Examining Ourselves Before Passover

Brethren, in just a little over four weeks, members of the Church of God will be gathering together for a very special occasion. It's something that we do every year at this time, and that's to assemble and to keep the Passover as instructed by Jesus Christ. I think most of us know that it's a somber occasion, it's a sobering occasion, because of what it depicts.

It depicts the sacrifice of the Son of God, who gave Himself for the sins of all mankind. The very one who created us, in a sense, he came as a human being in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, and He gave His life for us. And He did so that we might be reconciled to God and to live. It's an incredible picture, I think, that was foreshadowed, really, over the years by sacrifice after sacrifice of all the lambs that have been sacrificed over the generations. They were all slain, showing, actually, picturing Him and what He was going to do on that night.

I think it's mind-boggling to contemplate the fact that God died for you and for me. Brethren, as we approach the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread, it's a very important time for us spiritually. And, of course, it's the first step that God shares with us in His plan of salvation. Those seven festivals that He has begins with this first one, Passover. And we're specifically told and instructed and commanded by God in Scripture to do something before that Passover arrives.

We're specifically told to do something before we show up. We're told to examine ourselves. Why is that? Why is that, brethren? What are we to learn from that? So, today, what we'll do as we get started with the message today, we'll look at this instruction from Scripture examining ourselves before Passover. Let's begin for our first scriptural reference over in 1 Corinthians 11. First Corinthians 11. You know, sometimes they say, don't feel totally worthless because you can always be a good, bad example. You may have heard that over the years.

And, brethren, frankly, this is something that was happening in the Corinthian church. We may get that feeling about them. But because they did some things badly, I guess we can actually be thankful because some of their problems here, Paul gives a lot of instruction that's actually very helpful to us. Things that we might not have known otherwise. And one of their bad examples, among other things, was how they were approaching the Passover.

So, let's look at that in 1 Corinthians 11. And we're going to pick it up here in verse number 17. Now, a few verses before verse 17, Paul is talking about some of the problems that they were having in the congregation that it was divided. That some of them were saying, I'm of Apollo. Some of them were saying, I'm of Paul. And that type of thing was happening. And this was affecting, among other things, how they were observing the Passover.

So it was a problem. It was a big one. And Paul begins to address it here in verse number 17. He says, now, in giving these instructions, I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. So here's a group of God's people here that are coming together. They're a church there. They get together, but it's actually worse when they come together. And the way that they're conducting themselves and the way that they're interacting, it was worse than if they would not have come together.

Verse 18, for first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there's divisions. Some translations say schisms. I hear that there's divisions among you and in part, I believe it. So he's talking about in the congregation there in Corinth, there were schisms, there were divisions, and Paul and God were not pleased. Verse 19, for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Therefore, when you come together in place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one's hungry, and another is drunk. Now, we know that drunkards won't be in the kingdom of God, and yet this is something that's going on within the congregation, within the church, and Paul's drawing attention to this. He says, verse 22, what?

Don't you have houses to eat and drink in? For then the Passover is a somber and sober occasion. It's not for eating and for drinking and for enjoying oneself. So we do have that understanding, which apparently the Corinthians didn't quite grasp that at this point in time.

So Paul continues in verse 22 as he is admonishing their attitude about the Passover and towards it, and he says, what? Don't you have houses to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

So we see a little more of what's going on, and he says, if your focus here is on having a big meal and having something to drink, you know you're actually better off staying home. Don't come and make a mockery of the church and make a mockery of the symbols of that evening.

So Paul says that this is actually despising the church of God in verse 22. It's an utter disgrace in the way that they were treating the evening. What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. And then Paul, inspired by God, gets to a lesson for them and for us. Let's notice that in verse 23. He says, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. Paul is saying that what I'm about to share with you is not my ideas, it's not my thoughts in the matter, that I actually received this from Jesus Christ himself. And of course, Christ has been crucified and raised from the dead. He's been gone quite a long time. This is years and years later. And so he says, I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. So what did Jesus instruct Paul here about the Passover? Let's read. That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. So, brethren, there's some question on what is the timing of the Passover. It's very, very clear. Jesus said on the same night he was betrayed, he took bread. And so there's no question as to when we are to keep the Passover. We're following his example. That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he given thanks, he broke it. And he said, take eat this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me in the same manner. He also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Then he gets down to the heart and the core of the matter here in the verse number 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Sometimes we don't necessarily understand, but basically what the scripture is telling us here. I'm going to paraphrase this just a little bit, and hopefully this will bring out some of the meaning here. When Paul is essentially saying is, don't you realize when you every time you take the symbols of the bread and wine at Passover, by that very act you are announcing that Jesus Christ died for all of you.

Doesn't matter whether they were in groups or factions or whether they were the rich or whether they were the poor. He died for them all. He says, do you proclaim that? The word proclaim could also be translated to declare, to announce, to show, to teach. Proclaim is a pretty good word, but what are they proclaiming? By taking these symbols they understand that Jesus Christ died for you. And in this case, the you as collective, the entire group, he died for everyone's sins.

