We have been consecutively reading a chapter from the book of
Exodus in each Lord’s Day afternoon worship service at CRBC. Last Sunday we read Exodus 12, the record of
the establishment of the Passover. It was particularly meaningful to hear that
chapter given that we also participated in the Lord’s Supper, as is our usual
practice, during that afternoon service.
I was especially struck by that part of the reading which might
be called “the fencing” of the Passover table:
Exodus 12:43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the
ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44 But every man's servant that is bought
for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth
ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone
thereof. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall
keep it. 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let
all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he
shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat
thereof.
The “stranger” was
forbidden from partaking of the meal, until and unless he had submitted to the
ordinance of circumcision.
This made me consider
points of continuity with the Lord’s Supper in the New Covenant. Paul sets the proper context for the
observance of the Lord’s Supper when he says, “when ye come together in the church”
(1 Corinthians 11:18). It is limited to those who are part of the visible
church. The church is necessarily
overseen by its officers. As “strangers”
were excluded from the Passover, so non-Christians are excluded from the Lord’s
Supper. The litmus test for participation in the Passover was submission to the
ordinance of circumcision, the outward and visible sign of the covenant in the
Old Testament. The litmus test for
participation in the Lord’s Supper is submission to baptism, the outward and visible
sign of the covenant in the New Testament. See Colossians 2:11-12 where baptism
is described as “the circumcision made without hands.”
The New Covenant
table is “fenced” as was the Old Covenant table.
JTR
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