Passover Thoughts

I just attended my 2nd Seder of the week!  The first was with some Jewish friends, the second was with Christian friends.  And I loved them both.

It was great providential timing that I would be teaching Mark's Gospel before I went to Israel.  It was another great piece of providence that the literature I was using spent the entire month of February on the Passion Week.  I had plenty of time to research fascinating passages like the Olivet Discourse, but in my spare time (of which there is SO MUCH) I decided to study the Jewish Feasts, and in particular the elements of the Passover Seder.

Many Christians breeze right past the reference to Jesus celebrating the Passover.  It's something that most Christians don't have a lot of knowledge about because our gaze is trained on the events to come -- namely the trials, crucifixion, and resurrection.  But it's interesting to study the Passover meal (the Seder) because we see how our Lord is represented in each element and how He ultimately FULFILLED that feast.

Ok, before I get started on this, I'll admit that I'm a Bible study NERD.  I love to study, and there are few things that excite me more than finding an interesting piece of the biblical puzzle and seeing how it fits together in God's Big Picture.  I'll try not to be too wonk-ish with this, so I'll try to be brief.  (Everybody who knows me well is now laughing hysterically.)  Someday I'll blog about ALL the individual elements, but for now I'll focus on the 4 cups.

There are 4 cups of wine associated with the Seder, and they come from the 4 "I will"s of Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV), "... I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, I will free you from being slaves to them, I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as My own people and I will be your God."  (Ok, there are actually 5 "I will"s but those last two count as one.)

The first cup is the cup of sanctification ("I will bring you out...") and signifies God's intention of separating them from the world.  The second cup is the cup of deliverance ("I will deliver you...") and is self-explanatory.  The third cup is the cup of redemption ("I will redeem you...") with the outstretched arm referring to the parting the Red Sea and various victories in battles.  The fourth cup is the cup of acceptance ("I will take you as My people...") as God led them into Canaan to the land of their inheritance.

When God gave Moses the instructions for this feast, it was in anticipation of their deliverance from Egyptian enslavement.  But after the Exodus and the Israelites came into the Promised Land, it was a special feast of remembrance that reminded the Israelites of God's faithfulness to them.

And then Jesus came, and the message of the Passover changed because Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover!  He was the unblemished sacrificial Lamb of the Pesach, and all of those cups NOW represented something much broader, and something that wasn't for one group of people but for all of mankind:

• "I will bring you out from under the yoke of... THE WORLD (the powers of darkness)"
• "I will free you from being slaves... TO SIN"
• "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm (ON THE CROSS) and with mighty acts of judgment (AGAINST DEATH, HELL, and the GRAVE)"
• "I will take you as my people and I will be your God... FOR ETERNITY."

And scripture tells us that after the meal, when the 3rd cup would have been presented, Jesus broke with the traditional message and said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until I drink it anew with you in My Father's kingdom." (Matt 26:28-29)  This would have been a SERIOUS deviation from what the disciples were used to hearing at the Passover Seder, and I bet they were looking around at each other trying to figure out what was happening!!  Especially after Jesus had taken the bread and told them it was His body!!

After Jesus passed the 3rd cup, they sang a hymn (likely Ps 116-118, which will be another LONG blog post!!) and then walked across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane.  You see, He didn't finish the Seder and drink the cup of acceptance... because it wasn't time.  He won't finish the Seder and drink that cup until WE are with Him!!

So while we observe what Christians refer to as the Lord's Supper, we DO remember Him and His sacrifice for us.  But after studying the elements, I will not only REMEMBER His sacrifice for us, but I'll ANTICIPATE the day when we sit at the table WITH HIM and with all those who have gone before us, and drink that 4th cup in His presence!!  How cool will THAT be???

MARANATHA!!