Matthew 26:17-19
¹⁷ Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
¹⁸ And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
¹⁹ And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

Perhaps it is because we tend to refer to this meal as the Last Supper that we lose sight of its connection with the Passover. How is one to contemplate on the deliverance from Egypt, protection from the evil one, atonement from the Holy One, and fellowship with our heavenly Father expressed in a communal meal when we have reduced the whole affair to a tiny cup of juice and a scrap of bread consumed in a cold pew?

Matthew 26:26-29
²⁶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
²⁷ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
²⁸ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
²⁹ But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

It was “as they were eating” the Passover that our Lord established what we know as Holy Communion. It mirrors and reflects all the redemptive truths that we learn from Passover. When we partake of the Lord’s Table, we need to understand that the type is deliverance out of Egypt. The antitype is Jesus Christ our Passover, who is sacrificed for us. And our memorial Passover is the partaking of Communion. Like the Israelites of old, we receive protection from the destroyer, deliverance from bondage, and release into worship.

Behold!
Spoken from a position of authority, “Behold!” can really get people’s attention. After a night of torture during which a crown of thorns was pounded into His head, Pilate paraded Jesus in a purple robe before the people. “Behold the man!” he said.[1] After further questioning, Pilate brought Him out again and said, “Behold your king!”[2] “Away with him,” the people cried. “Crucify him! Crucify him!” And Pilate delivered Him to be crucified.

This, no doubt, pleased the crowd. And it may have distressed Pilate’s wife and horrified the disciples, but it came as no surprise to our Lord who heard His prophet declare “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” His introduction was sacrifice. His anointing was sacrifice.[3] His life was sacrifice. Even His eternal testimony is one of sacrifice. In his vision of heaven, John declared, “I beheld…a lamb as it had been slain.”[4] And the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.

Revelation 5:9-10
⁹ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

“We shall reign on the earth.” To reign on the earth in the future, we must reign on the earth today; and unless we are functioning as kings and priests, we are not exercising our authority to rule. How are we to rule? By the blood of Jesus Christ; it is the only thing that qualifies us in the priestly function of intercession and the kingly function of dominion.

Keeping the Passover
1 Corinthians 5:7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us…

We need to purge out the old leaven to be a new lump. The leaven spoken of specifically in this section of Scripture (verses 1-6) is the leaven of immorality. If there are those in the Church who are remaining in rebellion by not forsaking sexual immorality, they should be thrown out lest they leaven the whole Church. Perhaps if as a whole the body of Christ practiced Scriptural church discipline, Christianity might rid itself of the scandals of fornication, adultery, illegitimate births, and divorce, and those thus disciplined might be brought to godly sorrow, repentance, and healing.

Jesus also taught about the leavens of false doctrine[5] and hypocrisy.[6]  The doctrines of men and a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude will never advance the kingdom of God. They will only advance corruption, which is why we need to be rid of the leaven. Along with the application of the blood, it is a primary requirement for keeping the feast. In the observance of the memorial Passover, the father of the house would go through and check every nook and cranny to make sure that all leaven was out of the house. We should do no less in regard to our lives and our church.

1 Corinthians 5:8
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We are supposed to keep the Passover with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The term translated “sincerity” means “clearness and purity.” And it comes from a term which means “judged by sunlight.” We keep the Passover in clearness and purity because we have been judged by the light of the Son. How? In sincerity and truth. “Sanctify them by thy word. Thy word is truth.”[7] As we allow Him by His Holy Spirit and the standard of His Word to examine our hearts, the leaven is exposed and we can throw it out. We can be rid of its corrupting influence.

Hebrews 11:28
Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Nothing in the Word of God is of profit to us if it is not mixed with faith. We need to keep the Passover in faith; and our faith doesn’t reside in our ability to suspend disbelief, but in the full accomplishment of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we apply His blood in faith, he that destroys cannot touch us. Who is this destroyer?

The Destroyer Exposed
Psalm 78:49-51
⁴⁹ He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
⁵⁰ He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
⁵¹ And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham…

How did God bring about the plagues? He sent evil spirits to do it. You mean God would send out evil spirits to do His work? Absolutely! How could that be? He’s God, that’s how! Jesus said that if we don’t forgive, the Father would send out tormentors to torment us.[8]  With regard to the unholy person in the church of Corinth, Paul said, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…deliver such a one unto satan for the destruction of the flesh.”[9] Church discipline indeed! We’re not talking about revoking membership. We’re talking about a pronouncement and curse of death in the name of Jesus Christ by the blood of Jesus Christ. These are not matters to be taken lightly.

Revelation 9:11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Both of these words, Abaddon and Apollyon, mean “destroyer.” Apollyon shares the same root as olothreuo, the word translated “destroyed” in Hebrews 11:28 and used as “destroyer” in the Septuagint of Exodus 12:23. This angel of the bottomless pit is none other than the star fallen from heaven spoken of in Revelation 9:1. It is the devil, satan, the accuser of the brethren.

Revelation 12:9-11
⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

We overcome the destroyer by the blood of the Lamb. It protects us from the cunning schemes of the serpent. It purifies us from the slander and accusation of the devil. And it prostrates our adversary satan, who will soon be crushed under our feet![10]  But we must in obedience apply the blood.

Sprinkling the Blood
1 Peter 1:2 NKJV
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

We were elected “for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Sprinkling the blood is how Moses enjoined the people to the covenant. It is how the Old Testament priests applied the blood of the sacrifices. It is how we were brought into the priesthood of the New Covenant. We must be obedient to the sprinkling of the blood. Huddled in Egypt, the Israelites had to be obedient to sprinkle the blood of the lamb to their doorways to be free of the destroyer. As planet pilgrims, New Testament priests of Almighty God, we need to apply the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to our lives and remain under it.

[1] John 19:5
[2] John 19:14
[3] This is seen in that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the bodily form of a dove. The most frequent use of “doves” in Scripture has to do with their function as sacrificial animals. Furthermore, they descend with feet down, head up, and wings outstretched. In other words, they descend in cruciform. On the day of His baptism, the Holy Spirit declared in form where He would ultimately lead Jesus. See Heb 9:14.
[4] Rev 5:6
[5] Matt 16:6, 12
[6] Luke 12:1
[7] John 17:17
[8] Matt 18:32-35
[9] 1 Cor 5:4-5; See also 1 Tim 1:20
[10] Rom 16:20 NIV