When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:14-16 NIV)
The Passover was one of the most important dates on the Jewish calendar. It was an annual remembrance of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Passover commemorated the time in their history when the death angel killed the firstborn of all of Egypt, passing over homes with the blood of a lamb on the door frame. And with that, God delivered his people, bringing them out of Egypt and into a covenant relationship with himself.
It is no coincidence that the culmination of Jesus’ ministry took place around the Passover. The Passover was a time to remember what God had done. But it was also looking forward to what Jesus was preparing to do. Jesus was God’s perfect Passover lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) sacrificed on our behalf. And all who are covered by his blood are delivered from death and brought into the kingdom of God. What was pictured in the Passover and Israel’s deliverance from Egypt finds its fulfillment in Jesus’ death on the cross and our salvation.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover. And we remember that fulfilled Passover whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper. This meal is a remembrance of the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord (1 Cor. 11:23-26). And it is a time to remember that we have passed from death into life (Rom. 6:4) and from bondage to sin into the glorious freedom of God’s children (Rom. 8:21). Because of what Jesus has done for us.
