Spring – The Last Supper

     Question: How many Passovers (Kindle) did Jesus celebrate? Answer: He celebrated Passover (Kindle) with family or friends every year! Because Jesus was Jewish, we know the Passover was a significant event for him, his family and his friends.
     The New Testament contains details from four Passovers which Jesus celebrated. Each year the celebration was unique and important in his life and ministry. I have detailed these in more depth in my book Spring: Connecting with God. (Kindle)
     The first recorded Passover celebrated by Jesus occurred when he was twelve. His family went to Jerusalem for this important Harvest Festival. During the time of the preparation for the feast, Jesus’ family left him alone, and he went to the Temple. While in the Temple he began to dialogue with the Sadducees, Pharisees, Sanhedrin members and Priests. The Bible records how his parents left him behind in the city when they went home; from the culture we can understand more details.
     The first Passover of Jesus’ ministry years was celebrated in Jerusalem. The Gospel of John contains eye-witness details of this Passover, including a visit to Nicodemus, teacher of the people of Israel. In this Passover Jesus shared with his disciples how to come out of bondage to sin into the light of God’s love.
     The year before Jesus died, he did something very unusual: He celebrated Passover at home. Every other year (except for the years spent in Egypt) Jesus, his family and his friends traveled to Jerusalem. John 6 contains details of how Jesus celebrated this Passover at the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus raised the Motzah on this Passover, he called himself the bread of life.
     Jesus’ last Passover is called the Last Supper. All four gospels tell about this Passover Seder. Matthew, Mark and Luke briefly skim over this dinner. (Luke’s Gospel contains some unique details). John’s gospel goes into detail as he describes the actions and teachings which occurred in the upper room.
     When we understand the Passover we understand more about Jesus, his culture and the teachings he was trying to share. In the Christian world today, it is sad that we too often rush through the cup and bread without understanding the great lessons of Passover; and in these great lessons the things Jesus was really telling us.

Shank Bone 2 - Good Friday

John the Baptist spoke these words to introduce Jesus the Christ (Messiah) “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! “ (John 1:29)  The Lamb of God is an apt description of Jesus, for indeed it was Jesus who took away the sin of the world.

In former times the law of Moses required a sin offering (Leviticus 5:5-6).  The shedding of blood was required for the forgiveness of sin. “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

The lamb is a symbol of the seriousness of sin.  Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness (results of sin) with a patch of fig leaves. (Have you ever considered what their clothing would have looked like the day after they made them!)  A dried up leaf is really not sufficient.

God took a lamb ... I do not believe it was just any lamb, but I think it was a pet which was close to the couple.  It had to be killed - that is the lesson, Sin (wrong doing) always hurts someone!  Then the pet lamb was skinned (yes, our foul deeds: ridicule, rape, theft, and others skin people alive); and a permanent cloak was made for the first couple, which would not wither.

This offering meant something to Adam and Eve.  They knew the Lamb.  Later on people forgot and made light of the offering.  God said: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (1 Sam. 15:22; Hosea 6:6)

And God knew that the system of offering could (would) not go on forever.  There was a day coming that God would provide his own and only Son, the Son of Man, Jesus the Messiah (Anointed One) to die on the cross for us (Good Friday), to take away the sin of the world.

Peter Tells us: “Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:17-21)

After the death of Jesus the Temple was no longer needed.  Jesus is the Sin Offering pictured in the Torah.  God allowed the removal of the Temple 40 years after Jesus died on the cross (within the generation) because it was no longer needed.   John writes in Revelation: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. … Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:6, 12)

John tells us: “I did not see a temple in the city (New Jerusalem), because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:22)

The Shank Bone in the middle of the Jewish Passover table is a reminder to that the beloved Temple exists no longer. It is a reminder in the Christian celebration that "it is finished," our sin has been removed, and is no more.  Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Shank Bone 1

One of the most unusual items on the Passover Seder Plate is the Shank Bone of a Lamb. When one looks at this plate prominently displayed at the Seder it captures your attention immediately.  Why would this dry, uneatable bone hold the central place of the main display at the table?  Is it to keep the dog (with the big brown eyes) happy?

No, actually, the bone is the main part of the story.  In ancient times the bone used to contain roasted meat which the family would eat.  We are told in Exodus 12:3-11 how to select and prepare the lamb.

The famous Hillel Sandwich (eaten just before dinner) was a composite of three items: Motzah smeared with bitter herbs (morror) and a piece of roasted lamb.  Today that sandwich (without the lamb) is only a bitter reminder of what it used to be.

The Afikomen (Tzofun) which is eaten as the dessert was formally a morsel of the roasted lamb, saved to be savored at the end.  This savory taste was strong enough to last into the night.

Shortly after 70 AD Lamb's meat was removed from the Passover Seder as a reminder of the Temple's destruction.  In the good times over 260,000 lambs were killed in the ritually acceptable method in the Temple on the day of Preparation.  After the Temple was destroyed, there was (is) no longer a place to kill the lamb in the proper manner.  

The Jewish people stopped serving Lamb's meat on the Passover.  They placed an empty bone on the Seder plate.  They removed the meat from the Hillel Sandwich.  And they replaced the final taste of Lamb with a bit of Motzah.  Lamb is not served at the Seder in order to remember ... The Temple is destroyed.

;;; and the Jewish people hope for a Revival ... a time when they can return to the old pattern of faith ... to be continued ...