Rich in Symbolism (Communion Meditation)

Mark Berrier
9/11/2005

The first Passover (recorded in Exodus 12) set the stage for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. God told Moses that at about midnight God himself would go throughout all of Egypt. Every firstborn son in the land of Egypt would die, if they did not have lamb’s blood over their doors. Even the Pharaoh’s son would die if Pharaoh did not heed God’s warning.

Before God passed through, however, Moses warned the people of Israel to get rid of all the yeast they had in their houses. In fact, for seven days the people of Israel were to eat unleavened bread—bread made without yeast.

The unleavened bread is rich in symbolism, for the ancient Jews and for Christians. Bread made without yeast is made in haste; Israel hurried to leave Egypt. It is good for us, too, to hurry to obey the Lord. (Compare Psalm 119:32 and 60.) As the people of Israel left Egypt in haste, so we should abandon our sins and worldliness in haste.

Yeast is also a symbol of sin. We should get all the sin out of our lives. Perhaps this is why the apostle Paul recommends that a person should “examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28) before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. When we share in the Lord’s Supper, let us always confess our sins to the Lord.

God had also told the Jews to sacrifice a year-old male lamb, without blemish or defect. The lamb itself was to be roasted and eaten, but no bones of its body were to be broken. The blood of the lamb was to be put over the doors of their houses. God had promised, “. . . when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Notice that he didn’t say, “When I see the blood, I will examine your life and be sure you are sinless. . . . ” Rather, he would not look beyond the blood.

When we gather at the table of the Lord, let us be thankful. We should recognize the body and the blood of the Lamb of God before us. Let us realize that when God sees his own Son’s blood, he will pass over us. The Jews’ protection was in the blood of a lamb; our protection is in the blood of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

MB