By Allen White
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. Matthew 26:17-19
Why would Jesus celebrate Passover? Think about it. Jesus is God. God delivered His people from captivity in Eqypt. By celebrating Passover, Jesus is really celebrating His Own work.
Now, I don’t believe that Jesus celebrated Passover for any kind of selfish reason. But, considering He is God, and Jesus certainly was not subject to the Law, He chose to honor the traditions of His people. His disciples certainly would not have understood the Messiah skipping such an important celebration.
God does much to accommodate us. When we look at the early Church, we see that they met in the temple courts and house to house (Acts 5:42). Where they met was not nearly as important as who they met: God Himself and each other (Hebrews 10:24-25).
They didn’t own any buildings, let alone any elaborate cathedrals or white steeples. There were no electric guitars or Powerpoint presentations in their services. Nothing against these things, but the first church had nothing like this. Yet, God will meet us in our idea of what the church gathered should look like.
That being said, there are other places where God desires to meet us. God desires to meet us in quiet places, just like the places Jesus sought out to be with the Father (Mark 6:46). He is present in a special way when small groups of believers gather together (Matthew 18:20). In fact, His presence is significant every time we recognize it – regardless of where we are.
God wants to sit down and spend time with you. Just like two friends would sit in a coffee shop and talk, God desires to be with you. He delights in you. He has so much that He wants to give you.
God will take whatever five minutes you will quietly give Him. Do you have five minutes right now? Not to sing or talk or read the Bible, but to quietly connect with God. The less you talk, the better.
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Great message. The Passover was designed to unmistakably identify our need for a savior and to show us who is that savior. The lamb slaughtered at the first Passover in Egypt was completely innocent, yet it had to die to save those people. Yet, it was only a symbolic representation of the true Lamb who would save all mankind.
ReplyDeleteIn sharing this particular Passover with his disciples, Jesus was showing them that He is the Lamb of God that had been symbolically slain every year since the first one. This is one of the main reasons that the religious leaders of the Jews of Jesus' time were without excuse for not recognizing him as the Messiah.