Fundamental Biblical Beliefs - Bible Study - Part 11 - The Passover

This evening we are looking at Part 11 of the fundamental beliefs in the Bible. This is the Passover. The Passover begins the annual festivals of God, and the festivals of God portray God's plan of salvation for humanity. Humans who are separated from God, humans who are sinners, humans who are under a death penalty. The overview of this process we can see in Romans chapter 5 verses 9 through 11. Let's turn there. Romans chapter 5, and we'll begin in verse 9. Much more than having now been justified by his blood. So as sinners separated from God under a death penalty, we now can be justified by his blood, and then we shall be saved from wrath, or from the lake of fire, through him. So that's a wonderful thing. What a wonderful opportunity for us to come into. And the Passover is the thing that opens this door to us. Verse 10, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, the term mediator means a reconciler. It means two individuals. This person brings them together. He reconciles them. So we were enemies with God, and now we are media the mediator has reconciled us to God, but it took the death of his son. Now, much more having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. Him coming and living in us through the Holy Spirit, leading us, guiding us as as our captain of our salvation. And verse 11, and not only that, but we also rejoice in God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So the Passover is actually a very positive thing for us. And we rejoice in this state that we now have. And we ultimately shall be saved, it says. And it says at the end of verse 11, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So the Passover is a huge event. And it is really the creator who made us dying in our place. And I personally, as a human being, cannot wrap my head around that. I try to think of how a God being who is dynamic in heaven to God beings, powerful, they own everything, they know everything, they create everything. And they came up with a plan where human beings, fragile, insignificant human beings, would be part of their family, but one of them would have to come down and be essentially tortured to death. That is, as John says in 1 John 3 and verse 16, by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. That is a love that just is beyond human rationale, human thought. And yet that is what God is. God is love, 1 John tells us. And this is his greatest demonstration of that godly love. Jesus said in another place, scarcely will a man die for a friend.

This isn't about a human being like you and me just dying for a friend. This is our God. This is the God that we knew in the Old Testament. And his father gave up everything he had, his only begotten son. This is huge. So the Passover, then, is an observance to remember this event, this huge event that really we can't even grasp the greatest significance of. We look in Luke chapter 22 and verse 19. We'll notice what Jesus says.

He said, after taking bread and breaking it, he said, this is my body, which is given for you. So when we come to the Passover and we go through the symbols and we go through the service, remember what he says, do this in remembrance of me. Don't do it in remembrance of your sins. You shouldn't have sins at the Passover. Have you thought about that? You should not have sins when you come to the Passover. They should all be gone. So what is there left to think about? Do this in remembrance of me, because this sacrifice took away your sins and we should repent every day and come before him sinless. Come before the Father sinless. So he says in verse 20, the cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.

So the purpose of this ceremony, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 26, the purpose of this ceremony is to proclaim the Lord's death. To think about the Lord's death, to remember it, to proclaim it until he comes. And Passover represents the only way that humans can be reconciled to God and to Jesus Christ, to the Godhead. It's the first step in God's plan of salvation. So we look at part one here, and that is the timing of the Passover. The Passover occurs at the beginning of the 14th of Nisan or Abib, two different names for the first month. In Exodus chapter 12 and verse 3, it says, So think about this.

Notice he didn't say, keep it through the 14th, and somehow the Passover will be the same as the night to be much observed. No, you'll keep it until the beginning of the 14th day of the month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. So the timing of the Passover is important, and yet at the same time it's a bit obscure. We won't go into the reasons, but there are many scriptures in the Bible that would have an individual think in some cases that the Passover and the night to be much observed are the same.

They occur at the same time. And the reason of that is some wording, and a lot of it has to do with the name that the Jews call the Days of Unleavened Bread. Kind of like we call the feast, you know, you say, where are you going to go for the feast? You know, there's seven festivals. We know which one we're talking about, right? But that feast isn't just the Feast of Tabernacles. It's the Feast of Tabernacles on the last great day. But since the Feast of Tabernacles comes first, we call it the Feast or the Feast of Tabernacles.

And so it is with Passover. Passover in the Days of Unleavened Bread occur a day and then seven after it. And the Jews just called it all the Passover. And so if you're not careful, you might think that when they say the Passover, they're talking about the Passover service instead of those first two festivals. What we see here in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 4, these occur on two different days.

