Keeping the Passover

The title of today's sermon is, Keeping the Passover. Yes. We're at the time of the year.

It's time to begin thinking forward to the Passover. In six weeks, we were baptized. We'll be keeping the Passover after sunset, shortly after sunset, on Tuesday evening, April 4th this year.

Now, the Passover teaches us that Jesus Christ was without sin. As the true Lamb of God, He gave His life willingly so that humanity's sins could be forgiven, death's penalty removed, and so that all might receive salvation if they would choose to receive it. It's important that God's people observe the Passover in remembrance of Christ's love and sacrifice for our sins and as a reminder of our commitment to Him for what He has done in our lives. And so we must make time between now, the six weeks between now and Passover. We must make time, not take time, but make it because time is fleeting and other things intrude, but we must carve out time, make time to prepare ourselves spiritually for observing the Passover. It is time for us to focus more closely now on what matters most in life, our relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is vital that we keep the Passover with reverence and gratitude toward God and harmony with one another.

So in today's message, we will turn to Scripture to review, to rehearse, to understand why and how to keep the Passover. I'd like to begin, first of all, by emphasizing the importance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. These are things that God has revealed that many people do not understand.

Keeping the Passover, we need to remember the importance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, about which the Passover teaches us. Jesus Christ was and is Emmanuel. God with us, in a very powerful and important way, so many don't understand. He was the Son of God and is the Son of God. We're going to turn to another Scriptures. I'm going to take time to read them, rehearse them with us in John 1, verses 1-4. We recall from these verses, why is Jesus Christ so important to Passover?

Why is Jesus Christ so important to every human being? Well, we recall from John 1, verses 1-4, that he was the Word who coexisted eternally with God. And here's what John writes. John chapter 1, verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.

And him was life, and the life was the light of men. And then in verse 14, we also read, continuing, In the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, we, John speaking here, the other disciples, those who knew him best, and we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. I'd also like for us to read from Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 12 through 23.

And Paul, in this case, further describes the grace of the Father and of Jesus Christ toward all people. Colossians chapter 1, verse 12, breaking into the thought here, Paul writes, starting out, giving thanks to the Father. The Father is the source of all good things. Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

There's that reference to light again that we just read in John 1. He, referring to the Father, has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the Son's blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And why is Christ's shed blood so important? Why is it so important to all humankind? Well, Paul explains again, continuing now, verse 21, And you, you who once were alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, and that's speaking to us too, until we were called, we didn't know any better. And enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless, and above reproach in His sight, if, if indeed, you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard.

And so, very powerful way, over and over, we read that Jesus Christ is the Creator through whom God the Father created all things, this entire universe. And He, Christ, also died for His creation. He died for humankind. He died for you, and He died for me. He was the one who in Exodus 12, and I'll read just a few scriptures there, He was the one who in Exodus 12 spoke to Moses and instructed the Israelites on keeping the very first Passover while they were yet still in Egypt.

On that tenth day, and of course, I'm sure over the weeks ahead, we'll hear various messages, and we should be reading up, reading and studying our own Bibles to remember these things, on our own as well. But on the tenth day of the first month, the man of every household was to select a male lamb without defect to feed his family. Read about that in Exodus 12 verse 13. And on the fourteenth day, at evening, they killed the lambs, and they brushed their blood onto the doorposts and lentils of the houses where they ate the flesh of the lambs.

That's explained in verses 6 through 7, Exodus 12. And on that very same night, that same night, God struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, both animals and human. But he passed over, he passed over the doors of the children of Israel, not striking their firstborn, if they had obeyed, if they had listened, and put the sign of blood around their door. That's Exodus 12, 13 through 14. Verse 13 says, Now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. And then verse 14, we read how God established the Passover day, evening of Passover. God set that time as a memorial, we read, so you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

So now we know, we now know then, that the male lamb, without defect, represented Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the perfect or sinless sacrifice, who only they gave his life so that all might receive eternal life or salvation. And if we go back and read John chapter 1, verse 29, John 1, 29, it was John the Baptist who here called Jesus, we read it, the next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 1 Corinthians, I'm just going to hit a few scriptures here.

If you can't keep up with me, you can jot them down, but I'm going to read them.

1 Corinthians 5, verse 7, Paul called Christ our Passover. He says, Therefore purge out the old leaven. Leavens can sometimes represent sin. Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

And also now, Hebrews chapter 9, verse 11 through 12. Hebrews 9, 11 through 12.

