Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: The Lord's Table (Part 1 of 2)
From: <NU169273@NDSUVM1.BITNET>
Date: Monday, 27 Jul 1992 09:12:36 CDT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computer Network

           The Lord's Table -- In the Light of the Passover
           ================================================


  The Jewish feast of Passover commands respect of all enlightened
people.  It stands in stately, majestic solitude as the oldest,
continual observed religious holiday upon the face of the earth.  The
Passover has been kept every year for more than thirty-four
centuries -- not only in the land of Israel, but in the countless
lands where the Jews have lived during their extended exile.  The
miraculous longevity and perpetuation of Passover, in spite of what
can only be termed humanly insurmountable difficulties, can be traced
to the divine command,

  "And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done
   because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of
   Egypt.  ...  Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season
   from year to year."  (Exodus 13:8-10)

  Although Passover was a distinctly Jewish holiday, it had
transcended national boundaries to become eternally and irrevocably
entwined with 'biblical' Christianity.

                    The Importance Of The Passover
                    ------------------------------
                           For the Christian
                           -----------------
  The spiritual clock was about to strike midnight.  Mankind's darkest
hour was approaching.  Thirty-three years earlier the 'Day Star' had
made His appearance.  The eternal Son of God had stepped across the
stars to be born in a Jewish manger.  He was David's greater Son; the
Lion of the tribe of Judah; the King of the Jews; the Light of the
world.  His birth was miraculous; His life sinless; His teaching
flawless.  The one requisite for the establishing of His earthly
kingdom was repentance; that requisite was not met.  Now He would
accomplish the supreme purpose for His first advent.  He would die for
the sins of the world.  The direct light of the visible presence of
the Son of God would soon flicker and fade.  One desire still
remained.  In the upper room, just outside the walls of Jerusalem,
Jesus said to His disciples,

  "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I
   suffer:"  (Luke 22:15).

  The Passover lamb was a suffering lamb -- but through that
suffering, redemption was provided for Jews enslaved by Pharaoh in
Egypt.  In a matter of hours now, Jesus would become the suffering
Lamb -- He would die on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the
world.  The death would redeem men of faith from enslavement to sin,
Satan and this world.  The Lord received strength and encouragement
from observing the Passover before He became the Passover.  It served
as a vivid reminder that His death would not be in vain.
  In the time of Christ, two days were acceptable for the slaying of
the Passover Lamb.  The priest-hood required the additional time to
accommodate the great crowds which gathered to observe the feast.
Even today, the first two days of Passover hold special significance.
Jesus doubtless observed the Passover the first day and was Himself
the Passover on the second the day.  The Apostle Paul clearly
established the relationship between the Passover lamb and Christ's
death as type and anti-type, shadow and substance.  To the church at
Corinth he wrote, " ... Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"
(I Corinthians 5:7).  It is impossible to exhaust all that was
involved in the vicarious, substitutionary death of the Son of God,
but an understanding of the Jewish feast of Passover serves to give
additional insight into the lofty theological theme.
  Two ordinances were given to the church:  believer's baptism and the
Lord's Table.  Baptism is a once-and-for-all ordinance -- never to be
repeated.  The Lord's Table is a recurring ordinance, observed in most
churches at least once a month.  Even a salient study of the Communion
reveals that it was instituted (Matthew 26:26).  The Communion can be
fully understood only in light of the Jewish Passover, out of which it
was instituted.