Leviticus 23 and verse 4, these are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed time. In verse 5, on the 14th day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. Now notice verse 6, and on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Clearly these are two different days. Just want to point that out as we go forward. Now if we go to the New Testament in John chapter 19 and verse 31, notice what is stated here.

Here on the day Jesus died, which is Passover Day, and he had kept the Passover service the night before, it says, therefore it was preparation day. Now the preparation day, we often call Friday preparation day, but that's nowhere listed in the Bible other than collect double manna. But this preparation day is a preparation day that the Jews referred to as the preparation day, and there is only one preparation day a year.

Can you think of what that preparation day was? It's a preparation before Sabbath. Can you think of which Sabbath? And why would it only be once? Well, you and I should probably know because we're about to hit that preparation day. And that preparation day involves de-leavening your house. And that's a lot of work to de-leaven your whole house and all of your belongings to get it out and get unleavened bread made and things and get ready. So that is Passover Day. And here we find because it was preparation day or Passover Day that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, which was coming at sunset, the first day of unleavened bread.

The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and they might be taken away. So here we see still the distinction in the New Testament, very different distinction about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It's also interesting in John 13, verse 27, Jesus is at the Passover service. We see in verse 26, he said, identifying his traitor, it is, He to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. He dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot. Now after the piece of bread, verse 27, Satan entered and Jesus said, What you do, do quickly.

Okay, now think about this. This is on Tuesday night, beginning of the Passover day, the 14th. They're sitting and eating. They're doing the Passover service. And Jesus tells the one with the money, Do what you do quickly. Verse 28, But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, Jesus had said to him, By those things we need for the feast. Why would he be saying, if this were on the night to be much observed when they kept the Passover, why don't you go out on the Holy Day now and buy those things we need for the feast?

No, this was the preparation day. It's part of that 24-hour preparation day, which in fact was Passover. Now, the New Testament shows Jesus himself setting the time of the New Covenant Passover in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 19. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. Jesus here was directing it. And then when evening had come, verse 20, he sat down with the twelve. So we're following this as Jesus laid out the New Covenant Passover.

Paul confirmed when to keep the New Covenant Passover in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 23. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. So Jesus here taught Paul that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and they had the Passover service. Now, I sent you a link and also a copy of a handout, the Passover timeline chart. If you did not receive that, or if you would like to receive a printable copy of that, you can email me, or you can go to studyyourbible.org and click on the tools page and you will see it right there.

Just tap on it and it'll open up to you. And now for part two, here's Wayne Ward. Thank you. The New Testament Church observes the Passover as the anniversary of the death of our creator, of our Lord and our Savior. Turn to Luke 22 and verse 7. He says, Then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat. So they said to him, Where do you want us to prepare? So notice here how Jesus told the disciples to prepare the Passover.

They didn't question this. They knew all about the Passover. They just wanted to know where. But there is something very special about this Passover. In verse 14, it says, When the hour had come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him. And he said to them, With fervent desire I have a desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you that I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

So from this Passover forward, Jesus would now be identified with it. Meaning this date and this occasion would now be synonymous with Jesus Christ. Turn to Matthew 26, verse 18. Matthew 26, verse 18. He says, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The teacher says, My time is at hand.

I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. See how the Passover was now about His time. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 5. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7. He says, Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since truly you are unleavened.

For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Christ is our Passover. Paul declares the New Testament Passover is about Christ. Christ had changed the symbols and what they referred to. Every 14th of Abib or Nisan at twilight, just after sunset, with the observance of the Bread and the Wine ceremony, the Passover now portrays the death of the Lamb of God. It portrays the death of the Messiah of Jesus Christ. That is the anniversary that we observe on the Passover.

Back to part 3 of Mr. Eliot. Passover begins with foot washing. We look in John chapter 13, verse 5. Once again we see an incredible thing of our God, our Creator. Obviously we have God the Father, but also in the Bible we had God the Word. This one who did the creating, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. To us, it's like one human doing it to another, and yes, that's humbling. But when you think of the great God, the powerful one who sits before the Father, and he comes down to earth and he wipes our feet, and then he's going to shed his blood for us, it is really, truly amazing.

In verse 12, so when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and sat down, he said, do you know what I have done to you? Once again, we grasp part of it as humans. But he's asking us to consider this. Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for I am.

