Sermon Guide: Exodus 12:5-11 "Eating The Lamb"

Key Passages

Exodus 12:5–11 ESV

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.

1 Corinthians 10:16–18 ESV

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Sermon Overview

This sermon argues that the Passover meal in Exodus 12 was not merely about the lamb’s death, but about restored fellowship with God, as Israel ate in his presence because judgment had been dealt with through substitution; that meal functioned as proclamation (confessing past deliverance, present identity, and future hope), participation (real communion with God and one another), and presence (safely eating before God without fear). Jesus fulfills and transforms this meal in the Lord’s Supper, where the church likewise proclaims Christ’s death and return, truly participates in his saving benefits by faith, and communes with Christ who is really present by the Spirit. Because the cross has decisively ended hostilities between God and his people, the Lord’s Table becomes a present outpost of Eden and a foretaste of the coming feast in the new creation, where God’s redeemed people will dwell and eat with him forever.

Sermon Structure

#1 Proclamation

• Past

• Present

• Future

#2 Participation/Communion

• Communion with God

• “In remembrance of me”

• Communion with One Another

#3 Presence

• Eating and safety

• Reformation history of the doctrine of the presence of Christ at the Supper

• Psalm 23

Questions for Discussion & Reflection

1. How would you define the idea of “communion” or “communing”?

   
   

2. How do the meals of the Passovers and the Lord’s Supper both help participants commune (or have fellowship with) one another?

   
   

3. Sometimes a weekly routine can become just that: routine. How can we make the most of the Lord’s Supper each week, and avoid letting it become rote or monotonous?

   
   

Leader’s Note: If your group has lingering questions about the Lord’s Supper, please offer to take note of them and send them to the Elders! We’re happy to help.