Read Luke 22:19
Jesus reminded his disciples to “remember him” while having a meal to celebrate the Passover.
The Passover was an event that happened when the Hebrews were in slavery in Egypt and the Angel of Death was killing all the first borns of the Egyptian people. They were told by God to paint the blood of a lamb and eat a special meal so that the Angel of Death would “Passover” their home and not kill their first born. Yearly, they re-enacted that event to remember what God had done to save them.
Eating meals together was a very intimate experience for Hebrew families. They shared their food and their hearts with each other daily. Jesus was doing the same with his disciples.
Side note-remember to eat dinner with your family each night and share your intimate thoughts and feelings with them to encourage them daily.
Read Genesis 22:1-19
Love- the first time the word “Love” is written in the Bible. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son as a sign of his love for GOD. Love is an action, a sacrifice you make for someone else, not just a feeling.
The ram-was caught in a thicket, or “tree” and would replace Isaac as the sacrifice. Just like Jesus died on a tree as a sacrifice for our sins. Isaac was a young man and knew what a sacrifice was because his father Abraham was teaching him about God. Yet, Isaac willingly trusted his father and did not resist when he was bound and tied to the altar, similar to how Jesus yielded to be a sacrifice for us.
The journey to the place of sacrifice was three days, similar to the time Jesus died and went to hell and returned by the will of God. God again provided the sacrifice. This story is an exact foreshadowing of what Jesus would go through for us in the future.
Although Abraham was waiting a very long time for his son to be born, he did not withhold him from God and was willing to sacrifice to obey God and show his love for God.
Do you think Sarah knew what was going on? Did the servants even know? How about Isaac?
Jesus knew he was going to die his whole life and so did Mary. Imagine how hard that must have been to keep going knowing your destiny was to die for someone else’s sin!
Why did Jesus come on earth? To release us from slavery to sin and to proclaim that we would be saved by his sacrifice. Therefore, every week we meet together to share a meal and remember what Jesus has done for us.
Read John 3:16
God loves us so much that he was willing to sacrifice his only Son for our sake
God would not ask anything of us that he would not do himself
God loves us even more that he loves Jesus-who was blameless and yet he sacrificed him for us. Take time to remember this sacrifice and this act of true love and turn to God and love him back with your life.