New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23–34

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.” (1 Corinthians 11:23–34, ESV)

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 12:1-28

“The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.’ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’’ And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” (Exodus 12:1–28, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

The text that is before us today consists of two parts. In verses 1 through 20 we find a record of the instructions that God gave to Moses and Aaron regarding Israel’s perpetual observance of the Passover memorial under the Mosaic Covenant. And although verses 21 through 28 are certainly related to this, they differ in that they are a record of the instructions that Moses gave to the elders of Israel regarding the observance of the first Passover with some mention made of its future observance. You can clearly see the division in the text by reading verse 1, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be for you the beginning of months…”, etc., and comparing it to verse 21, “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb…”, etc. From this it should be clear to us that Moses and Aaron were priests, and that Moses was also a prophet. That Moses and Aaron were priests is clear because God gave them instructions regarding the religious observance of the Passover under the Old Mosaic Covenant. They, and the priests that would descend from them, were to see to it that the worship of God was maintained. But it was Moses the prophet who then delivered the word of God to the people of God through their elders.  

By the way, did you notice that the Hebrew people are back on board in this passage? We haven’t heard anything about them since chapter 6. Pharaoh had responded to Moses’ original request for the release of the Hebrews by withholding the straw necessary for brick making and thus he greatly increased the already heavy burden of the Hebrews. This caused the Hebrews to turn away from Moses and Aaron. The foremen of the Hebrews spoke to them saying, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:21, ESV). And in 6:9 we read, “Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery” (Exodus 6:9, ESV). That was the last we heard about the spiritual condition of the Hebrews. They were broken, greatly discouraged, and unwilling to listen to Moses. But now they are back! I think it is safe to say that although they maintained a low profile to avoid even harsher treatment from Pharaoh while Moses and Arron did their thing, they were watching. They witnessed the judgments that God poured out on Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the gods of Egypt, and they saw how the LORD made a distinction between them and the Egyptians. In other words, the LORD proved himself faithful through the outpouring of the first 9 plagues, and now we see that the Hebrews are back on board. In verse 21 Moses calls for the elders of Israel, and they come to listen. And after Moses gives his instructions we read of the reaction of the Hebrews in verses 27-28: “…the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:27–28, ESV). This is quite the turnaround, isn’t it? Clearly, the Lord had proven himself faithful and trustworthy.   

I wonder if you can relate? Perhaps you have gone through a season of pronounced difficulty which left you feeling greatly discouraged and doubting. But God showed himself faithful in his judgments and in his grace, leading to your restoration. It seems to me that the Hebrews went through something like this as a people. They were so beaten down that they began to doubt Moses and the LORD in whose name he came. But now they are back. “The people bowed their heads and worshiped”, and they went and did as Moses commanded. 

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Three Observations

With all of that as an introduction, I have three general observations to make concerning the instructions that the LORD gave to Moses and Aaron, and through them to the Hebrew people, concerning the observance of the Passover.

First of all, it is very important for us to recognize that these Passover laws that were revealed to Israel in the days of Moses were positive laws.

Positive laws are laws that are added by the Lord, often in connection with the establishment of a covenant. Positive laws are not inherently moral. Before this time, no one was obliged to keep the Passover. In fact, no one would have thought to, for the Passover had not occurred. This obligation to keep the Passover was imposed upon Israel at the time of the Exodus, and not before. Natural laws are binding on everyone, everywhere, and always, for they are those moral laws which were written on Adam’s heart at creation. They do not change. Murder, for example, was sinful in the beginning, it is sinful to this present day, and will always be sinful. But positive laws are laws are morally neutral. And they are imposed by God, as I have said, often in connection with the making of a Covenant between God and man. Positive laws are often filled with symbolism.

Adam had the moral law written on his heart at the time of his creation, but the law concerning abstinence from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was added later. The law to abstain from that tree was a positive law added by God in connection with the Covenant of Works that God transacted with him. The forbidden tree was made by God to signify rebellion against God, whereas the tree of life was made to signify Adam’s perfect, exact, and perpetual obedience. Eating fruit from trees is not inherently sinful. But for Adam, it was a sin to eat of the forbidden tree after the Lord commanded him not to eat of it. The law concerning the forbidden tree was a positive law, for it was added to the moral law and imposed upon Adam. 

