Don't Miss the Lamb this Easter
Have you ever walked into a room and sensed something was out of place? Maybe your spouse moved your favorite snack from its usual location in your pantry, or your teacher moved the location of your desk in the classroom. Maybe a fellow coworker moved photos around in your office as a joke while you were out (I may or may not be guilty of doing this frequently). This same “out of place” notion occurred at the last Passover meal that Jesus hosted for his disciples. Something was missing.
Of course, the Passover had been commemorated annually since the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt. The first Passover happened roughly 1300 years before Christ presided over what Christians now refer to as “The Last Supper.” Exodus 12 gives the account whereby a sacrificial lamb was slaughtered, eaten, and then its blood was painted over the doorframes of the Hebrew homes. “The LORD told Moses, ‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt’” (Exodus 12:12-13). For the Jews, this was New Year’s Day and Independence Day wrapped into a single holiday!
I want to point out a few key elements in the Exodus 12 Passover. When we take a closer look at the passage, we see that both bitter herbs and bread without yeast are mentioned in verse 8, in addition to the meat. These items are important to keep in mind as we consider the Passover meal shared between the disciples and Jesus.
Mark records the story this way: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ he said to them” (Mark 14:22-24). While wine is not mentioned in the Exodus account of the first Passover, we can assume it was there because of how common it was to have wine during that time. Thus, Jesus’ use of the wine shouldn’t surprise us. And, of course, the unleavened bread that had been a part of the original Passover was present. So with these key elements in place, what is missing from The Last Supper?
There is no mention of the meat. Some Bible commentators believe that because it was customary to slaughter the lamb for the Passover meal, we should assume a lamb was present. However, it’s interesting that the account of the first Passover mentions the meat repeatedly (Exodus 12:3-11) while the New Testament accounts in each of the four Gospels do not mention the meat a single time. Something was out of place. The lamb was the main course of the meal. If the lamb was central, why didn’t Jesus use it or at least mention it in his repurposing of the Lord Supper?
Remember Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Messiah: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7) Now, recall the words of John the Baptist when he saw Jesus for the first time. In awe, he proclaimed: “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world! (John 1:29). Could it be, as Tim Keller has observed, that “there was no lamb on the table because the Lamb of God was at the table”?
Fellow believers, as you take the communion elements this Easter season, do not miss the Lamb who is right before you. God the Father has provided for us a sacrificial lamb in the person of his Son Jesus, who purchased our freedom from slavery to sin and death by his body and blood. He was the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). His flesh was broken for us. His blood was not simply painted over our door frames but painted over our hearts. This Easter, let us say with John, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of world!”