If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. And so the Passover service begins to transition us into not just recipients of God's love, his graces, recipients of sin, but participants in the family of God. And it begins with, yes, he washes our feet, now we should wash one another's feet. And as John says regarding the rest of his sacrifice in 1 John 3, 16, by this you know love, he laid down his life for us.

Now you should also lay down your lives for the brethren. So he's bringing us here into the family model and wants us to upgrade. Now, the question sometimes comes up as to why foot washing precedes the other symbols at Passover. Because if you go through the Gospels, you would get the idea that Passover comes last. Allow me to give a personal overview of why the church places foot washing ahead of the serving of the Passover.

Why the church places foot washing ahead of the serving of the bread and wine during the Passover service. And why if we just simply read the Scriptures, we could easily come up with another idea. First of all, we've just read here that foot washing is part of the Passover service that was established by Jesus himself. When in verse 4, he rose, he set aside his garments, verse 5, and he washed one another's feet.

Now, you might think, well, maybe he wouldn't do this before. Maybe he did this after. And the reason is because the word supper, in some places after supper, he got up and did this. Well, it's important to notice here a few things. The Scriptures here by four different writers are using some terms. And they're using sin and structure in an order of things that we don't always understand on the surface. But if we dig a little deeper, we can understand. First of all, it's important to note that there are two different suppers that take place.

Three writers mentioned two suppers. That's Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All mentioned two different suppers. First was the Old Covenant Passover supper. So they're sitting down and they're having that meal that in the Old Covenant was directed to kill the lamb and have the bitter things. You have that meal. And then after that meal, Jesus now upgrades a New Covenant Passover, which is often called the Lord's Supper, which Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

So you have to understand there's two suppers. So just because he got up after one supper doesn't mean it was after the New Covenant Passover supper. Now we find in 1 Corinthians that Paul said, you know, what are you doing? You're not keeping the Lord's Supper. Instead, you're having this meal like they did in the Old Covenant. You've got homes to eat in. This is what Jesus told me to do, and I'm passing it on to you. This is a special service now, this Lord's Supper. And you haven't been keeping that, but you ought to. So one challenge is to discern then which supper is being referenced in each of the four texts. Another challenge is that some of the writers did not indicate any sequence about what they wrote about. They wrote about the bread, they wrote about the wine, they wrote about this, they wrote about a supper, but it wasn't necessarily in order. So they're just talking about things that took place, not necessarily knowing what order that they happened in. Consequently, assembling a timeline requires some very great caution. And also remember that each of these writers is writing between 30 and 60 years after this Passover took place. So let's boil this down to something simple. Why do we keep foot washing when we do? Well, I'll give you a vital key to an accurate Passover sequence. And that hinges on what Judas did participate in and what Judas didn't participate in. We'll see this in two passages very simply. In John chapter 13 here in verse 2, notice, And supper being ended, which supper, the first supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. So now we have Judas there, and he's going to betray Christ. Supper is ended. Verse 5, He poured water into the basin and washed the disciples' feet. Now let's go down to verse 21. When Jesus said these things, he was most troubled, and he said, Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Now, let's remember where we are. So far, we have had the supper ending, and one is going to betray. Correct?

But he's already washed the feet of Judas. Now, if we go to verse 25, and leaning back on Jesus' breath, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus said, It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot.

So now we know that Judas was there. In verse 30, once that took place, having received this piece of bread that he dipped, he then went out immediately, and it was night. So Judas left as soon as he was identified as the betrayer of Jesus. Now we'll pick up the story in the other passage in Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26, and we'll begin in verse 23.

And as you recall, think about this, immediately when that happened, Judas left. Remember those words? Immediately after, Jesus said, you know, go do what you need to do. And they thought he went off to buy something for the feast day tomorrow. As they were eating, oh, eating. Now what are they eating? As they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, take eat. This is my body. Judas was not present for the bread and the wine. Consequently, we now know that the foot washing came first, and then Judas left. And the remainder of the service followed with the bread and the wine, and Judas was not there.

And then Jesus taught the disciples, and he prayed. You can read on John 14, 15, 16, and 17. And then at the beginning of chapter 18, you see that they are going out.

So where in the Bible does it say for us to wash feet like Jesus Christ did? Once again, there in John chapter 13 and verse 15.

John 13 and verse 15. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.

So we are to do what Jesus did. Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. And that's why we wash feet, and that's why we wash feet.

Now, part four, Dwayne.