He died to take upon himself the penalty that all of us individually deserve.

Who did he die for? All of them. It didn't make any difference. Everyone in Corinth, including those who were the older, the younger, the factions, the schisms, the poor.

Let's go on to verse number 27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. There's a couple of things here that God shares with us here through Paul here. The Passover symbols here are to remind us that we have been cleansed and forgiven upon our repentance of our sins by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But Paul says here that if we take those symbols in an unworthy manner, that we are guilty of sin. The sin of neglecting or failing to understand or appreciate what Jesus Christ did for us and that sacrifice. So the Passover, in a sense, is designed to cleanse us in a way for forgiveness for our sins. But if we don't approach the Passover in the right manner, we could be guilty of sin again. The sin of not properly understanding and appreciating the sacrifice that he gave to us. So then, rather than being cleansed and sinless in God's sight at the Passover, we could actually be sinful and guilty again. So it's serious, I think, here.

Another point here, he talks about the word unworthy here. And that sometimes has been confusing to a lot of people over the years that they felt that I am not worthy to take the Passover.

But, brethren, that's not what it is saying here in this context.

The word unworthy is an adverb. And, of course, an adverb basically is describing a verb. It modifies a verb, action, in other words, the manner in which we take it. Not that we, as a person, as a noun, are not worthy, but in the manner in which we partake of the Passover.

So it's not talking about us being worthy, because none of us are.

None of us are worthy. Nor could we be worthy. Nor could we do anything to earn any kind of worthiness. So again, the word unworthy is an adverb, not an adjective. It modifies a verb, not a noun. It's not talking about us being worthy. It's talking about the manner in which we partake of the symbols on Passover evening. How we take the symbols. Not physically how we take them, but spiritually how we take them. What is our attitude, in other words, when taking the Passover? So there was a problem here in the Corinthian church. They didn't have the right attitude towards the Passover as we see here in the Scriptures. So then Paul begins to instruct them, and he begins to share with them and us, brethren, how we should approach the Passover.

What should we do to make sure that we are approaching it in a worthy manner?

Verse 28 begins to share. He says, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. We see a couple of important things here in these two verses 28 and 29. First of all, it says to examine ourselves. Brethren, we examine our own life. You know, we look at our own attitude. We look at our own relationship with God. How we live our day-to-day life. How we live our day-to-day activities. How we love God. How we love others. How we treat our spouse, our employer, our employees, our neighbors, and our fellow brethren in the body of Christ. Brethren, it's very human for us to examine others, but it's a son and daughter of God that follows this instruction to examine themselves.

And so this is something that God instructs us to do, basically commands us to do. Another important point here in verse 29 is the importance of discerning the Lord's body.

What's that mean? How do we properly discern it? Some in Corinth were not, because he writes in verse 30, for this reason, many are weak and sick among you. There was some sickness and some weakness and some were had died. He goes on in verse 31, for if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we're chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. So Paul is telling us that it's necessary for us to examine ourselves before we partake of the Passover symbols. And in the Greek, this word, examine, can also be translated judge, and quite often is, and it also means to evaluate. To judge or to evaluate or to examine something ourselves. So it's a serious matter here. We want to properly judge ourselves, examine ourselves, evaluate ourselves, our spiritual state, our spiritual attitude, and then if we do that, we may not face other judgments. We may not face the ultimate judgments, which would be condemnation with the world. So it's a serious matter. God does not want to take the Passover lightly. It's a memorial of the death of the Son of God, our Savior.

So in taking those symbols of His broken body and His shed blood for us, it proclaims or declares or announces that we understand what it was that He went through and that we appreciate what it was that we that He went through on our behalf in our place. And then we live accordingly. Going forward in our life, we live according to that knowledge and that sacrifice. So let's get back to the title of the message, examining ourselves before Passover. What areas of our lives do we need to be judging? Do we need to be examining? Do we need to be evaluating in order to make sure that we don't take the Passover in an unworthy matter as the Corinthians had? There are three things that our Savior Jesus said about us. Our Savior Jesus Christ did with His disciples on that Passover evening almost 2,000 years ago. Three things. He did the foot washing. He instituted the bread as a symbol of His broken body for us. And He instituted the wine, which was symbolic of His blood that was shed for us.

So, more than what I like to do in these three areas, foot washing, the bread, and the wine, is to go and better understand as we look at the Scriptures their meaning and what it is to be a reminder of for us as we begin to rehearse some of these things prior to Passover. And also use these three areas as jumping points, different areas of our lives that we may need to examine before Passover. In other words, examining ourselves in the light of the Passover symbols. Let's go over to John 13 and verse 1. John 13 and verse 1. Let's look first at the foot washing.

