Passover

We're going to do a "special" study on Yeshua our Passover lamb, and see the significance of "communion".

John 6:54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

That's Jesus speaking.

It seems like an awfuly strange thing for him to say. Eat my flesh, and drink my blood? Why would he say that? Is it "literal" or "figurative", or should we say natural or spiritual? So, first let's look at Exodus 12, the FIRST Passover, because first comes the natural and then the spiritual.

1 Corinthians 15:46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

Keep this verse in mind.

Exodus 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:3 "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
Exodus 12:4 'And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.
Exodus 12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Exodus 12:6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
Exodus 12:7 'And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Exodus 12:8 'Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exodus 12:9 'Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire; its head with its legs and its entrails.
Exodus 12:10 'You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
Exodus 12:11 'And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.
Exodus 12:12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Exodus 12:13 'Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Now I want you to notice a few parallels between the Passover celebration and Yeshua.
First of all, the meaning of Passover, is bifold. Historical, rememberance of this day you just read about, when the Israelites were delivered from the bondage in Egypt. And prophetic, of when Yeshua the Passover lamb would be slain to deliver us from the bondage of sin.

Leviticus 23:5 'On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

The Passover is celebrated on the first month of the biblical calender. But it is NOT the first month of the "traditional" calender used at the time. In Exodus 12:2 God told them this will NOW be the beginning of months for you.

Exodus 12:2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.

So historically, (or naturally) God changed the calander and gave them a new beginning. And as application to US (spiritually), our Passover lamb gave US a new beginning.

1st Corinthians 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

I keep refering to Yeshua as the "Passover lamb" so there's the scripture that tells us that.
Now...

Exodus 12:14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
Exodus 12:15 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

Unleavened bread...
Leaven is often used to represent SIN many times in the bible. You can do a search and find many verses, but for example:

Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

Because a little leaven will rise a big lump of dough, it doesn't take much. Now historically the Israelites made their bread in haste on the first Passover, hence no time to let it rise, so no leaven. But the feast celebrated with unleaven bread, cleaning the leaven out of the "houses" is a symbol of us cleaning the "sin" our of our "house" (the word house is also translated temple, same word).
And what is God's temple now?
Us.

1st Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?


Exodus 12:3 "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

On the tenth day of the first month, the Passover lamb was to be chosen.

Matthew 21:6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
Matthew 21:7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.
Matthew 21:8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Matthew 21:9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"


By careful study of timelines in scripture, it can be shown that this was the tenth of Nisan ( the first month).
The people CHOSE Yeshua on this day. The "triumphal" entry, where they were hailing him as King.

The Passover lamb was to be slain at sunset.

Deuteronomy 16:6 "but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt."

Now traditionally the Jewish people chose 3pm because the literal translation there is "between the evenings" and this is the time they figured was "between the evenings"
So on a typical Passover celebration the Passover lamb was slain at 3pm.

Luke 23:44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

The "sixth hour" ....Jewish "daytime" started at about 6am.
So the sixth hour would be about NOON. The ninth hour, when Yeshua breathed his last would then be....???
3pm.
Yeshua died at the very hour the Passover lamb was being slain for the celebration.
Now, another comparison.

Deuteronomy 16:2 "Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name.
Deuteronomy 16:3 "You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
Deuteronomy 16:4 "And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning."


Verse 4 in particular, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning...

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

Jesus died.

Luke 23:50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.
Luke 23:51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.
Luke 23:52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Luke 23:53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.
Luke 23:54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

His body was not left over till the next day.
In Jewish families they would bury their dead in a tomb. When they had decomposed to bones, they would put them in a box, move them back and make room for the next family member to be buried. All the family would share a tomb.
Joseph had a NEW tomb. Putting Jesus' body in it desecrated it and his family could never use it again because Jesus wasn't in his family.
What he might have been thinking, going thru, pondering the cost to him and his reputation etc...

Now, to continue...

Exodus 12:46 "In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones."

No bone of the Passover lamb can be broken.

