John 13 and Luke 22
Tuesday,  November 18, 2014

Since we have already discussed the idea of people being confused about who Jesus is, and acting badly because of it (Judas, Peter) I want to briefly talk about the last supper.

This all begins with the Passover, where God establishes a nation.  The angel of death is told to "pass over" the houses of any people (all Hebrews) who have the blood of the sacrificial lamb painted over the doorway, and on the door frame.   Inside the home, everyone is to be eating the sacrificial lamb, which has been roasted over the fire.    That very night, the death angel visited every home that did not have the blood of the lamb, and killed the firstborn.    With this final plague, Pharaoh let the Hebrews go.

Fast forward 1000 years (or so) the people have been celebrating the Passover as a national holiday for centuries.   At every meal they would pass around bread, wine and lamb and repeat certain prayers and sayings.     It is at that meal that Jesus re-identifies the wine as His blood, and the bread as His flesh.   So, from that time on, it becomes communion for us.   Jewish passover is Gentile communion.   It is the reminder that God is the one who delivers us from death.    Only with the blood of Jesus Christ painted on our hearts will we avoid the angel of death.

At the last day, when we are judged by The Father, if we are covered by the blood of His Son Jesus, then we will be found innocent, and will enter into heaven.  All others go to hell.

There is so much more to say about the Lamb that was offered, for instance:   Jesus is identified by John the Baptist as "the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world".   In the Old Testament, it was a female lamb that was used as a sin offering.   This tells us that it isn't just about men.  Jesus is greater than male or female.  He is beyond them both, and both are part of His being.

The lamb must be eaten, and Jesus himself said that His flesh was real food and His blood was real drink, and unless we eat his flesh and blood we could not enter the kingdom of heaven..   He was speaking figuratively of course, not promoting cannibalism.   But we must accept into our deepest being the idea that Jesus is Lord.   To "consume Him" in this way means that He takes over our life, and becomes the source and the resource from which we draw our strength and wisdom.

It is the last supper that binds us to the Jewish faith, and it is Passover that created the nation in the first place.   Therefore, by taking communion together we become one people, serving and loving one God.

PR