PASSOVER

Pharaoh himself was considered a god. The ultimate power of gods is life or death. The LORD shows in the tenth plague he has power over life and death – even in Pharaoh's house. There is an Egyptian symbol called an ankh. It stands for life and looks sort of like a cross with a loop on top – you've seen them on jewelry.

God gave Israel a ritual to protect themselves from the angel of death that would come through the land that night. He further gave directions to keep observing that feast throughout the years, as a memorial. The observance would remind them of God's great deliverance from Egypt and His faithfulness to His covenant. The repetition would become a teaching tool for their children, who would be raised learning and repeating their foundation story every year.

Note some things we usually pass over (pun intended). First, this was a family barbecue, often a neighborhood cookout. The Lord instructed them to eat the entire yearling sheep with no leftovers. If your family couldn't finish an entire ram, you would invite a neighbor – or two or three more. Also the lamb was to be a perfect male, no blemishes. Later on in the law, many sacrifices added the requirement that the male would be the firstborn as well. I was walking one day through our parish fair barns and looking at the cattle brought in for judging. It struck me that these quality animals were the sort the law required for various offerings. They were indeed sacrifices. You brought your best, your contestants for the blue ribbon.

Fellowship would automatically arise between the families as they ate. I can even imagine people wandering from house to house testing the food! Next they were to paint their doors with the lamb's blood, signaling the death angel that he was to pass these people, God's people and obedient, when he killed the other first-born sons of Egypt. Our gospel song, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” comes from this event.

In the New Testament Passover still plays a major role in Jewish life. Jesus's last has now become the blood of Jesus on the cross. As the lamb's sacrifice saved the Hebrews in Egypt, that salvation was the reason Jesus's last supper was a Passover dinner. But there the symbolism changed. God was still Savior, but in a very different way. No longer was lamb's blood featured, but the focus is of the Hebrew firstborn, so Christ's sacrifice saves the lives of His followers. And in the Book of Revelation the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is a Lamb!

Jews today still observe Passover every spring. Even so, Christians continue to celebrate an altered Passover in our churches. Some observe the supper every Sunday, some monthly, and many Baptist churches feature it once a month. We tried holding Communion once a month in several churches I pastored, but we alternated between morning, evening, and Wednesday night services. In each church that approach came as a welcome change, but gradually diminished back to just mornings.

Christians use several names for the Lord's Supper, including Communion and Eucharist (which means thanksgiving). Roman Catholics and some other “high church” denominations call it mass.

There are several views of the Supper:

Transubstantiation – The elements (bread and wine) are genuinely transformed miraculously into the actual body and blood of Christ. Until recently, Catholic laity only ate the bread, and only priests drank the wine. Recently, I believe laity can now also be offered the wine. Taking these elements is believed actually to convey grace, metering salvation a bit at a time. My understanding is that the ideal is to go confess your sins to the priest, perhaps the night before, and eat nothing until the Mass. To Protestants this seems a works salvation, and many people believe that works is necessary, and that the Church conveys salvation.

Technical note: Historically in theology and philosophy they make a distinction between primary and secondary qualities of things. Secondary qualities are those we can observe, in this case the elements look, feel, and taste like bread and wine. But primary qualities are the essence of the thing, what it really is. And to the Roman Catholics, the primary qualities of the elements after being blessed by the priests are now actually the body and blood of Jesus.

Consubstantiation – The presence of the living Christ is actually in the bread and wine, but not in a real and physical sense. I find it unclear whether they believe it actually conveys grace.

A memorial – Baptists and many other Protestants believe the key to proper observance is Jesus's statement, “This do in remembrance of me.” Like the Passover, the Supper insures we remember God's salvation through the cross and resurrection. It is not a sacrament, actually imparting grace, but an ordinance, remembering Jesus Christ.