Something old

The old adage of weddings goes something like, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue."

Today, we'll focus on something old. Jesus was of a mind to observe the Old Testament observance of Passover. As a Jew, he understood the Old Testament and the story of God's relationship with His people. The same God who heard the cries of His people in Egypt, sent Moses to rescue Israel and lead them out of slavery. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, prophets were commissioned to offer God's appeal to a nation engaged in sinful practices. God's grace was enmeshed in every prophetic plea.

Now, in the midst of a broken world enslaved in the death spiral of sin, God once again heard the cries of His people and sent Jesus. The sins of humanity were about to be addressed once for all by Jesus.

Backing up to old things, Jesus set about to find a place where he and His disciples could observe this sacred remembrance of God's deliverance of Israel from slavery. (Passover)

"On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you

want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man

and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my

disciples at your house.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover."

(Matthew 26:17-19, NIV)

The importance of remembering where one has come from allows the person to see God's pattern of relationship and helps us feel content about the future. Each element of the Passover meal was symbolic of the exodus from Egypt. Each element consumed by the people helped them see God's grace in their deepest times of need.

Tomorrow evening, we'll observe the Seder (Passover) in our church and with each element of the meal, a connection will be made to God's inexpressable grace. Near the end of our commemoration of this Old Testament observation we'll introduce the new thing Jesus needed his disciples to see and experience. Stay tuned tomorrow to check out the new thing.