Chinese New Year is a celebration that has many elements steeped tradition and pointing to deep meaning. It is difficult to gloss over these elements. As an Indian boy growing up in multicultural Malaysia, I loved the red packets of money I would get when I visited Chinese homes. When I married my darling Lee Yen, I was on the other side giving out red packets. There is one dinner that was very significant. The dinner on the eve of the Chinese New Year. Everyone in the family would try and come together to have this meal. We had great meats and vegetables before the house is cleaned one last time before midnight. This reminds me of another kind of significant meal. The Passover meal.
Mark 14:12-15
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”
The Passover meal is an important meal celebrated by the Jewish people to remember their deliverance from the Egyptians. This is a part of the Jewish history that reflects on God's great faithfulness to them through their ancestor Abraham. They had a great impact as they had their last supper in Egypt before they left for Canaan. Reflecting on this they seem to have had an impact on many nations since then. But everything about them still points back to the salvation of God that would come through them in Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 14 shows Jesus having the last supper before bringing deliverance to the whole world the following day.
Every step that Jesus took was significant and foretold in the Old Testament. Every little detail. The man with the pitcher, the master of the house with the upper room for the Passover, the betrayer and the rooster marking Peter's denials. Jesus suffered at the hands of the Jewish leaders who were determined to put Him to death. The next chapter will show more. But, are we convinced of the deliverance that Jesus is bringing? In the same way the Jewish people were delivered out of slavery in Egypt, we are being delivered from our sinful nature.
Father, let me continue to faithfully share your powerful deliverance for all mankind.
Comments
Post a Comment