Sacraments help you viscerally understand the gospel story.
Exodus 12 (NIV)
CONTEXT: God has subjected Pharoah and the Egyptians to nine of the ten plagues, and He's about to unleash the tenth: the Angel of Death striking down the first born of all who were not covered by the blood of a sacrificial lamb.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance.
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Moses later speaks to the people:
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 33: The Sacraments
We believe that our good God,
mindful of our crudeness and weakness,
has ordained sacraments for us
to seal his promises in us,
to pledge his good will and grace toward us,
and also to nourish and sustain our faith.
He has added these to the Word of the gospel
to represent better to our external senses
both what he enables us to understand by his Word
and what he does inwardly in our hearts,
confirming in us
the salvation he imparts to us.
For they are visible signs and seals
of something internal and invisible,
by means of which God works in us
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
So they are not empty and hollow signs
to fool and deceive us,
for their truth is Jesus Christ,
without whom they would be nothing.
Moreover,
we are satisfied with the number of sacraments
that Christ our Master has ordained for us.
There are only two:
the sacrament of baptism
and the Holy Supper of Jesus Christ.
Summary
Put yourself in the sandals of one of these Israelites. Certainly life has been miserable as a slave in Egypt, and it's only gotten worse lately as Moses has been demanding freedom for your people. You've seen the power of the LORD in all of the various terrible plagues that both mocked the gods of the Egyptians but also made them suffer. Yet even though you've heard of the LORD and His greatness, you really don't know much about Him.
Now you're being told to pack up all of your belongings to move out, and you're not even sure where you're going. On top of that it sounds like the biggest plague yet is about to be poured out, and if your family isn't protected, they'll be swept up in it as well.
All of this to say that that those ancient Israelites had good reason to be on edge that night that Moses relayed the LORD's commands. They needed more than just an uplifting sermon from Moses reminding them of God's covenant faithfulness. They needed more than words. They needed something tangible: a sign that they could see, touch and even taste. They needed a sacrament (the Word made visible).
But do you think that the sacrament the Lord provided here was comforting on that particular night? He had them slaughter their best lamb and then smear its blood all over the door frame. What kind of God were they following?
Dig Deeper
It's easy for us to see what's going on here in Exodus 12 as this first Passover is described. On this side of the gospel we can see how each of the elements involved paints a crude picture of who Jesus would be and what He would do. We can see how the blood of an innocent and perfect lamb protects those covered by it from the terrible but righteous wrath of our holy God.
God provided us with sacraments so that we can viscerally experience the Gospel. We see the cleansing power of the baptismal waters. We see the bread symbolizing the body of Christ being broken and the cup of wine poured out like Jesus' blood reminding us that in His sacrifice our sins are completely forgiven. Those experiences sink in far deeper than words.
Notice that these sacraments are given as a learning opportunity, certainly for you, but especially for our children. They're visible tools to be used to explain the gospel each time we participate in them.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD, who strikes down all who stands against Him, but passes over those covered in the blood of the Lamb;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for making His Word visible to you and pray that you will see the gospel more deeply each time you participate in them;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: John 12
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