Mostly Mealtimes...

Recently I asked a question on Facebook. My question was simple enough: How often do you think about a meal when you think about the last time you saw somebody? A lot of people responded that they did think of a meal when they last thought of someone. I grew up in a family who's week almost literally revolved around food. From Sunday morning dinner at Grandma's house, to the Wednesday night fish fry at Possum Hollow, our family was always looking for another meal.  The fish fry especially consumed my Grandpa and his brother's schedule. There was minnow trapping on Monday and Thursday. Then they had to fish on Tuesdays and Fridays, all so that on Wednesday night, between 40 and 60 people could gather and eat. People have to eat, so it figures that we would all eat together.

I'm lead then to believe that God does some things on purpose, directly because He knows people, and He knows we like to eat too. He knows we remember special occasions by the food we eat, so He gave the Children of Israel a collection of feasts to keep, each with their meaning, each occurring in their own time. This weekend the Jews celebrate Passover, and it's that feast that I want to look at if only briefly.

What if you were alive, as an Israelite, captive in Egypt when Moses came to lead the people out of Pharaoh's hand? What would you make of the commands to keep the Passover described in Exodus Chapter 12? First of all, it's a meal that is designed to separate the People of God from the Foreigner. God tells the people:

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵ No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ... ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” Exodus 12:43-45; 47-49. 

God intends for this meal to be a meal where there is a clear distinction between God's People, and those who are not God's people. Ponder this for a moment as we listen to another one of God's commands for this special meal: "¹⁰ And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn." This meal has a special time, limited in duration. There are no leftovers from God's Passover! The People of God are given clear instruction about the time that the Passover takes place. He tells them the month the feast is in, he tells them the day the feast starts, and then He tells them duration of the feast. Six days of unleavened bread, and then, one evening only, lamb with the bread, and bitter herbs. There's no accidents here. All of this is for a reason. Ponder as if you were one of the Children of Israel, waiting to be delivered from Egypt. Now listen to this and consider what it could mean: 

⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts...¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Exodus 12:8, 9, 11 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. Exodus 12:46

 God commanded the People of God to eat the meal in a certain manner. None of this is by accident. There's nothing here done by chance or haphazardly. God has a certain way for doing this, and it's for a certain reason. He's wanting these people to remember the meal. He's going to use it for something special. He's looking down the road 1500 years to a time when this meal will be celebrated in this manner for the last time before His Son dies.

We know that on the night Jesus was betrayed he was keeping the Passover meal. We also know that he gave a meal to remember him by on that night. I always try to consider what it must have been like for the disciples on that night. Like the Israelites that first night, they were probably a little confused by Jesus' new instructions. He takes the bread, and offers it to them, calling it his body. Then he lifts a glass, and calls it the blood of the new covenant. Just like the first Passover, though, this meal also has certain rules. Just like it was with the Israelites and the Passover: The Lord's Supper is only valid for certain people. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:29 "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." Our meal is for those who recognize that this bread and cup are given to us as the body and blood of Jesus. Also, like Passover: Our meal has a time. From early in its history, the Church has gathered on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord in this manner. We gather for the same reason the early disciples gather: to devote ourselves to the Apostle's teachings, for fellowship, to break this bread together and for prayer. Thirdly, God has commanded us to eat this meal together in a certain manner. We're commanded to examine ourselves, to not use this as a time for overindulgence, and to recognize the body of the Lord. 

There's a lot of things about the Passover that can be studied in the Light of the identity of Jesus, and the salvation he offered to us. One thing that's worthy of another lesson is the direct symbolism between Jesus and the Passover lamb. There's a reason why the Passover lamb had to be unblemished. There's a reason why we call Jesus the Lamb of God, and why his bones weren't broken on the cross, even though the other two who were crucified with him had their legs broken. Most importantly, however, there's a reason why we're gathered here today; it's to eat a meal, and think about the Last Time Jesus was here, and to also think about the time when we'll see him in person!