When I was a little boy, I couldn’t wait until I was able to receive Holy Communion in my church.
Through the years, I’ve gained a deeper and more profound understanding of Communion which began as a Passover meal and our Lord’s “Last Supper”.
To have a greater appreciation for Holy Communion, and our Lord’s Last Supper, we have to go back – way back – to the time of Moses, and God’s people held captive in the land of Egypt.
Moses was a type of Christ, a savior, who brought God’s people out of Egypt after a series of plagues – the final plague being death.
God told Moses to sacrifice a lamb without blemish, and spread the lamb’s blood on the door posts and window sills of God’s people.
And, when God’s spirit “passed over” the land, He would not touch anyone in any house where He found the lamb’s blood.
Effectively, they were saved by the blood of the lamb.
The Jewish people still commemorate this today by and through their celebration of “Passover”. And, interestingly, Passover was the Last Supper Christ celebrated with His disciples before His crucifixion.
Christ became, for us, that sacrificial Lamb whose blood saves us.
Today, we celebrate Christ’s Last Supper as Holy Communion.
Today, we are saved by the blood of the Lamb (capital ‘L’).
To take things a little step further, during the Passover meal, there are four cups of the “fruit of the vine” that are consumed.
Each cup represents a certain part of Passover. It is believed Christ took the third cup, the cup of redemption, and instituted what we know today as Holy Communion.
And, the fourth cup?
Jesus said, “I will not drink [of this cup] until that day when I drink it … with you …”.
The fourth cup of Passover is a cup of celebration, of praise, of the promise that God “will take [us]”.
Three cups have passed, one is yet to come.
Christ did not partake of that fourth cup – yet. But, His promise is that, one day, He will return for us and “take us” home – to His “Father’s kingdom”.
And, there, He will celebrate with us.
’til then, we celebrate Holy Communion with the third cup of the Passover.
The cup of redemption.
Blessings.
Last Supper
