By Stuart Powell
As Israel prepared to escape Egypt, God created a way for future generations to remember how his covenant with Israel started. He wanted generations of Jews to remember everything he did to help them escape slavery and bring them into the Promised Land. He gave them the inspired history of the Torah and the memory aide of the annual Passover meal.
[Moses instructing Israel’s elders] “When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians’” (Exodus 12:25-27).
The Passover meal and celebration focused on the hard events that led up to God’s rescue of the Jews: the tears of oppressive slavery, the death of Egypt’s firstborn sons, and Israel’s hasty exodus. But that was only part of what God did for Israel. Why didn’t God ask the people to remember the parting of the Red Sea? Why didn’t the Passover meal commemorate the manna God provided in the wilderness, or the bitter water at Marah he made drinkable? Why no focus on the victory over the Amalekites or construction of the tabernacle? Is it because the people of Israel were the living demonstration of God’s handiwork in the covenant of freedom? Israel’s presence in the Promised Land, no longer living as slaves in Egypt, was the ongoing testimony of God’s gracious favor to them.
As Christians, we are called to remember what God did to bring us out of the slavery of sin. We regularly eat the bread and drink from the cup of the Lord’s Supper. When we partake, we remember Jesus’ death and suffering on the cross. But that is only part of what God did for us.
Just as ancient Israel was a reminder of God’s generosity, Christians today are living reminders of everything God did through his grace on the cross. Our faith, fellowship, service, worship, and prayers demonstrate the rest of God’s covenant promises. We eat and drink to remember Jesus’ suffering and to celebrate God’s eternal deliverance from sin.
Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church.
Author: Christian Standard
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