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Just after Jesus had taught his disciples about the horrible judgement that was awaiting those who didn't take hold of His word about Israel's restoration to God, we are quickly pulled into probably the greatest national festival in Israel, the Passover. The Passover festival was a national holy day. It was to remember Gods mighty deliverance of the nation of Israel from the captivity and slavery of Egypt. It is a festival of deliverance and redemption, when YHWH delivered them by mighty miracles and war from the Pharaoh of Egypt,who held them captive.Now the time has moved toward the time of the Kingdom of God where we find that God or YHWH is in Jesus delivering Israel and visiting them before their redemption just as the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 50-53. The Kingdom of God was being preached, which meant that the Day of the Lord was near in judgement as well as in redemption and salvation. Indeed many of the believing Israelites were expecting this evil age to pass away and the new order of things, namely the Kingdom of God to fill all the earth.Because the Kingdom was breaking through in the events and life of Jesus,
clearly the Kingdom of God is the context of eating the Passover with Jesus in Jerusalem. What that means for us who read of Jesus celebrating the Passover,is that this Passover will not be a celebration of the great deliverance from captivity in Egypt.Rather it is the inauguration of the new Passover of the deliverance from sin,the Satan, and even death. A new exodus is about to take place and the events of this great deliverance in Gods' victory over sin,death and the Devil will change Israel and change the world forever.
So then Jesus entry into Jerusalem was carefully planned to coincide with the great Passover feast, and now to invest the Passover feast with its fullness of meaning. The Passover from now would only have meaning and significance in the person and works of The king of Israel and of the world,Jesus Christ. After Jesus had inaugurated the new exodus from mankinds arch enemies, he would go to defeat Satan sin and death, by his cross and resurrection and so bring about Gods deliverance and exodus from the enemies of men,in defeating Satan,sin and death.When people are free from the terrible power of Satan and the terrible power of sin and the horrible and terrifying power of death, then surely the Kingdom of God will have come upon them. All this is worked out and explained in the remaining events in Jerusalem and is explained in the book of Acts and the letters of the apostles. This is no small thing, this is the mighty and unconquerable victory of God that would have bearing on each and every person, forever in all the world. So now lets look at the event of Jesus Passover in Jerusalem and see its meaning.
In Luke 22:15-16 Jesus says that He has fervently desired to eat the Passover meal with them before He suffers. Clearly the suffering is his trial and humiliation before Pontius Pilate and His execution as a criminal on a Roman cross. Then Jesus says I will not eat of the Passover again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. From this we can clearly put the eating of the Passover in the context of the Kingdom of God. Indeed the Kingdom of God is the wider context of the whole book of Luke and the other gospels. What we must make sure we don't miss and glance over is Jesus saying that the Passover is awaiting fulfilment in the Kingdom of God. Therefore the redemption of Jerusalem and the consolation of Israel and the coming of the Kingdom of God in fullness, are all much sought after hopes.These are the hopes for which all believing Israelites hoped and believed. Therefore the Passover is now forward looking to the Kingdom of God, and not looking back to the events when they were saved out of Egypt by Gods mighty hand from captivity. Yes even the disciples of Jesus, still hadn't fully grasped these things but the coming days and weeks would make it all too clear.
Then, Jesus at the table prepared for them took the cup, gave thanks to God and told them to share the cup among themselves. Jesus then tells them that He will only drink the fruit of the vine when the Kingdom of God comes. Jesus is reiterating what he has just said a couple of verses before about the great redemption expected in the Kingdom of God. Indeed this is what the Passover is all about.It is for those looking for the great deliverance into the Kingdom of God. After this Jesus took bread and gave thanks to God once again, saying this bread is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. It would appear yet again that Jesus is reinterpreting the hope of Israel and the festival of the Passover in this context. Jesus is reinterpreting these events in Him. Jesus death is now what they are to remember and not Egypt, for soon they will understand it is in the cross of Jesus Christ that they the believing Israelites will be delivered. Next Jesus took the cup one more time after the supper and again gave thanks. Here again the blood of Jesus is the reinterpretation of the blood of the paschal lamb, which caused the angel of death to pass by those who had believed God and applied the blood to the doors in Egypt. Except now Jesus now says the cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.This is the reinterpretation to understand the Passovers fulness. Although it wasn't immediately clear to those whom Jesus spoke this too at that Passover meal in Jerusalem. It becomes very clear after the cross and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. This is what becomes clear, that the deliverance in Egypt is an old deliverance of YHWH. This will be a new deliverance which will result in the deliverance and redemption of believing Israel and later the gentiles. Jesus by saying this is the cup of the New covenant in my blood, means God will again save them from captivity. However this time it will all be intrinsically caught up in the life and ministry of Jesus, God's Christ. Israel's long awaited redemption will not be apart from Jesus, the Christ. Israelis hopes and dreams of deliverance and redemption are caught up in Jesus, which means that each and every one of them will stand or fall by their response to Jesus, Gods Christ. So since the Passover brings to their minds the great and mighty acts of YHWH in the famous exodus from slavery into freedom. Jesus is telling them there awaited redemption is the new exodus from captivity and that the New Exodus is all in Him as Israel's deliverer. Yes indeed Jesus is the deliverer from captivity to all the nations, but what is foremost on Israel's mind at this time is their promised redemption. So let us now see how the pattern of the exodus from captivity in Egypt corresponds with the new exodus from captivity in Jesus. Firstly we see Israel was saved from death and the judgement of God by believing Gods word of deliverance. This would indeed be the gospel and good news to Israel and to the gentiles after them. If Israel hadn't believed God and not put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts they would have perished just like the Egyptians perished, because of unbelief, as illustrated in Pharaoh. Even now Israel would find her redemption by believing Gods words to them in Jesus, His Christ. It is by Jesus blood that they will pass from death into life. In its first context of that generation who Jesus ministered to, we find the angel of death indeed visited unbelieving Israel, even as Jesus warned them of Gods vengeance in the events of the Roman armies that waged war against Jerusalem and Israel. This came to pass in AD 70 and only the believers who heard and believed Jesus word fled and escaped these events. Obviously it's meaning is that by faith in Jesus blood, which symbolises his work on the cross. We who believe have our sins blotted out so that God would not visit us with his anger and the punishment, for through faith in Christ we now have peace with God as Romans 5:1 says. It is only when the blood has been applied to our lives through faith in Jesus,Gods Christ that we escape Gods judgement and become His friends.Yes we are Gods enemies until we come to Christ and reconciled to God and have peace with Him. So the reinterpretation that has taken place of the events in Egypt, is that they are to be delivered by Gods deliverer, by the cross and even Jesus resurrection from the dead.. This time the enemy they need to be delivered from is their true and real enemy, sin and the devil and death. If they aren't delivered from sin and the devil and death they will never be redeemed. Even their enemies, the Romans, need to be delivered from their true enemies of sin and the devil and death. The mystery that once was hidden is revealed, that is by the life of Jesus Christ that Israel's and indeed the worlds promised redemption is coming to pass.The long night of captivity draws to its end. |
