Easter Devotion Day 3
There are a lot of special days we celebrate each year. Christmas. Thanksgiving. Valentine's Day. Independence Day. Memorial Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Our birthdays. And, of course, Easter. Every now and then, something so monumental happens on one of these days that it changes every other time we celebrate it in the future.
Maybe it's getting an especially incredible gift for Christmas, or it could be the year you had the most epic party for your birthday. It might be a vacation to Disney World you took one summer for July 4th, or finally getting a date with that special someone for Valentine's. It could be anything, but whatever it is, it changes how you think about that day from there on out. Each year when that day rolls around again, you're instantly reminded of what happened that one time before.
That has to be what it was like for of Jesus' disciples after they celebrated Passover with Him one last time before His death on the cross.
You see, for the Jewish people, Passover was like a combination of a lot of our holidays. It was like Christmas because it reminded them that God sent someone to rescue them from their captivity. It was like Easter because it reminded them of the new lease on life God had given them. It was like Independence Day because it commemorated their freedom from slavery. It was like Martin Luther King Jr. Day because of Moses's role in leading them to the Promised Land. It was like Memorial Day because they remembered all those who had died because they didn't have the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. It was like Thanksgiving because of the gratitude God's people had toward Him for all He had done. And it was like Valentine's Day because God had done all He did for His people because of His great love for them.
So, Passover was a really big deal, and Jesus and His disciples had most likely all been looking forward to celebrating it together, again. However, no other Passover celebration would be the same after this last one because Jesus changed it completely.
Read Luke 22:13-20. The special meal that is part of Passover is called a seder, and the seder is full of symbolism meant to help the people remember the Exodus story when God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. However, Jesus knew that what most plagued not only the Jewish people, but all people, was their slavery to sin. The whole reason He had come to this earth was so that all might have the chance to find freedom in Him. So, He took various elements of the Passover meal to help His disciples see just what it was He was about to do.
The bread used in the seder was unleavened, which means it didn't have any yeast to make it rise. So, rather than being soft of fluffy, this bread was flat and crispy. During the mean, the unleavened bread would be broken and chared among everyone at the table to remind them of God's provision for His people while they wandered in the wilderness. Jesus took this bread and broke it and shared it with his disciples, but told them, "This is my body, which is given for you." In doing this, He showed that He was God's ultimate provision. We have all wandered in the wilderness of our sin, unable to make our way back to God, yet God had not forgotten us. He provided the way to Him through Jesus.
Jesus and His disciples would have drunk from four different cups of wine during the seder. After breaking the bread, Jesus would have given them the third cup, which is known as the Cup of Redemption. Redemtion means paying off a debt that is owed. When Jesus identified the win as His blood poured out for them, He was telling His disciples that His death would pay the debt they, and we all, owed for sin.
With His broken body and His shed blood, Jesus took the place of the Passover lamb and provided the way for all who would believe to be saved from certain death as a result of our sin. We all need to remember this, and more than once a year around Easter. That's why Jesus used His last supper to establish the Lord's Supper. Even though most of us do not celebrate Passover, we continue to reflect upon all He has done for us when we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him.
Something to think about:
1. How does the way your church celebrate the Lord's Supper help you to remember what Jesus has done for you?
2. Why is it so essential to ensure we have times to remember?
3. In what ways is Jesus like the Passover lamb?
Content from "Alive Again" by YM360