The Hour Has Come

“As you know, the Passover is two days away- and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.

While they were eating…

When the hour came, Yashuah and his apostles reclined at the table. And He said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Matthew 26: 2, 26a; Luke 22: 14, 15, 19 – 20

Tonight, in the evening we have an appointment we cannot afford to miss. We have a date with the Lamb. He has invited us for a formal dinner, all costs paid in advance. He has called us to His Annual Supper. It cannot be rescheduled. It cannot be postponed. It is only kept at the appointed time year after year (Exodus 13: 10).

8^th April 2020 coincides with the 14^th day of Abib 5780. The Jewish world will be observing the ordinance of Passover as faithfully passed down to them from antiquity. This feast of unleavened bread is celebrated for 7 days beginning on the 14^th and ending on the 21^st day of this first month of the biblical year. This feast is a memorial of the salvation and deliverance YHWH gave Israel on the night they left Egypt after 430 years of slavery.

The Lord commanded each Israel’s household to slaughter an unblemished one-year-old lamb of goat or sheep in the evening of the 14^th day. They were commanded to smear their doorposts with blood from the lamb and roast the meat which they were to eat together with bitter herbs in haste. At midnight, the Angel of death passed through the land of Egypt striking dead all the firstborn of man and animal in the 10^th and final plague. However, he spared all the firstborns of the households that had the sign of blood on the doorposts. They were commanded to celebrate this feast throughout their generations.

It had been the Savior’s great desire to celebrate the Passover this particular year of the 30 years he had walked the earth. The 12 disciples handpicked from diverse trades- fishermen, tax gathering, political revolutionaries among other trades would get the honor to be served by their Master and Teacher. Yashuah knew his time to pay the ultimate price for mankind had come. The long promised and awaited lamb had to be slain. The timing was perfect. It was the Passover. The Lamb of God would forever replace the Passover lamb the Jews killed every year in Abib. He sent Peter and John to make preparations for them to eat the Passover.

As they were eating the Passover supper with the twelve, Yashuah took bread and the cup and introduced the solemn ordinance we call the Lord’s Supper. In this ordinance, we do not slaughter a lamb like the Jews did since Yashuah-the Lamb of God has already been sacrificed for us. We take the bread symbolizing His broken body and the wine symbolizing his blood. Whenever we do this, we proclaim Yashuah’s death until he comes.

Am eager to recline at His table tonight, to wash my brother’s feet as a sign of acceptance and humility. I love to have a seat in the Master’s table. I desire to look into his face. To behold this awesome love and affection that made him die for such a wretched sinner as I. This meal is the indisputable testament of the exchange that happened that fateful day at Golgotha- where I traded my sin for his righteousness, where I traded my death for his life. And I did not just get a new lease on life but a total and complete overhaul. I boldly take my place in this table tonight- my Savior’s signature words lodged in my heart, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6: 54

The hour has come. Let us sit at his supper. Do not delay, we cannot be late. Shalom

Baba Roy