Progression

Pastor Rod Thompson

Midland SDA Church

June 1, 2019

Read Exodus 12: 3-17

The Passover feast was for the Jewish people a memorial of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt.  In it they would remember how the destroying angel spared the lives of the firstborn.  It was not a pleasant or joyous party.  A lamb had to be slain, its blood had to sprinkled on the doorposts, and its flesh had to be eaten with bitter herbs, in haste, as the people had their loins girded, in readiness to go. 

Read Exodus 12: 18-28

I want you to notice that this was an ordinance (vs 24) that was to be something that was observed forever.

Sometimes the bible refers to something lasting forever but it meant a specific period of time

Jonah 2: 6  I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bar closed behind me forever; you have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God

1 Samuel 1:22     But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.” 

And how long was that forever to be?  She had prayed and made a vow in verse 11, “Oh Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the afflictions of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life

Read Exodus 12: 25-28 again

Here we see Moses talking about the children of Israel keeping this feast even after they entered into the promised land

Read Luke 22: 26-27

We don’t see it here in this verse but Jesus had just washed the disciple’s feet.  You can go to John 13 to read about that.  But the point is that the disciples were now lying in a circle with their faces to the table in the center and their feet on the outer edge of the circle.  But remember what Moses had said.  They were to eat the Passover with their shoes on, the waists girded, standing ready to leave in haste.

Desire of Ages P 653

 – At the time of their deliverance from Egypt, the children of Israel ate the Passover supper standing, with their loins girded, and with their staves in their hands, ready for their journey. The manner in which they celebrated this ordinance harmonized with their condition; for they were about to be thrust out of the land of Egypt, and were to begin a painful and difficult journey through the wilderness. But in Christ's time the condition of things had changed. They were not now about to be thrust out of a strange country, but were dwellers in their own land. In harmony with the rest that had been given them, the people then partook of the Passover supper in a reclining position. Couches were placed about the table, and the guests lay upon them, resting upon the left arm, and having the right hand free for use in eating. In this position a guest could lay his head upon the breast of the one who sat next above him. And the feet, being at the outer edge of the couch, could be washed by one passing around the outside of the circle. 

Desire of Ages P652

  Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to present Himself as a sin offering, that He would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four thousand years had pointed to His death. As He ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be the memorial of His great sacrifice. The national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages.   

     The Passover was ordained as a commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God had directed that, year by year, as the children should ask the meaning of this ordinance, the history should be repeated. Thus the wonderful deliverance was to be kept fresh in the minds of all. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper was given to commemorate the great deliverance wrought out as the result of the death of Christ. Till He shall come the second time in power and glory, this ordinance is to be celebrated. It is the means by which His great work for us is to be kept fresh in our minds. 

Desire of Ages P539

When the Savior yielded up His life on Calvary, the significance of the Passover ceased, and the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a memorial of the same event of which the Passover had been a type.   

The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of our salvation through Christ’s sacrifice.  As we look back, we see the Jewish people showing their faith in the coming Savior by partaking of the Passover lamb.  And we show our faith in the same Savior, who already came, by taking part in the Lord’s supper.