Throughout the season of Lent our daily devotions have been written by members of the Faith Lutheran community. Our theme this Lent is “Jesus Our Healer.” Today’s devotion comes from Karen Elsen.
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. Mark 14:12-16
These verses raise several questions. Which disciples were sent? What is the Festival of Unleavened Bread? Luke tells us that the two disciples were Peter and John, the same two who came to the empty tomb after Jesus’ crucifixion. The Festival of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day festival which follows a month-long cleansing of the house to rid it of all leaven (symbolizing sin). The first day of the festival is when the Passover meal is celebrated—the festival which commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. How appropriate all of this is.
Working as diligently as we can to rid ourselves of sin, we conclude that we are unable to do so. The unblemished lamb must still be sacrificed. We can only be cleansed of our sin by this blood.
“What the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:3-4)
Let us pray: Holy Jesus, thank you for taking on flesh to live among us. Thank you for your sacrificial blood by which we can finally stand before you freed from the slavery of sin. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
April 2, 2015 at 5:13 am |
Just as the Jews celebrated Passover, we celebrate the sacrament of Communion, partaking of the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. When Jesus, God’s son, who was made man, died for our sins on the cross, He graced us with salvation and everlasting life. Thanks be to God for saving us.