John 13 and verse 1. What does this act tell us about examining ourselves prior to Passover so that we can take it in a worthy manner? Let's read a little here about that last night that Jesus had with His disciples before His death. John 13 and verse 1. It says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Now let's focus on that last phrase here in verse number 1. He loved them to the end. His entire life was a living example of love. You know, by now at the end of His life, I think He dramatically and especially shows just how far that love goes and what it means. You know, when things were going bad, I suppose He could have bailed out, and He didn't. He followed through with His commitment, even at the greatest possible price that anyone could bear. You know, think about that for a moment. Think about what He went through. You know, the Scriptures tell us that He was under so much stress when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane that He was so stressed that the blood vessels were bursting underneath His skin, and then it was coming out like sweat.

He was arrested on false charges. He was abandoned by the Twelve.

They all basically ran away, and they fled. And then being arrested on false charges, then He was imprisoned, and He was humiliated, and He was spat upon. He was denied three times by one of His closest disciples. He was lied about in a mock trial by false witnesses. He was beaten by soldiers, and then He was lashed until His skin was just torn into shreds. His muscles were ripped shreds, and He was stripped naked in public, and then He was crucified as a criminal. And then as He hung there on the stake, they were still mocking Him as He was dying slowly, until finally a Roman soldier put a spear into His side, and He died. And yet, with all that He went through, nothing stood in His way of loving His disciples to the end. He loved them to the end, and of loving us to the end, because our lives were at stake too, weren't they? So far, He won't. He could have bailed. He could have stopped. He knew that He had to take on Himself the penalty for your sins and mine, and He did His part of loving us to the end. But what does that mean? And how can we think about that in terms of how we need to examine ourselves as we partake of Passover? Brethren, you may recall in Scripture that Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. I'm an example. Live the way that I live. Do what I do. Imitate me.

1 Corinthians 11 verse 1, Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Jesus has said, follow me. Live as I live. And so He tells us to look to Him as an older brother, to look at His example.

So we have to ask ourselves the question, how are we doing and loving His own? As it says here, having loved His own, He loved them to the end. How are we doing with that?

His followers, His family, His brothers and sisters, are we loving them to the end, no matter what happens? That gets pretty hard, doesn't it? It gets pretty personal, doesn't it?

And yet, that's the example that Jesus Christ has given to us.

I have done, I've given you this example.

You know, there are scriptures that talk about an unforgiving attitude and how we treat others and how we are to forgive others. And if we don't forgive others, then neither will we be forgiven.

So what's in the way of loving others to the end? What did Jesus say about the kind of love that we're to have for one another? Let's skip down to verse number 34 here. Verse number 34, pretty familiar scriptures for most of us. He says, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. That may be one of the toughest commands that we have, brethren. It's a new one. It wasn't in the Old Testament. His disciples were very familiar with a previous command from the scriptures, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That's not a New Testament command. That's an Old Testament command. I think most of us are familiar with that. But Christ gives a new commandment here, and that new commandment is that you shall love your neighbor not as yourself, but you shall love them as I have loved you. That's a new standard. It went way above and beyond anything that they had ever heard or understood before. And I think over the next 24 hours, Jesus was going to demonstrate exactly how deep and how far that love has to go. So that's a question we might ask ourselves as we examine ourselves, is do we have that kind of love for one another? It gets to be a personal question. How much do we love one another? And will that love endure to the end? You know, there are some sobering prophecies in the Bible that talk about the end of the age, where even Jesus himself talked about people betraying one another, about the love of many growing cold, waxing cold, about families being divided.

What prevents us from loving one another as Christ loved us? What is it that stops us, that prevents us from loving one another as Christ loved us, or from loving one another to the end?

Well, there are two main factors, I think, that are pretty obvious when we cover them. One of them is our human nature, our wrong human nature, our carnal human nature.

Because by nature, we tend to be selfish. We want to please ourselves. We tend to want to please ourselves first, and other people are simply a lower priority. We tend to please and serve ourselves first, rather than serve others. Or we serve only when it's convenient. Or we serve only when it's the way that we want to serve. And yet, God calls us his slaves. He calls us his slaves more than any other term in the Bible. He calls us his slaves about 10 times, as many times as he calls us his children. And there are some lessons in that. Brother, please don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong here. We have some wonderful servants here that have served very long and very faithful for a long time. Men and women in this congregation who have served faithfully for years. And God is pleased with that. But I know some of those same amazing servants continue to ask, how can I do better? Am I serving the way God wants me to? Because that's the way I want to serve him. Again, some wonderful service I've observed here. Because I think this is what God wants to do. He wants us all to grow to a point where we come to serving him and serving one another. You know, the Apostle Paul had to deal with the first century culture in the Roman Empire, which was a very class-conscious system. They had these different stratus of where you stood. We see that in India with the caste system. In fact, we even see that in some among the Jewish rulers where you had these chief seats in the synagogue. So how did God through Paul get the people in the first century to begin to see themselves in a right and a proper perspective? What did he say about the church members that would have some bearing on this? What did God communicate through Paul? Paul said this to the church in various places in Scripture. He said, in the church, which is the body of Christ, there's what? There's neither Jew nor Gentile.

