In advance, Jesus had arranged a colt to be ready for His ride into Jerusalem on the first day of the week; and here we see that all His arrangements had been made long beforehand. (READ TEXT) The disciples wanted to know where they’d eat Passover, so Jesus sent them to Jerusalem saying to look for a man carrying a pitcher of water. They were to follow, and he’d lead them to a house with a guest room made ready for them to observe Passover. It was there the disciples were to make preparations for the Passover observance.
It was on this occasion that Jesus instituted one of the ordinances of the church - “The Lord’s Supper.” Today, as we observe this ordinance together, I want to consider what all was involved in the Passover and notice what changes Jesus made in it. Changes which Jesus has told us to observe in memory of what He has done for us.
1. The arrangements for the Passover - vs. 12-17
Passover commemorated Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Preparation took place Thursday before 6 PM, which, according to Jewish time, was the start of Friday. What did they have to get ready?
A. The lamb - The lamb was to be sacrificed at the temple and its blood dashed upon the altar by a priest. Its carcass was returned to the worshiper, who then roasted the entire lamb over an open fire.
B. Three loaves of unleavened bread.
C. A bowl of salt water.
D. A collection of bitter herbs - horse radish, chicory, endive, lettuce, and horehound.
E. Charosheth - a mixture of apples, dates, pomegranates and nuts, and cinnamon sticks.
F. Four cups of wine - The cups contained about a half a pint of wine, with one part wine being mixed with two parts of water, so it was a diluted mixture. The four cups, which were drunk at different parts of the meal, were to remind them of the four promises in Exodus 6:6-7:
1) “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
2) “I will rid you of their bondage.”
3) “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”
4) "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be your God.”
This was what the disciples had to do to prepare for the observance of the Passover. It was at that feast that the One who would liberate the world from sin was to sit at His last meal with His disciples.
2. The observance of the Passover - vs. 18-26
Several centuries before Christ, a traditionalized Passover service emerged, called the Seder, from the Hebrew word meaning “order.” It prescribed the order of the Scripture readings, prayers, symbolic foods and songs. This is the order:
A. The first cup - The leader drinks the first cup and recites the Kiddush, a prayer of sanctification. Jesus, would have said the Kiddush: “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks” (Luke 22:17).
B. First hand washing - Everyone washed their hands, following strict ceremonial guidelines. They first held their hands with fingers pointing upward as water was poured over them. They would then rub each hand with the fist of the other. They would held their hands with the fingers pointing downward as water was poured over them. It’s here that Jesus “got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the
towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:4-5). He had come to be the suffering servant, who’d provide for their cleansing (Isaiah 53).
C. The dipping of the karpas (green vegetable) - Lettuce or parsley is dipped into the bowl of salt water, symbolizing tears shed in Egypt and the deliverance through the Red Sea. What is dipped is a reminder of hyssop used to smear door posts with the blood of the Passover lamb.
D. The breaking of bread - The three pieces of unleavened bread are on the table. The leader removes the middle one to break it in half. Half is put back and half is wrapped in a linen napkin and hidden away in the house while the children cover their eyes.
E. The four questions - The youngest asks: “On all other nights we eat either leavened or unleavened bread; why on this night only unleavened bread? On all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs; why on this night only bitter herbs? On all other nights we need not dip our herbs even once; why on this night must we dip them twice? On all other nights we eat either sitting up or reclining; why on this night do we all recline?” Often they recline on the leader. John reclined on Jesus at their Passover: “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him” (John 13:23). John sat to the right of Jesus and was the youngest, so he asked the questions that night.
F. The second cup - The first part of the Hallel (Psalms 113-114) were sung. Then the second cup of wine is poured, and the leader recites the history of Israel up through to the great deliverance commemorated by the Passover. The symbolic elements are explained; and while telling the story, the leader dips his finger into the wine and lets it drop from his finger as he mentions each plague, to symbolize the suffering of the Egyptians under each plague. This symbolizes God takes no pleasure in judging the wicked. Can you imagine how Jesus felt at this point, with the drops of wine falling from His finger? He knew He was going to the cross to take the judgement of mankind upon Himself for this very reason. The cup is then drunk. This cup is called the cup of Haggadah, which means “explaining.”
G. The sop - Before the meal, hands are washed a second time. Then the remaining unleavened breads and the remainder of the one that was previously broken in half are broken into pieces and distributed to all. All eat a piece dipped in horseradish (the bitterness of Egypt) and charosheth - an apple mixture with sticks of cinnamon in it to remind them of the clay and the straw with which they had to make bricks.
It was here Jesus foretold that one of the disciples would betray Him (vs. 17-21; John 13:21-27). Peter told John who was reclining against Jesus to ask who He meant. Jesus said it was the one He gave a dipped piece of matzah. Jesus dipped the matzah and gave it to Judas Iscariot.
H. The meal - Dinner is served. In Jesus’ day, it would have consisted of roasted lamb, served with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
I. The afikomen (the coming one) - After the meal is a final hand washing. The kids are sent to find the broken half-matzah that was wrapped in linen. When they return, the one who found it gets a reward. After a blessing, a piece is broken off and eaten by everyone as a reminder of the Passover lamb. This would be when Jesus said “Take and eat; this is my body”.
J. The third cup - After another prayer, everyone would drink from the cup of redemption. This would be when Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many”.
K. The fourth cup - Called the cup of Hallel (praise), this would be the cup to which Jesus referred when He said, “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again from this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in my Father’s kingdom”.
L. A final song - The Passover ends with singing the rest of the Hallel (Psalms 115-118). This is the “hymn” mentioned in Matthew 26:30.
3. The institution of the Lord’s Supper - vs. 24-25
With this awareness of what all was involved in the preparation for and observance of the Passover, we can better understand the significance of what our Lord did.
The Bible says that sometimes the prophets resorted to symbolic, dramatic actions when they felt words weren’t enough. It was as if words were easily forgotten, but a dramatic action would print itself on the memory. That’s what Jesus did, and He allied this dramatic action with the ancient feast of His people so it would be more imprinted on the minds of His disciples. He said, “Look! Just as this bread is broken, my body is broken for you! Just as this cup of red wine is poured out, my blood is shed for you!” Jesus said by His sacrifice, He’d bring about a new covenant, referring to Jeremiah 31:31-32:
“All people will die for their own sins . . . ‘The day is coming,’ says the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the LORD.” - Jeremiah 31:30a; 31-32 (NLT)
The covenant made with the nation of Israel when they were delivered from Egypt is set out in Exodus 24:3-8. That the covenant was with a nation and entirely dependent on Israel keeping the law. If the law was broken, the covenant was broken and the relationship between God and the nation was shattered. But Jeremiah spoke of a covenant that was for the individual, not a nation. Through the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood, Jesus was ratifying a new covenant, a new relationship between God and man. It is by this covenant that all individuals believers in the Old Testament were saved; and it is by this covenant that all individuals since the cross have been are saved.
And with a new covenant, Jesus instituted a new observance. This ordinance reminds us of a slavery worse than a nation’s slavery in Egypt - the individual’s slavery to sin; of a deliverance greater than a nation’s deliverance from Egypt’s slavery - the individual’s deliverance from sin’s penalty, sin’s power, and eventually, sin’s presence; and of something better than a nation’s relationship with God based on law - the individual’s relationship with God based on love.
