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5 April:
The Passover:
This was the last major event Christ had with His apostle’s aside from the time the Lord spent praying in the Garden of Gethsemane while the apostles slept.
I. The Passover Beginning: Ex. 1:8; 2:23-25, 3:7,8 “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph … and the sons of Israel sighed because of their bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them. …. The Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…’”
From this setting God sends Moses to set His people free from bondage and to bring them to their promised land. In order to achieve this God puts Egypt through a series of plagues which causes so much suffering that Pharoah, at least momentarily, gladly sends Israel away. The climatical moment occurs with the tenth plague which brings the death of the first born: Ex. 12:21,22,23,24 “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood and apply some of the blood to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.” And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children, forever.”
From these verses you can see why the event was called “the Passover”. You can also understand the attitude of gratitude and celebration that occurred when they held their Passover feast because they were remembering how their firstborn males were saved from death and how this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and gave them release from captivity. We should also realize that it is from this situation that God placed a claim on the firstborn males in both man and animals. Ex. 13:2,11,12 “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine. Now when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the male belongs to the Lord.” Ex. 13:14,15 “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ Then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, and from the house of slavery.’ …. Therefore, I sacrificed to the Lord the males, the first born of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.”
This is the history behind the yearly celebration of the Passover. This is the start of God’s claiming and redeeming of the firstborn males as His. This is the premier event of salvation that the Lord accomplished in the Old Testament. In many future situations the Lord saves His people, but this ‘saving’ event sets the foundation for all the others that will come about and establishes God’s claim over His chosen ones.
In the same way that God established the celebration of the Passover feast to remind His people of what He had done for them - releasing them from captivity – Christ established a similar celebration to remind us of how He released our souls from the consequences of sin: II. Our Passover: We know scripture tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The exception to that is the perfect life lived by Jesus. And because of the perfect life that He lived, His death on the cross has become an atonement for us: 2 Cor 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”.
Through His sinless life and sacrificial death, Jesus became the only One capable of giving people a way to escape eternal death and have a sure hope of eternal life. As the first Passover marked the Hebrews’ release from Egyptian slavery, so the death of Christ marks our release from the slavery of sin: Rom 8:23 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, - He condemned sin in the flesh.”
The first Passover was held in remembrance as an annual feast celebrating God’s compassion. Likewise, Christians memorialize the sacrifice made by the Lord in His death on the cross through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper: 1 Cor 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Scripture teaches that believers have symbolically applied the sacrificial blood of Christ to their hearts and thus have escaped eternal death: Heb 9:12,14 “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption, … how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Just as the Passover lamb’s applied blood caused the “destroyer” to pass over each household, Christ’s applied blood causes God’s judgment to pass over sinners and gives life to believers: Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Peter 1:18,19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things, . . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
While the communion table which we all share together with the Lord celebrates His saving sacrifice, today, this Easter Sunday, we celebrate His glorious resurrection. The importance of His resurrection is that it sets the precedent for what each and every one of us can anticipate for ourselves: 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
What Peter is telling us here is that because of Christ’s resurrection we too have a living hope regarding a similar resurrection for ourselves. James confirms this is his letter: James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the promise to those who love Him.” And that promise was given to us by Jesus Himself when He stated in John 14 that He was leaving this earth in order to prepare a place for us and then He would come back again to get us.
Paul reaffirms this for us: 1 Thess 4:16,17 “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The Lord Himself spoke of this: Mtt 25:31-34 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate them from one from another. …. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
John echo’s this: 1 John 2:25 “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” 1 John 5:10,11 “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself . . . . that God has given concerning His Son: and the testimony is this – that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.’”
Our belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our union with Him in baptism is what is going to bring us eternal life. Rom 6:3-5 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”
Our union with Christ in baptism brings about two changes in our lives: 1) it changes the way we live our lives here on earth and 2) it changes how we will be living our lives in eternity. We no longer live our lives here on earth in sin with Satan so that we will no longer live our eternal life with Satan in hell! Our union with Christ is meant to be eternal. All the days here and all the days in eternity can and should be with our heavenly Father.
So this Easter Sunday let us celebrate life and resurrection – that of the Lord’s and that of ourselves. Let us celebrate that Christ is sitting at the right hand of His Father and one day we too shall be sitting there with Him!
29 March: The Lord’s Prayer: (Luke 11:1ff)
Mtt 6:7,8 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repletion as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; your Father know what you need before you ask Him.