There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female. But guess what? You and I, we all are slaves. We're slaves to God. We're slaves to a new master, to God the Father, and to Jesus Christ. We all have that in common. And as slaves, we don't have any rights.

We have a master, thankfully a good master. If you've ever had a good employer or a bad employer, you know how much you appreciate a good employer, a good master. We have a good master. But as slaves, we actually have no rights other than what the master gives to us. So we have all this in common. No rights, no privileges of our own that we fully and completely belong to somebody else.

That's tough. That's tough for us. We belong wholly and completely into somebody else. We have a new master who has bought us, has redeemed us from an old master. Satan the devil. So, brother, in other words, our lives are not our own. We've been bought and paid for. Even Paul said, I died, and Jesus Christ lives in me.

I died. So as slaves of God, bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, what's our responsibility? What's our job? Brother, our responsibility is to all serve together.

To serve God, to serve one another, so that we might obtain our reward, ultimate freedom and citizenship, and ultimately adoption into the family of God. This is just a serving time. This is just a learning time, a training time. We're slaves. We're servants of God. We become sons and daughters, ultimately in the fullest sense in the future. So that's one factor, I think, that prevents us from loving one another, and that's our own human nature. If we realize that we're all God's slaves, we're really all on the same page, at the same level. Call to serve God and call to serve one another. Another factor that prevents us from loving one another is Christ loved us, is Satan the devil. Again, that's a pretty obvious one, but he wants to keep us focused on anything and everything but what our minds ought to be focused on. He wants to keep us divided. He wants to keep us bickering, like the church in Corinth. He wants to keep us divided over this or that or the other thing, or personalities, or perceived offenses, or perceived injustices, doctrinal differences, administrative decisions, whatever. It doesn't matter as long as he keeps us divided and not on the same page. But, brethren, God says He's given us the ability and the strength as His servants, as His slaves, He's given us His Holy Spirit for those of us that have entered in that baptismal covenant. He says we can begin to work together, to serve together. We can do this with His help. But our enemy, He'll do anything and everything to keep us divided and focused on ourselves rather than focused on others. Let's go back to John chapter 13. John chapter 13 and verse 2. We'll go back to the foot-washing account here. We'll pick up some more here in John chapter 13.

Verse number 2.

It says, "...in supper being ended, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Jesus." So we see Satan at work here, even on this last evening, and work to split off Judas from the rest of the apostles and lead him to just betray the Son of God in the flesh. And this is what he will try to do. Verse number 3. "...Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God, He rose from supper and He laid aside His garments. He took a towel and He girded Himself. He poured water into a basin and He began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with a towel with which He was girded." Now, we can learn a lot from this example here about taking the Passover in a worthy manner. What can we learn? What are some of the areas here that are mentioned that will help us in examining our lives and our attitudes? Well, one is obvious here. Christ is showing the attitude of a slave, a humble servant here. In that time and in that culture, you probably have heard over the years, you know, they had dusty roads. They didn't have a lot of paved roads like we do today. And they would walk barefoot or they'd walk in open-toed sandals and, you know, your feet would get pretty dirty and they'd get pretty dusty. And if a household had a slave or a servant, one of the responsibilities of one of those servants was to wash the feet of the guests before a meal. How was the job of foot washing viewed? It was dirty and degrading, you know. You think about washing someone's feet and maybe someone that doesn't bathe regularly and that type of thing and, you know, walking down those dirt roads, all those miles. So as we think about that in the context of the first century, this was a remarkable thing that Jesus Christ was doing. In fact, they were probably surprised probably isn't a strong enough word. They were probably shocked. You know, I think Peter is the one that verbalized it, you know, as we get to that account. You know, he's thinking, what are you doing? He knew what that meant in the first century. What a remarkable example in the culture of the time. It was a powerful teaching lesson that Jesus Christ, just before his death, is giving us and his disciples.

So what's the lesson? Well, there's a couple of things here, twofold, and I think both of them have implications as we examine ourselves prior to Passover. The first, I think it's obvious, one, is that we are to be like him to have a humble serving attitude towards others. Humility.

What's the second lesson from this? And I think it's fairly obvious. A second lesson is that we are to esteem others better than ourselves.

To esteem others better than ourselves. And I think Jesus Christ personally exemplified this attitude. Keep your finger here, but let's go over to Philippians chapter 2, and we'll read about how he demonstrated this attitude. Philippians chapter 2, and we're going to pick it up here in verse number 3.

Again, Jesus, as an older brother, is giving us an example. Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 3.

I'll be reading this from the New Living Translation, which I think captures the feeling a little better. Philippians chapter 2 verse 3. Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble. Thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. And then, who does Paul cite as the perfect example of this attitude? Notice in verse number 5. You must have the same attitude that Christ had.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. The Greek word cling to here means to grasp tightly, something to be grasped and held onto tightly. What's it saying? What it's saying here is that Jesus Christ did not consider being God's equal, something that he had to hold on tightly. He gave it up for us. For us.

