The Journey to the Cross (Day 5 - THE LAST SUPPER)

 

All throughout Jerusalem, Jewish pilgrims had gathered to celebrate the Passover - that time where the final plague was delivered to the Egyptians before Pharaoh let the Israelites go.

God had heard the cries of his people as they toiled for 400 years under the harsh rule of the Egyptians.  He called Moses (a man who had once lived in the home and under the protection of Pharaoh himself) to be the Israelites deliverer.

Nine different times, God sent plagues upon the Egyptians - blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, fiery hail, locusts and darkness - but still Pharaoh would NOT relent and let the people go.  So, God sent a final plague - one in which the first born of every household, of every animal - would be killed.  

However, before he sent the plague he told Moses that in the homes of the Israelites - they should slaughter a lamb, then use its blood to cover the doorframe of their houses.  God told Moses that as the angel of death would go through Egypt - he would pass over the homes that were marked by the blood of the lamb.

The next morning - all of Egypt wailed, for the first born of every Egyptian household was dead.  Every first born animal was dead.  ALL DEAD - except at those households that had been marked by the blood of the lamb.  

Pharaoh finally relented - and the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt.  They hurriedly gathered their belongings and they headed out into the desert.  There God gave them the 10 commandments - 10 simple rules to live by. 

In Leviticus 16, God details what must happen when the Israelites do not / can not live up to these rules.  Animals must be sacrificed.  Their blood an atonement for sin...

Now, flash forward, Jesus and his disciples are gathered in an upper room.  

"When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  And he said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God.'  After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'" - Luke 22:14-20

Jesus, the one who - when John the Baptist saw him coming down to the Jordan River to be baptized said, "Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." - John 1:29 offered Himself as the innocent substitute - one whose blood would satisfy (once and for all), the covenant God made with His people.  

Jesus, whose blood - just like that of the lambs slaughtered in Egypt, will protect those who recognize it for what it is, a loving sacrifice that can be painted over the doorframes of our hearts.