In the midst of their meal, Jesus took some unleavened bread and held it up and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." In the Passover meal, the bread had a particular significance. When the Hebrew women made their household, everyday bread, they took a piece of fermented dough that they had saved from a previous day and mixed it into their fresh flour. With time, the yeast would overtake the dough and she could then make her families daily bread. (After saving a piece for future baking, of course.)
When God delivered the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, there wasn't time to bake bread or hassle with the yeast. So God instructed them to make the bread as unleavened.
So, eating unleavened bread became a reminder of the time when God delivered the children of Israel out of bondage. In Exodus 13:8-9 God gives meaning to the unleavened bread. He said, "And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.' And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt."
At the Lord's Supper, the bread that celebrated the people's deliverance from Egyptian bondage took on a new meaning. Now it commemorates Jesus' broken body and celebrates the Christian's deliverance from the eternal bondage of sin. Because of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb, eternal life is possible to all who believe.
Tomorrow the wine...till then...Bro. Alan
No comments:
Post a Comment