Abraham was also given a positive law, the law of circumcision. This law was added to signify the covenant that God had made with Abraham. By this sign, the Hebrew people were marked off from the other nations. Before this law of circumcision was added, it was not a sin for anyone to remain uncircumcised. After this law was added, it was a sin for a male descendant of Abraham to remain uncircumcised. And that remained true up until Christ came into the world through the Hebrew people to accomplish the work of redemption. Ever since then, circumcision is to be regarded as nothing, for circumcision, or uncircumcision is a morally neutral thing. It was only a moral issue for a particular time and for a particular people while they lived under a particular covenantal arrangement according to the command of God. 

Positive laws were also added by Christ upon the inauguration of the New Covenant. Those who have faith in Christ are to be baptized and they are to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Before Christ said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”, and before he said, “do this in remembrance of me”, in regards to the observance of the Lord’s Supper, God’s people were not obliged to keep these commands. But now that Christ has added these positive laws, those who have faith in Christ are bound to obey them, for they do signify our union with Christ under the New Covenant, and our separation from the world. This will be so until the Lord returns. In the new heavens and earth, we will not observe baptism and the Lord’s supper, for then the Covenant of Grace will be brought to a consummation. Those in Christ will pass from grace to glory.

And here I am saying that such was the case with the observance of the Passover. These Passover laws were positive laws added by God and imposed upon the people of Israel in the days of Moses. No one was obliged to keep the Passover before this time. Only the Hebrews were obliged to keep the Passover after this. And these Passover laws would remain binding upon them until their purpose was fulfilled. These Passover laws were for Israel under the Old Mosaic covenant; they passed away with the arrival of the Christ, the accomplishment of our redemption through his shed blood, and the inauguration of the New and better Covenant. Neither ethnic Jews nor ethnic Gentiles today are obliged to observe the Passover (religiously), for the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world has come. To observe the Old Covenant Passover today (as if it is a religious obligation) is to deny that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.

If what I have just said regarding the Passover feast binding the Hebrews only, and only under the Old Mosaic covenant, is true, then what are we to make of verse 14 of our text, which says “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”? And verse 17? “And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.” And verse 24? “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.” (Exodus 12:24, ESV)

 If the Hebrew word translated as “forever” means, “from this day forward and for eternity”, then what I have just said regarding the Passover laws being no longer binding must be wrong. In fact, if this is so – if “forever” means, “from this day forward and for eternity” – then we must confess that the New Testament scriptures are wrong, for they do clearly teach that all of the feast days that were imposed upon Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant have passed away. In fact, a word study on this Hebrew word translated as “forever” will show that it is used in relation to all kinds of Old Covenant ceremonial laws. To give just one example, Leviticus 23:21 speaks of the observance of the Day of Atonement, when it says, “You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations” (Leviticus 23:21, ESV). If “forever” means for all eternity, then we are still obliged to observe the Passover, the Day of Atonement, and many of the other ceremonial laws given to Israel in the days of Moses. But again, this contradicts the clear teaching of the New Testament which teaches that these ceremonial laws that were given to Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant have passed away. Why have they passed? Because they have served their purpose and have been fulfilled by Christ. 

In fact, the Hebrew word does not necessarily mean “forever”, as in, “for all eternity”, but rather “forever”, as in, “for a very long time”, that is to say, “perpetually, for as long as this Covenantal arrangement lasts.” This positive law, along with the other positive laws given to Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant, governed Israel’s worship for a time. They governed Israel’s worship under the Old Mosaic Covenant. They governed Israel’s worship until the Christ who was promised to them was born into this world to accomplish our eternal redemption. 

This is how all positive laws work, by the way. Because they are not inherently moral, and because they are filled with symbolism, and because they are given in connection with the making of covenants, they remain in place until their symbolic function is fulfilled, and the covenant to which they belong is either broken or fulfilled. Think of the trees in the garden. Adam was to eat of the one and abstain from the other, but those laws do not pertain to us, for Adam broke the Covenant of Works. Think of circumcision. Circumcision was an issue for all the male descendants of Abraham, but not for us. Why? Because the promises made to Abraham have all been fulfilled, the Old Covenant has passed away, and the New has come, having been inaugurated by Christ, Abraham’s true Son. And as I have said, we will not observe the Lord’s Supper in the new heavens and earth, for then we will not be under the Covenant of Grace, but will be translated to glory. There we will eat the marriage supper of the Lamb, of which the Lord’s Supper is but a type. The observance of the Lord’s Supper will thus pass away.

