Word for Wednesday
And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Luke 22:14
The Jewish historian Josephus estimates that, on the day in which the Lord Jesus ate the last Passover with His disciples, some 56,000 lambs were sacrificed in Jerusalem. That is a huge number of animals to be killed, cooked, and eaten in one day! But it would require that many for the Passover feast to be eaten by the large number of people who would be living and visiting there at the time. Throughout the ancient Jewish capital, as the people followed the law concerning the keeping of this most important ordinance, all of the various events would occur with incredible synchronization. The Passover lambs were killed in the afternoon, and the actual meal began just minutes before the setting of the sun, continuing into the small hours of the next day. So, as the Lord Jesus and his twelve followers sat down to eat the feast, so would hundreds of thousands of other people in the city. That is what the law stated, and that is what the people observed. It makes a good pattern for us to follow when we consider that the last Passover was also the first observance of the Lord’s Supper.
Much preparation went into the Passover, and no devout Jew would ever leave any of those preparations until the last minute, or fail to be ready to partake of the feast as the final rays of the sun were fading from the horizon. Those were physical arrangements for the Jewish feast, compared to the spiritual arrangements that are necessary for the Lord’s Supper. But the spiritual arrangements are no less important. It would not have been possible for the Passover to proceed without those arrangements. But sadly, it is possible for the Lord’s Supper to proceed without some of the attendees making any preparation. It is just as sad that, without the preparation, the observation lacks what it should, and fails to provide the worship of which the Lord of the feast is worthy. The saints whose hearts have been prepared will appreciate the feast, but those who are unprepared will miss out on a wonderful blessing that this feast should impart to our souls.
Imagine a Jewish man arriving home an hour after the start of the Passover feast, saying that he had some chores that had to be finished up that kept him late. That would never happen! Everything would be done earlier to make sure that the man could be in his place for the start of the feast. It was just too important to miss. Is that how we view the starting time for the Lord’s Supper? Of course there are times when legitimate things arise that keep some people from being in their seats on time, we all know that. But when it happens regularly, and for varying reasons (excuses), it shows a lack of appreciation for the value of the feast. And a lack of respect toward the One Who promises to be in our midst.
When the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. The pattern has not changed. – Jim MacIntosh