As Jews, the disciples, they had observed the Passover all their lives. They would have known very well the significance of eating the lamb, and as a remembrance of the lamb slain in Egypt, and the spreading of the blood over the door to cause the death angel to pass over their forefathers, to cause them to be spared from death.

And that lamb was killed, that was killed, was required to be eaten.

So as we can see, this was a forerunner to Jesus, whom about 2400 years later gives the new covenant Israel something new to eat. It gives them the unleavened bread, which symbolizes the body of the Lamb of God. And it does so in a very special way. Turn to Luke 22, verse 19.

He says, And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Bread in this ceremony has a very significant symbolism in representing his suffering, his being broken as a sacrifice for us.

It is essentially, it's really an immense show of love that we are to internalize, to make a part of us and fuel us for our growth, for eternal lives. Turn to John 6, verse 32. John 6, verse 32-40.

He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that all he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

And verse 48, it says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread of life which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. And I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. So the symbolism is powerful here.

If we live by Jesus Christ, taking him in, being moved by his words and moved by his example in his life, most especially his very awesome demonstration of love, shown by his willingness to suffer for us. And if we aspire to take in these qualities for ourselves and live by them, we will essentially have Christ living in us, having sincerity and truth living in us. And we will make a part of what is needed for our eternal lives. We will make a part of us Christ, because Christ is eternal. So, more to this, though, the bread really is for the whole family.

It's not just for one of us. It's for the whole family of God, the family that we've been begotten into. In Egypt, the whole household would have shared the Lamb at Passover. And so, partaking of the life of Jesus, then, as symbolized in the bread, is something we do as members of God's household. In doing this, we know that we belong to a community. So, in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16, it says, The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ? The communion is quinonia, which means something we share in, something we have fellowship in. It is a bond of a community. So, the body of Christ is what we all share in. It is our bond with one another, showing us that we're never alone. We have a place in the family of God or in the community of God. So, another aspect to think about this, that's very deep to think about in the Passover this year.

Next part, Mr. Eliot. Okay, before I begin, five, let me just ask one individual. Evelyn Davis, I think your mute popped off. And just for the recording's sake, it would be helpful because, thank you very much. What happens if somebody makes a noise, you take over the screen on the video, and it'll have your face instead of Wayne's.

Or mine. And it makes editing interesting. I'll say that. Okay, so now we're going to look at the symbol of the wine. Now, Jesus himself provides the meaning of the symbol of the wine for his Passover memorial in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 27. He took the cup, he gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you.

Now, verse 28, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So if we look at those three elements, this is his blood. Yes, he is shedding his blood, and this is a reminder of that blood. But it's the blood of the new covenant, right? Not the old covenant where, you know, rams and lambs were killed, but this is his blood of a new covenant, and this covenant is for saints.

And this blood is shed for many. That word many means the many or most. It's not shed for all because there are some who will not repent, and there are some who will die in their own sins. It was intended for all. God is not, as it says in 1 Peter 9, I believe it is, I'm sorry, 1 Peter 3 and verse 9, 2 Peter 3 and verse 9. God is not willing that any should die, but that should, but all should come to repentance. He doesn't want any to die, but some will. So this is shed for everyone who will repent when ultimately given a chance for the remission of sins. What does Christ want us to understand about his shed blood? Well, there are several scriptures that tell us this.

But this physical act that we do at Passover, you know what it's like the little wine things are going to be given, and then you have this and you're thinking about what this is. Remember how big this Passover service is and the deed behind it is. And now this is a this is a personal representation that you're going to participate in. You're going to put it in your mouth. You're going to taste it. You're going to swallow it. It's going to have a personal connection. And this symbol of his shed blood then makes a very strong impression with us that God personally shed his blood, his son's blood for the forgiveness of all sins that we repent of.

Now, I'll give you three scriptures. First John 1.7 says, The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. That's what it does.

In Revelation chapter 1 and verse 5, he loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Again, that's what it does.

And then in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 25, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. We're remembering what he did. His death, his life, his suffering. We're remembering who he was, the great power that that forgiveness has that is greater than all that he created.

Do this in remembrance of me.

