The Passage
Today we are going to study the Passover. So let’s read Luke 22:7-23, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.’’’
The Passover
In Luke 22:7-23, we see that Jesus and His disciples are celebrating the Passover. We are going to discuss how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover. Our main focus will be on what it meant for Jesus to be the first born of all creation and what it meant for Him to be made sin though He knew no sin. But first, let’s discuss the meaning of the Feast of Passover. Passover is a festival that the Jews celebrate every year to remember how God brought them out of Egypt and how He protected them from the angel of death. In fact, Exodus says that not even a dog would growl at the people of Israel, the night the angel of death passed through Egypt (Exodus 11:7). The death of the firstborn son is the last plague on Egypt and the only one that required the death of something for the plague to passover the Israelites. This was the first plague that included personal death; it was a punishment for the people’s sins and if the people did not put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, then their firstborn sons would die along with the first born sons of Egypt. The sacrifice for the Passover had to be a spotless male lamb, his blood was to be spread on the doorposts, but also they had to eat all of the roasted lamb and burn the parts that were not edible (Exodus 12:1-13). We see that when they ate the lamb, they had to be dressed and ready to go. They were commanded to remind and tell their children of what God did in Egypt and how the lamb covered their sins, when they celebrate the Passover feast every year. The sin covering of the firstborn son later on in Exodus is expounded upon and the first man or male beast to open the womb was to be the Lord’s and must be sacrificed for (Exodus 13:12-13). For man it was a spotless male lamb, for beast it was the firstborn male itself, but the unclean animals had to be atoned for with a spotless lamb or its neck had to be broken. This was to consecrate the firstborn male, the one that would continue the family name and the whole family was dedicated to God. This was a reminder throughout all generations, that they were the Lords.
The Firstborn of All Creation
Colossians 1:15, tells us that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. Jesus’ physical body obviously was not the first being created, since He was not born until thousands of years after the creation of the world. His part of the Trinity {Father, Son, and Holy Spirit} was not firstborn, because He has existed forever, there was never a point in forever when Jesus started to exist, He just is (John 1:1, Hebrews, 13:8, John 8:58, Isaiah 9:6, Colossians 1:17). So, what does it mean that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation? Well, to answer that you can look back to many of the stories in the Old Testament when the firstborn received the bulk of the inheritance. But more than that remember what we just discussed about the firstborn having to be sacrificed for and being consecrated to the Lord. Jesus as the firstborn of all creation took all of our just inheritance, which is death because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 3:23, 6:23). Our God is the God of justice, but the good news is that He is also the God of mercy, and in His mercy, He did not leave us dead in our sins (Isaiah 30:18, 61:8). Instead, He sent His Son, and just like the spotless lambs, in the Old Testament, He became sin for us and died on the cross, so we could all live forever with Him. Jesus was consecrated and sacrificed, taking the whole world’s just punishment for sin on Himself (John 17:19). Becoming the firstborn for us, the One who received the just inheritance (our punishment) for all creation. But, Jesus was also the first to rise to eternal life, that is another reason He was firstborn of all creation because He was the firstborn from the dead, with many to follow (Colossians 1:18, John 11:25-26). He arose with a new body that was eternal, receiving the power to give the gift that He was seeking to give us from the beginning, which is eternal life (Colossians 1:20, 2:14, Philippians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 15:42-49). We are in the tomb for a little while, but it is not our ultimate destination. Your ultimate destination is determined by whether you trust Jesus or not. Because Jesus arose, we can also be certain that the tomb can merely be a temporary resting place for those who trust Jesus, with the final destination being Heaven. Jesus showed that the tomb can become a womb. But the goal is not just Heaven, the goal and ultimate gift is being able to be with God forever. If you would like to accept Him as Lord and Savior of your life, all you have to do is to admit that you are a sinner, repent of your sins (repent means turn away), believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and God raised Him from the dead, then confess Him as Lord and Savior of your life (Romans 10:9).
Lord’s Supper
At the Passover with the disciples, Jesus established the Lord’s Supper. He said that this was His body which was broken for you and that this was His blood which was poured out for you (Luke 22:19:20). Remember what we discussed about the lamb at the Passover, that they would eat the whole lamb while they were dressed and ready to go, and this was done in remembrance of what God did in Egypt. When the disciples celebrated Passover, they did so in accordance with the law. While at the same time Jesus was pointing back to how He saved the Israelites from Egypt, He was also pointing forward to how He was saving everyone from sin and death by dying on the cross, which He would do in just a few hours (Jude 1:5). When we observe the Lord’s Supper, just like the disciples, we are not eating the physical body of Jesus. But just like Passover, it is a remembrance of what God has done for us and what He saved us from. It should be a bitter-sweet reminder, because like Jesus said, when we eat the bread we remember that His body was broken for us. We are both the executioner as well as the ones being saved. If you trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, just like Him, you will rise again with a new eternal body. So today, as you celebrate Passover or the Lord’s Supper, remember what Jesus did for you. Also remember that He was the firstborn of all creation, the first to ever rise from the dead to eternal life, the Second Adam, the One who if you put your trust, you will live forever in God’s presence. But unlike most people who hoard what they have, Jesus does not, He freely gives salvation to all and encourages us to do the same by leading others to Him. This weekend is a special one, when more people are open to the gospel. So invite someone to church, so they can also live forever with Him. Also, share the gospel on social media. We will have messages going up all weekend, if you want to share them that would be great. You will not believe what one share can do. We are talking about people’s eternities here and that is what I want to leave you with, to share the gospel because this is one of the times when many are open to the gospel.