All these references, remember, we're looking at the significance, the importance of Jesus Christ in the Passover. Hebrews 9, verse 11 through 12, we read, But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

And so again, we understand and should never forget or underestimate its importance that Jesus Christ willingly gave his life to pay for the penalty of all our sins, all of humanity's sins, and that penalty is death. Without Christ, we would have no hope, no hope of salvation, no hope of eternal life, no hope of anything but this physical existence.

And so we should remember, we should remember that when we read Romans 6, 23, probably well known to many of you, Romans 6, 23. And I'm going to turn there to read it from the book.

Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death. That's what we gain. No real gain, is it? That's what we earn because of sin. Our wage of sin is death. But the gift, the gift of God is eternal life and Christ Jesus, our Lord. And we mustn't also forget John 3 16. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so because Jesus Christ gave his life payment for our penalty for sin, which is death, he gave his life for our own. We must no longer live our lives for ourselves alone. We've been purchased, as it were, with a great price. We no longer are our own. We belong to God and Christ. We know this from 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 through 20. 1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 through 20. Paul here writing through the Corinthians, so do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own? Verse 20, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

We no longer should be living just for ourselves, fulfilling our own desires, our own appetites, our own pleasures. God gives us so many good things in this life, but ultimately our life is to be focused on service to God and service to our brethren and our neighbor as a reflection of God's love towards all humanity as well. So Jesus Christ freely gave his life for our lives.

We owe him and God our Father everything. Everything.

The Passover reminds us of Jesus Christ's vital role in fulfilling the Father's plan for the salvation of all humanity, including our own salvation.

What a wonderful thing that is to contemplate these weeks ahead.

Another thing we need to consider as we prepare to keep the Passover is the importance that we keep the Passover reverently. We must keep the Passover reverently. And so for the reasons we just read about Jesus Christ, who he was, the Creator, and so much more, for all he did and does for us and the Father too, we should keep the Passover with reverence and profound gratitude towards God. And so it is during these weeks ahead we need to make time for reflection. We need to make time for that self-examination we heard about in the sermonette today.

Now the Passover is not a trivial tradition of men, but as we see, it is holy time. It is a feast established by God himself. It's not just one more thing to do. And I say that because our lives are so very busy, aren't they? We work, we have chores to do, we have appointments to keep, we have all sorts of things that keep us occupied. But we must not approach the upcoming Passover as just the attitude of just one more thing to do. I hope we don't think of it that way. That would not be very respectful to God in all that the Passover represents.

The Passover is not just one more thing we got to do.

I don't even like saying it like that. The Passover is also not a church social, and as we're going to see, it is certainly not a potluck. It's a different sort of meal we will be taking, as it were. Now because of the magnitude of salvation that God has made available to us, yes, we should treat the Passover very carefully, not carelessly. And that, of course, is a topic the Apostle Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 11. It's very important that we review these things, review this approach we should take to Passover. So let's turn, if you turn with me, please now to 1 Corinthians 11. And we're going to be reading verses 17 through 22 bit by bit. It's here while instructing the Corinthian brethren in various spiritual matters that Paul pauses and turns to express his strong disapproval, his strong disapproval for how they were observing the Passover. They were making some very serious mistakes. And so, 1 Corinthians 11 verse 17, Paul writes, now in giving these instructions, he says, these instructions, I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse. So he's talking about the way they're gathering together in their mind to keep the Passover, they're not doing it the right way. They're certainly not doing it the way that Paul had instructed them. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And in part, I believe it.

For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

What Paul is referring to is, he's heard news as we're about to read, that when they're getting together, ostensibly to keep the Passover, they're not gathering together as one. They're not gathering together peaceably or reverently. They're actually revealing some unfortunate divisions and a lack of respect and well regard for one another in how they're keeping the Passover. And we're going to read more about this here in just a bit. So the Corinthians had apparently taken the approach as if they were gathering for a rather festive banquet, a festive meal.

Paul called it a kurakos dikenan, and I'm probably mispronouncing that. I apologize.

It's spelled K-U-R-I-A-K-O-S. Second word, D-E-I-P-N-O-N. Kuriakos dikenan.

We're just going to call it the Lord's Supper, as it's called here in the New King James.

