Matthew 26:26-28 (NRSV) While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus and his disciples were having an early Passover meal. The Passover was a celebration that came from the Exodus. I remember the scene from The Ten Commandments movie starring Charlton Heston. The last plague that was inflicted on Egypt, prying the Israelites out of slavery, was the death of the first born. In the movie the death angel was green smoke winding through the streets of Egyptian cities. One could escape that plague, that judgment, if one had marked their homes with the blood of a lamb.
The Passover was a meal made up of lamb and wine and traveling bread. In this scene, Jesus is the host, but he is also in a metaphorical way, the lamb. He is the bread, manna in the wilderness. He is the red wine, the blood of the lamb that would mark our households and our very lives. He is the lamb who died that we might live.
When we share this meal with Jesus we are reminded (and we are proclaiming our intention) that it is God who sustains us, who passes over us in judgment, who forgives.
Jesus and his disciples were having an early Passover meal. The Passover was a celebration that came from the Exodus. I remember the scene from The Ten Commandments movie starring Charlton Heston. The last plague that was inflicted on Egypt, prying the Israelites out of slavery, was the death of the first born. In the movie the death angel was green smoke winding through the streets of Egyptian cities. One could escape that plague, that judgment, if one had marked their homes with the blood of a lamb.
The Passover was a meal made up of lamb and wine and traveling bread. In this scene, Jesus is the host, but he is also in a metaphorical way, the lamb. He is the bread, manna in the wilderness. He is the red wine, the blood of the lamb that would mark our households and our very lives. He is the lamb who died that we might live.
When we share this meal with Jesus we are reminded (and we are proclaiming our intention) that it is God who sustains us, who passes over us in judgment, who forgives.
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