Brothers and sisters, all of this is very important to understand now, and here is why: In Exodus 12 we are beginning to consider that period of redemptive history where the LORD makes the Hebrew people into a nation, the nation of Israel. Think of it. Prior to this — prior to the Passover and the Exodus that follows — the Hebrews were set apart as a people. We may trace this back to Abraham (Genesis 12), and even to Noah’s son, Shem (Genesis 11). But now in Exodus, the Hebrew people begin to emerge as a nation as they are led out of Egypt to journey towards the promised land. And soon we will see that the LORD imposed a whole bunch of laws upon them to govern them as a nation. The moral law that was given to them on two tablets of stone was a summary of the one written on Adam’s heart at creation — it was not new. But in the days of Moses, the Lord added many civil laws (laws pertaining to government) and ceremonial laws (laws pertaining to the worship of God under the Old Mosaic Covenant). And I am saying that the laws regarding the keeping of the Passover are the first of these positive ceremonial laws. We must learn how to interpret these laws, brothers and sisters. They were positive laws — laws added by God to a particular people, for a particular time, under a particular covenant, and for a particular purpose, namely to preserve these people physically and spiritually, until the Christ who was promised to them was brought into the world to accomplish our redemption.  We will need to keep all of this in mind as we continue in our study of Exodus and, Lord willing, come to study Leviticus someday. These civil and ceremonial laws imposed upon Israel are all to be regarded in this way. We may learn a great deal from these positive laws. We may learn something about God’s moral law by considering the civil laws imposed upon Israel. and we may learn a great deal about Christ and the work that he came to accomplish by considering the ceremonial laws imposed upon Israel (for he was in these laws prefigured). But we are not bound to keep them today, for they were given to Israel for a particular time and purpose. 

My second observation is this: the Passover was instituted by God through Moses to serve as a memorial to the act of redemption accomplished by the LORD to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. 

The Passover feast is called a memorial in verse 14, where the LORD speaks to Moses, saying, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast” (Exodus 12:14, ESV). The Hebrew people, from this day forward, were to keep the Passover to remember what the LORD had done for them. 

Notice that the Passover was instituted before the historical event of which it was a memorial occurred. This should remind us of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord, on the night that he was betrayed, the night before his crucifixion, said, this is my body which is broken for you, and this is my blood of the covenant which is shed for you, do this in remembrance of me.  So then, there was something prophetic about the words of Christ when he instituted the Supper. He predicted that his body would be broken and his bloodshed when he told his disciples to do this in remembrance of him. And the same is true of the institution of the Passover. The event of which the Passover was to serve as a perpetual memorial would happen in the future. 

But the main point is this — the Passover was to be observed as a memorial. The people of Israel were to look back and remember what the LORD had done for them to deliver them from Egyptian bondage. They were to remember the plagues, and in particular, they were to remember the 10th plague, the death of the firstborns of Egypt. And they were to remember how the LORD spared them through the blood of the lamb.   

Consider these three elements to the observance of the Passover.  

One, sacred time was set apart. The Passover itself was to be celebrated on the 14th day of the first month of the year (according to the Hebrew lunar calendar). That month — the month of Abib, which was later called Nisan — was to be regarded at the first month, and the Hebrews were to celebrate the Passover on the 14th day of that month. In fact, we do not only find instructions for the celebration of Passover in our text, but also instructions for the Feast of unleavened bread. This feast follows Passover. It was to be observed for seven days, the 14th day through the 21st. No leaven was to be found in the houses of the Hebrews, They were to eat only unleavened bread. 

