Jesus the Lamb of God Part Three

Jesus The Lamb of God
Part Three

When the time had come for Jesus to lay down His life (as Isaac did figuratively by allowing Abraham to place him on the altar) Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples. That the death and resurrection of Jesus should happen at Passover is not a coincidence. It was the reality, the substance, of which the Passover celebration was a shadow and to which all the Hebrew Scriptures pointed.

We in the Christian Church call this the Last Supper, but it was the Passover celebration as far as the Jews were concerned. Having celebrated Passover many times before, Jesus’ disciples would have been keenly aware of what they were doing. Let us just peek in at the crucial moment.

Matthew 26:26-28 (KJV)
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament (or covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Luke records it this way in Luke 22:19-20 (KJV)
19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament (or covenant) in my blood, which is shed for you.

Here we see the reason we celebrate communion, sometimes called the eucharist, together. We do it in remembrance of Jesus and what He did for us.

Jesus’ statement about His blood echoes that of Moses in Exodus 24:8 (KJV)
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

The blood of the covenant; the cup is the new testament, or covenant.

Imagine for a moment that you are an Israelite. How do you suppose you might react if Jesus told you to drink His blood—even if it was figuratively? The disciples would have remembered the strict prohibitions against eating blood found in the Law of Moses.

Jesus upset the religious apple cart in many ways during His ministry, but this must have been particularly difficult for them. It must have given them pause as they considered whether their faith in Jesus was stronger than their devotion to the Law on which they had been raised. Now they had to participate in what He was doing or continue in the traditions of their ancestors.

Earlier, Jesus had said something similar in the synagogue at Capernaum. After He said it many of His followers left Him and even His closest disciples found it a hard saying.

John 6:50-58 (KJV)
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Under the Law, touching unclean things made a person unclean, but under the new covenant touching what is holy, makes one holy. This is what Jesus is telling the people here. He is saying that they need to be in Him and have Him in them. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

We see this again later in John 15:5 (KJV)
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth (or dwells) in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

When we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we have both sides of the life and righteousness equation resolved. Our sins are taken away completely by His perfect blood, His life, his propitiation. Additionally, we are given eternal life, sanctified and made righteous, or holy, by having Him in us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

21 For he (God the Father) hath made him (God the Son) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.