KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Passover
WHAT IS YOUR favorite family tradition...?
Perhaps it is hamburgers and fireworks on July 4. You may look forward to turkey on Thanksgiving Day, chocolate cake on your birthday, or a big family gathering in your childhood home. Or you may respectfully commemorate the death of a loved one, maybe a soldier.
The annual Jewish Passover was a celebration of God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian oppression. Because He "passed over" the houses that had lambs' blood on the doors, the firstborn among His people were spared. After they ate their meals in haste, He led them across the Red Sea and ultimately to the Promised Land. Such joyful events were possible only because of the sacrifice of these lambs.
In God's amazing timing, Jesus was crucified as our very own Passover lamb. Christ ate the Passover meals with His disciples and made the connection clear. He said, "This is My body," and "this is My blood" (Matt. 26:26, 28). God would forgive -- or "pass over" our sins only because of Him.
When we eat the Lord's Supper and think of our deliverance, we, like the Jews, are filled with joy and gratitude. At the same time, when we recall the awful slaughter of our Savior, we are humbled and sorrowful. Both our grief and our gratitude compel us to examine ourselves, confess our sins, and determine to serve Him in the coming week.
One of Jesus' disciples, after attending that Last Supper, betrayed Him. Another denied Him. All forsook Him. May it never be so for us! (Cory Collins, Gospel Advocate, used by permission)
KneEmail: "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7).