Prayer ~ Lord, help me to understand all that You taught Your disciples on this last Passover. You were about to be the greatest sacrifice ever offered for sins—the ultimate sacrifice—yet You had a servant's heart. How can I ever thank you enough? I humbly bow before You—repentant, thankful, and filled with Your peace. Only You can give that peace—peace that passes all understanding. Did You feel that peace at that last Passover meal?
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when
the Passover lamb is sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said,
"Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together."
"Where do you want us to prepare it?" they asked him. He replied,
"As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will
meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, 'The Teacher
asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my
disciples?' He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up.
That is where you should prepare our meal." They went off to the city and
found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal
there. When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the
table. Jesus said, "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with
you before my suffering begins. Luke 22:7-15
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| Reenactment of the Jesus' Passover Meal Richland Nazarene Church This is my body, broken for you. |
The Passover Meal has been celebrated since the exodus of the Hebrew
people from Egypt. God sent plagues on Egypt so that Pharoh would let the
Hebrew people go, but it wasn’t until the final plague—the death of the firstborn—that Pharoh relented and released the Hebrews who were enslaved there in
Egypt. The ten plagues were turning the water…all the water in Egypt…into
blood; frogs; lice or gnats; flies; pestilence of livestock; boils; hail;
locust; darkness for three days; and death of the firstborn. The Lord
instructed the Jews to put lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes so that
the angel of death would “Passover” their homes. Even today the Jews remember
those ten plagues as part of their Passover meal.
Did Jesus recall the ten plagues as He reclined and enjoyed
the meal with His disciples? We don’t have an account of that, but we do know
that He offered unleavened bread and wine during the meal and that was the
beginning of our tradition of communion. Jesus commemorated the suffering with
which He would be afflicted only a few hours after His Passover meal. He took the
bread—which had been pierced…just like His body would be pierced during His
beating…and He offered the wine—symbolic of His own blood…which would be shed
on the cross. He actually gave thanks to the Father for that bread and wine.
Could you have thanked the Father for such a thing as the anguish of crucifixion?
Jesus did—even before His suffering began. Paul called the church at Corinth to
remember Jesus’ suffering. Likewise, we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with His
friends.
For I pass on to you
what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the
Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in
pieces and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to
remember me." In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper,
saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement
confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it."
For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the
Lord's death until he comes again. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Is the desire of your heart to know the Lord…and to
remember the sacrifice that He made for you? He was the Passover Lamb—sacrificed
for your sin. From the beginning of time…with Adam and Eve’s disobedience in
the Garden, blood had to be shed for sin, but those animal sacrifices had to be
continually repeated until Jesus’ blood was sacrificed for all mankind’s sin. He
paid it all.
Remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for you. Recall the
Last Passover Supper Jesus had with His Friends.
Verses of Salvation ~ The LORD says, "I will rescue
those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on
me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor
them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation." Psalm
91:14-16
Memory Verse of the Week ~ Wherever your treasure is,
there the desires of your heart will also be. Luke 12:34
© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M. Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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