There is no question that the entire week before Jesus died that His mind was focused upon the cross. When Mary anointed Him in that beautiful act of love and worship on Wednesday, Jesus said that she was already preparing His body for burial.
Now on Thursday, His disciples had already come to Him and asked where they should make preparation to eat the Passover meal. This Passover would be the last Passover His disciples would eat. That night, as He would eat the meal that celebrated God’s redemption, Jesus would give it a whole new meaning; and the new meal and the new meaning would all center on the cross. (Mt. 26:17-30) The Passover was a meal given to the Jews to help them remember God´s redemption of them from their bondage in slavery in Egypt. On the typical table set for Passover were many items, including unleavened bread, four cups of grape juice (probably also unleavened), a bowl of paste called charosheth (a mixture of mashed dates, apples, pomegranates, and nuts that pictured the clay used by the Hebrew slaves to make bricks for Pharaoh), a plate of bitter herbs to remind them of the bitterness of their slavery, and a bowl of salt water as a remembrance of their tears. The most important item on the table though was the roasted lamb. The lamb reminded them of the lamb slain by each family, the blood of which was smeared upon the doorposts and lintels of their homes, so that when death descended upon all the firstborn dwelling in the land of Egypt, it would pass over those who were covered by the blood. Of all the ingredients available from the Passover Meal, Jesus chose only two to use in the meal He would institute as a meal to help believers remember how He redeemed them from bondage to sin: the unleavened bread, a cup of grape juice. WHY THE BREAD?
WHY THE CUP?
WHY NOT THE LAMB?
But the Lamb of God only needed to be sacrificed one time. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” I do not know of any single worship service that has ever been more meaningful to me as a follower of Christ or as a pastor than when we celebrate The Lord´s Supper. I look forward to that time that we are re-gathered as a church to worship the Lord. Soon after we are able to meet together again, we will eat this supper together as a church, and we will remember the Lord Jesus until He comes again.
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