Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread refers to the sacrifice of a lamb in Egypt when the people of Israel were slaves. The Hebrews/Jews smeared the blood of the lamb on their doorposts as a signal to God that He should "pass over" their house when He destroyed all the first-born of Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let His people go. In other words, it is a religious festival commemorating God's deliverance of the Hebrews/Jews from bondage.

This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in Yahweh's honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever. - Ex. 12:14 -

Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast in my honour. You must celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread: you must eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one must come before me empty-handed. - Ex. 23:14-15 - 34:18-20, 25 - Lev. 23:4-14 - Num. 28:16-25 - Deut. 16:1-8 - Jos. 5:10-12 - 2 Chr. 30:1-27 -

In the Old Testament, Passover was observed on the 14th day of the first month, Abib, with the celebration beginning in the evening. It was on the evening of this day that Israel left Egypt. Passover commemorated this departure from Egypt in haste. Unleavened Bread was used in the celebration because this showed that the people had no time to put leaven in their bread as they ate their final meal as slaves in Egypt. Passover was to be observed in the place which God will choose. This implied 'the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle.'

The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onward on what the land of Canaan yielded. - Jos. 5:10-12 -

In the New Testament times, Passover became a pilgrim festival. Large numbers gathered in Jerusalem to observe this annual celebration. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem during one of these Passover celebrations. The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples ate a Passover meal together on the eve of His death. Precisely, like the blood of the lamb which saved the Hebrew/Israel people from destruction in Egypt, the Lord Jesus Christ blood, as the ultimate Passover sacrifice, redeems all of us [human beings] from the power of sin and death.

It is because of the traditions of God's love and of His saving acts, thus in the New Testament, the Christians, through the Lord Jesus Christ, promulgated the celebration. The Christian, drawing on the 'Passover' as the central celebration and observance of the Jewish faith, explicitly explained how deeply rooted Christianity is in the historic life of God's chosen people, that is, the people of Israel.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, 'Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?' 'Go to so-and-so in the city' (Jerusalem) he replied 'and say to him, "The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples."' The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover. - Matt. 26:17-19 - Mark 14:12-16 - Luke 22:7-13 - John 13:1, 19:14 -

Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. 'Take it and eat;' he said 'this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. 'Drink all of you from this,' he said 'for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.' - Matt. 26:26-19 - Mark 14:22-25 - Luke 22:19-20 - John 6:51-58 -

For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.' In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as memorial of me.' Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the body and blood of the Lord.

Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. - 1 Cor. 11:23-29 -

The blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in the one loaf. - 1 Cor. 10:15-17 -

In 1 Corinthian 10:16, the apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their involvement with idolatry. Saint Paul referred to the cup as 'the Communion of the Blood of Christ' and the bread as 'the Communion of the Body of Christ.' The Greek word for 'communion' has the meaning of 'participating, sharing, and fellowship.' From the context, apostle Paul is saying that when Christians partake of the cup and the bread, they are participating in the benefits of the Lord Jesus Christ's death [referred to as His blood] and resurrection life [His glorified body]. Thus, these are the Lord Jesus Christ assurance of sins forgiven, that is, through His blood, and the assurance of His presence and power, that is, through His body. Amen!

The 'One Body' or 'Single Body' [the Universal Church] in 1 Cor. 10:17 connects with the 'body of Christ', and in verse 16 in the sense that the entire Church of Christ is organically related to the living, glorified human body of Christ now in heaven. The 'One Loaf'' or 'One Bread' representing Christ Jesus the "bread of life" - John 6:35 - is eaten by all believers and faithful at the Supper, explicitly explained their unity and common participation in the 'one body of Christ.'

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: 'How can this man give us flesh to eat?' they said, Jesus replied:

'I tell you most solemnly,
if you dot eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.' - John 6:52-58 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -