People of all ages love celebrating and preserving family traditions. Whether it’s the holiday custom of placing pumpkins and scarecrows in the yard during autumn time, the proud picture taken on the first day of school, or a special treat given after a significant accomplishment ─ you name them, these times become a model for how we live life together. Since they are occasional events, we go all-in to enjoy and celebrate each moment.
Interestingly enough, when we persist in a long-established pattern something amazing happens: It has lasting effects and the memory deepens.
Take for example a food tradition, the preparation of the holiday stuffing.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that not all Thanksgiving stuffing is made equal. One person I know from Louisiana adds oysters to her stuffing. Another person just across town uses turkey broth. And someone else swears that chicken broth is her family’s favorite. Each approach deeply rooted in tradition remains unchanged. And they are consistent to make sure that the tradition is passed forward.
But no matter how the stuffing is prepared, each time this delicious meal is served, their tradition has a greater chance of survival. Fueled by the gathering that follows ─ filled with games, storytelling, and laughter ─ it enriches and expands the depth of the experience.
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Although most traditions revolve around joyful events, some of them are born out of commandments. Instead of family traditions they become instructions so that a people-group will never forget the importance of the occasion. Take Exodus 12, for example, when Pharoah refused to let the people go free from bondage. To prove to Pharaoh who was the true God, God sent plagues to free His people. Every time Moses delivered God’s messages demanding freedom, Pharoah refused. However, just before the tenth plague, God gave the Israelites an ordinance (something prescribed, an enactment, statute ─ NAS Exhaustive Concordance) to follow for generations to come: The Feast of Unleavened Bread.
He told them, “now this day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance,” (Ex. 12:14.)
Keep in mind that the feast instructions were specific to their situation of being protected when the death plague passed over and God setting them free from bondage, (Ex. 12:1-11.)
They had to be fully dressed and ready to leave Egypt. At dusk their meal consisted of eating a fully roasted lamb, bread without yeast, and bitter herbs. If they didn’t finish the meal before morning it had to be burned. Nothing could be left over.
Some of the blood from the lamb had to be applied to the lintel over the door and 2 doorposts. No one could go outside the door before morning. “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you,” (Ex. 12:21-23.)
After the death plague had passed over, Pharoah called for Moses and Aaron (Moses’ brother) at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
And so it happened, the Israelites were finally free. Pharoah was no match to a Mighty True God. It was a historic event to remember. Even today, with a click of a remote, we can watch stories about the Passover on television. The holiday is also marked on the calendar each Spring. It’s one of the greatest Old Testament stories of all time that has significance beyond the Moses era. The symbolism points directly to the Gospel story in the New Testament and is echoed in the ordinance we practice through communion.
The spotless lamb represents Jesus, who died sacrificially for us. Instead of lamb’s blood, Jesus’ blood of protection was shed and saves all who trust in Him from eternal death. The yeast is symbolic of sin, and it must be removed from our lives. And since Jesus died on the cross He is the Passover replacement of the lamb. No longer do families need to smear blood over their doorpost. Our salvation, by faith, is in Jesus.
In Matt. 26:26-28, Jesus establishes the Lord’s Supper (Communion): A new ordinance we still practice today. “Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
In 1 Cor. 5:7, the Expanded Bible elaborates on this a little further. It tells us that “Christ’s sacrificial death rescued us from spiritual death, just as the blood of the first Passover lambs rescued the children of Israel.”
That’s why we pause to remember the Lord’s Supper. We were rescued from death. Everything within us should overflow with gratitude for our salvation and a desire to share the story of love and protection shown during the Passover, later fulfilled for all on the cross.
So let us practice the Lord’s Supper regularly, never forgetting what God did for Israel and what His Son has done for us.
Brenette Wilder, formerly of Altheimer, Ark., is a blogger at wordstoinspire105953116.wordpress.com and author of Netted Together.
Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles for consideration to shope@adgnewsroom.com. Writers should have connections to Southeast Arkansas. Please include your name, phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.