It’s Resurrection time!
We’re in the swing of it now. Next week my church will have 3 Good Friday services and 6 Easter services (over 2 days). I feel for my pastor. That is a lot of preaching and not a lot of breaking!
But it’s the gospel and we can’t afford to go small.
For my part, my wife and I will be leading 2 Passover Seders heading into the weekend. Over 200 people have registered… and they aren’t done yet.
Last night someone asked me “Dennis, that’s cool. But why do you do it? Are you Jewish?”
If you’ve looked at the picture on the back of my books, you’ll get a pretty good idea that no, I am not Jewish in the least bit. So why do I do it?
I do it to teach.
It’s the same reason why I write books. They both come from the same place. And that’s the root of why we’ve allowed the Passover celebration at our church to grow so large. We want to teach as many people as possible.
Jesus was a real person. He lived in a real culture. They had a rich tradition of communication and promises from God. His disciples were real people too. We see them often as clueless and always two steps behind. But they had real hopes and aspirations and fears as well.
When we read the Bible, sometimes it’s hard to remember that. It’s easy to judge them. It’s simple to “fill in the gaps” with 21st century assumptions. But that’s not a path to truth. Sometimes we have to stop and dig a bit.
Did you know that the Passover is all about the sacrifice of a lamb? It commemorates the lamb that was slain on the evening of the 10th plague in Egypt. The lamb whose blood, when daubed onto the doorway, caused the angel of death to “pass over”.
All over Egypt the firstborn in each household died. But for those who were “covered by the blood,” there was no death.
It was so horrible, that Pharaoh crumbled under it’s pressure. He’d watched the first 9 plagues mock his pantheon of gods and destroy his kingdom and its economy. Despite that, he refused to let God’s people go. But the last plague, the death in his own household was too personal and he did an about face and ordered the Hebrews to leave.
Ever since, the Jews have been remembering the deliverance they experienced under the power of that blood. It was no less with Jesus. On the night He was betrayed He spent hours with His disciples celebrating the Passover (our ceremony will last almost 3 hours).
Remembering the lamb which was sacrificed. It’s blood brought salvation to all who trusted in it. And His own betrayal and death were only hours away. And He knew it.
His disciples were enjoying the celebration and the sense of victory and deliverance it brought.
Jesus was preparing to die, just like the lamb. With every cup and every piece of unleavened bread, He toasted His immanent death. He rehearsed in His mind what He was about to do.
For you and for me.
It’s heavy. It’s sobering. It’s impactful to understand the isolation and loneliness He must have been feeling at that moment. His disciples had no idea He was preparing to die. They couldn’t offer any kind of comfort or support.
Just Jesus and the lamb.
I love to teach. I love to see the look on people’s face when that truth settles in for the first time. When they really get it. When they make that connection with Jesus and what He did for them. It’s really beautiful, even if it is hard.
On His last “free evening” before being arrested and murdered, He was essentially having a spiritual dress-rehersal.
So when people ask, “why do you celebrate the Passover?” That’s what I want to tell them. I want them to “get it” too.
I LOVE the Resurrection. But I also don’t want to turn away from the horror and pain that led up to it. I want to stare it all down.
Because Jesus did it for me. And I don’t ever want to forget.
In the words of the old preacher,
“It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a’coming!”
Amen.
Until next week, remember the Lamb.
Dennis
