1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; 2that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. 5You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.
10It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, 11and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. 17You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
20When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” 21then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; 23and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. 24Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. 25It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”
Exodus 12:11 – "Passover"
The Passover was a meal that the Hebrew people ate on the evening before their departure from Egypt, where they had been in bondage for generations. The meal had both pragmatic and theological functions. It was a meal of preparation for the departure, eaten with "your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly" (Exod 12:11). Its theological function was to give thanks for what was about to take place, which was that the angel of death was about to pass over Egypt, slaying the firstborn of each household not marked with the blood of a spotless lamb (Exod 12:5-13), hence the name of the meal – the "Passover."
When Jesus ate the "Last Supper" with his disciples, it was actually a Passover meal. Jesus ascribed new meaning to its various elements as they ate it together. His new interpretation was not in contrast to the original meaning, however, but in fulfillment of it, for through the Messiah, the Lord was carrying out a New Exodus (Luke 9:31) - from the bondage of sin to eternal life. When Jesus broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, he said, "This is my body" (Matt 26:26). When they reached the point in the meal where the cup that symbolized the blood of the Covenant would be drunk, he held it up and said, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin” (Matt 26:28). Thus the elements of the meal did not change meaning, but object. Jesus Himself is now the lamb "who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). He also associated it with the future messianic banquet when he said, “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom” (Matt 26:29). And finally, while the Passover was originally supposed to be celebrated annually as a reminder of what God had done in the exodus event (cf. Exod 12:2-3; Num 9:1-2; Deut 6:20-23; 16:1), Jesus told his disciples that they should now celebrate it in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19) and his work on the cross, which was interpreted through the lens of the Passover (cf. John 19:31-36; Exod 12:10, 46). The Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, is actually the New Passover, recalling the New Exodus! RKH