When you take the wine, don't think of yourself. Think of him. When you come to the Passover, don't come sort of with a dark cloud thinking about some sin that you've done. You don't have any sin. He took that sin. It was nailed to the cross in him. His blood covered that sin, cleansed you from our sin, washed you from your sin. Right? We're coming there to remember him. The Passover is a very powerful service, but it's not negative. It's very, very positive. It is the complete awesome gift of God and his Son to us so that we can be part of their family one day. And now to Wayne for part six.

When we come to Passover, we need to remember that Jesus' death was a complete sacrifice. There is nothing done in part. Jesus has absolutely no mental reservations at all. It was just the whole Jesus Christ that was involved. You could say that Jesus was all in for God and for God's purpose.

Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7. And we see again, as we read before, that indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Jesus, as the Lamb of God, as our Passover, he gave his whole life for God.

That had to be completely consumed before morning. And as the bread and the wine represents his total sacrifice, it represents his suffering and his death. Something that God could then accept for the penalty of all mankind's sins. So there's a completeness to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And in so doing, has enabled mankind to come to God. Jesus healed a separation between God and man. Let's turn to 1 Peter 3 verse 18.

Reconciliation. That's the point of it all. A healing of our separation from God the Father through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So in Christ, we now actually have a relationship with God the Father. We have his ear. And we can appeal to him for mercy and for graciousness in our lives. Hebrews 4. And verse 16. He says, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. So, you know, in our human state, we'll be in need more than not. And so in Christ, we now have a means of appealing to God. We each have our own relationship with God. Something that God himself has actually desired all along. But we couldn't have that because of our sin. So Jesus has changed all that. So that's that complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His suffering and his death is a gift to us. That really should always cut us deeply. Especially now as we come to the Passover. So I'll leave the conclusion to Mr. Elliot.

The seventh element is that Jesus' sacrifice made him the mediator of the New Covenant. His forgiving sacrifice initiated a new spiritual covenant with the elective God. Not a physically based covenant, physical rewards for obedience to essentially physical commands, you know, don't kill and things like this. But now Jesus is able to have a better covenant. And now we have the spirit of the law. And he begins to show us what those old commandments would mean to a person with God's spirit as he expands on them. And so in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 25, it says in the same manner he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. The new covenant now is initiated by the blood of Jesus Christ. And it's a spiritual covenant. And by laying down his life for us, by taking on the penalty of the blood of Jesus Christ, it's a spiritual covenant. And by laying down his life for us, by taking on the penalty of the blood of Jesus Christ, it's a spiritual covenant. And by laying down his life for us, by taking on the penalty of our sins, we can then be restored to God, healed. By his stripes you're healed because you, like sheep, were going astray. We were separated. So in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15, and for this reason he is called the mediator. A mediator, if you look up that term, So he takes the penalty for our sins that separates us. Sin separates us from God. He takes that out of the way. And now we and God can have a relationship. He reconciles these two separated entities. So Hebrews 9 and 15 again. For this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death. That's how he did it. He took that sin out for the redemption of the transgressors, I would say, under the first covenant. The transgressors were redeemed. He bought them back by his life. For those who are called may receive the promise of the internal inheritance. As it says in verse 15. So Jesus Christ is a mediator, a reconciler, in this new covenant. We see this in Romans chapter 5, verses 10-11. Romans chapter 5 will begin in verse 10. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, the mediator, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So here are the elements, and they're very clear now. We were once enemies, separated. But then we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, taking the sin out and letting us be separated. Thus he is the mediator that makes that happen. Now, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. How are you saved by his life? Well, he now lives and is at the right hand of God.

He is going to give us the salvation of eternal life. He said he will give us life. Verse 11. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. See, this is all good. It's all upbeat. We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the mediator, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So the Passover service is a wonderful time. And after completing the three elements of the Passover, which are foot washing, the bread and the wine, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. And in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 30, it simply says, And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And thus we conclude the Passover service without a prayer, but with a hymn, just as the Bible says.

So this evening, Wayne and I have reviewed the annual Passover ceremony shown in the Word of God. It occurs on the 14th day of the first month. It includes foot washing, a piece of broken bread, a sip of wine, and a concluding hymn. Between now and the Passover, our focus should be putting out spiritual leaven, arriving at the Passover sinless in God's eyes, having once again fasted in search for spiritual leaven and putting everything out that we can and come before Him sinless through the One who has reconciled us to God. And at Passover, we're to be fully focused on this incredible gift of reconciliation to God through Christ's blood. So let's remember Him in this great gift that has been given to us at the Passover.