Now Paul took care not to call their meal, which actually is more like a feast or banquet, the Passover. What they were doing was not the Passover he had told them. If it were, then Paul would have used the word posca. P-A-S-C-H-A. Posca is the same word we find in Luke 22.15. In Luke 22.15, and I'll turn there and read it for you if you'd like. Luke 22.15, it's here that we find the reference to the Passover, and it's where it's described that they were preparing for the Passover. Luke 22.13, so they went and found the room, the upper room, as Jesus had said to them, and they prepared the posca. That's the word. It's not Lord's Supper.

And also, let's look at verse 15. It's the same word. These are the words of Jesus. Even more important, they have Jesus. They're quoting Jesus saying this. And then he said to them, Jesus said, I have desired to eat this Passover, this posca with you before I suffer.

So in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says the reason they are to come together is not to eat the Lord's Supper, this festive banquet. He's directly telling them the reason they are to come together in one place is to keep the Passover. Again, not this Lordly banquet.

In addition, Paul declares that the behavior at this meal does not reflect reverence for God. It does not reflect reverence for God or for Christ's sacrifice, and it certainly does not reflect love for the brethren. The Passover service should be a time when we're in unity, we're in harmony, where we've put aside our differences and bitternesses, and we've come together as one, one body, one church before our God on this special evening.

Let's read here in verse 21-22. Paul writes, for in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of the others, and one is hungry, and then another is drunk. We know what the scripture says about being drunk. Paul writes, what? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in, or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? That's not how you treat your brethren. What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? And he answers it for us. I do not praise you. He is ashamed, in essence, for what they were doing, what they were doing with this very special, important evening. And so apparently what we're reading is that those who arrived late had had nothing to eat, and others lacked self-control and got drunk. I chuckle because that is certainly not what scripture tells us to be doing on the Passover. And of course, this is not how Paul taught them to keep the Passover. Well, how did Paul... what were they to do? How did he teach them? Well, he instructed them again to follow Christ's example. Let's read on now, verse 23-26. He says, this is what he was taught. This is what he taught them, the Corinthians. Verse 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, what I also taught you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take and 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. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. That's what Paul had taught them. Now Paul also urged them, as we continue reading, he also urged them, yes, to examine themselves. They were to examine themselves, and where they found sin, they were to repent of their sins. That's how they were preparing themselves to be keeping the Passover. Verse 27, 28, then, therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, we're going to come back to that, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord, of disrespecting it and not honoring it or revering it. Verse 28, 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, condemnation to himself, not discerning, respecting the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. In other words, they're not revering God. They're not praying to God. They're not respecting God. They're not building a right relationship with God by behaving this way. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged, judged by God. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. God will correct us. God loves us. He doesn't want us to go astray, to turn from him, and so he does have to correct us at times in hopes that we would listen and repent.

Now just as Paul urged the Corinthians to examine themselves, yes, so should we do. We should examine ourselves. But I want to emphasize we should not examine ourselves to brood or to be concerned about whether or not we are worthy or good enough to keep the Passover. God's scripture provides us the spiritual mirror we need. We read a scripture, we use it to compare where we fall short, where we are falling short in obedience to God, and trusting God, and living in faith with what God says. And so we're to look for sin in our lives, and we're to repent so that we will not find ourselves condemned with the world and unqualified to receive eternal life. But this phrase in an unworthy manner, it's important to understand this. And yes, we rehearse this every year with all of these things. Every year there are people that have joined with God, joined with the body, new converts to God, who are young in the faith. There are some of us who have forgotten these things. We need to understand what an unworthy manner here means. An unworthy manner does not refer to whether or not we are good enough to take the Passover. In one sense, we're never good enough to take the Passover, because we all sin.

We all sin. We mustn't misinterpret Paul's meaning here, and then wrongly choose not to keep the Passover until we finally feel within ourselves that we're worthy, that we're now, we kind of beat ourselves up enough within that we feel now that we're deserving of keeping the Passover. That's not the way we're to be thinking. That would be a mistake. And again, it's a mistake, because no one truly is worthy of Christ's sacrifice, because all of us are sinners. All of us deserve nothing but death. Now, the word unworthy is translated from a Greek word. It's an adverb, and it actually means irreverently. Whoever takes the Passover, in other words, who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, means irreverently or disrespectfully.

