The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 26 Part 4 Jesus Applied The Passover Lamb To Himself

Matthew 26:26-29  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 

Jesus looked forward to what His death on the cross would accomplish.

The Jewish custom regarding Passover was that those who kept the passover ate the flesh of the passover lamb, even if it was only the size of an olive.

At the same time they ate a like quantity of unleavened bread, so that the savour of the flesh of the passover, and the unleavened bread, are in his mouth.

Thus, the one keeping Passover would retain the tastes of the bread and lamb for a while.

Jesus made the application of the Passover Lamb meal to Himself.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

Christ is the Passover lamb. The apostle Paul reminded the Christians at Corinth of this truth as he deal with a sin issue in their midst.

God's law required all leaven to be removed from each home before Passover was observed.

Why? Because leaven is a picture of the hidden corrupting influence of sin.

Therefore, God mandated that His people eat unleavened bread and Paul reminds us that this observance is for those who believe God's Word and are sincere in their faith.

Exodus 12:5-6  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 

The lamb must be the first born male of its mother, and Christ was the firstborn son of Mary.

The lamb must be without any blemish, defect or disease and this points to Christ's sinless life of perfect obedience to the law of God.

1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The passover lamb must be selected and presented four days before it was to be slain and this corresponds to Jesus' entering Jerusalem exactly four days before He was crucified (See Matthew 21).

The passover lamb was examined to detect any flaws of blemishes and this corresponds to the arrest and trial of Christ.

Jesus was examined by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, King Herod and Pontius Pilate.

No one could find any fault in Him (See Luke 23:4).

The passover lamb must be killed in the evening at the appointed time.

The Jewish people said that evening began around noon when the sun was closer to setting than rising.

Evening lasted until the last moments of sunlight.

Therefore, they killed the passover lamb about 3 PM which corresponds to Jesus' death on the cross (See John 19:14). 

Exodus 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 

The blood of the passover lamb must be applied to the door frames of each home or else the angel of death would take the life of any firstborn in that home.

Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission or forgiveness of sins.

However, animal blood cannot take away. Only the innocent and pure blood of the Son of God can do that (See Hebrews 7 to 10)

This reminds us that believers in Christ are justified by the blood of Christ (See Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14).

This also serves as a warning that all who desire a relationship with God and a future home in heaven, must come to the Father by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ (See John 14:6).

There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby someone can be born again, have their sins forgiven and enter into a relationship with the Father, except the name of Jesus Christ (See Acts 4:12).

Thus, in every detail of the Passover observance, Jesus met all the requirements of the Passover Lamb perfectly and fully.

Eating the Lamb and applying its blood, points to Christ the Lamb of God slain from before anything was created, and His suffering and dying in our place.

The new application of this truth was that Jesus said eating the flesh of the Passover Lamb was a picture of His body bruised and slain for us.

Drinking the wine was a picture of the blood of Christ shed on the cross as God's perfect antidote to the sins of all humanity through all time.

This is to be done as a commemorative and sober event. Jesus the Son of God had to suffer and die for us, in order that all who repent of sin and trust Him, can be born again.

This is how Jesus introduced the New Testament, or in Jewish terms, the new covenant. 

All Passover lambs ever killed, and all their flesh that was eaten and all their blood that was applied, points to Jesus Christ's perfect, once for all time sacrifice (See John 1:29-36).

1 Corinthians 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit to provide the most detail about communion or the Lord's table.

He quoted Jesus who said this solemn ceremony is to be done so that all believers take time to reflect on what it cost Christ to save us and buy us back from the slave market of sin.

He suffered for us. He endured the death on a cross for us. He suffered when His Father turned His face away because our sins were nailed to Christ's cross and borne on His body as He hung there.

Paul reminds us that as often as you observe this ceremony, the church is reminding the world and each Christian of the enormous debt of love we owe to Christ, who loved us enough to die for all the sins of all humanity of all time. 

Today, this observance and commemoration of the suffering, death and burial of Christ  is celebrated by Christians around the world.

Some call it "taking communion" while others know it as "the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table."

The apostles do not specify how often the Church should observe the Lord's Table.

Generally, it has always been observed on the Lord's day as His people gather to worship.

Some churches observe it each Sunday. Some observe it quarterly but there is not a set number of times given for observing it.

Communion or the Lord's Table is a time of sober reflect upon the suffering and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are instructed to confess any known sin before taking the bread and drinking the wine.

Therefore, Jesus applied the entire Passover ceremony to Himself, because He is God's perfect Passover Lamb.

We are blessed by these truth because we are reminded that God's plan to save us from sin is anchored on the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross.

As we meditate on these precious truths, let us be encouraged to hear and heed what God says to us in the scriptures.

Let us be those people who love God and desire to serve Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and being.

Bob