Ex. 12:14 “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.” Only God knew what His children would do to remember this great deliverance. They had waited for several hundred years with the bondage becoming more severe as time went by. Many tears had been shed because of the unjust cruelty of slavery. God had not forgotten and had promised Abraham they would go through a long season of oppression that would last four hundred years, and then they’d be delivered (Gen 15:13). Their time in Egypt had morphed from a hero’s welcome in Joseph’s day, into gross oppression leading up to the Passover.
Thirteen hundred years later, the time when Jesus would be celebrating the Passover with His disciples, the memorial that had begun with a great deliverance had then evolved into a meal of remembrance. Year by year it was the occasion to retell the story of how they went from being a nation of slaves to freedom. In this annual retelling every family had a special meal that featured bitter herbs to remember the bitterness of bondage, and a sweet mixture of apples, raisins, and nuts to remember God’s presence and promise that was with them and kept them. There was roasted lamb, remembering the unblemished lamb that was eaten that night, and who’s blood was used to mark the door of each believer’s home. Judgment passed by each home that had the lamb’s blood applied. Also there was unleavened bread and a cup of wine. The unleavened bread, matzoh, like a cracker was the symbol of cleansing their homes of leaven, and their lives of sin. In the wine they remembered the blood that had been shed, as well as the blessing followed. A great Passover meal ends with a cup of blessing as they drink from “Elijah’s Cup”, and a hope that God will finish what He began with all of us.
When Jesus led His disciples in the Passover meal, He identified Himself as God’s Lamb that was being offered to institute a New Covenant. They only understood in part that their Feast of Passover was a prophecy of a greater deliverance to come by their Messiah. Taking the unleavened bread in His hands, blessing it, breaking it, and giving a piece to each one present had been part of the annual celebration. When Jesus said “… this is My Body which is give for you …” , and “this cup is the new covenant in My blood …”(Lk 22:19-20), there was much more going on then a memorial. Jesus was establishing that a hidden promise in the celebration was connected to Jer 31:31-33. God was now establishing a New Covenant that had the power to transform a person from the inside out. All praise, glory, and honor to our God!