And that's what Paul has already described. They're getting drunk. They're making a big feast. They're being loud. They weren't respecting their brethren. They weren't waiting for them. They were not actually reverently observing this day. They're not showing reverence to God or their brethren. And so Paul then describes the right way to observe the Passover. The tone and the approach, the attitude, becomes more clear as to how it should be done. Verse 33-34, Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest, Paul says, I will set in order when I come. There's some matters he wanted to deal to deal with face to face, apparently. And so the Passover must be kept with sincere reverence. It must be kept with gratitude, out of respect and appreciation for God's mercy, and not with disrespect toward God or others. And we strive very hard to do that here when we keep the Passover service. As we have done, the Church of God has done for many years and decades, the Church of God has always striven to appropriately regard the Passover and the Passover service.

Those of you that have been attending, and those of you who don't know, I'll tell you, we have no banquet or Lord's supper at the Passover service. We expect everyone, yes, to have already eaten their supper or dinner, if that's what you call it. We also encourage everyone to be seated early that evening, so there's no rushing in and grasping and tripping to get here on time. We need to come in ready and prepared and heart and mind. And we even wait a few minutes before starting the service just to be sure that it's called Terry. We Terry a while just to make sure that everyone arrives on time and that we're not starting before those need to be here and want to be here are indeed here. And so we share our soft greetings, maybe a brief conversation.

And I say that because, much to my horror, my very first Passover service, I was baptized the night before the Passover came the following evening, and no one had told me what to expect except just bring a basin for the water and a towel. Okay, I knew that because I read enough. I knew that. But of course, you may have heard the story before. Okay, I'm going to hear it again. But so I come rushing. I didn't come rushing and came early. I was excited. I was still pumped. I had just been baptized in very cold water the night before, and I was excited. I was happy. I was loud. Hey, how you doing? I tend to do that sometimes. And immediately, I just committed a great sin, it seemed. But then they just quickly remind me, oh no, no, we just, we're a little more quiet. It's not the typical service. This Passover service is unlike any other service we have during the year or any other time of the year. But again, we do that soft greetings, brief conversations. It's a way of showing reverence and respect. It's a way of being thoughtful and not being loud in any sense in that way. That can cause others to get louder. Next thing you know, it gets really boisterous. And so we have those quiet conversations, soft greetings. It's a very nice event. But then, we do that until the service starts. Until then, we sit quietly, read our Bibles. Then once the Passover service begins, we follow along in our Bibles, reading the Scriptures as a minister or ministers lead us along. We do very little commentary in the Scripture. We read what God's Word says. It's a night to hear God and maybe not so much of ourselves, although at times we do need to explain some things. We read Scripture and think about what it is we are reading.

We partake the Passover symbols Jesus Christ instituted that same night in which He is betrayed. And we're going to talk about that in a bit, the foot washing, the bread, and the wine. When we conclude service with the hymn, we then quietly return home.

That's how we reverently, respectfully keep the Passover. Now that I encourage this, I would tell you it's best not to wait to examine ourselves until the moment we plop down in our seats at Passover. It's the whole purpose of going through these things now, the weeks ahead.

This spiritual preparation takes time, and it should be thoughtful and methodical and prayerful. We cannot rush through this. And so we should be studying our Bibles in the weeks ahead about Christ's sacrifice. We need to be studying our Bibles about our need for God's forgiveness and our need to forgive others. We should be examining ourselves for sin and repenting. We should be considering our spiritual growth. How have we done since we were baptized? How have we been doing over the past year? We can ask ourselves those things and answer our own questions. We can strive to see where and how we can improve in becoming more like God, more like Christ.

And so we should take time for prayer over the weeks ahead and study and fasting.

And again, we make the time. We have to make the time, because otherwise we'll always find something else we'd rather do. We need this time then to strengthen our relationship with God and brethren. And so I hope you understand we've worked to do before keeping the Passover.

Now we have considered so far the importance of Christ's sacrifice, the importance of Christ, the Passover, and of the keeping of the Passover reverently. Now it's time that we understand, we review these things, it's time to review and understand the importance of the Passover symbols.

The first of these Passover symbols that we partake of that night is foot washing.

