Lord's Supper Devotion: Remembering the Passover

The men at church take turns giving a little devotional before the Lord's Supper/prayer time each week. Here is one I recently presented that I thought I'd share.
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We come here to the Lord’s table, and it is always good to remember how we got here. We look back the covenant meal that helped get us to the table. The Passover in Exodus 12 has some key features worth remembering.

First, on the tenth day of the month, the Israelites were to pick a male lamb without defect, and four days later they were to sacrifice it.

Second, they were to sprinkle the blood from the sacrifice on the top and sides of their house’s door frames to protect those within.

Third, they were to roast the meat and along with unleavened bread, eat all of it without breaking the bones of the animal.

In Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8 we have the consecration of Aaronic priests, though different in the details, the elements are the same - it requires the killing of a ram, sprinkling of its blood and eating the meat, all as part of what it takes to set them apart as holy to God.

The sacrifice atones – the blood purifies – and the consuming of the meat sanctifies those who consume it.

The crucifixion of Yeshua coincides with the celebration of Passover – and for good reason. The Lord’s Last Supper was celebrated as a Passover meal.

In John 19:36 it is alluded to that the sacrifice of Yeshua on the cross resembles the Passover sacrifice when it states “For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.””

In 1 Cor. 5:7 Paul makes a further connection in stating “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

By connecting the crucifixion with the Passover, the writers are focusing on the redemptive nature of Yeshua’s death. Like the original Passover, the death atones – the blood purifies and cleanses – and the body sanctifies those who eat it at the Lord’s Supper.

And now, I wish to share a few applicable words borrowed from Pastor Douglas Wilson:

You cannot address your hunger by looking at pictures of food. You cannot hear music by staring at a page of notation. You cannot quench your thirst by thinking about the idea of water. No, in all such things you must come to the point of application.

You hear a great deal about the Lord Jesus Christ. But do you feed on Jesus Christ? He said there is no eternal life unless you do. Do you come to Him, the fountain of living water? If you do, then from your innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

We come here each week to this table, to meet with the presence of our Lord. He is a Lord, we are His people, and we come here weekly to meet with him as a corporate body of believers. This is accomplished with great blessing through faith in Christ. Do you believe on Him, putting you faith solely in what he has done, and not on what you have done? If so – come, eat and drink – and remember the sacrifice, the blood and the body that was given for us.