Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Jesus and his twelve men were in
All faithful Jews would slaughter the offering and remember
the blood which their ancestors sprinkled upon the doorposts of their slave
homes down in
In the evening they would gather as families to eat the roasted offering along with unleavened bread. On the table would be other items including cups of wine. There would be prayers and hymns.
But Jesus and his followers were away from their homes. An upper room was found, and preparations were made for the supper. During the meal Jesus gave bread to his disciples and told them it was his body, given for them. He told them the cup was his blood. And so the Christian “Lord’s Supper” came into being.
That night, however, Jesus placed no emphasis on the Passover lamb itself. The lamb was central to the supper. Other relatively minor points about the supper are alluded to in the gospel accounts. The absence of comment about the lamb is in itself a subtle suggestion of some very important symbolism that night.
It was Paul, years later, who put that symbolism in written form for us. “For,” he reminded us, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
And the Apostle John writes about the multiplied thousands
of angels who sing in heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive
power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise”
(Revelation
Our risen Lord has paid the price for our sin!