Is foot washing. Now in ancient times, not so much nowadays, in ancient times washing the feet of one's guest, that was something the host would make sure would happen whenever someone visited his home. He'd have a servant or a slave would come and wash that person's feet. Why did their feet need to be washed? Well, they wore sandals, typically, open-toed sandals. And sandals, if you've ever worn them, I trust some of you have, your feet can get rather dirty. Feet that had walked through dirty streets and dusty roads would have been rather rough. They'd been rather calloused. They would have been coated with dirt and grime. And yes, in that day and age of animal husbandry, even with the pulverized dust of animal dung. Well, let's just say feet could be rather dirty, and that's if they're just dry and dusty. It's even worse if the roads happen to be wet. You can understand. There is good reason for the host to offer to wash the visitor's feet.

Washing feet, the purpose of my describing this, is to help us understand, oftentimes, washing feet was really a lowly and disgusting chore. Yet Jesus Christ washed his disciples' feet.

Let's look at that. John 13. John 13. Just a few verses here to kind of get that thought back in our minds of what he did, and also we're going to see why I briefly addressed why he did that, why we need to do it, and do do it, during the Passover service. John 13, verse 1 through 5.

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.

And supper being ended, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 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 laid aside his garments. He took a towel and he girded himself. And after that, Jesus poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. And so Jesus took on the task that is normally given to that lowly servant. Why? Well, as we're going to show you here just a second, Jesus was determined, one last opportunity, as it were, one of the last, to teach his disciples about God's way of leading. True leading is about serving. If you hold your place here in John, let's turn back to Luke 22 again. Luke 22, that's this time verse 24 through 26.

Luke 22, 24 through 26. And let's notice what was going on even during this Passover service, this Passover service this evening when Christ was presenting these new symbols.

Let's recall it was on the mind of the disciples that night, and frankly, compared to what Paul was describing in 1 Corinthians 11 and what's going on among the disciples, we might say that they were forgetting to be reverent themselves here. Verse 24, Now there was also a dispute among them, the disciples, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And so here's this dispute going on, and if you notice the larger context, if you just glance up, we're not going to read all this, but just glance up, verse 20. It's in the context that likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you.

So in the midst of that evening when Christ is describing and presenting, explaining these new symbols of the Passover, they were not in the best mind frame. Verse 24, again, there is also dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And Jesus said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, it's just the opposite, he who is greatest among you let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. And so the disciples were arguing that very night about who would be the boss over the others. You see, they hadn't yet learned, and they would, but they had then yet learned leading by serving. And so Jesus set the example for them. And by the way, he is also setting the example for you and me. Now back to John 13, verse 13 through 17. After you'd washed the feet, Jesus said this, verse 13, you call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, 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 that's what we do during the Passover service. We do this. Verse 15, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who has sent greater than him who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. It's not just knowing that's important. We have to be doing it. We do it as a matter of our faith and trust in God. So what was Jesus's point? If Jesus Christ is willing to humble himself and to serve, and as we know, even to serve to the point of laying down his life for all humanity, then so must we. That's part of what we need to be considering.

So during these weeks prior to Passover, we ought to reflect upon how well, how well are we sacrificing ourselves for others? Are we getting better at serving selflessly? Are we taking those opportunities to serve and help as we are able as they come our way?

Or there are certain things we consider as too demeaning or too lowly for us to do, too inconvenient. We need to think about that.

Is there anyone before whom we would not stoop to serve? Is there anyone whom we would not stoop to serve? We need to think about that.

Remember, Jesus washed the feet of Judas Iscariot.

We need to be laying down our lives for others, and we need to be thinking of these things prior to Passover. The second symbol, Passover's symbol, is unleavened bread. You can jot down a reference there in Matthew 26, 26. I'm sure we'll be reading it a number of times before Passover and also on Passover. This second Passover symbol is unleavened bread. The bread, along with the third symbol, the wine, together remind us of Christ's one whole and complete sacrifice for all humanity. It goes together, the body and the blood. It's a whole sacrifice, a whole complete sacrifice. But here, for our understanding, Scripture draws emphasis to how they work together. The bread reminds us that the body of Jesus Christ became an offering for the sins of all humanity, including our sins. Jesus Christ was the true and actual Lamb of God, the sacrifice for sin, and that all sacrifices pictured and pointed to, all the sacrifices read about Leviticus, all those pointed to Christ. Let's read in Hebrews 10, verse 10 through 14 now. Hebrews 10, 10 through 14. Things to think about. Here, the writer of Hebrews states, Hebrews 10, verse 10. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Verse 11, Verse 12, The bread then also should remind us, let's be turning to Isaiah 53, the bread also reminds us of the terrible suffering Jesus took upon himself willingly so that we might be healed. Isaiah 53, verses 4 through 5.

