Why Did Jesus Celebrate the Passover for Remembrance? (Lent 38-2018)

Things we don’t make a point to remember … become things we easily forget. They move to the back recesses of our mind, have little influence on our lives, little power to inform our daily decisions, and little impact upon our behavior.

Jesus didn’t want His ministry to be relegated to the dust heap of history.

Not when His ministry would change the trajectory of eternity for many millions of people … forever.

Mark 14:12 “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him … 16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

Up to this point, it’s just a regular Passover like the one celebrated year after year–a command to be observed as a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. It was God’s promise to pass over the homes having doorposts obediently painted with blood of a sacrificial lamb. The angel of death did not touch those whose faith was in God and protected by the blood.

Jesus comes and changes everything. It becomes a different remembrance.

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Mark 14:17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me– one who is eating with me.” 19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?” 20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identifies the Passover observance as a new covenant in His blood. Matthew 26: 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. “

Why Did Jesus Celebrate the Passover for Remembrance? Because He didn’t want us to forget the significance and power of His sacrifice.

Food for thought:

The Apostle Paul amplifies this thought: 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Why did Jesus choose a simple act of bread and cup as a forever remembrance of the difference Jesus makes? Why not something more complicated? Why is eating the Passover meal a helpful way of remembering?
In the movie Life of Pi that we’ve been using as our launch for 40 days of questions, Pi talks about lessons he remembered from Mamaji on how to survive by swimming and avoid drowning, lessons from his father about natural instincts of an animal and how forgetting that gets you killed, and even the writer brings to mind what Pi had almost forgotten: “I haven’t spoken about Richard Parker in so many years…” Why do we forget things we do not actively remember, rehearse, and relive?

Join me tomorrow for Why is That Whole Thing So Gorey? What’s so good about Good Friday?

For Lent 2018, we’ll explore the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We’ll ask and answer the question “Why?” as we discover the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Join me for the 40 days of Lent which began February 14, 2018 by liking Seminary Gal on Facebook or having these devotionals sent to your email box which you can do via the sign-up on my Home page. Thank you for blessing me with this opportunity to study together the Word of God.

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Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.