Refuge in the Blood

Exodus 12:1-14 When the disciples gathered in the Upper Room on this night two thousand years ago, they were no different than their fellow Jews all over the world—all of them remembered that they had been slaves and they heard the story of how the LORD graciously raised up a servant who set them free. 

They heard the story of how God struck down their enemies and how he protected his own people through the shedding of blood so that all those who took refuge under that blood were saved from God’s wrath and judgment and death.

They rejoiced that they served a living God who graciously came to save his people and they ate the meal that reminded them of all that God had done for them.

But there was an important difference for the Jewish disciples who gathered in the Upper room in the presence of Jesus. 

No longer would the story of God’s gracious deliverance be something in the past, no longer would it apply only to the Jews, but in Jesus Christ God had raised up not only a servant, but gave a Son, who would set the world free from sin and death by his own death on the cross with the promise that everyone who took refuge in his blood would be saved.  And he fed them with a new meal from the fruits of this new covenant, the same body and blood sacrificed on the cross given under bread and wine as a refuge from sins and death.   

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

            What a blessing it must have been for the children of Israel to have God’s chosen servant stand in their midst—to know that God heard their cries and had raised up a deliverer to set them free from slavery. 

What a comfort to know that the Lord, their Savior God was with this man in a mighty way to execute God’s judgment on their enemies and set them free.

They had seen the truth of God’s promises in mighty and powerful ways in the weeks before-- as plague after plague fell upon their enemies.  And now God was about to execute the last, most terrible plague of all:  the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt who would not heed the Lord’s words of warning.  And yet the Lord would save his people as they took refuge under the blood of a lamb.

Everyone among them knew that this would be God’s work alone, that they were helpless to defeat their own enemies, helpless to set themselves free—but that victory and freedom would come as a gift from their gracious God.

So important was this understanding (that their life with God was by his grace and power alone) that their calendar would begin each year with calling these events to mind and sharing the meal that made God’s gracious salvation a present reality again and again.

So it is for us who gather here tonight.  We too tell the story of slavery to masters infinitely more powerful than Egyptians, the terrible masters of sin and death and the devil. 

We too know our helplessness in the face of these enemies and we rejoice with God’s ancient people that our Savior God hears the cries of his people and has shown his mercy by coming to our rescue. 

We too know that we have been set free by God’s grace and the meal we share tonight makes that a present reality as we partake of the sinless Lamb in whose blood we take refuge from our enemies of sin, death, and the power of the devil.

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.

            The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  Our life with God comes in no other way than the shedding of blood and that is the way it has always been.

Adam and Eve were restored to God by the shedding of blood.  Abel offered up an acceptable sacrifice by shedding the blood of the best of his flock.  Even before there was a tabernacle or temple, the patriarchs worshiped God by shedding the blood of innocent lambs who had committed no sin right up until this night when their descendants would be delivered from slavery in Egypt.

These sacrifices took place: so that the people of God never forgot their sin--so that the people of God ever forgot the Promise of a Savior who would shed his blood as the payment price to set people free from their sins.

And so it went in the worship life of the people of God for countless generations, right up until the night that Jesus and disciples gathered in the Upper Room to celebrate this same meal-- and tell this same gracious story of the destruction of enemies and the end of slavery. 

But this night when Jesus and the disciples gathered together was different.  It was the end of the old and the beginning of the new because of Jesus:  the One who John said was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Every lamb that had been slain before, every sacrifice that had been made before found its meaning and value and purpose and fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the perfect substitute that God himself had chosen to bear the sins of the world. 

No other sacrifice would ever need to be made, no other blood would ever need to be shed, for his blood would give shelter to all who took refuge in it.

 “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.

            Throughout the land of Egypt that night, the blood a lamb without blemish was painted on the door posts and lintels in such a way that the brushstrokes resembled a cross. 

As the angel of death began to strike down the firstborn of Egypt, all of those who believed the words of d’s servant and took refuge under the blood of the lamb were spared-- and every one of the firstborn who did not take refuge under the blood died. 

All of those whom God threatened to punish were struck down because they were not found under the blood of the lamb.  That same lamb fed all the people who found refuge under his blood as a real token that they were part of the people who were saved.

So it was on the night when our Lord gathered in the upper room to institute the Sacrament of the Altar and so it is this night when we gather here to receive the meal of our Lord’s body and blood.

From sin and death we take refuge under the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

There is not the smallest part of our Lord’s life that he did not offer upon the cross-- and pour out into death-- and place into our hands and mouth tonight.  He withheld nothing from us

That same sacrifice—offered up outside the walls of Jerusalem—he places into our hands and mouths tonight to assure us that we are a part of those who are protected by his sacrifice from sin and death—and provided for in our journey to the promised land of heaven.

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. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

            The sacrifice of the unblemished lambs and the shedding of their blood meant one thing for the children of Israel:  freedom!  No longer would they live and die in slavery.  No longer would their children have no hope and no future.  No longer would they be subject to a master who cared only for their destruction. 

They were the children of God who saved them and protected them and delivered them by the shedding of blood-- and they were to eat the fruit of that saving work in the flesh of the lamb who died to protect them from the wrath of God and the angel of death.

Everything about the meal that night spoke of the freedom that was at hand—the bread without yeast, their dress for travel, and the complete consumption of the meal.  All of this a sign that, set free from slavery, they would go forth in that moment as God’s redeemed people, headed to the Promised Land, protected and provided for by their same Savior God.

So it is for us here tonight.  Jesus Christ was that lamb without blemish who was sacrificed for us.  His shed blood on the cross is painted upon us as we are marked with the cross in Holy Baptism and buried and raised with Christ.  And from that night to this very moment, the wrath of God passes over all of those take refuge in that sacrifice.

That lamb offered upon the cross, whose blood was shed, God still provides as a meal for his pilgrim people.  We are free!  We are forgiven!  But we are not yet home and so we eat this meal knowing that we must leave this place and travel through the wilderness of this world to the Promised Land. 

As we take refuge in the blood of the Lamb, we have God’s own promise that he will protect us and provide for us just as he always has and so that we might strengthened in this faith he calls upon us to gather together --and remember what he has done for us-- and tell the story of his saving love-- and partake of the flesh and blood that is our refuge.  Amen.