Verse number 6, though he was God, he did not think of equality with God, referring to the Father as something to cling to. He held on to it tightly. Let me ask you something, brethren. Reading these scriptures, how can we apply this to our lives? Is there anything that we're hanging on to?

Are we willing to humble ourselves?

Verse 7, he said, he gave up his divine privileges. He gave up the power. He gave up the majesty. He gave up the splendor. He didn't give up his divinity because he still was God in the flesh.

He was still Emmanuel, God with us in the flesh. But he did give up that might, power, and glory that he had. And he took the humble position of a slave. That's what the word means. May say servant in your translation, but it means a slave or a servant. He took the humble position of a slave when he was in the flesh as a human being. He was born as a human being when he appeared in human form. He humbled himself in obedience to God, and he died a criminal's death on the cross.

So here we see an example of esteeming others better than himself. And Paul says, even though he was God, the great glorified God who spoke and the earth sprang into existence, getting empty himself of that power and glory, and he became a human being.

Not just a human being, but a slave. And he ultimately took on himself the death penalty for you and for me. So how are we doing in this area when it comes to following the example of Jesus Christ? Do we esteem others better than ourselves? Do we lift others up? Do we encourage them? You know, there are some people who come to Sabbath services. It's just a joy. They're cheerful. They're encouraging. They lift people up. You look forward to seeing them, every Sabbath. And I've observed some wonderful examples here, brethren, over the years. Many good examples. So let's go back now and pick up some other things from this account. Let's go back to John chapter 13, and we'll pick it up here in verse number six. Some other things from this account of the foot washing that we can learn from the example of an older brother. John chapter 13 in verse number six. Now Jesus is coming to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, when you know how Peter can go from one ditch to the other, okay, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. You know, if you're going to make me clean, make me completely clean. Okay. Jesus, I'm guessing. I just expect, like I smiled at this zealousness. He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.

And you are clean, but not all of you. So his reference, of course, is that not all of them were clean spiritually. There was one who was going to betray him. So what do we see, brethren, from the foot washing here? Well, we see it represents being spiritually cleansed, being completely clean. It represents that for sure. Let's go on to verse number 12. So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again, he told them, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher, you call me Lord, and you say well, because I am, for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. And notice verse 15, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. He's given us an example of an older brother. Verse 16, most assuredly I say to you a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who was sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Wow! Brethren, do we want a blessing? Here's a promise that we'll be blessed if we do these things. So the foot washing, when it comes to the foot washing and some of the lessons that we can learn here, how do we, how do we, and when we examine ourselves, how are we doing in light of Jesus's example? All right, so we've had a chance to cover the first symbol. Let's go to the second one now that comes next. That is the bread. Let's pick up the story here about the second of these three symbols of Passover that Jesus gave. Let's talk about the bread. And let's begin there in Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 26.

Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 26.

So then while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and He gave it to the disciples and He said, take eat, this is my body. So we know that the bread represents a couple of things. It represents His body. It says that here. He says He took bread, blessed and broke it, and He gave it to His disciples and He said, take eat, this is my body. You know, we know from Scripture that Jesus suffered a horrible death. He suffered a lot before He died. His body was torn to shreds, and because of the scourging that He went through. And, brethren, what this shows us is the high cost of sin is suffering. It shows us the high cost that sin brings in terms of suffering, that it brings suffering. You know, Jesus not only had to die, He had to suffer. That was all part of the plan here in this sacrifice. It was a complete sacrifice. Brother, what that's helping us to hopefully understand is that there's a high cost of sin. It brings suffering. It brings suffering to ourselves. It brings suffering to those around us. It can bring suffering to people who are totally innocent, that aren't even involved in a situation. It affects people. When people sin, it affects them. It affects other people around them. So, I think this is part of the lesson of what Jesus Christ had to go through, is that sin causes suffering, not only for the sinner, but for other people as well, even innocent people. It's just the nature of sin. It's just how it works. It spreads. It affects people. It needs to be stopped. It needs to be cut out. Of course, the Days of Unleavened Bread talk all about that. It causes a lot of pain and suffering. That's the way it works. It works like leaven. Part of the lesson here of the suffering that sin brings here, the broken body. Sin does something else, too. I think we know this, too. It separates us from God. It cuts us off from God. But, as Scripture reveals, through the sacrifice of Christ, upon our repentance, He can reconcile us back. It can be totally forgiven and clean.

Of course, our repentance means we go forward and striving as the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more as Jesus instructed. Let's notice another meaning here, though, about the bread. Let's go to John 6 in verse 35 to understand another aspect of the bread here. John 6 in verse 35. This is in a different context here, but John has something to share with us here about the bread. John 6 in verse 35.

