Passover: A Time to Party?

Another Passover season is fast approaching.  A time to examine; a time to look in the mirror and confront our sinfulness; a time to commemorate the death of our Savior whose blood was shed for us; a time to party!  Huh!? Hold the phone…party? Really?!!

Well, okay, maybe party is too strong a word (a ploy to get your attention…did it work?) so let me tone it down a little. Try this: Passover, a time to rejoice with exceeding joy!

But wait a minute.  Aren’t we told in 1 Corinthians 11,  “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.  For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”?

It sure doesn’t sound like there’s much there to rejoice about.  Examining is hard work and, well, the thought that we may be at risk of taking the bread and wine, the symbols of the New Covenant in His blood, in an unworthy manner certainly is nothing to take lightly.  This is serious business!

And while that is indeed true,  if you look below the surface, the very essence of this and other scriptures like it, are, in fact, calling us to rejoice on that night.  Why? 

What is Passover commemorating anyway?  Remembering the death of Jesus on the cross, His broken body and shed blood? Yes, of course.  That’s a solemn memory to be sure.  But, as we read here, His suffering is not where we are to stop. In fact, it's not even our primary focus. We are told to discern His Body…discern the meaning, the purpose behind the suffering, behind the sacrifice. 

Ephesians 2 makes it clear where remembering His sacrifice, correctly discerning  His body, leads us. 

Ephesians 2:11 - 13  “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

That’s huge isn’t it?! His death made possible our life, our rebirth as children of God.  It re-opened of a direct relationship between God and man, a relationship that had been cut off since the garden. With the offering of that relationship through His bruised and beaten body and His shed blood, man, once again, has access to the throne of God, to His mercy seat.  And when we come to the Passover truly discerning these things, that line of thinking inspires a whole different set of emotions.

Do you recall what David did when the Ark of the Covenant was carried into the City of David?   He danced half naked in the streets as it was being brought into the city, didn’t he?  He was, in a very real, literal sense, having his own little party.  In fact, his antics made for such a sight that his wife, shocked and embarrassed by what she felt was an undignified display, ridiculed him openly.  I’m sure she was not alone in her disgust.  There were probably others there among the crowd who thought his behavior inappropriate for such a solemn occasion. After all, this was the presence of God coming back among them. People had died just for touching it. That’s pretty serious stuff!  And to have the gall to dance around in your underwear before it?! C’mon. In who’s book is that acceptable?! There were probably a few who wondered why God didn't strike him down right then and there?

What did David get that his critics, including his wife, did not?

Of all God’s servants it could be argued that David was among the most humble.  He was a man, it seems, constantly given to self-examination.  He says in Psalm 26:2 “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart…” He knew that he, and the children of Israel, were altogether unworthy of that relationship. So when God showed His favor by blessing his people so richly, and symbolically allowing His presence, through the symbol of the Ark, a type of His throne, His mercy seat,  to be brought back among them, David was so overwhelmed with joy for the occasion that he couldn’t help but jump and dance for joy. He couldn’t help but celebrate.

Isn’t that really what the meaning of the Passover is for us? Isn’t that where God really wants our focus in this season? 

Our human nature tends to pull us toward a focus on ourselves. After all, the god of this world is always broadcasting. The message he broadcasts is either one of pride and self-dependence or, conversely, of despondency and depression.

It’s easy for us as Christians living in this world to let these attitudes seep into our hearts.   We either fall into an “I’m okay, you’re okay mentality” or, we get stuck in the mud and dirt of our weaknesses, our failures, our sin, letting them imprison and define us.  We lose our focus on who He is and who we are in Him.  That’s where our enemy wants us to be.  He wants us to remain in denial or defeat and forget the joy that has been set before us.

One of my favorite passages, Hebrews 12:2  instructs us to look “unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

“…for the joy that was set before Him endured…”  As terrible as that night was for Jesus, what kept Him focused, what gave Him strength to endure, was the tremendous joy that would be realized by the fulfillment of the Father’s purpose for Him.  Mankind would be freed from bondage. 

A focus on our sin and weakness definitely does have a place in this season. We examine ourselves yearly, prior to the Passover, and hopefully throughout the year, to re-establish the fact in our hearts that we are unworthy, that even at our best state, we fall immeasurably short of His standard.  Of ourselves there is no reason that God would ever enter into a relationship with us. We need His sacrifice to cover us. We are dependent on His mercy.

But then, having remembered our dependence on Him, we approach the reaffirming of our Covenant with Him, the taking in of the bread and wine, much as David approached the returning of the Ark to Israel, or with the focus that Jesus had on the glorious outcome of those terrible events that night.  We rejoice in the fact that God, in His mercy, has given us access to Him through the blood of His Son.  We, who were far off are made near by the blood of Jesus.  It’s an awesome, joyful thing! We are commemorating, yes, celebrating that God once again dwells among His people.
 

No, not as did the Corinthian church whom Paul rebuked for the manner in which they approached the Passover. They used the night as an excuse to satisfy their appetites.  They were joyful all right, but it was all about them, it wasn’t about what He had done for them.  They were not discerning the Lord’s body, and, as a result, taking the bread and the wine in an unworthy manner.  Their error wasn’t in the rejoicing, it was in the focus.

The truth is, if you and I are sitting at the Passover service, holding the bread and the wine, still trying to solemnly determine whether we are worthy to take it, we have missed the point. While a period of time spent in recognition of sin and the examination of sin has an important role in this season, it's role is in the period of time leading up to that night, not the night itself. God doesn’t want us to come to the service focused on ourselves.  The purpose of recognizing our sin is that we might be all the more joyful for who we are in Him.  This season is given to us to point our attention to Him. It’s about the new nature He has given us.  Our focus that night is to be on Him, not on ourselves.  

If we really come to that night  with a heart full of thankfulness for the relationship our Lord has made possible for His people, like David, we might just be tempted to break out in a little dance, perhaps not for real, but definitely in our hearts.  I, for one, can’t think of any greater reason to party….errr…rejoice with exceeding joy, can you?



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"I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." Psalms 119:15 - 16