Passover

Luke 22:7-9

"7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

9 And they said unto Him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?"

We are studying Eating with Jesus. Last week, we kicked off with lessons from the events of Zacchaeus’s transformation, focusing on Jesus inviting Himself into Zacchaeus’s home and Zacchaeus’s repentance. From these events, we learn to accept Jesus’s invitation and be lost no more.

This week, we will continue with the Gospel of Luke and study the Meal of Forgiveness: the Lord’s Supper, the Passover, and Holy Communion. It’s one meal for all eternity! By this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and His disciples have returned to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, as faithful Jewish people did. Jesus’s ministry is in full swing—performing miracles, preaching to large crowds, healing people, and debating with Pharisees. Meanwhile, betrayal is brewing, as Judas has met with the Jewish leadership to plan Jesus’s arrest.

But first, the Passover. Jesus sends Peter and John to make arrangements so they can celebrate Passover, a deeply significant event in Jewish culture that commemorates the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt.

The forefather of the Jewish people is Israel. One of his sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers. Through a series of miraculous events, Joseph provided a safe haven in Egypt for the Israelites during a severe famine. Over time, however, the Israelites became enslaved by the Egyptians. Some 400 years later, Moses emerged to lead them out of slavery. The night before their exodus, they ate the Passover meal, using the blood of a lamb to mark their homes as safe from the Angel of Death. They have commemorated this event every year since.