The Lord’s Table (Part 6)
The Table
Passover - Exodus 6:6-8
Exodus 12:47 - The whole community must celebrate this festival and the table
The Passover meal, for the Children of Israel was the setting of the table for a lifetime of gathering with remembrance and thanksgiving.
Participation in communion/Passover should cause us to look at the past with gratitude, accept the present with trust, and anticipate the future with hope. The Passover teaches us that the same God who rescued His children from the bondage of slavery in Egypt brought us into the fullness of His Kingdom through Christ Jesus.
[Matthew 26:17-23, 25-30 NLT] 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?" 18 "As you go into the city," he told them, "you will see a certain man. Tell him, 'The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.'" 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there. 20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 While they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." 22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, "Am I the one, Lord?" 23 He replied, "One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. ... 25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, "Rabbi, am I the one?" And Jesus told him, "You have said it." 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take this and eat it, for this is my body." 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words--I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." 30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus set the plate for his really big reveal!
The gathering at a “table” for the very first Passover was filled with relationship, eating, anticipation, reflection and celebration. The “table” was never intended to be done away with when Christ came and instituted communion, it was intended to enhance the “table” of gathering.
[1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT] 6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don't you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old "yeast" by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
[Revelation 19:9-10 NLT] 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "These are true words that come from God." 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, "No, don't worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus."
"Gather at the Lord's table, where forgiveness is offered, and grace abounds."
