Pray: To open your time together.
Read: Matt 26:26-27; 1 Cor 11:17-34 (also 27-34 in the Message Translation)
The Big Idea: Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover promise from God to His people – “Trust me, faithfully follow my instructions, and I will deliver you from all evil.” At the last supper, Jesus is the lamb whose blood delivers us from death and evil.
Paul, reflecting on Jesus at the last supper, calls the early church in Corinth to stop treating communion with so little regard as to use it as a dinner party that only the best are invited to join. Instead, be humbled and come to the meal with holy awe at what God has done for us.
And in that spirit, be reverent and courteous to one another when you come together to the Lord’s Table (v33) for communion is a spiritual meal – a love feast (v34).
Questions for your group:
- Have you ever considered the link between the Passover and the Last Supper? If not, re-read both passages as a group (Exodus 12 & Matthew 26) and consider the ways the Passover points to Jesus and the ways Jesus fulfills the Passover promise.
- How do you experience communion? Is it meaningful? Is it routine?
- Read Paul’s instructions to the early church in 1 Corinthians 11 and consider how these instructions can inform your own experience with communion.
Pray: Pause in silence for a few minutes and reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for you on the cross, the true lamb slain for all people to overcome death and evil. Ask God to give you a holy awe for His love and grace toward you. Ask God what ways you can live in light of the cross this week.