.”
So, the inquisitive little girl called her great grandmother and asked “Great grandma, mom and grandma said they learned how to cook a ham from watching you. Do you cut off the ends of the ham to help it soak up the juices?” The great grandmother chuckled. “Oh, no sweetie. I just never had a pan big enough to hold a whole ham, so I always had to cut off the ends to make it fit.”
The nation of Israel was to keep the Passover as commanded by our Lord God Almighty. The King of Judah, Josiah, commanded to “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Yes, this command was given to the nation of Israel ever since the Lord brought them out of Egypt (Exodus chapters 11-12). What the Lord commands, we are to lovingly obey. Passover is still on the Jewish calendar even though it is about 3500 years after the first “Passover” in Egypt.
The church is not commanded to keep the Passover. Instead, Jesus told us what to remember and expected we would do so—
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.” —I Corinthians 11:23-26
Jesus is our “Passover Lamb” (I Corinthians 5:7). Of the bread Jesus said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Of the cup Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” He then went on to say, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” He expects that, whenever we do this, we are remembering and proclaiming His death until He comes. So may we be faithful in doing so. We know why we are doing so. It is written! Yes, Dear Father, may we be faithful by Your Holy Spirit and in Your Son’s authority! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD6khv6pGkw&t=8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EXrh2Q8WR4