Broken

Passover and the Last Supper are rich in meaning for us as believers! It's really a shame the author kind of glosses over it. There is such depth and richness when the Last Supper is compared to its forerunner, the Passover. I will try not to get carried away but this always excites me!

When Abraham, the first Hebrew, left Ur of the Chaldees to follow the call of the living God (doesn't that give you goose bumps?), he sacrificed a life of comfort and ease. Ur was no village. From the comfort, advantages, and sophistication of Ur, Jehovah called Abraham and his family to a seminomadic way of life. Now, they were not nomads in spirit, for they had God's promise of the land; but, in fact, they did not possess it. They wandered with the seasons, seeking pasture for their flocks, but they also tilled the ground. They buried their dead in permanent caves, an act of faith that showed they believed that one day the land really would be theirs! They trusted God for future stability and a permanent home, but they knew it was not yet time.

Jump ahead to the drought and famine which drove Jacob, a grandson of Abraham, to leave Caanan for the promise of food in Egypt. They become very comfortable there. They established themselves and grew. The Hebrews felt respected and secure. They prospered for hundreds of years! The children of Israel were so comfortable and secure that it was easy to forget that Egypt was not the land God had promised to their fathers. Maybe some of them even forgot God Himself?

Then comes a pharaoh who "knew not Joseph" (Ex. 1:9). He feared the numbers and the strength of the Hebrew foreigners and so turned against them and made them his serfs. Now the land no longer belonged to them, they belonged to the land, to Egypt and to the pharaoh, who was Egypt. You know the rest of the story the people cried out to God for deliverance. And deliver them He did.

Hence, they were required, if they desired to be spared, to substitute a life for a life. They were to take a lamb, and kill it...and take the blood and strike it on the two sides posts and on the upper door post of the houses. When the Lord saw the blood He would pass over their house.

Now, this isn't the usual "pass over" word which has a meaning of stepping or leaping over something to avoid contact. I think the common Hebrew verb for that is "a-bhar, or gabhar." Instead the word used is "pesah." Now, this is neat. The word is used in the same sense in Isa. 31:15: 'As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it'. The Lord's Passover, means such sheltering and protection as is found under the outstretched wings of the Almighty! Doesn't this give a new fulness to those words...'O Jerusalem! Jerusalem!...How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen does gather her brook under her wings' (luke 13:34)?

It wasn't merely that the Lord passed by the houses of the Israelites, but that He stood on guard, protecting each blood-sprinkled door! (check out E#x 12:23b)

I know, I'm getting long here. But check out what the ancient Seder (Passover) and the Last Supper have in common. I'll just list it quickly but you should really go in depth to the meanings behind it all and realize when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper He was teaching the disciples in cryptic terms that after His death, the Paschal lamb would no longer have the same significance. It was the memorial of physical, historical redemption, but only a shadow of the ultimate redemption soon to come. He was about to become the better sacrifice, to die once, for all (Heb. 9:14-15, 23-26).

God put into motion the restoration of His relationship with man through His people, Israel. He proposed to Abram in Ur. He betrothed Himself to Israel at the Passover, and He married the nation at Sinai. But Israel was no stronger in spiritual resolutness than the rest of humanity all the way up to today. At times she strayed and became an unfaithful wife to Jehovah. But, despite it all, He looks upon her with compassion and love and has promised to restore her once again, and with her all other nations who are willing. Therefore, when the Messiah of Israel came as the Word made flesh, He proposed that loving relationship with God to all humanity. He betrothed Himself to those who would believe and accept Him at Calvary. The consummation of that marriage is yet to take place when He returns for us, His beloved, the Bride called out from among believing Jews and Gentiles.

Since this is so long...I apologize...I can get carried away...but since it is so long I won't mention the different steps of the Passover meal and what they stand for compared to the Last Supper and how they are the same representation and the meanings. If you desire that, let me know in the comments and I can either wright another post about the two meals and their shared meanings or I can email you with the infomation.