"Passover by Email"
A student's dilemma: 4 The Greater Story
by James Coates
| From: | pmcbride@lpoolCU.org |
| To: | david@lpooluni.org |
| Subject: | Communion service reply |
Dear David
I am sorry that you found our service upsetting, and have read with great interest the document that you attached. In reply I have tried to take the events already described so clearly and accurately by Rabbi Simeon and see them in the light of a greater story. The greater story is the story of Salvation, not just of your people the Jews but all people.
The Greater Story
The story of the exodus is a picture of God and His work of salvation that He achieved through Jesus Christ. In Genesis 22:18 God promises Abraham that all nations will be blessed through his seed (a singular word). That seed, the child of the promise, is Jesus (Galatians 3).
Special Child
As we look at Jesus' life, the parallels with the life of Moses are striking - to say the least! As Moses was born into a "world of violence and opression", so Jesus was born, a descendant of Abraham, into a nation that was oppressed by the Roman Empire. Within a year of His birth King Herod had tried to have Him killed, circumstances similar to Moses childhood. Jesus, too, was a special child, announced by angels as the Messiah, worshipped by wise men as a king and growing up in a difficult and dangerous world.
More than a Man
Christians believe that Jesus was more than just a man. He was the Son of God. God Himself announced this at Jesus baptism: "This is my beloved Son with Him I am well pleased" ( Matthew 3:17). Jesus is the God who met Moses at the burning bush, now present and involved, the I AM. John puts it like this: "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us" (John 1:14).
For Freedom
Just like your people in Egypt, all men are slaves to sin (Romans 3:23), dominated by the evil regime they live under - yet unaware of how deadly it is.
Your Rabbi asks "How are we to be freed?" then refers to Moses as "the one whom God had chosen to lead us to freedom". But he also mentions how "short lived" that freedom was.
The New Testament teaches that Jesus had come to set not just His people free but the whole world free from the oppression of sin - forever.
Miracles of Moses and Miracles of Jesus
Like Moses, Jesus' ministry involved signs and wonders - this time not attacking the gods of Egypt, but systematically showing His authority over our world and the evil powers that rule it.
In Jesus first miracle (recorded in John) He turns water into wine, a blessing, whilst Moses turned water into blood, a curse.
Jesus next two miracles are miracles of healing. He heals both the nobleman's son and the invalid by the pool, quite the opposite of the sickness, a plague of boils, which came through Moses. In these miracles Jesus demonstrates His power over sickness.
Whilst Jesus' fourth miracle shows Him giving abundantly to the crowd in the feeding of the five thousand, Moses was taking away - with the plagues of frogs, flying insects and dying cattle.
Jesus uses his mastery of the elemants to walk on water and to calm a storm. Moses however brings destructive hail.
Jesus next miracle is to give sight to a blind man, bringing light and joy whereas we saw Moses calling down the plague of darkness.
The final sign recorded by John is the raising of Lazarus. Here Jesus brings life, whereas the final plague to hit Egypt is death, death of the first born.
Power over all things
We can see through John's account of Jesus that He had total power over all things. How He brought down and demolished the powers of darkness and displayed His own might, the might of the great I AM!
The plagues in Egypt culminated in the death of the first born son, but God had provided a way for those who trusted God to survive.
Substitute
Rabbi Simeon described so clearly the Passover. He explains the blood of a pure sacrifice as: "A way to avoid death was provided by God. This time the promise was not just to our people but to everyone who obeyed the word of God."
This is how, in your Passover, we see God showing us again the saving work of Jesus, the perfect lamb of God . Jesus a male, living amongst His people so they could testify to His perfect life. Jesus, who was taken and crucified, His blood smearing the upright and cross piece (so like a door lintel) of His cross. Jesus, who, if we trust in His substitutionary death, will save us.
Fulfilment & Celebration
Jesus truly is the fulfilment of the Passover. That's why, on the night He was betrayed, at the end of the Passover meal He took bread and wine and gave us a new meal to remember him. The bread shows us His humanity as we remember His body nailed to the cross. The wine shows us His deity as He died; His blood was shed, to take away our sin, the work of a perfect substitute. No wonder we celebrate the communion - it means so much to us!
Moses and his life and work are a mere shadow of what Jesus, God's son, accomplished on the day He died for us. Of course, Jesus did not remain dead but rose triumphantly to life three days later, proving His final victory over sin, death and hell.
Both Stories are True
As you can see, both stories are true, but the salvation story of Jesus has an eternal perspective - the offer of not just life, but eternal life!
Where do you stand, David?
Yours,
Peter
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