In this chapter in our Bibles, Isaiah foretells foretold the suffering Christ would bear for humanity's sin. Just a bit of this is what we read here, verse 4.

These verses couple nicely with Matthew 8, verse 16 through 17. We often make that connection as we review these things. Matthew 8, verse 16 through 17.

These verses in Matthew reveal that Christ's suffering indeed allows us to be healed. Matthew 8, 16 through 17. We go to Christ in faith and ask God for healing.

Go to the Father in faith in Christ's sacrifice for healing. Matthew 8, verse 16. When evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed.

And he, Jesus, cast out the spirits with a word and healed them all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, just read these things, he himself took our infirmities and borne our sicknesses.

And finally, another aspect, the meaning of the breaded Passover, demonstrates our continuing commitment, our continuing commitment, the commitment we made at baptism to live our lives anew in Christ and to allow Christ to live in us. In John 6, there's two verses here I want to look at. John 6, verse 48 through 51. John 6, 48.

Jesus said, I am the bread of life, which be eating of this bread every day of our lives. Letting him live in us and through us always. And likewise, verse 51, a few verses down, Jesus said, 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. He gives it not just for us, but for all humanity, if whoever is willing to accept it. And so at baptism, we commit it to always partaking of Christ in his way of life.

And again, as I remind us earlier, when we do that, we accept that our lives are not our own.

They no longer belong to us, if, as it were, they ever did. Now, during these weeks into Passover, we need to be considering how well we yield ourselves to Christ. Do we truly believe and do what God says? Or do we only hear but not do? That is a mistake. That is a sin.

Do we love our neighbor as we should? Do we even forgive them? I spoke on that not so many Sabbaths ago. Do we even forgive them? We should, if we want God to forgive us.

No matter the trials we face, including poor health and all the other things we could suffer through, whatever we suffer through, do we truly trust God to do what is best for us? Do we believe even in our suffering that is according to God's will? Then this will turn out for the best for us.

Of course, we have the encouraging words of Philippians 4.13 in that regard.

Or if Paul says, writes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We need to cling on to that one, don't we? Hold on to that. Philippians 4.13. Philippians 4.13.

The third Passover symbol we partake of is red wine. In that reference, we find Matthew 26, 27, through 28. Matthew 26, verses 27 through 28. We drink red wine at Passover. At the Passover, remember that Jesus Christ poured out his blood, his life's blood, in our stead. He did that so we could be forgiven for our sins and receive eternal life. So what should we call about what Christ did, this blood he shed for us? Let's be turning to Hebrews 9, 22.

First, we might recall and should recall that the blood of Christ cleanses us of our sin. It's not the waters of baptism. It's the blood of Jesus Christ shed for us that cleanses us of our sin.

Because Jesus Christ shed his blood for us, he fulfilled the requirement mentioned here then in Hebrews 9, 22. Hebrews 9, 22 reads, and according to the law, almost all things are purified or cleansed with blood. And without shedding of blood, there is no remission. The New King James says there is no forgiveness of sin. And if you hold your place here, we can also read in 1 John 1, 7. We also read here, John wrote, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, Jesus Christ, we have fellowship with one another. That's what unites us. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. We have to believe it. We have to claim that claim that promise in faith. Second, Jesus Christ's blood also cleanses us from our guilt for sin.

We do not need to hold on to guilt. Back in Hebrews 9, verses 12 through 14. Hebrews 9, 12 through 14. Here's what the writer of Hebrews states. Hebrews 9, 12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood.

He entered, Jesus entered, the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And so the blood of Christ pardons us from sin's death penalty.

In other words, we no longer stand guilty or condemned before God.

We no longer need to doubt God's forgiveness. No longer hold on to guilt for sins that God has forgiven us. Sometimes it could be we've taken our sin to God. We've asked Him for forgiveness, perhaps years ago for a particular thing we did. And then years later, sometimes we'll dredge it up. And again, we'll beat ourselves up. We'll brood over that terrible thing we did.

Well, if that's the case, perhaps there's something there that we need to go back and evaluate. Perhaps there's something, some sin we did not yet repent fully of. But if we have, we need to let that sense of guilt go. Let it go. Let it go and move forward in repentance and faith with Christ, striving to become more like Him.

