On Friday, April 18th we gathered to celebrate a death. As a church we collected ourselves in an upper room, dark and hidden and quietly praised Jesus for His willingness to be beaten and have His blood shed for our salvation.
Rather than just focusing on the narrative of the death, we looked at what Jesus death meant in God’s larger plan of redemption. In order to do this, we did what Jesus and His disciples had done the night before His arrest and death: we celebrated Passover.
Jewish families have been celebrating the Passover every year since the Exodus. It is an event that was instituted by God to be a reminder of His goodness, power, and faithfulness to His people. It is centered around His promise from Exodus 6:
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. – Exodus 6.6-7
The retelling of the Exodus story, the participation in the Seder plate (taste/sense), and the praise of God are connected to the 4 cups that are enjoyed through the meal:
Cup of Sanctification | I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians
Cup of Praise | I will deliver you from slavery
Cup of Redemption | I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment
Cup of Acceptance | I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God
It is this third cup, the cup of redemption (together with the Afikomen – the final nourishment) that Jesus breaks from tradition and gives us a new event to remember: COMMUNION. It is at this moment that Jesus connects all of the history of God’s salvation to Himself – He is the Passover lamb. To experience Jesus death through the Passover meal helps us to see Him as:
- The fulfillment of prophecy
- The focus of God’s redemptive plan
- The promise to bring all nations (not just Israel) to the knowledge of God.
- The reminder that He is present and working towards a final redemption.
As we spent a few hours one Friday night focused on God’s goodness, and as we shared a meal together as recognition of His blessing on our life here and now, we were also shown how little we deserve. The Passover is the story of God choosing a people to show Himself to the world; blessing a people because of His goodness not theirs. Pouring Himself out, grace upon grace, because He is love. Toward the end of the evening we read the Dayenu (it would have been sufficient), the decleration that nothing that God does for us is deserved.
If the Lord had merely rescued us, but had not judged the Egyptians.
it would have been sufficient.
If He had only destroyed their gods, but had not parted the Red Sea.
it would have been sufficient.
If He had only drowned our enemies, but had not fed us with manna.
it would have been sufficient.
If He had only led us through the desert, but had not given us the Sabbath.
it would have been sufficient.
If He had only given us the Torah, but not the land of Israel.
it would have been sufficient.
If you had come to earth, but had not done miracles.
it would have been sufficient.
If you had revealed yourself to us, but not been willing to go to the cross.
it would have been sufficient.
If you had paid our debt, but had not risen from death.
it would have been sufficient.
God knows what we need. While it would have been more than we deserved, it would not have been enough to give us relationship with God forever. He was not willing to leave anything undone; He was not willing to withhold anything from His people. How blessed we are.
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!