NOW, WE ENJOY PASSOVER UNDER A NEW COVENANT
04-16-06
(Col 2:16,17) Let no man therefore judge [condemn, call in question] you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
(John 1:29) The next day John [the Baptist] seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
(1 Cor 5:6-8) Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven [yeast; symbolic of false doctrine that “puffs up”: Mat 16:6-12; Mark 8:13-21] leaveneth the whole lump [a mass of dough]? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened [uncorrupted]. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(1 Pet 1:18,19) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain [empty, i.e. (lit.) profitless, or (spec.) an idol] conversation [behaviour; lifestyle] received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
THE OLD COVENANT PASSOVER WAS A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME
(Exo 12:1-5) And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt [something hemming in: fenced, fortress, stronghold], saying, This month [April] shall be unto you the beginning of months [of the Jewish calandar sacred year, compared to September which became the beginning of the Jewish calandar civil year]: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month [April] they shall take to them every man a lamb [symbolizing the Lamb of God], according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house [personal connotation]: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating [personal] shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
(Exo 12:6-11) And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month [April]: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it [i.e. their personal lambs] in the evening [between 3pm and 6pm]. And they shall take of the blood [the life], and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire [“For our God is a consuming fire” Heb: 12:29 & Deut 4:24; 9:3], and unleavened bread [i.e. pure bread]; and with bitter herbs [symbolic of their bitter bondage at the hands of the Egyptians] they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water [which still contains the blood], but [after it is ] roast with fire [i.e. it contains no blood]; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance [inward parts excepting the intestines] thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste [fully prepared to immediately leave Egypt (a type of being fully prepared to leave this world (die) and go to the promised land: heaven)]: it is the LORD'S passover.
1. (Lev 17:11a) For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
2. (John 1:14) And the Word [of God] was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
3. (John 6:48) I am that [unleavened] bread of life.
(Exo 12:12-14) For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment [for their gods were worshipped as different animals]: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token [sign, signal] upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
NOW THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER IS COME
(Mat 26:17-19) Now the first day of the feast of unleavened [uncorrupted] bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
(Mat 26:20-25) Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me [A TYPE OF PERVERSION, A TYPE OF LEAVENING IN THE BODY]. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
JESUS PURGED OUT THE OLD LEAVEN THAT YOU MAY BE A NEW UNLEAVENED LUMP
(John 13:25-31) He then lying on Jesus' breast [John] saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop [a crumb or morsel of the paschal supper], when I have dipped it [to moisten (a part of one's person)]. And when he had dipped the sop [wet (a part of the person, etc.)], he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the [treasurery] bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. [Now we are “positionally” an unleavened lump. Now we are “experientially” becoming (Rom 12:2) an unleavened lump]
(Mat 26:26-30) And as they [the remaining eleven disciples] were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body [i.e. my “flesh”: John 1:14]. And he took the cup [of wine], and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
1. (John 6:54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
THIS IS THE SUM OF THE THINGS WE HAVE SPOKEN
(Heb 8:1-13) Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest [Jesus Christ], who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer [i.e. His Blood]. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest [Jesus was of Juda, not Levi], seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things [i.e. the Old Covenant], as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant [testament], which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the [old] covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the [new] covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old [to make (pass become) worn out, or declare obsolete:--decay, make (wax) old]. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Amen