And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. Brethren, what happens to us physically when we begin to get hungry and thirsty and we don't eat or drink anything? What begins to happen to us? When we don't get enough food, we don't get enough water? Well, we start to starve. We start to starve. We even begin to feel that way, I think, when it comes to Passover. You know, we only do it for 24 hours. You begin to think about getting something to drink. You begin to think about getting something to eat. And that's just a small period of time. Think about the men, Jesus, Moses, that fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. You know, at that point in time, your body literally begins to consume itself in order to try to survive from lack of nourishment. We grow weaker. Weakers, our bodies begin to break down.

Well, let's consider this from a spiritual perspective, because Jesus Christ is trying to help us to see there's a spiritual side to this, too. What happens when we are not getting the spiritual nourishment that we need? What begins to happen? Jesus said, I'm the bread of life. What happens if we reject this bread? What happens to us if we're not taking Him in on a regular basis in our life? Well, just with physical malnourishment and physical starvation, we will start to spiritually die. We will start to spiritually become malnourished and starve.

Our spiritual life will begin to unravel. We'll be in danger. It can result in not only spiritual starvation, it can eventually, if it goes on long enough, it can result in death.

If it goes on a long enough time.

God through John is telling us that the bread that we partake of a Passover, it symbolizes Jesus Christ also as the bread of life, of Him living in us.

That's the only way we can maintain a right relationship with God or with each other, is with that kind of bread in us. Jesus living His life in us.

Let's go over to Galatians chapter 2 verse 20. He does that through the Holy Spirit, brethren.

And it takes that kind of Spirit to have a love and unity that we talked about a little bit earlier. But let's, Paul talks about this concept over here in Galatians chapter 2.

And verse number 20. Paul's talking about some really deep stuff here. Sometimes it's hard for us to grasp our mind around what He is saying. But let's see if we can try to touch on it here to help us to understand. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20. Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. What does that mean? And we know that Jesus Christ was crucified. Now Paul says, I've been crucified by Christ. What does He mean? You know, what does baptism represent?

It represents dying. You know, when we go under the waters of baptism, it's actually a funeral service. Maybe we haven't thought of it that way. We, the old person dies and a new person is resurrected out of the watery grave. A new creation. A new man. A new woman. Paul said, I've been crucified with Christ. I died with Him. And now I'm a new person. He said, and it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. What is He getting at here? I don't live any longer. Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, because He's still flesh and blood, just like we were, those of us that came out of the waters of baptism, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Let's go over to Colossians chapter one. Paul makes another similar statement here in Colossians chapter one and verse 27. What is God trying to tell us here? That Jesus is the bread of life, and Paul says, I died, and now I don't live any longer, but Christ lives in me. He's in me, and I'm in Him.

Colossians chapter one verse 27. I'm going to read this out of the New Living Translation, but it should be close to your translation. It says, What does He mean by that? That's a pretty profound statement, isn't it?

What does it mean to have Christ living in you and in me? How does He do that? How does He make that happen? He's definitely talking about internalizing Him, eating Him, feeding on Him. But what does that mean? Making Him a part of who you are. Our food is what gives us our nutrients. It feeds us so that we can live. It provides essential things. Well, brethren, it has a lot to do with God's Spirit, which is another Holy Day message. But it's through God's Holy Spirit that He begins to change us, to be like His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ comes to us, lives in us through the Holy Spirit, a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of sound mind. God's Spirit begins to lead us. It begins to shape us. It begins to change us. It begins to mold us into the image of His firstborn son, Jesus Christ. This Holy Spirit comes from God. Christ comes to us through His Spirit. It's through that Spirit that we begin to become like Jesus Christ in every way, in His image.

It's becoming a new man that Paul talks about. Brethren, when we face a problem, or we face a challenge, or we face a test, we have to stop and ask, am I using the mind of Christ? Am I following the lead of the Holy Spirit here and tackling this situation? How would a son or daughter of God react? How is Christ and me going to tackle this problem? Are my words, are my deeds going to reflect the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Will I show long suffering? Will I share joy? Will I show love, goodness, and kindness? Paul said, I've been crucified with Christ. I put to death the old man, and a new man came up out of that water. And the new person is not me living for myself, but Jesus Christ living within me for His purpose, for His desire, for His goals, for His work within us. And that's why He wants us to partake of Him as the bread of life, every day.

You know, in the wilderness, Jesus said, you know, they had manna. The children of Israel had manna, but all those people died. You know, they needed that to survive. Can you imagine 40 years in a wilderness? There is no food, very little food, for millions of people. And yet, they survived, because God fed them. But Jesus said, this is the bread that gives real life. Eat this bread.

You know, we're in the wilderness, too, I suppose, aren't we? You know, they received the Ten Commandments. They entered into a covenant, you know, on top of Mount Sinai, and then they had the wilderness journey to get to the Promised Land. We've entered into a baptismal covenant, and we're on a wilderness journey towards the Kingdom of God. And we need that bread, just like they needed manna, in order to be in the Kingdom of God and the Family of God forever.

Let's go back to John 6, verse 48. John 6, verse 48. Jesus said, I am the bread. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and they have died. It was just physical food. It wasn't the spiritual food that they needed.

