The Feast (Matthew 26 - P 68)

Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He knows why.  His band of disciples don't quite get it yet.  How could they?  They think they are in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.  They are ... but ... they do not realize that they are accompanying the Passover lamb to the altar for the sacrifice.

Read Matthew 26: 17 - 35

Passover ... the annual feast on the Jewish calendar that carries such significance, such history, such promise, such rich symbolism.  The preparations had to be made - which was no small task.

• there is the ridding of the house of any and all leaven
• there is the preparation of the unleavened bread
• the lamb had to be taken to the temple where its blood would be offered as sacrifice
• the meat of the lamb brought back to the house for the meal
• a bowl of salt water (or vinegar) set out for the table (a reminder of the tears of slavery and the parting of the Red Sea)
• the bitter herbs had to be prepared (a collection of horseradish, chicory, endive, lettuce, and the like)
• a paste was prepared called the charosheth.  A mixture of apples, dates, pomegranates and nuts. (a reminder of the mixing of clay for bricks while in slavery)
• 4 cups of wine were prepared.  Four cups were to remind them of the four promises of Exodus 6: 6 - 7:  "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  I will free you from being slaves to them, and 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.  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."

And through this traditional, annual, commemorative meal, Jesus expands and deepens the symbolism and the meaning.  Passover was a commemoration of deliverance.  Moses had been a great liberator ... but Jesus is more!  The Jews had been released from physical slavery ... but all people can be released from the slavery to sin and death.  

Jesus - body and blood - the great emancipator.

The New Covenant

The Passover lamb, the food for the meal, represented safety.  In Egypt, all those years ago, it was the  blood of a sacrificed lamb that was painted on the door frame of the houses.  Why?  As a marker.  It marked the house as a "safe house".   Its blood on the door frames provided the only safe place in the entire land of Egypt that horrible night.  And all people can have a place of safety.

Jesus - body and blood - the only place of safety from sin and death.

The New Covenant

A new path to God is opened through the person of Jesus.  A connection with Jehovah God that does not require priests and mediators ... Jesus is that.  A connection with Jehovah God that does not require more animal sacrifice ... Jesus did that.  A new relationship with God that is opened for all people - Jew and Gentile, male and female, all races, all cultures - a path to God.

That is what we celebrate every time we take the "Lord's Supper".  Beware the ease in which we humans slip into ritualism and form - leaving the depth of meaning behind.  It is not small thing - this sharing the "body and blood" of Jesus symbolically week after week.  We declare freedom ... we declare safety ... we declare faith and trust each time we "break the bread and share the cup".  How I would love to sit together with every one of you reading this little piece of writing and share the body and blood of Christ!  

Let me share some observations about Jesus from these few verses we have read today.

First, Jesus was a realist.  He fully knew what lay ahead of him.  And he walked forward anyway.  

Do you ever have to walk into the "hard thing"?  Jesus already has ... and he walks in front of you.

Second, Jesus loved enough to say the hard things.  He loved Judas enough to warn him.  He loved Peter enough to warn him.  He loved all of his disciples enough to warn them of their coming trauma and fear.  He knew (and still knows) human weakness and human failure - and he loves anyway.  In a transient, broken and chaotic world, three things are steady - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of the three is love.  Do you ever have to say a hard thing to someone you love?  Do you love them enough to say it?  Jesus showed you how ... and he has done it before you.

Third, Jesus was completely confident in God's plan.  He knew he would rise from the dead.  He knew he would be able to meet his disciples in Galilee.  He knew.  Are you confident in the promises of God about eternal life - about safety with him - about peace and security - about all things working together for good for his people?  We could list more ... but the question is:  Are you confident in God?  Jesus was ... and is ... and will show us how.  

There are many lessons to be learned in the shadow of the cross.  Watch Jesus ... and be amazed.