Exodus 12:1-20; Luke 22:7-20
A young boy was bored one rainy day, so he picked
up the family Bible looking for interesting pictures.
Paging through it, something fell out.
Turns out, it was a large oak leaf that had been
pressed long ago between the pages. He
immediately took it to his parents to proudly
announce, “Look what I found in the Bible.”
“Adam’s underwear!”
This morning we are going to observe the Lord’s Supper.
In each account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper we
read of Jesus eating the passover meal with His disciples.
Near the end of the passover Jesus institutes the Lord’s
Supper and tells them “Do this in remembrance of me.”
It’s incredible how Jesus becomes the passover lamb. Not
just a symbol, but He actually fulfills everything in the OT
that was applicable to the lamb.
Let’s begin by asking God to teach us His word this
morning and give us ears to hear and minds to
understand.
This morning we are going to spend some time in Exodus
12 and Luke 22.
Luke 22:7-13
The preparation for the passover is similar to the account
of the triumphal entry of Jesus.
In both accounts Jesus sent two disciples.
In both accounts Jesus told them something to look for.
In both accounts Jesus told them what to say.
In both accounts the disciples did as Jesus instructed.
Why did Jesus observe the Passover with His disciples?
Because God had instructed them to observe it.
It was a reminder that God has rescued them from their
pitiful state. God showed mercy and grace to them.
Let’s take a look at when the Passover was established.
Exodus 12:1-13
God told Moses exactly what He expected on that very
first passover.
He told them exactly what day to observe it.
He told them the precise details regarding the passover
lamb.
3 expectations of the passover lamb.
It was to be
Perfect – Exodus 12:5 “Your lamb shall be without
blemish, a male a year old.”
It was to be
Unbroken – Exodus 12:46 “It shall be eaten in one
house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside
the house, and you shall not break any of its
bones.”
It was to be their
Substitute – Exodus 12:12-13 “For I will pass
through the land of Egypt that night, and I will
strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both
man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will
execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall
be a sign for you, on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and
no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I
strike the land of Egypt.”
Now, let’s see how Jesus fulfills each of these
qualifications.
Jesus Became the Passover Lamb in order to forgive us
from our sin and reconcile us to the Heavenly Father.
Jesus Lived a Sinless Life
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been tempted as
we are, yet without sin.”
When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by
Satan, He remained sinless.
Because Jesus was without sin, He was able to offer
Himself up as the perfect sacrifice to the Father.
In Exodus God told Moses and Aaron that they should eat
only unleavened bread.
You can see it in verses 8,15, 18-20.
Why were they instructed to eat only unleavened bread?
1.They didn’t have time to wait for the yeast to make
the bread rise. They had to eat it all with their belt
fastened, sandals on their feet and their staff in their
hand. They were to eat it in haste.
2.Leaven is a symbol of sin. God didn’t even want
them to have leaven in their houses, not just the
bread. God is serious about sin.
Let’s look at Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth to see
what he writes about leaven.
I Corinthians 5:6-8 “Your boasting is not good.
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the
whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you
may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the
old leaven of malice and evil, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
God wants us to be holy just as He is holy.
Sin, like leaven, takes root and begins to take hold of the
life of the person caught in it.
Jesus had no Broken Bones
John 19:34-36 “But one of the soldiers pierced
his side with a spear, and at once there came
out blood and water. He who saw it has borne
witness – his testimony is true, and he knows
that he is telling the truth – that you also may
believe. For these things took place that the
Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his
bones will be broken.’”
Why did it matter if Jesus had any broken bones?
Jesus fulfilled the qualification of the paschal lamb. If any
of His bones were broken, He would not have qualified to
be the sacrificial lamb.
Also, Psalm 34:20 also refers to Jesus as having none of
His bones broken.
Jesus was our Substitute
Hebrews 9:11-14
” But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good
things that have come, then through the greater
and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that
is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into
the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats
and calves but by means of his own blood, thus
securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of
goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled
persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the
purification of the flesh, how much more will the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without blemish to God, purify our
conscience from dead works to serve the living
God.”
On that first passover God saw the blood on the
doorposts of those who trusted Him and He passed over.
They were saved from God’s wrath and judgment.
In the same way, those who place their faith in Jesus do
not receive God’s judgment and wrath because Jesus
took it upon Himself.
He was the suffering servant. He took our place on the
cross.
Exodus 12:14-20
Passover is a Memorial of God’s Deliverance
God told Moses and Aaron that the Passover was a
memorial day. It was to be observed to remember God’s
kindness when He delivered Israel from Egypt.
When God does something incredible we must do
everything we can to remember His kindness and mercy.
Remember when God allowed Israel to cross over the
Jordan.
After that event, He told Joshua to have 12 men place
stones and set them up as a memorial so that when their
children ask what these stones are for they could tell
them the story of how God allowed them to cross over
the Jordan into the promised land.
The Lord’s Supper is a Memorial of Jesus’ Sacrifice
Luke 22:14-20
Jesus wanted one last meal with His disciples.
I like the way Luke says that Jesus earnestly desired to
eat the passover with them.
Jesus knew He was about to suffer for them.
Isaiah describes Jesus as the suffering servant.
Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our
transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us
peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
The thing Jesus wanted His disciples to understand at the
first Lord’s Supper is the symbolism in the bread and the
cup.
The bread symbolized His body that was pierced for our
transgressions.
The matzah bread that we use when we observe the
Lord’s Supper is a good reminder of what happened to
His body.
The stripes remind us of the 39 lashes He endured,
tearing his flesh from His body. The small holes remind
us of the spear that was thrust into His side to determine
He was dead.
He endured this because of His great love for us.
The cup is also a reminder of His blood that was shed on
the cross at Calvary.
I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in
the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
As we drink the cup, we must remember that Jesus bled
and died in our place.
And we must remember the best part, that on the third
day God raised Him from the dead!
Jesus is alive and we must never forget His incredible
sacrifice on the cross.
Our application is found in I Corinthians 11:28 “Let a
person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup.”
Examine yourself as you prepare to observe the Lord’s Supper