Lords Supper2009 A Tale of Two Symbols

Charles Dickenss A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorites. I had th th to read it in the 9 or 10 grade and I was fascinated by the way that Dickens started from two completely different places and then wove this tale and everything came together. When we come to the Lords supper we see a similar thing happen. Only instead of two locations, the events that come together are separated by location and time. So the Lords Supper could be called, A Tale of Two Symbols. Our story begins in Egypt, in the 13 or 15 century before Christ. Israel had been in bondage to Pharaoh for more than 400 years. The brutality and cruelty reached a crescendo with the first Jewish holocaust. Fearing the Jews were growing too great in number and power, Pharaoh ordered the Jews to kill all first-born males. You probably remember the story. Moses mother refused the order and kept her baby until it grew too dangerous. Then she put him in a basket and floated him toward the daughters of Pharaoh. The next forty years Moses grew up as Egyptian royalty. Then one day he killed an Egyptian taskmaster to save a Jewish brother. Word spread, Moses fled. The second forty years of his life was spent in the Midian wilderness until God was ready to recall him to active duty. Now Moses is back before Pharaoh with a series of devastating plagues. Water turns to blood. Boils, frogs, devastating locusts, flies and destructive hail. It was if the fury of heaven were unleashed through this man. Each time, he gave Pharaoh the opportunity to repent, but every time his heart hardened. Then it happened. The tenth and final plague. God would avenge the loss of the Hebrew sons by taking the life of every first-born son of Egypt. On this terrifying night, death would be released to visit every home until the first-born children were slaughtered. Not a single parent would be left untouched. Death was indiscriminate. It took the lives of master and servant, of slave and free man. It even took the firstborn animals.
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Ex 12:12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgmentsI am the LORD. Ex 12:29 Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
We have our horror movies, but nothing could possibly compare with this. Freddy Kruger and Jason were no match for the terror of this night. This was the Texas chainsaw massacre, meets Saw, meets I know what you did, meets you name it. Death was everywhere. However, there was a glorious exception. God made a special provision for His children. He instructed them to have two feasts: Passover and unleavened bread. On the tenth of the month, the Jews were to set aside an unblemished lamb for slaughter. Then on the fourteenth, they were to go throughout the house and remove all of the leaven. Im sure at the time, the idea seemed ludicrous. Whats God got against leaven? Theres a symbolism here that they would understand later. Leaven equaled sin. As they removed the leaven, they were symbolically clearing their house of sin. They were not to eat leaven for seven days. This is why you have a cracker. The bread Jesus ate at the Passover meal was unleavened. More like a tortilla. On the same day that the women took the leaven out of the home, th the 14 , the Jews were to slaughter the lamb. They were to kill the lamb at twilight and then roast the meat. This was the meat for the Passover meal. They were told to take the blood of that lamb and put it on the doorposts and over the lentil of the door. This was a sign for the death angel. As the nation of Israel huddled together in their homes eating roasted lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread, the death angel prowled the streets of Egypt. Whenever he came to the door of the house covered in blood, he would pass over it. Hence, Passover.

did was infuriate the Jewish spiritual leaders.

Four things about this symbol:

1. God was for a group of people
He favored the Jews because he had a plan for them.

Now its Thursday afternoon. The tide of public opinion had turned against Christ. The next day those same people that hailed him as the Messiah would demand his death by crucifixion. By 9 am, Jesus would be on the cross. But its Thursday night, not Friday. Through the divine plan of God, its also time for that ancient ritual called Passover. Jesus is in the upper room in Jerusalem with the twelve disciples reclining around the table. They didnt sit in chairs on one side of the table like a 1970s TV family. They reclined around a short table leaning on an elbow. The Passover meal is finished. Jesus is predicting his death. The lamb of God, is about to change the ritual.

2. Something had to die 3. The gift must be accepted

application was completely voluntary
You didnt have to do this. You could choose to ignore the warning and take your chances. Im sure some did. They said, Forget your fanatical beliefs, Im not going to ruin my house with blood. And their firstborn died that night.

Faith is required
Remember, they had to put the blood on before the death angel came. It was applied by faith. if the death angel didnt come then they would look like idiots.

Luke 22:19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
The lamb was offering bread. Unleavened, sinless bread. Those in the room must have remembered his famous bread of life sermon.

4. The mark was permanent

I was in Africa last week and I saw how they made houses from mud. I am sure that the homes of the Jews were very similar. They put mud into squares and then they put them in the kiln to harden. We saw some of those very primitive kilns. But they dont fire it the way our kilns do. So the bricks are more like Terre cotta. Porous. So when you smeared blood on it, there was no going back. Passover became a permanent symbol of Gods deliverance.

Fast-forward 1300 years

Jesus has been in the Temple teaching about the kingdom of God. However, the message was not what people expected. Five days earlier, on Palm Sunday, they welcomed this wonderful teaching into the city with Palm fronds and hosannas. This was the coming Messiah. He would lead the nation into a new world order. Romes tyranny over them was finished. They didnt know how, but they fully believed that he would deliver them. Instead of delivering the nation from Rome, it seems that all Jesus

John 6:48-51 "I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh."
Of course, the bread wasnt actually his body, anymore than he meant for them to eat him. He was simply saying, figuratively, my life is what gives you life.

So when we take the element of bread we are

reminded of the gift of life.

Then he took the wine.

3. You have to accept the gift

Nobody forces you to receive it, but when you die, you will learn of the tragic consequences

Luke 22:20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Now we are back to Moses and that fateful night. Jesus said that this is a new covenant. The old covenant was the law. This new covenant is based on grace. Just as the death angel passed over the homes of the Israelites, the judgment of God will pass over you if you have my blood applied to your life. You dont smear it on the doorposts and lentils; you put it on your heart. Its not physical. Its symbolic. When we stand before the Lord he looks at us through the blood of Jesus.

It is applied by faith

4. The mark is permanent

Two symbols separated by thousands of miles and more than a thousand years. But god in his magnificent sovereignty had a single message: Hes on your side, His son died for you, you must receive the gift and when you do, it lasts forever. The Lords supper symbolizes that.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Four things about this symbol
1. God favored his people

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Sometimes we forget this. Life is hard. We think, god has forgotten us. On the trip to Africa the two overnight flights in a row are brutal. After being so tired, David and I managed to get isle seats with an empty seat between us. We were ecstatic. Exuberant. Then this giant drunk guy plops down between us. I said, And the skies opened up and God said, I hate you Bill. We laughed. The guy wound up leaving and we survived one of ten flights. God doesnt hate us. He loves us. He is for us. Thats the whole message here.

2. Someone has to die

Through the bread we learn that his life gives us life. Through the blood we learn that his death gives us life.