04/14/2017
This is Holy Week as many of you may know. As we discussed last Sunday to think about each day what was happening in the life of Jesus this week. Here are some of the events for Thursday and a little background on the Passover which is the backdrop for the crucifixion.
Thursday: Today is Thursday and as the morning dawns think about what was going on with Jesus. The conflict He must have felt. Wanting to be obedient but at the same time not wanting the pain and suffering He probably knew was coming. As the day progresses we eventually find Jesus and the disciples preparing for the Passover Meal. This has become our Lord's Supper as a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us. We see Jesus and his disciples partaking of the Last Supper and then all go to the Garden of Gethsemane, minus Judas. Their Jesus takes time to pray; He prays first for God to be glorified, He then prays for the Disciples and lastly He prays for us (all believers). It is at this time that Jesus is betrayed and arrested (Matthew 26:47-75; Mark 14:43-72; Luke 22:7-71; John 17-18:18). Here we see the sacrificial lamb being chosen, the perfect, blameless, sinless Lamb of God. Through this Lamb, God's protection and provision is given. Today can be summed up as The Last Supper, The Garden Prayer and Jesus' Betrayal and Arrest.
This week in the Jewish History the Passover is celebrated. This was the feast that Jesus was attending when He came to Jerusalem. The Passover is to commemorate what God did for the Israelite nation when they were enslaved in Egypt. It is this celebration of God's deliverance that is the backdrop of this week.
Passover: The story of Passover goes all the way back to the beginning, to the very orchard of Eden itself, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree. Because of their transgression, our original ancestors incurred the plague of death and were exiled from the Divine Presence. God clothed our original parents with the skin of a sacrificed lamb (Gen. 3:21), linking their coming deliverance with the “Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:18-20). The very first "Passover" was in the garden. And the story of Passover extends to the world to come, where in the redeemed paradise of God we will celebrate the victory of the Lamb who was slain for our redemption (Rev. 5:12-13).
"In the Torah we read about the institution of Passover and the final plague that would befall the Egyptians on the Passover night. When we think of this time, we may imagine God "passing over" those houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, though it might better be said that God passed *into* the homes of those who trusted him, while he withdrew His Presence from those that did not…To see those note that two different words are used that can be translated as “pass over.” First God said “I will pass over (i.e. avar in Hebrew) the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…” (Exod. 12:12). But directly after saying this God promised to “pass over” (i.e., pasach in Hebrew) the homes of those who trusted in him to impart his protection from the plague of death: “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the house where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over to you (lit. ‘upon you’), and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exod. 12:13). In other words, when God would see the blood of the Passover lamb, he would pass over to enter the house and “cover” its occupants from the judgment of death." (hebrew4christians.com)
