THE FIRST DAY OF THE PASSOVER

It was now Thursday, the first day of Unleavened bread. Every year, the people of Israel celebrate the Passover feast. They commemorated the event when God led them out of slavery in Egypt through Moses' leadership. It was the night when God told Moses to put the blood of a sacrificed animal on their doorpost so that the angel of death would not enter their homes and kill their firstborn son. All the Egyptians' firstborn sons died that night, and when Pharoah and the Egyptians had enough, they let the Israelites go immediately. The Israelites were so hurried that they didn't have enough time to put leaven in their bread. Thus through this event, the Jews began not to eat bread without leaven during the Passover feast. The Passover came from when the angel of death passed over their homes when the angel of death saw the animal's blood on their doorposts (Exodus 11-12). The Passover feast lasted for seven days in the Jewish calendar (Exodus 12:15), but it is equivalent to eight days in our current calendar system.

Many Jews from different parts of the world would come to Jerusalem during this time of feast to bring their sacrifices to the temple. And on Thursday, the first day of the Passover feast, many people were busy looking for places where they could celebrate their first Unleavened bread meal. Jesus already prearranged the place where they were going to celebrate their first day of the Passover feast (Mark 14:12-17). And the disciples had to sacrifice the animal in the afternoon around 3 pm and collect the sacrificed meat so they could eat it at six that evening. When they gathered at six pm to celebrate the first night of the Passover meal, Jesus arranged the sitting of the disciples. They always sat in an oblong shape with a small table. They normally sat on the floor with a cushion, leaning on their left and using their right hand to get food (It is completely different from the Da Vinci painting of the last supper). Jesus put Judas Iscariot on His left and John on His right (John 13:21-25). The left position was normally reserved for a special guest, and we will discuss this more in next week's devotion.

This was going to be Jesus' last meal with His disciples. After three years of being with them, Jesus was ready to fulfill His ultimate mission to become the sacrifice for our sins.

Ask yourself these questions: What is the significance of the Unleavened bread and the Passover? What was the ultimate mission of my Lord Jesus? Can I be forgiven apart from the death of Jesus Christ?

Write down all the worries you are facing today and lift them up to God.

Prayer:

Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die for my sin. Lord Jesus, thank you for your faithfulness in fulfilling the will of the Father in sacrificing your life for me so that I can be forgiven. Thank you for saving me. In your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.