The third aspect, the third meaning we can draw from this symbol, the blood of Christ, it's more than just a symbol. The blood of Christ makes it possible for us to come before the throne of God. Under the old covenant, only the priest can enter behind the veil and into the Holy of Holies, which represented standing before the throne of God. But he only could do that once a year on the atonement. But because the blood of Christ has cleansed us from sin, we now have direct access to the Father, to God our Father, at any time. Free access, any time. Let's notice that in Hebrews again, chapter 9, this time verse 24. Hebrews 9.24, for Christ, we read, for Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. And let's also read in this regard Hebrews 10, the next chapter, Hebrews 10, 19 through 22. Hebrews 10, 19 through 22. Here we read, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, they are referring to our commitment at baptism. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. So when we drink that Passover wine on the night of Passover, the Passover service, we can rejoice knowing that Christ shed blood allows to have that vital personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. For Christ shed blood is removed from us our sin, and that sin is what keeps the barrier between us and God. It keeps us separated from God. And forth, the blood of Christ confirms the covenant agreement and commitment we made with God at baptism. When we believe God and repent of sin, accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and we're baptized, we then enter into covenant relationship with God. And so when we drink the wine at Passover, we need to remember the terms of our covenant with God, that commitment. We find them stated, referred to here in Hebrews 10, verse 16 through 17. This is a covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, in their minds I will write them. And so God does that through His Holy Spirit. We study His Scripture, we imbibe, we allow the Spirit of God to live in us and dwell in us. And with that effort, we put into it and living it, doing it, He begins to write, He begins to write, as only He can, His law and into our hearts and minds, a very core of our being. In verse 17, verse 17, and then He adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

And through Spirit, the Scriptures, God puts His law in our hearts if we willingly surrender to Him. And that's what we have to keep reviewing, examining ourselves, especially now, this time prior to Passover, review, are we still surrendering ourselves totally to God? Are there certain places in our lives where we will not give in to God?

We need to knock those places down with God's help and let Him help us rule over ourselves as only He can. With God's help, we can't put on His mindset. We can walk in faith, living faith, and live according to His commandments.

And accepting the shed blood of Christ as payment for our sins, we have committed ourselves, then, forever to believing and doing what God says. Verse 24, still in Hebrews 10, verse 24-25. And let us consider one another, we are told, especially we do this and consider the Passover. We should think of this always, though.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is a manner of Son.

I addressed this some time ago as well. We certainly want to come together as one of the Passover service, but exhorting one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching.

We also see that our covenant with God requires building lasting, godly relationships, then, not just with God, but with one another, our brethren, the Church, the Body of Christ.

However, and here's the warning we see continuing on, verse 26, however, if we willfully and knowingly reject our covenant with God, if we reject that commitment, if we start ignoring that commitment we made, willfully so, without any thought or intent to repent, if we willfully and knowingly reject our covenant with God, which is sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, then it would be the same as if we had despised God, spurned God to His face.

That's what we read here, verse 26 through 29. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, willfully meaning we know the right way, we know what we should do, but we totally have turned from it, we reject it willfully, and there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. We would be considered among the adversaries of God at that point. We certainly don't want to go that way. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law without mercy, excuse me, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Well, how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy, deserving, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, a worthless thing, and exalted the Spirit of grace?

And so it is we must never treat lightly the shed blood of Jesus Christ, never treat lightly that covenant, that commitment we made with God at baptism, never treat lightly that commitment we solemnly made to God our Father and Christ his Son. And so during these weeks before Passover, we do need to be thinking about all that Christ has done for us and for all people through his most willing and loving sacrifice. We need to ask ourselves how much and how often how much and how often do our lives reflect and demonstrate our total surrender and gratitude to God? And how better than to express our reverence and gratitude to God that by willingly becoming more like God? And so the process of examining ourselves, repenting, seeking God's forgiveness, and walking forward in faith, living faith in Christ's sacrifice for our sins.

And so prior to partaking of the Passover, it is important then, brethren, that we reflect upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins and also upon the wonderful meaning of the Passover symbols, the foot washing, the bread, and the wine. As we've reviewed today and as we review every year and need to, to keep these things fresh and meaningful in our lives, our minds, our hearts, we must keep the Passover with reverence and profound gratitude to God.

So in the weeks ahead, let's be examining ourselves, let's be repenting of sin, let's be diligent to seek God's forgiveness through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And may we all have a truly blessed Passover and a wonderful feast of unloving bread.