From Passover to the Lord’s Supper
Thursday night of the week between Palm Sunday and Easter is traditionally considered the night that Jesus was betrayed. Before he retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and was betrayed, he took the unleavened bread and a cup of wine, and he instituted a new commemorative meal for the New Covenant people of God (Matt. 26:26-29). Jesus was forever linking the observance of the Lord’s Supper to the Old Testament Feast of Passover, which is itself a commemorative meal instituted by God through Moses as the Israelites escaped from Egypt by the hand of God. There is no set requirement in scripture for the frequency of the observance of the Lord’s Supper. As a church, we have decided to administer the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of every month to commemorate and proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord (1 Cor. 11:26). Here are a few biblical purposes for observing the Lord’s Supper.
Relive the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
At Passover, Israelites dramatize their escape from death every year. They re-enact being passed over by God and spared from His judgment.
As Christians, partaking in the Lord’s Supper, we do not passively relive the event as if it were a movie on a screen. We bring it into the present and imagine that we are there at the foot of the cross as Jesus’ body is broken and his blood is spilled. A key part of the Christian life is considering ourselves crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). Believers have been united with Christ through the Holy Spirit, and through the waters of baptism, and can relive the crucifixion, united with Christ in His death (Rom. 6:2-4).
Reunite the Community of Believers
During the original Passover, when the Israelites put the blood on their doorposts, they were saved by their faith in the blood that was shed for them, and no matter where they are on the planet, Jews to this day celebrate Passover as a way to identify themselves and reunite their community around this shared experience.
When we believe in Christ as Lord, we are saved and made righteous by His blood, and if we have been counted righteous by His blood, then we will surely be saved from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9). In the same way, when we receive the Lord’s Supper, we do not receive it alone (this is one of the reasons that online church can’t really work). We come together on the Lord’s Day and proclaim our common identity as those who have been crucified with Christ and who wait for the consummation of our redemption. If we come to eat this meal together and do so in disunity or discord, we violate this very meaning of communion (1 Cor. 11:17-34).
Recommit to Obedience in Faith
God began the Ten Commandments begin with a declaration: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exod. 20:2). This good news of God’s deliverance preceded the mandate for obedience to the covenant.
In our case, at the table, we celebrate that Jesus is the Lord our God, who delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into his Kingdom (Colossians 1:13). We now walk in obedience to His commands, having been freed from slavery to sin through his death, and freed to pursue righteousness in our lives. At the Lord’s Supper, we receive mercy for our sin and renew our commitment to follow Jesus in obedience to his teachings.
Reach Forward to the Kingdom
As Israel observed Passover every year, they reminded themselves that they were the chosen people of God who inherited God’s promises to Abraham. And they continuously look forward to the day when they will fill the promised land and all the nations of the earth will be blessed. They anticipate this promise, ending their meal with the exclamation, “Next year, in Jerusalem!” This remembrance is the hope which drove the Israelites forward.
In the Lord’s Supper, we remember that Jesus, who is the firstborn from the dead, is the one who fulfills all God’s promises to Abraham. Through Him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. We reach forward in hope looking to that day when all creation will be freed from its bondage to decay and the glory of God will be revealed in His sons and daughters. On that day, we will finally and perfectly be made like Jesus Christ in His resurrection, and we will feast on this commemorative meal with Him in the kingdom of God (Matt 26:19). This is our hope, and it is an anchor for our souls. This is the hope for which we strive.
