Exodus 12 gives instructions regarding the first observance of the Passover prior to God working the tenth and final plague on Egypt when God smote every firstborn except those who were passed over because they observed the feast. When Israel came into the promised land, the Passover was to be kept commemorating God’s power and plan to deliver His people from bondage (Ex. 12:25).

The Passover foreshadowed the cross of Christ by which God redeems mankind from the bondage of sin. Jesus, in fulfilling the law of Moses, celebrated the Passover (Lk. 22:15). During Passover time, He inaugurated the Lord’s supper (Luke 22:15-20). He then was sacrificed on the cross for our sins (Lk. 23:33). The New Testament identifies Jesus as the Passover lamb to which the Old Testament pointed (1 Cor. 5:7; Jn. 1:29, 36; Rev. 5:6). Just as the Passover lamb was to have none of its bones broken, so also Jesus died on the cross before the soldiers came to break His bones (Ex. 12:46; Jn. 19:32-36).

Since the Passover occurred during the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread, it is obvious that Jesus used unleavened bread for the supper He inaugurated to commemorate His body (Ex. 12:8, 15; Mt. 26:26; 1 Cor. 11:23). Not only was the bread unleavened, but no leaven was in their houses during this week. The Jews were to remove all leaven from their dwellings in preparation for the Passover (Ex. 13:7). That the Jews applied this commandment to beverages as well as bread is clear from the Mishnah: “These also must be removed at Passover: Babylonian porridge, Median beer, Edomite vinegar, and Egyptian barley-beer” (Pesachim, 3.1). Thus, the “fruit of the vine” was not fermented (for then it would have contained leaven); it was what we would call unfermented grape juice in the cup that Jesus used to memorialize His blood of the New Covenant shed for the remission of sins (Mt. 26:27-29; Mk. 14:23-25; Lk. 22:17, 18, 20).

For generations, followers of God remembered how God saved the firstborn from the final plague on Egypt and fulfilled His promise to bring them into the promised land. Today, followers of God remember how God saved us through giving His only Son to die to bring us to heaven. God fulfilled His promise of His suffering servant bearing the sins of many (Isa. 53:12). The Lord’s Supper is commemorative of Christ’s death (1 Cor. 11:26). Jesus commanded we observe this memorial feast in remembrance of Him (Lk. 22:19).

Memorials are important. This memorial is of utmost importance lest we forget the price that was paid for us (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19). Spiritual blindness results from forgetting what God has done to remove our sins (2 Pet. 1:9). If we are not thankful for what God has done and refuse to glorify Him, we are on our way to serious wickedness (Rom. 1:21). Christians follow the command to remember Jesus Christ by coming together to break the memorial bread on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). As often as we do this, we remember Him (1 Cor. 11:24-26). We should not be moved to observing the Lord’s Supper less often. We need continual reminders. We need to continue steadfastly in teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers lest we forget (Acts 2:42). Let us come together on the first day of the week to remember Him.

When the Israelites—who had witnessed ten great plagues God had wrought in Egypt—were boxed in between the Egyptian army who pursued them and the Red Sea, they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness’” (Ex. 14:11, 12). The reply from their God-approved leader was, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Ex. 14:13, 14). God’s deliverance through the Red Sea is one of many occasions in the Scriptures where God gives His people victory if they will but stand their ground. Too often His people failed to receive His wonderful gifts because they fled instead of faithfully standing by His side.

Nehemiah prepared those who were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem to stand their ground when the enemies of God attacked; he positioned armed men with their families at low points in the wall (Neh. 4:13). As the God-approved leader in that day, his words are similar to what Moses had said centuries earlier. He encouraged God’s people, saying, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah then reminded them of the key for their success if they would stand and fight, “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us” (Neh. 4:20).

God’s people are not successful because they are so strong in their own abilities; they are strong because their God fights for them. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Consider the inspired words of the apostle Paul regarding our need to trust in the Lord for strength and victory today in the Christian age:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-16.)

Let us stand our ground on the word of God and trust in the power of our God to fight for us!

Jesus reserved His most severe reprimands for the scribes and Pharisees, who were ostensibly pious but in actuality promoted man-made tradition over the vital commands of God’s word. A prime example of this is His censure of their tradition of Corban—declaring one’s possessions as divine property—whereby they would attempt to exploit a loophole to avoid providing for their aging parents only to later find a way to redeem their possessions. Jesus explained, “For God commanded, saying, “Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God“—then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:4-6). The command to honor one’s parents is explicit in the law of Moses (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). It is also repeated in the New Testament of Jesus Christ: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise, ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth’” (Ephesians 6:1-3).

Honor includes financial support for an aging parent. This is evident from 1 Timothy 5, where the word honor includes not only respect, but also support. While the church is to honor widows indeed (those who are bereft of all family), the responsibility falls on the family first to provide for a widow in accordance with God’s principle of honoring your father and mother. Paul explains, “But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God” (1 Timothy 5:4). A grown child is repaying their parents by caring for them in their old age because their parents cared for them when they were young.

The death penalty was prescribed by the law of Moses for those who cursed their parents (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9). Jesus quotes these passages in His rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees. Additionally, Proverbs 23:22 instructs, “Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.” The final years of life with the decline of health are called “evil days” in Ecclesiastes 12:1. They are evil not in an ethical sense, but in the sense of suffering, injury, and pain.

To appear holy before those who don’t know us well is one thing; to obey the commands of God when it is difficult and only our family sees it is another thing. How we regard our parents reveals a lot about our attitude toward God (cf. Romans 1:30; 1 Timothy 1:9; 2 Timothy 3:2). Is it any wonder that contempt for parents and disregard for God’s word go hand in hand?