He says, verse 50, this is the bread. He's referring to himself. This is the bread, which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. I think he's talking about salvation. That's what he's talking about. You know, all of God's festivals, all of his holy days are about salvation, a different aspect of it. And salvation begins here with Passover.

Represented by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The next step is we remove the leaven. We remove the leaven, which represents this sin, which can damage ourselves and damage others, which spreads like wildfire, hurting so many, causing so much suffering. So how do we remove the spiritual leaven from our lives? How do we do that? Well, how do you remove air from an empty glass? You know, you pour something in. So, brethren, the lesson to us here is the easiest way to get something out and something else in is to fill it up with something different. To begin to put out, to rid the spiritual leaven from our lives, we replace that with the spiritual unleavened bread of Christ. We begin to think like he does. We begin to live as he does. We obey the Father the way he obeyed the Father. We obey the Father's commands. We obey our elder brother's commands. We're fellow servants. We're fellow slaves. An old man dies and a new man begins to live as Jesus Christ lives. Verse number 52, The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, I'm telling you the truth. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up with the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, notice, abides in me and I in him, one with Christ, living as he lives. Verse 57, As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. Notice that phrase here, he who feeds on me.

And I don't think that means just a little bit of unleavened bread during the Passover or during the seven days of unleavened bread. It says we have to feed on him just like they had to eat the manna in the wilderness. Seven days, we're talking about we have to feed on Christ all year round to seek him, to hunger for him, to try to live as he lived.

God the Father has given us the tools. He's given us his Holy Spirit. So Jesus begins to live his life in us, and we live our life in him.

So this is another major factor here, brethren, as we examine ourselves before Passover, to see if we're partaking in a worthy manner. To sum it up, are we allowing Jesus Christ to live in us? To direct our thoughts, our priorities, our steps, our actions, our life?

Let's go on to the last of the three symbols here. That's the symbol of the wine. Let's go over back to Matthew chapter 26, the institution of the symbol of the wine. Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 27.

Brother, we can do this with God's help. We can do this slowly but surely. We can begin to be conformed into the image of God, the image of his son, our older brother, who is our example.

Let's see what the wine picture is here. Somewhat similar in some ways to the to the bread, but a little different. Matthew chapter 26 verse 27. Then he took the cup and he gave thanks and he gave it to them saying, drink from it all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, for the removal or for the remission of sins. So we see here clearly that the wine represents the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It symbolizes him giving his life for the penalty of sin. Sin's penalty we know is death. Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says, the wages of sin is death. That's what we earn. It's the death penalty. So why did Christ's disciples take the wine that evening? And why do we take a cup of wine every year?

Well, brethren, we're all sinners. Romans chapter 3 verse 23 tells us that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. All without exception. I'll just refer to another passage. You can write this down if you'd like. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8. 1 John chapter 1 verse 8 says, if we say that we have no sin, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So we've all sinned. We can't deny it. We deny it. We're deceiving ourselves. And as it's we just read in John chapter 6, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. So this wine is again representing Jesus Christ's blood of the new covenant. This Passover service that we take. What are some of the lessons that we can learn in the symbolism of the wine and examining ourselves before Passover? Let's turn over to Leviticus chapter 17 and verse number 1. Leviticus chapter 17 and verse number 1.

Let's talk about blood for a moment. First of all, what is blood? What does blood represent in the scriptures? How does the Bible describe blood? What does what does it do? Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11. This is right after God commands, you shall not eat the blood. And then he explains why in verse number 11.

Leviticus 17 verse 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood. The blood is a very amazing substance. It's an incredible substance. It moves oxygen. Your blood is taking oxygen to every cell of your body so that you can live. It also brings nutrients to various parts of the body.

The blood distributes to the body everything it needs to live, everything it needs to carry out its functions. So the context in Leviticus is to explain the reason why we're not to consume the blood because the life is in the blood. And to Jesus's audience, they were very familiar with that. They had seen many sacrificial lambs that had had their throats slit and they saw the life slowly ebbing out of the lamb, the sacrificial lamb. Or if there was some kind of an accident and there was a human being that was, you know, if they lost too much blood, the person died. It was something that they had encountered and witnessed over the years.

So the wine that we take at Passover represents the ultimate penalty that Jesus Christ took upon Himself for sin, which is death. It basically symbolizes Him laying down His life for us in our place. Now we don't have to suffer the death penalty the way that Jesus Christ died. We do have to die, but not exactly in the same way that He died. In a sense, we don't become a dead sacrifice. Jesus Christ did. He died and for three days and three nights He was dead in the heart of the earth before His Father resurrected Him and He won't ever have to die again. But He was a dead sacrifice. He died. He shed His blood for us. Now Jesus does not expect us to die to pay for the penalty of sins, but what does He expect us to do in light of the fact that He died for us? Let's notice Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. We'll pick it up in verse number one. Romans chapter 12.

Verse number one.

