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#1,290 4/13/17 Maundy Thursday 12:1-14

Fellow Worshipers of the Lamb,

Tonight's sermon text is about the Passover, a very important event in the life of the Jewish people that came once a year. It was one of the major religious festivals where every adult Jewish male was required to attend in Jerusalem. And, of course, it was on the night of the Passover meal, the first Maundy Thursday, that and His disciples were celebrating the Passover. After the Passover meal Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, our special meal and sacrament. Both the Passover and the Lord's Supper teach us an important truth: THE BLOOD OF THE PASSOVER LAMB SAVES US FROM DEATH.

I. The Spotless Lamb Was Sacrificed for Sinners. A. The Passover meal and week-long celebration was a highlight of the Jewish calendar. God considered it so important that He told the people through : “If a man who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not present the Lord's offering at the appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.” (Numbers 9:13) But one thing you have to notice about the Passover celebration meal and preparations is the great attention required for the lamb. “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect.” They were to choose them on the 10th day of the month and “take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month.” Later in the chapter God also spelled out: “Do not break any of the bones.” (12:46) The were to slaughter the lamb at twilight” and roast the lamb over the fire. None of the roasted lamb was to be left until morning.

B. The first Passover lambs were sacrificed in Egypt on the very night the Children of escaped in the Exodus. The first Passover lambs had great significance for the Jewish people. God told them: “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs...On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals...The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike down Egypt.” Later that night that's exactly what happened. Moses records: “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of , who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” (12:29-30) Do you think the got the point? That Passover lamb was sacrificed in their place so that they would escape death.

C. Do we get the point of that Passover lamb? It is a picture of Jesus. The New Testament pointedly states: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7) Christ too was spotless and without defect. He never sinned, but perfectly obeyed all God's requirements for us. None of His bones were ever broken, even though the Roman soldiers broke the bones of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus. And, most importantly, Jesus' blood that poured out for us on the wooden cross don't just save us from in Egypt. Jesus' blood saves us from slavery to sin, death, and Satan. Jesus' blood saves us from eternal imprisonment in hell. Jesus' blood didn't just save the Children of Israel from slavery, but saved the whole world of sinners from the punishment we deserve for our sins. The Apostle Peter wrote: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed...but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

D. Years ago I read the story of a church in a little village in Norway. The church is called the “Church of the Lamb.” Many churches have crosses on their steeples, but this church has the figure of a lamb. The villagers all know the story behind it and tell visitors how it happened that a lamb was placed on the steeple. When the steeple was being built, a workman high up on the steeple lost his footing and fell. It was a very high steeple and the fall would almost certainly have meant death for the workman. But just at that moment a little flock of sheep happened to be passing by the church, and the workman fell right on one of them. The lamb was killed, but the workman was saved. All the townspeople, and certainly the workman who was saved by the lamb in the fall, were so grateful that they erected a lamb instead of a cross on the top of their new steeple.

E. The sacrifice of that lamb who gave his life for the workman who fell from the steeple moved him to grateful thanksgiving. The sacrifice of the Passover lamb that spared the lives of the firstborn Israelites in Egypt moved them to grateful thanksgiving. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who gave His life for all of us moves us to grateful thanksgiving too. You show that thanksgiving by your worship at His house this Holy Week. Even more importantly, you show that thanksgiving by the life you live in dedication to Him by serving and obeying Him and His commands. Paul's letter to the Romans tells believers: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what god's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2) Jesus, the spotless Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for us sinners. His sacrifice saves us from the curse of our sins and gives us the power and desire to sacrifice ourselves for Him.

II. We Commemorate and Celebrate This Festival. A. This Passover meal was not just to be a one-time celebration the night God saved them from death in Egypt and brought them out of slavery there. It says: “This is a day you are to commemorate; for generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.” In fact, they were to turn their calendars at this time of year. We’re told: “The Lord said to Moses and in Egypt, ‘This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.’” They were commemorating and celebrating a new year and the rescue from Egypt and God’s many blessings to them as a nation. It was like our New Year’s Day and July 4th and Thanksgiving Day all wrapped up into one big celebration. Can you imagine the joy as they celebrated the Passover every year?

B. For our joy the Lord Jesus has given us His sacrament of Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, which He instituted after the Passover meal that first Maundy Thursday evening. He commands us to commemorate and celebrate this festival meal too. The says: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25) We commemorate and celebrate the Lord’s Supper tonight and regularly throughout the year in remembrance of Him.

C. But this commemorating and celebrating is not just a matter of marking a holiday or remembering the “good old days.” This commemorating and celebrating requires faith. Faith was required of the first Passover celebrants. God told the people: “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” They were to eat the Passover meal believing that God would save them from death. They were to eat it trusting that God would take them that night out of slavery in Egypt. So the sacrament of Holy Communion also requires faith: faith that remembers Jesus gave His body and blood for me for the forgiveness of sins and has delivered me from eternal death and from the slavery to Satan and sin. And, when we commune together, it requires unity of faith, so we practice Close Communion by receiving and offering the sacrament only with those who share the same faith in the teachings of . It’s a meal that displays unity of faith, as the Bible says: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (:16)

D. And, most wonderfully for us Christians, commemorating and celebrating Holy Communion not only requires faith, it strengthens our faith. The faith of the Jews was strengthened through the powerful Passover meal celebration to help and prepare them for their journey to the of . The faith of New Testament Christians is strengthened through the powerful sacrament of Holy Communion to help and prepare us for our journey to the Promised Land of heaven. In Holy Communion Jesus promises us forgiveness for our sins. That forgiveness strengthens and inspires us to turn away from sins of the past to live for Him each day in thanksgiving for His selfless sacrifice and for His gift of eternal life.

E. How we celebrate New Year’s Day and July 4th and Thanksgiving Day with joy and relish! For the Old Testament Israelites the Passover celebration was like all of those rolled into one. And for us New Testament Christians the Lord’s Supper is celebrated with joy and relish too when we do this in remembrance of Him – Him who gave His body and blood into death for our forgiveness, Him who gives us His body and blood with the bread and wine of Holy Communion, Him who is the spotless Lamb sacrificed for us sinners, who gives us perfect reason to commemorate and celebrate our salvation tonight and always! Amen.