Sacred time… God has always set aside sacred time for man to rest and to worship. Adam was to keep the weekly Sabbath. Work was to be done for 6 days and the seventh day was to be regarded as holy, a day for rest and for worship. That has never changed, brothers and sisters. The weekly Sabbath is command four of the ten commandments. Of course, the day of observance has changed now that the Christ has accomplished his work, has entered into his rest, and we find our rest in him by faith. The day has appropriately changed from the seventh to the first, but the weekly Sabbath remains. That is what Hebrews 4:9 explicitly says! The weekly Sabbath remains, and it will remain until the thing of which the weekly Sabbath is a sign arrives, namely, eternal rest in the new heavens and earth. But here I want you to see that in the days of Moses sacred days were added and imposed upon the Hebrews. These added days are what Paul refers to in Colossians 2:16, saying, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV).

These holy days were important for Israel, for they gave Israel an opportunity to pause and to remember what the Lord had done for them to redeem them, how he had set them apart as his people, and how he had entrusted them with his precious and very great promises. Did Israel keep these holy days? In fact, the scriptures suggest that they were very unfaithful in this. Nevertheless, this was their purpose. 

Dear brothers and sisters, under the New Covenant these holy days that were given to Israel no longer apply to us. They have passed away,  for as Paul says, they were “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV). But the Lord has not left us without sacred time. A Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. The weekly Sabbath — the one day in seven Sabbath — which was first given, not to Israel in the days of Moses, but to Adam at the time of creation, remains. “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9, ESV). It is a day for resting. It is a day for worshipping. It is a day for remembering what the Lord has done for us. It is a day to be reminded that we belong to the Lord and that we are living, not for this world, but the world to come. 

Notice secondly that the Passover was a ceremonial meal. The Hebrews were to slaughter a lamb or goat without blemish. The blood was to be caught in a basin and some was to be spread upon the doorposts of the house. This application of the blood signified that all in the house believed in YHWH. When the tenth plague was poured out the LORD would pass over all of the homes with the blood applied to the doorpost. And when the Passover was celebrated in the years to come, the people were to reenact this so as to remember the mercy that the LORD had shown to them. And then the people were to roast the lamb quickly and simply over fire. They were to eat it all. If the lamb was too big for one household to consume, they were to join with others. The bread they ate was to be unleavened. They were to eat the meal fully clothed and with sandals on their feet as if ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Everything about the meal communicated preparedness and haste. This was not the kind of meal that families who were well established in their land and in their homes would eat. Rather, it was the kind of meal that those on the go would eat. And that of course is the point. The Hebrews were to prepare the meal in this way by faith, knowing that the Lord would deliver them at the break of dawn. And every Passover feast from that day forward was to be celebrated in the same way as a memorial to the great salvation the LORD worked for the Hebrews to deliver them from Egyptian bondage. 

Sacred meal… why a meal? Well, meals do signify communion. And these Hebrews were redeemed from Egypt to commune with their God and with one another. The theme runs throughout scripture, brothers and sisters. Abraham ate with the angel of the Lord, remember. The Passover was a meal. The people ate before God at Sinai. Many of the sacrifices offered at the tabernacle, and later the temple, were to be consumed by the priests and by the people. Do not forget the Lord’s Supper, brothers and sisters. And lastly, think of the marriage supper of the Lamb which we will enjoy in the New Heavens and earth. That will be the culmination of this biblical theme, won’t it. All of these sacred meals in Holy Scripture signify communion with God through Christ, the Lamb of God whose blood was shed for us.   

The third element of the Passover is teaching. The Hebrews were to observe the Passover, not in a ritualistic way, but mindfully, with faith in their hearts, and they were to teach the significance of the meal to their children. Verse 24: “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses’”(Exodus 12:24–27, ESV).

Surely you can see that the Passover memorial and the Lord’s Supper share a lot in common. They are not the same thing, mind you. The Lord’s Supper, which you and I are bound to observe today, is its own thing. Like many others elements of New Covenant worship, the Lord’s Supper is much more simple than the Passover. There is a reason for that, by the way. Old Covenant worship was complex, in part, because Christ was portrayed ahead of time in all of the ceremonies and holy days. He was “sketched out” ahead of time so that the faithful might perceive him. But now that he has come — now that “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, ESV), these complex “sketches” of Christ are no longer needed.  Remember, they were “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV). We have the substance now. And so a small portion of bread and a small sip of wine are sufficient to remind the people of God of the Christ who has come — his body was broken and his blood shed for the forgiveness of the sins of many. 

