* On Sunday mornings (or on Saturday nights for Sunday mornings) I am going to post communion meditations that I have written at some point in the last few years. I pray that they will help the body remember the significance of why we gather together each week.
To understand the scene, it might help if we pictured Vancouver a couple of days before the Olympics began. Everywhere you look there are reminders of the Olympics. Everyone is talking about the teams involved and sporting their country's colors. The city swells with thousands of spectators who have come from all over the world. Journalists. Cameras. Television networks. Newspapers. The nations focus on the Vancouver and everything that happens there. For those two weeks – everything revolves around the Olympic games.
Picture that scene as we turn our attention to Jesus and his disciples as they walk through the streets of Jerusalem...
To understand the scene, it might help if we pictured Vancouver a couple of days before the Olympics began. Everywhere you look there are reminders of the Olympics. Everyone is talking about the teams involved and sporting their country's colors. The city swells with thousands of spectators who have come from all over the world. Journalists. Cameras. Television networks. Newspapers. The nations focus on the Vancouver and everything that happens there. For those two weeks – everything revolves around the Olympic games.
Picture that scene as we turn our attention to Jesus and his disciples as they walk through the streets of Jerusalem...
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” (Matthew 26:1-5)
It was a festive atmosphere in Jerusalem. Everyone’s attention was on the upcoming Passover Feast which would be followed by seven days of remembering how God delivered the Jews from Egypt under Moses’ leadership. But what would be happening two days prior to the feast?
When God announced the first Passover, he told them to find a lamb by the tenth day of the month and take care of the lamb until the day of the Passover Feast – the fourteenth day. It was their responsibility to feed, clean, and protect that lamb until twilight of the fourteenth day. At that time all the animals were killed and roasted, their blood was used to cover the doorposts of their house. The blood on the house would be a sign that protected all of the firstborn in that house.
The tradition surrounding the lamb would continue as the Passover observance became the most important of the Jewish feasts. The lamb itself is symbolic of God’s redemptive power, a reminder of God’s mercy, a sign of God’s love. While Jesus walks about the streets of Jerusalem two days before the Passover, he is becoming that sacrificial lamb for all humanity.
As the Lamb walked the streets of Jerusalem, pointing to the upcoming feast, the teachers of the law were scheming and plotting a way to silence God’s plan. This lamb’s blood would not cover a doorpost as a sign to an angel. This lamb’s blood would cover the hearts of men and women who turned to God. It would cleanse the sin from the lives of unworthy people.
As we gather today, the Passover has come and gone – but the feast remains. The body of the lamb lies before us. As we eat this memorial feast, we remember God’s power, his mercy, his love. In eating this meal, we are brought together and unified through the working of God. We are made one family. God’s power is on display – but journalists will not notice, cameras will not cover the scene, networks will not broadcast this mornings events, newspapers will not run headlines of our meal together. Yet what we do around this table is much more important than anything else we could be doing during this time – remembering the sacrifice, praising the father, thanking our savior…
When God announced the first Passover, he told them to find a lamb by the tenth day of the month and take care of the lamb until the day of the Passover Feast – the fourteenth day. It was their responsibility to feed, clean, and protect that lamb until twilight of the fourteenth day. At that time all the animals were killed and roasted, their blood was used to cover the doorposts of their house. The blood on the house would be a sign that protected all of the firstborn in that house.
The tradition surrounding the lamb would continue as the Passover observance became the most important of the Jewish feasts. The lamb itself is symbolic of God’s redemptive power, a reminder of God’s mercy, a sign of God’s love. While Jesus walks about the streets of Jerusalem two days before the Passover, he is becoming that sacrificial lamb for all humanity.
As the Lamb walked the streets of Jerusalem, pointing to the upcoming feast, the teachers of the law were scheming and plotting a way to silence God’s plan. This lamb’s blood would not cover a doorpost as a sign to an angel. This lamb’s blood would cover the hearts of men and women who turned to God. It would cleanse the sin from the lives of unworthy people.
As we gather today, the Passover has come and gone – but the feast remains. The body of the lamb lies before us. As we eat this memorial feast, we remember God’s power, his mercy, his love. In eating this meal, we are brought together and unified through the working of God. We are made one family. God’s power is on display – but journalists will not notice, cameras will not cover the scene, networks will not broadcast this mornings events, newspapers will not run headlines of our meal together. Yet what we do around this table is much more important than anything else we could be doing during this time – remembering the sacrifice, praising the father, thanking our savior…
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