                      Background Of The Passover
                      --------------------------
  There was only one Passover -- only one occasion when the blood was
applied to the doorposts and lintels of believing homes -- only once
that the angel of the Lord went through Egypt to smite the firstborn
where the blood was not applied.  Every succeeding Passover was a
memorial of that first occasion.
^^^^^^^^
  Passover falls on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month Nisan,
corresponding to March/April.  Since the Hebrew calendar follows a
lunar year, its exact date changes on the English calendar each year;
however, it always occurs near the Christian holiday of Easter.  If it
is remembered that Jesus observed the Passover and the next day was
crucified, it becomes easy to see why the two holidays coincide.
Regretably, at the Council of Nicene in 325 A.D., the church, which
had been commemorating the death and resurrection of Christ at
Passover, changed the date for observing the resurrection to make it
correspond with the pagan carnival called Easter -- instead of the
Jewish feast of Passover.
  Every year Jewish families congregate around a festive table on the
first night of Passover, and in the course of a picturesque ceremony
called the 'Seder,' parents perform the religious duty of telling
their children the story of the beginnings of their people and
redemption from Egypt.  During the Seder, the head of the home or
master of ceremonies reclines on a pillow.  In Egypt, Jews were slaves
and slaves were not permitted to recline while eating.  They ate
standing and then hastened about their master's business.  The
reclining is a picturesque reminder that they are no longer slaves,
but free men -- redeemed from Egypt through the slain lamb.  It was
                                                             ^^^^^^
that truth which the beloved Apostle John portrayed when he put his
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
head on the Lord's bosom (John 13:23).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

                         Original Elements On
                         --------------------
                          The Passover Table
                          ------------------
  Originally, there were three elements on the Passover table:  the
Passover lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8).
The lamb symbolized redemption.  Every firstborn in Egypt was under
                    ^^^^^^^^^^
the judgment of God; wherever the blood was not applied, the firstborn
                                            ^^^
died.  Spiritually, every man is "firstborn" and under the judgment of
God.  Man must be born again, or born a second time, to experience
God's redemption.  The unleavened bread symbolized sanctification.
                                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Leaven in the Bible speaks of evil and error.  Having been redeemed
from Egypt, the Jewish nation was to put away "leaven" -- their former
manner of life -- and live a holy life unto the Lord.  To the
new nation God said,

  "And ye shall be holy unto me:  for I, the Lord am holy, ... "
   (Leviticus 20:26).

  During Passover, leaven is scattered throughout the house and then
meticulously swept into a dustpan and burned or thrown out of the
house.  This is done to symbolize the discarding of that which is
unholy.  The Apostle Paul had this in mind when he penned the Epistle
of Romans.  In chapters 1-5, Paul's writing are a commentary on
Passover -- how is man redeemed?  Then in chapters 6-8, he comments on
the unleavened bread -- how is that redeemed man now to live?
  The bitter herbs are a reminder that the lot of their forefathers
had been harsh as slaves under Pharaoh.  Each member of the family
partakes of the bitter herbs until tears come to their eyes.  In so
doing, they vicariously identify with their forefathers who were
slaves before God redeemed them through His mighty power.
  According to the esteemed rabbi, Hillel, the lamb, the unleavened
bread and the bitter herbs were the only elements on the Passover
table as late as 10 A.D.  Additional elements, which will be discussed
in Part 2, were added after 70 A.D.  Two events occurred between
10 A.D. and 70 A.D. to radically alter the Passover table:  First, the
crucifixion of Christ about 30 A.D.; and secondly, the destruction of
the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D.  Christ's death forever altered
the Passover -- no longer would an animal sacrifice be efficacious;
Christ had died and the blood of bulls and goats could no longer cover
sins.  The destruction of the Temple and cessation of the priesthood
made it impossible to perpetuate the Passover as God had instituted
it.
  Three choices were open to the Jewish people:  (1) accept Christ as
the Passover Lamb; (2) discontinue the Passover observance; or (3)
without divine authorization, alter the Passover observance to meet
the contemporary situation.  Regrettably, most of the nation followed
the latter course, and Judaism, which had its origin in God, became
simply the creation of man.  How tragic and descriptive the words of
the Apostle Paul,

  "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
   establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
   unto the righteousness of God."  (Romans 10:3)

  Clearly then, the additional elements added to the Passover table
cannot be considered prophetic pointing toward Christ, since they were
added after His death.  Rather, they are historic pointing backward to
something that had already occurred.

[End of Part 1.  Please read Part 2.]


K. Paulson
Bible college student
1109 16th Street North #1
Fargo, ND  58102