Chapter 1

"For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." (I Corinthians 5:7.)

Scriptural References: Exodus 12:1-51, Exodus 13:3-10, Exodus 23:14-19, Exodus 34:1826, Leviticus 23:4-14, Numbers 9:1-14, Numbers 28:16-25, Deuteronomy 16:1-6.

To have a proper understanding and appreciation of the Lord's Supper we must know something of its origin. The Lord's Supper was instituted by Jesus on the night before His crucifixion. It was at the time of the Passover. The disciples asked Jesus where they were to observe the Passover. The Lord instructed them to go to Jerusalem. to a certain man, with this message: "The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples." The disciples carried out His instructions and got the place in readiness, and on the last night before His crucifixion they gathered in the Upper Room for the final observance of the Passover. There Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, thus turning the shadow of the Old Testament into the substance of the New, the type to the antitype, the paschal lamb to the Lamb of God,

Thus we see the relationship between the Passover and the Lord's Supper in the time when the Lord's Supper was nstituted. Jesus, by first eating the Passover according to the law of the fathers, and then instituting the Lord's Supper, evidently meant to show the disciples that one was to take the place of the other, that one was the fulfillment of the symbols of the other. In the light of this we need to examine the record concerning the Passover in order to have a clear understanding of the Lord's Supper.

The institution and first celebration of the Passover is recorded in the twelfth chapter of Exodus. The Bible student will remember how Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brethren and taken to Egypt. In Egypt he rose to be one of the rulers of the land, Jacob and his family followed Joseph into Egypt because of the great famine. The Bible tells us, "the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." The new king feared the growing strength of Israel and set about to stop their growth. The children of Israel were reduced to the level of slaves. The king ordered all the male children of Israel slain. Amidst this terrible oppression Moses was born. God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Pharaoh refused to let them go and God sent many plagues upon Egypt the final one being the death of all the first born. This brings us to the institution of the Passover.

THE LAMB SLAIN

When the children of Israel were to be brought out of Egypt the Lord commanded them to prepare for this departure by a solemn religious ordinance. On the tenth day of the month of Abib, the head of each family was to select from the flock either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year, without blemish. If the family were too small to eat the whole of the lamb, the father was permitted to invite the nearest neighbor to join them. On the fourteenth day of the month he was to kill the lamb while the sun was setting. He was then to take the blood of the lamb in a basin, and with a sprig of hyssop to sprinkle it on the two side-posts and the lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then thoroughly roasted, whole, and not a bone was to be broken. It was to be served with unleavened bread and bitter herbs and those who partook were to eat in haste and in a condition of full readiness for an immediate journey Nothing was to be left until the morning; anything that did remain was to be burned. No male who was uncircumcised was to participate. The people had been informed of God's purpose to smite the first born throughout Egypt. The lambs were selected, on the fourteenth day they were slain and the blood sprinkled. At midnight the first born of the Egyptians were slain. The king of Egypt urged the Israelites to leave and Moses led them out.

JESUS ---- THE LAMB FOR SINNERS SLAIN

It is easily seen how that the Passover is a type of the Cross.

The Passover was to the Jews-their day of independence even as the cross of Christ means to the Christian his freedom from the bondage of sin. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36.

The Passover provided salvation for the Jewish household, even as Christ provides salvation for the family of the believer.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31.

The Passover lamb was to be a male of the first year, without blemish, and was to be kept from the tenth to the fourteenth day before it was slain; and Jesus was the fulfillment of all this.

The Passover lamb was killed the same time of day as Jesus was put to death by crucifixion.

The sprinkling of the blood of the Passover lamb is a type of the application of the blood of Jesus to the heart of the believer.

We begin to see the relation between the Passover and the Lord's Supper. The eating of the Passover is a symbol of the Lord's Supper. The Passover was to be a memorial. "And this day shall be unto you a memorial: and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast for an ordinance forever." Exodus 12:14.

The Jews were to observe the Passover as an ordinance in memorial of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Likewise the Lord's Supper is a memorial. ". . . this do In remembrance of me." 11 Corinthians 11:24. It is an ordinance in memorial of Christ who delivered the believer from bondage of sin by His blood.