The Lord’s Supper

Didn’t Jeff Parker do a great job on Sunday?

We’re talking about the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples. You are familiar with it. Aren’t you familiar with important meals? What are some of the meaningful meals in your life? (holiday, celebration, tradition, date night?)

Why do you think meals have such power to shape memory and identity?

God knew that mealtimes could be very powerful in our lives. So, he associates specific meals with specific meaningful ways he engages with us. These discussion questions are about the things we see in the parallels of The Lord’s Supper and Passover.

God’s Deliverance

Exodus 12:1–14 (NLT)
The First Passover

While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2 “From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. 4 If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat. 5 The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects. 

6 “Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. 8 That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire. 10 Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning. 

11 “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. 

14 “This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.

Mark 14:12 (NLT)
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

How does the original Passover meal point to God’s act of deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and how does the Lord’s Supper point to Jesus delivering us from slavery to sin?

The Lamb and the Blood

Exodus 12:5–7 (NLT)
The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects. 
6 “Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal.

John 1:29 (NLT)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)
Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

In what ways does Jesus fulfill the role of the spotless Passover lamb?

Exodus 12:13 (NLT)
But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Mark 14:24 (NLT)
And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.

The blood of the lamb marked Israel’s homes for protection from judgment. How does the blood of Jesus, remembered in the cup, mark and protect us today?

A Memorial Meal

5. Read Exodus 12:14; Luke 22:19.

Exodus 12:14 (NLT)
“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.

Luke 22:19 (NLT)
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

Why do you think God commands His people to remember His works through meals rather than just words?

Unleavened Bread

Exodus 12:17–20 (NLT)
“Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation. 18 The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month. 19 During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These regulations apply both to the foreigners living among you and to the native-born Israelites. 20 During those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread made without yeast.”

Mark 14:22 (NLT)
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

1 Corinthians 5:6–8 (NLT)
Your boasting about this [the sin in their church] is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

What is the significance of unleavened bread in Passover, and how does Jesus connect this to His body at the Last Supper?

New Beginnings

Exodus 12:2 (NLT)
“From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

How does participating in the Lord’s Supper remind us that we are new creations in Christ?

Community

Exodus 12:3–4 (NLT)
Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. 4 If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat.

Acts 2:42, 46-47 (NLT)
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

What does it teach us about the importance of community that both Passover and the Lord’s Supper were meant to be shared?

Judgment and Salvation

Exodus 12:29–30 (NLT)
And that night at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died.

Romans 8:1 (NLT)
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Passover separated those under judgment from those under God’s covering. How does the Lord’s Supper remind us of both the seriousness of sin and the assurance of salvation?

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Exodus 12:26-27 (NLT)
Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’ ” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

Passover pointed Israel back to their salvation and forward to God’s promises. How does the Lord’s Supper do the same for us today?

Closing (Prayer Focus)

  • Thank God for the gift of salvation through the Lamb who was slain.
  • Ask Him to help you live as His covenant people, remembering Christ’s sacrifice and proclaiming His coming.
  • Pray for your group to experience deeper unity and joy when sharing communion.