Paul writes, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

So Paul says here that Jesus Christ shed His blood and died as a sacrifice for you and for me. And because of that, and in view of God's mercy in doing this, that we should do what is pleasing to God to offer our bodies, our lives, as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. These are God's words. And the wine that we take at Passover represents Christ's life and blood that was shed for us. And in drinking the wine means we understand and acknowledge that sacrifice. And drinking it symbolizes taking His life's blood in us, which allows us to live and become a living sacrifice. And to enable us to lay down our lives for others, as Jesus Christ did.

For then, how can we demonstrate our lives as living sacrifices? How can we do that? What does that look like? How can we demonstrate our lives as a living sacrifice, laying down our lives for God's service, which is our reasonable service? Well, Paul goes on to explain right in the very next verse here, verse number two. He says, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What he means here is that we're sacrificing in a way that the world lives. We don't live like they do. We're not conformed to the world, but we're transformed to live as God lives. You know, we walk away from certain things. We walk away. We walk away from the parties or the after work pool and beer parties, gatherings, or the Friday night activities. We turn off the TV to violence, the nudity. We turn it off, or the profane language that we often see in the television screen or the movie screen. We don't get involved with gossip, even with brothers in the faith. We look at the world and we say, I'm going to be not be conformed to this. I am going to be transformed. I'm going to follow the example of the person who is living in me through God's Holy Spirit.

So we sacrifice. Oh yeah, we sacrifice some of the pleasures of this world. They're momentarily, though. They're just temporary. They're not ongoing. Instead, we become conformed to the mind of Christ as He lives again in us. You know, I think we realize that, you know, if God wouldn't have called us and began to start this work in us, that we would live just like everybody else. We'd make the same choices. We'd have the same beliefs. But God's not called us to that. And He'll eventually reach out to them in His time. But He's reached out to us now. So what kind of living sacrifice are we? If that's what God tells us we need to be. What kind of a living sacrifice are we? Well, there's a list here in Romans chapter 12. God gives us a checklist through Paul here of what it means to be a living sacrifice. And checklists can be helpful at this time of the year as we examine ourselves. Sometimes it can be counterproductive because we get discouraged or overwhelmed. But brethren, I hope I'm not discouraging you. We can't do it all. We we have to pick out two or three areas of our life to work on. Because we've all sinned, which means we've still got things to work on. You can ask a spouse. You can ask a close friend.

They'll tell you. I asked. She told me. Don't always like what you hear. But you know, if you have the attitude that, God, I don't want anything to keep me out of your family. I don't want anything to keep me out of the kingdom. When when your kingdom comes, things are going to get so good. I don't want to miss out on seeing that transformation. I want to be a part of it.

I want to be working together with you to transform and to leaven the entire earth with your way of life and see how people's lives change. Dramatic changes.

So, brethren, that's a good prayer to pray. I think that's what David did when he said, Examine me, Lord. Look at my heart. He examined himself and then he asked God to examine him. That's pretty serious and pretty deep. So, here's a checklist here.

Let's take a look here, picking it up in verse number nine. Let love be without hypocrisy.

Abhor what is evil? Well, we know evil. It's out there, isn't it? In the world, we're becoming numb to it. If we're not careful, we become accustomed to it, less sensitive to it. Abhor it and run from it. There's trash on the internet. There's crude jokes and all of that. There's putting people down to elevate self, whether it be your own spouse, your own family, your own church family, either personally on the internet or Facebook, anywhere. Hoare. Abhor what is evil and run from it. Cling to what is good. Verse 10, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. Ties into kind of a steaming others better than ourselves. In honor giving preference to one another. Not lagging in diligence. Boy, we can start to give up when we get tired. We can lag in diligence. But be fervent in spirit and serve God. Serve the Lord. Rejoicing and hope.

Patient when the trials come. Being steadfast, continually steadfast in talking to God.

Verse 13, distributing to those that have needs and also being hospitable. Verse 14, blessing those who persecute you. That's hard to do. Bless those who persecute you. Do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

Be of the same mind towards one another. Don't set your mind on high things. But associate with the humble. Don't be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. That's not our job. As it says in verse 19, God will take care of it. Repay no one evil for evil. Have a regard for good things in the sight of all men. And if it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Be a peacemaker. Jesus talks about that in Matthew chapter 5. Verse 19, Beloved, don't avenge yourselves. It's not your place. Don't give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repase as the Lord. God will take care of it in His time. And it's always perfect timing. These are God's words. Verse 20, therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing, you will reap coals of fire in his head. Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Brother, this isn't an all-inclusive list here, but it's a checklist for you and I on what it means to be a living sacrifice right here in Romans chapter 12. So in conclusion, brethren, as we approach the Passover this year, let's think about these three symbols. The bread, the foot washing, the bread, and the wine that we've talked about today. And if we think about them, and if we examine ourselves in light of these symbols, and we repent, and we begin to change in the way that scripture teaches us, we can be assured that we will partake of the Passover in a worthy manner.