Many Christians that would gather during Holy Week to celebrate a quote-unquote Christian Passover Seder meal would be surprised to discover the origins of the Jewish Passover Seder were within the sect of the Pharisees. Ironically, Christians who would want to learn about the context in which the Lord's Supper was instituted would turn to the liturgy of the Pharisees to teach them about the meaning of Jesus' words.
Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover and most likely not from the Seder liturgy. Jesus commanded us to "do this" in remembrance of Me. What was the "do this" referring to? What Jesus is telling us to do is the Lord's Supper - the Eucharist meal He instituted the night He was betrayed. That is His gift to the church and what He commanded and authorized to have the church celebrate and to "do this" in remembrance of Him. It belongs to us because it's given to us by the Savior Himself.
Whatever took place before no longer matters. The church is given this Supper; this bread; this wine; this body; this blood. It makes no sense for Christians to gather around a Passover Seder than for them to gather around another sacrificial lamb."
-Dr. Dan Gard
No comments:
Post a Comment