John 19:36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken."
John 19:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

While the other two crucified with him had their legs broken Yeshua's were not.

Deuteronomy 16:5 "You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you;

The lamb was to be sacrificed OUTSIDE the gates of the city.

Matthew 27:31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.
Matthew 27:32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.
Matthew 27:33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,

Led Him away, as they came OUT (of the city).
He was crucified on "golgotha" (which in latin is calvary).
Not only that but they were COMMANDED to kill the Passover lamb.
Hence they HAD to kill Jesus, even though they didn't realize what they were doing.
What does all this have to do with communion?

Deuteronomy 16:7 "And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents."

This verse says they are to EAT the Passover lamb. So why did Yeshua say?

John 6:54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Eat of his flesh? Why? Because of verse Deuteronomy 16:7. They were commanded to EAT of the Passover lamb, And Yeshua IS the Passover lamb.
But of course, we don't LITERALLY EAT his flesh, the natural came first in Exodus and the spiritual with Yeshua.
Therefore he gave us a symbol to represent his flesh...

Luke 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.
Luke 22:2 And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.
Luke 22:3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.
Luke 22:4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.
Luke 22:5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
Luke 22:6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.
Luke 22:7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.
Luke 22:8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."
Luke 22:9 So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"
Luke 22:10 And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.
Luke 22:11 "Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'
Luke 22:12 "Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."
Luke 22:13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
Luke 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.

So here's the scene, it's the preparation day for Passover, He's having a meal with his closest friends. He know's the next day he's going to be killed as the Passover lamb.

Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."

So he gives them this symbol of his flesh, the bread. Now remember, the bread is supposed to be unleavened (as his body is without sin).
(If you look up the words for bread, especially in these verses you will see that the bread wasn't unleavened, because He bore the sins of the world in his body. The word for unleavened bread in verse 1 is not the word for bread in verse 19. I will leave you to study more on that yourself.)
And he tells them to EAT this bread, as a symbol of his body, the flesh of the Passover lamb they are required to eat.
Okay, but we haven't seen the CUP in the Passover celebration have we?
Now traditionally there are 4 cups in the Passover celebration. One being the cup of repentance.

Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

A covenant in Blood. In the Old Testiment the most "serious" covenants were sealed in blood.
When God gave the law to moses and the people, this was sealed in blood.

Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."

So this covenant Yeshua made with us is a "blood covenant". His blood had to be shed.
And again the cup is the SYMBOL of his Blood, and we drink of it.
Now, this is gonna knock your socks off if you haven't heard it before.
You know we are the "betrothed of Christ" right?
Now prior to a traditional Jewish wedding, during the betrothal, the bride had a "choice" to accept or reject the proposal.
Although it was not essential, the bride's consent was often asked for.

Genesis 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

At some point in Jewish history, the tradition of the "cup of acceptance" was established. Once the terms of the ketubah had been specified and the father of the bride had agreed to them, the prospective bridegroom would pour a cup of wine for the prospective bride.
The ketubah was the written agreement, our ketubah with Yeshua is...can you guess??
The WRITTEN agreement??
The Word of God is our ketubah.
Which is now written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
The wine would be blessed with the ritual prayer: "Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, who has given us the fruit of the vine, Amen."
Also the groom would say "This is the blood of my covenant, which I would shed for you" indicating his devotion to her.
Sound familiar?
If she agreed to the match, she would drink from the cup, indicating her acceptance.
So drinking from the cup, is a symbol of accepting Yeshua as our "husband" or more accurately our Betrothed, as we await his return, which is another study entirely.

Now you gotta picture this,here he is with his 11 closest friends. And he proposes to them! They have be thinking "huh??"
But, they drank.
So we "eat the bread" because we are commanded to "eat the Passover lamb".
And we "drink the blood" of the covenant, because it shows our acceptance of Him.

1st Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1st Corinthians 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
1st Corinthians 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
1st Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. and we are COMMANDED to do it in rememberance of Him


Be blessed as you are guided by the Holy Spirit and He makes this word alive in your heart more and more!