Passover Lamb

Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, right? The "Triumphal Entry"? He went to the temple, as did all Jews on this special Sunday. On this day, Jews from all the nations God scattered them to would come to Jerusalem and heads of households would select a passover lamb to remember God's hand of deliverence from bondage to Egypt. To prevent the temple officials from cheating people (as seen in Matthew 21 when Jesus cleans house), a custom was formed, that all the passover lambs would come from one city, that could be traded for less pure lambs. That one city-- Bethlehem (which means "house of bread").

John the Baptist got it right:

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" -John 1:29

     Fast forward to Thursday night. Passover night.

---Jesus hosts the Passover, and He takes the job of sevant when He washes His disciples' feet.

---Jesus blessed God for bringing food from the ground, in the form of unleavened bread. The bread was scored and marked, symbolizing the pain of the Israelites in Egypt, but the Messiah would soon fulfill that symbolism by taking lashes and scourgings in His death.

---Jesus blessed the bitter herbs (horseradish), remembering the bitterness of the oppression of the Egyptians, but He would experience firsthand a more excruciating separation from the love of God.

---Jesus would have hidden the "afikomen" the second of three pieces of unleavened bread. This second piece was broken, removed from the other 2, wrapped, and hidden (buried), to be found and restored later, to be eaten as a dessert during the Cup of Redemption, which I spoke of more in my previous note.

---Jesus would have then blessed the meal. But he did something different. He spoke the words I now take for granted:

"This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19)

Those words are similar to the words the priest would speak over the spotless lamb, come passover. The priest would actually say,

 "This is the body given for the _____ family!" 

In this, we see the appointed act of the Christ as High Priest.

Jesus, our passover lamb from the flocks of Bethlehem, fully atoned for all our sins and we remember His sacrifice every week as not only the love of God incarnate but as the recipient of the death that causes God's justice to pass over our sins as His people are led once again from bondage.  

"For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." - I Peter 1:18-19

"Christ our Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us." - I Corinthians 5:7

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" - Revelation 5:12b

All hail the Lamb, who was slain for sinners who naturally hate the goodness of God's mercy until the old man is slain on the cross and buried in the death of the Lamb and a new man is created from a pure heart of flesh, which God's Spirit restores and breathes new life and being into, who alone is wise and glorious in His creative ingenuity and power to save!

This is the Lamb I trust in, that God's dreadful wrath may pass over my guilty self.

How much is a bride worth?

 How much is a bride worth? Can a woman be bought to be a wife? I'm not a feminist, but I still flinch a little bit at that question.

   "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

When a man would want to get hitched back in Jesus' time, he would ask his parents to meet up with the parents of his desired bride (think, Samson). They would negotiate the "bride-price". Of course a woman of godly character and wisdom cannot be bought, but how dare a man of God take a woman of faith from her family without some form of recompense? To be fair, ladies, the "bride-price" was close to the cost of a home.
Once the "bride-price" was confirmed, the man and his parents would meet with the woman and her parents. They would sit down at a table, where there would be a cup of wine. The groom would say the words, "This is the cup of a new covenant, in my blood," and drink from the cup.
He was promising to love his wife with a self-sacrificing love (if necessary).
The woman would have two options then. She could
A) pass the cup back, signifying refusal, OR
B) drink from the cup, signifying agreement.

But I think they saw the significance of Jesus' words during the Passover meal. Because besides using the language of the proposal, Jesus hadn't paid his "bride-price" for his people yet. He would soon "pay the bride-price" short hours after saying those words.
Jesus took the cup after the meal. That means He took the third cup of the Jewish Passover celebration, the one signifying God's third promise of redemption ("I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment" Deuteronomy 6:6b, third of four promises of the deliverance from Egypt).
So Jesus took the Cup of Redemption, promised self-sacrificing love to those who believe and love Him as a husband, proposed to the church as His bride, called His people to remember His promise of love, and then died to ransom His bride from sin. For "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22b)
Sure gives the Lord's Supper more meaning, huh? Jesus calls us to remember His sacrifice of redemptive love and to pledge ourselves to Him.
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

When that cup is before us, we have 2 choices.
How much is a bride worth?

shema

Shema, Israel! (Hear [obey], Israel!)
Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad (The Lord [LORD] our God is one)

Ve'ahavta et Adonai Eloeikah (Love the Lord your God)
B'khol Levav'kah (with all your heart [everything you think])
U'vekhol Naphshekah (and with all your soul [everything you are])
U'vekhol Me'odekhah (and with all your strength [everything you've got])
Amen.
 -Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Stuff in [brackets] are mine, based off of LCB class and the book "Listening to the Language of the Bible: Hearing it Through Jesus' Ears" by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema.
They demonstrate the Hebrew nuances of those words.