Mtt 6:9-13 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Our Father which art in Heaven: Jesus teaches His disciples that God is our parent in Heaven. The Apostle Paul restates this by exhorting the believer to address God as "Abba!" Father! (Rom 8:15) (Aramaic for "Daddy"- the kind of intimate word that a child would use to his or her father)
• Hallowed be Thy name: "Hallowed" means holy. As we pray this line, we are reminding ourselves that God is separate from us, completely pure and faultless. His ways are higher than our ways. Here we acknowledge our own frailty as we adore and worship the living God. God is to be sanctified and reverenced in prayer. I am reminded of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush where he is told to take off his sandals because he was on holy ground and that was because God was there. When we commune with God in prayer we are standing on holy ground, because we are approaching a holy God. Ps 89:8 “O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?” If you are familiar with the acronym ‘ACTS” as a prayer format then you know the ‘A’ is for ‘adoration’. The next phrase is:
• Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: When God's kingdom is on this earth it will be doing the same thing that is being done in heaven – God’s will. This means to do things according to His ways and according to His desires. One very important element of the kingdom is that it illustrates the reign or rule of Jesus in the hearts and lives of its members. Here we are asking that God's ways happen here within us, just as they are fully obeyed in Heaven. This requires knowing what the will of God. This in turn requires our spending time acquainting ourselves with His word and coming to understand and applying it. (Ps 1:2 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night.) The study of Scripture will sharpen our focus and keep our prayer life attuned to the Father’s will on earth – above self-interests and personal needs. This is well illustrated by the Lord during the night spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. That is why Mtt 6:24 records these words: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” We are servants of God and not self.
The second part of the Lord’s Prayer addresses the common needs of all who would identify as one of His disciples. The author of Hebrews supports our ability to come before the Lord with our lives: Heb 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The Lord invites us to boldly come before His throne of grace and we are told in Galatians that as God’s children we may cry out “Abba! Father!” and know that He will hear.
1st address: Give us this day our daily bread This emphasizes a request for what is needed but is not requesting an abundance of said needs. We seek what is ‘daily’ needed and trust in Him to provide for tomorrow when we get there. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mtt 6:34) I am reminded of this attitude as illustrated by God’s instructions with the Israelites during their travels in the wilderness. Each day they were to go out in the morning and ONLY collect what was needed for that day!
Just as we are in need of a daily portion of bread we also are in need from God in ALL areas of our life (physical, spiritual and mental). We need to come back to God regularly, each day- indeed, many times each day and many ways, so that we do not become independent and self-seeking. Jesus reiterates this daily dependency when he exhorts us to not to worry about tomorrow.
2nd address: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us: Different versions of this prayer use different words here - sometimes "trespasses", "debts" or "sins". Here we bring to mind the ways in which we have failed God and others and ask the Lord for His forgiveness. In numerous passages we are reminded that all have sinned but Paul particularly expresses the situation in Ephesians: Eph 1:7,8 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which he lavished on us….” Jesus actually told a number of parables regarding the importance of forgiveness. I am reminded first and foremost of the servant that was forgiven a vast sum of money and then turns around and has a fellow servant thrown in jail for a relatively small debt. Peter expresses this attitude of forgiveness this way: “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV) As we receive God's forgiveness, we should recall all those who we feel may have wronged us, and pardon them. Peter was told to forgive – 70 X 7 3rd topic: And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. The next request in the Lord's prayer to ask for help in avoiding places and situations where temptation might overwhelm us. It is not wrong to be tempted or tested (Jesus was!). It is wrong to give in to this temptation. 1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the lord is against those who do evil.” When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He declared to Satan 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'(Math 4:4 NIV). In times of trial, Jesus recognizes the Lord as His source of deliverance. Likewise, we are to depend on God when evil is at our door. Ephesians gives us a list of gifts/armor that we are to use so that we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such is common to man; but God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” We might be reminded of how Joseph fled the house of his master when the wife tried to seduce Joseph. Peter tells us 5:8,9 “Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood, in the world.” We need to realize that Satan is ever after us just as he was with Eve and even our Lord. Col 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
- For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen. The prayer finishes with a closing doxology, that is, a hymn of praise to God. Not all versions of the Lord's prayer include this as many biblical scholars believe that this was added at a later date. But, if these things prayed for are to come to pass within our lives then we shall illustrate to the world the existence of God’s kingdom, His power and His glory. We will be a living testimony to the existence of God’s Spirit living within us.