March 30, 2007
THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN
Luke 22:7-30
I would like to begin by sharing 3 impressions with you from the passage we read in the Scripture reading this morning (Luke 22:7-30)
First, I am struck by the strong impression that in these verses we are in the presence of mystery. Over the years of church history, various branches of the church have debated and quarreled over these verses and their attempts to reduce this and the parallel passages in Matthew, Mark and I Corinthians to precise theological formulae. But this passage and Jesus’ words here defy those efforts. The words themselves are simple. But that is not the same as saying they are easy to understand. Maybe this is a place where we should come, not to quibble over semantics, but to worship before the matchless love of God and the mysteries of redemption and atonement.
Secondly, I am struck by the intimacy of this passage and the fellowship expressed and enjoyed between Jesus and his disciples. This was the last meal Jesus and his disciples shared together before his death. The disciples didn’t know it, but Jesus did. He relished this last intimate interlude. We see it in the language of the passage:
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (v. 14-15).
“I have been looking forward to this!” Jesus says. It sounds almost trite to say this, but Jesus was a people person. He liked being with people. He especially enjoyed the camaraderie with his disciples. He relished his times alone with them.
Thirdly, I was struck by the strong sense of anticipation which Jesus expresses in this passage. There is a sense in which Jesus is bringing something to an end. As they are eating, he says to them, “I will not eat again…I will not drink again…” This is the last time. This won’t happen again. But then he immediately adds a sense of anticipation and hope. “Until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God,” and “Until the kingdom of God comes.” (verse 16 and 17). (Also read verses 28-30).
The last supper was a wonderful time of intimate fellowship for Jesus and his disciples, but there is something much more wonderful yet to come for all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. There will come a time when we will eat at his table and enjoy his fellowship without interruption.
It seems to me that these three impressions should permeate our hearts and minds whenever we gather around the Lord’s Table together. A sense of mystery, a sense of intimacy with Christ himself, and a sense of anticipation that what we are doing is pointing to a future, glorious fulfillment when we shall all eat and drink together at Christ’s table.
Those are just some general impressions and observations. Now I would like to focus a little more specifically on the symbolism involved in that last supper together. For this was no ordinary supper. This was the feast known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also referred to as the Passover. Having recently worked our way through the Book of Exodus, we need little reminder of the significance of this feast in the history of Israel. This was one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, a time when they celebrated their deliverance from Egypt. There were a variety of symbols included in the meal. There was the unleavened bread, commemorating their haste in leaving Egypt as well as the need to remove all contamination from their homes and lives. There were the bitter herbs which reminded them of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt. But one particular symbol stands out from the rest. That was the symbol of the lamb.
I want to highlight four steps involving the lamb on that first Passover.
Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tent day of this month each man is to take lamb for his family, one for each household. (Exodus 12:3)
The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (Exodus 12:5)
Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. (Exodus 12:6)
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. (Exodus 12:21-23)
That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. (Exodus 12:8)
These were the steps carefully followed by the Israelites on that first Passover night in Egypt, and these were the steps that devout Jews would continue to observe in remembrance of their night of deliverance.
Now Jesus, the promised Messiah has come. He has been pointing toward this time. On several occasions in the Gospels, the Scripture says, “His time had not yet come.” But now, in the divine plan of God, his time has come. And this time was during the Passover. He died on Passover. And Paul makes a very significant statement in I Corinthians 5:7: For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
How did Jesus fulfill the Passover symbolism? Let us consider the same four steps again.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
Remember that the Passover lambs chosen by the Israelites had to be without blemish. Jesus as the Lamb of God met this same criterion.
…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world…(I Peter 1:19-20)
In Luke 22:19 and 20, Jesus refers to his body as being “given for you” and his blood as being “poured out for you.” With these phrases, he was predicting his own death. This death of the Lamb of God was no afterthought or accident of circumstance. Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”
These two steps God has done. They are accomplished, finished, facts of history. But the final two steps are left to us as individuals.
At the first Passover this action step was required on behalf of each home. What would have happened if they neglected this step? What if they didn’t bother to apply the blood? Imagine that the lamb was slain. The blood was there in the basin. But they decided it was not necessary to splash it on the door posts. What would have happened then? I think we can only conclude that when the destroying angel passed over the land, the first born son in that home would have died just like the Egyptians. Hebrews 11:28 tells us that faith was need for this step. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
It requires faith for us as well for the blood of the Lamb to be applied to our lives. We must acknowledge our sins and place our trust in the blood of Christ as the sacrifice for our sins.
It is here that that Jesus interrupts the flow of the normal Passover remembrance and makes a change. Under the old covenant, the lamb was eaten. Obviously, this required the death of a lamb every year. But now there is a very significant change. As the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus death was a sufficient sacrifice once and for all. No longer do we need to slaughter a lamb. So Jesus replaced the lamb, a symbol which he perfectly fulfilled, with two symbols of remembrance.
Bread which represented his body in Luke 22:19: And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
The cup of wine which represented his blood in Luke 22:20: In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
For us, there is no more blood to shed. But we are to eat and drink together in remembrance of the sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, the Christ, who gave his body for us, and who shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.
So, with a sense of mystery, a sense of intimate fellowship and a sense of anticipation, let us gather around the table in remembrance of Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Passover sacrifice, who gave his life so that we might be delivered from the penalty and bondage of sin.