The Lord’s Supper is not the Passover. It is its own thing. But it is related. Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper as he celebrated the last Passover with his disciples. The Lord’s Supper is to be observed by the church when she assembles for worship on the Lord’s Day. So there we find the principle of Sacred Time. It is a sacred meal. Yes, it is a small meal — a symbolic meal — but it is a meal nonetheless, for her our communion with God and with one another through faith in Christ is signified. And it is a time for teaching. 

Have you noticed that we observe the Lord’s Supper after the ministry of the Word? Why do you think that is? Answer: Because it is the Word of God that gives the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper its meaning or significance. Without the Word of God, we would not know (or we soon forget) the significance of these elements. And have you noticed the position of the Table in relation to the pulpit? It is placed below the pulpit, signifying the submission of the sacrament to the Word of God. And it is positioned in the midst of the congregation, for here our communion with God and one another through Christ is symbolized. But the point is this: in order for us to approach the Lord’s Supper correctly, teaching from scripture is needed. Just as the Word of God informed the Hebrews that the Passover meal was to be a remembrance of the redemption that God accomplished for them, so too it is the Word of God which informs us that the bread and wine signify Christ crucified for sin, raised in victory, ascended in power, who will one day return to judge the wicked and to bring those washed in his blood safely into their eternal inheritance.    

The third point of the sermon today will be very brief, and it is this: The Passover was more than a memorial. It would also function as a test of faithfulness for Israel and as a picture of the greater act of deliverance that would be accomplished in the future by the Messiah. 

When I say that the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which accompanied it) was more than a memorial I mean that it was not just a time for remembering the past, it was also an assessment on the present and a reminder of God’s promises for the future. 

Concerning the assessment on the present, verse 15 of our text says, “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel” (Exodus 12:15, ESV). In verse 19 we find the same. Israelites who refused to keep the feast were to be cut off from the people. I take this to mean that they were to be put out of the nations, and if the people would not do it, God would, for this would indicate that the individual was faithless. 

And concerning the reminder of God’s promises for the future that were embedded within the Passover, I have already said that Christ was prefigured in this feast. The New Testament makes this so very clear. Perhaps the clearest evidence for this is the one that has already been cited. Christ, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread. After he had given thanks he blessed it and broke it and said this is my body which is broken for you. The bread that he held in his hand was the unleavened bread of the Passover, and he said, this is my body. And the cup that he took after supper was one of the cups of the Passover meal. He said this is my blood of the covenant. Just think about that. Christ in that moment revealed what was signified in the Passover all along — the broken body of the Messiah and his shed blood. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7, ESV).

The Passover festival was more than a memorial. It was more than a time for remembering the past. It did also test the faith of the Hebrews in the present — those who did not honor it were to be cut off. And it prefigured the Messiah too. It is anticipated the greater act of redemption that would be accomplished in the future by him. The blood of the lamb spread on the doorposts would shield the Hebrews from physical death. But the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, shields those to whom is applied by faith from the just wrath of God and his eternal punishment. More than this, it grants us life eternal in the new heavens and earth, which is our inheritance in Christ. 

As you can probably see, the Lord’s Supper is more than a memorial too. Those who are faithless are to be cut off. And in the bread and cup, we are reminded, not only of what Christ has done but of what he will do. For he said, “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29, ESV).

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Conclusion

So what shall I say by way of conclusion? 

One, I do want you to understand what happened historically. I want for you to know what God did for the Hebrews to free them from Egyptian bondage. He put the firstborns of Egypt to death, but he shielded his people who had applied the blood of a lamb to the doorposts of their home.

Two, I want you to understand the Passover feast, along with the Feast of Unleavened  Bread to know what it means to the Hebrews. It reminded them of the past, it tested them in the present, and it contained promises for the future. 

Three, I want you to see that we celebrate something far greater. When we come before the Lord’s Table Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day, we remember a work of redemption that was far greater than the one accomplished in the days of Moses. The deliverance was greater, and the reward was greater. The calling is greater too, brothers and sisters. I close with the words of Paul: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8, ESV). This he wrote to Christians. “The festival” that he refers to here is not the Passover, but the Lord’s Supper. And his exhortation to the church is that we celebrate the festival in “sincerity and truth”. May it be so. Lord help us. Let us pray.