September 30, 2024: Monday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 14:12-16
Good morning to all of you who will join in this study of the Word this morning. I pray for the LORD'S peace and hope to fill your lives today, and every day, all of which the LORD has made. And yes, we should all be glad, even on these hot September days, and rejoice in the Father's gift of this new day.
Please keep Annette in your prayers as she has surgery on her knee in the middle of this month. Also keep Dotty in your prayers as she comes to the end of her life. Pray for twins, Haley and Talia, as they move from their parent's home to live with their grandparents in California. Pray for peace in the growing violence between Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah. May God move the hearts of His children toward a desire to set aside historic struggles between them. Pray too for Kandice, Lisa, and Alexis as they face the uncertainty of each day, praying for Kandice as she continues her battle with cancer.
Gospel music Sunday is this coming Sunday. Our carry-in meal is Italian theme. Let us know that you will be coming if you have not already signed up at church so that we can have seating all set for our use. I hope to see you there.
Today we continue our study as we get closer to the end of this Gospel, the death of Christ, and His Resurrection. For today we are at the point of the celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as the Passover. I hope that you are familiar with this very special day in the Jewish faith, when everyone is called to remember the passing over of the angel of death which occurred in Egypt as God was acting to set free His Hebrew children after the seven plagues. This holy celebration was the reason for Jesus and His disciples to be in Jerusalem, as was required by Jewish Religious Law. They were there with tens of thousands of other pilgrims who had come to have their Passover meals. The Historian, Josephus, tells us that over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed on this holy day in Jerusalem. The process was that the pilgrim needed to bring their own lamb, butcher it at the temple, placing the animal's blood in a bowl from which it would be cast upon the altar along with the internal organs of the animal, all of which would be burned. It is hard for us to even think about the massive amount of dedicated blood and organs that would be placed there in the temple, after which the pilgrims would take their lamb to their home, or inn, where it was to be roasted on a spit over an open flame. This is a tough visual for us to consider. Yet there is something else here which is really important for us to not miss. It is the way in which Jesus had prepared for the celebrating of this meal in Jerusalem. We have all too often treated this as an amazing miracle, but we must realize that this was all more likely a picture of how Jesus would have made advance preparations at this extraordinarily busy time in the capitol. In all of this bustling around in the city Jesus gave an unmistakable sign for the disciples to follow, a man carrying a water jug. This man would be the only one because this was a job that no other man would do. This was a woman’s work. He would be easy to find and identify. It really makes no difference how we choose to see this whole thing, miracle or good planning. Either way it is the meal, and the significance of the sacrificed lamb. This is all a foretelling of what was to come for the Savior.
Let’s look at the elements of the meal itself.
First, there was the lamb, whose blood sacrifice, gave those who marked their homes with its blood, were redeemed from the Angel of Death as they and their first born were passed over.
There was the unleavened bread, quickly prepared to be eaten as the Hebrews escaped from slavery. In Christ, the bread is our symbol of Christ's body, given from us all, and bringing to us the means of escape from the slavery of sin.
There was the bowl of salt water. The reminder of the bitter tears that had been shed over the years of slavery in Egypt.
There was a collection of bitter herbs, the reminder of the bitterness of enslavement.
There was a paste called charoset, a mixture of apples, dates, pomegranates, and nuts, a reminder of the clay from which they made the bricks for the Egyptian building projects.
There were the four cups of wine mixed with water, reminding the Hebrews (Jews) of the four promises made in Exodus 6:6-7.
a. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
b. I will rid you of their bondage.
c. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.
d. I will take you to me as a people, and I will be your God.
Even at this time with Jesus, the disciples still had to realize that they ate with the final fulfillment of these promises, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God! Is it any wonder that the celebration of Holy Communion is filled with such wonder and joy for all of us who receive our Savior's living presence in the bread and wine of this Sacrament.
I will be back with you tomorrow as we continue in this late part of the Gospel of Mark.
In Christ, Pastor Kim
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