Year in the Bible Daily Reading:
Exodus 10-12; Ephesians 2 Listen to Today's Reading
Exodus 12:21-28
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. You shall observe this as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this observance mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. Exodus 12:21-28 (NRSVUE)
These are the instructions that Moses gives to the Hebrew people on how to prepare for the passover. This is the last of the ten plagues, and while we know the outcome as people who have the privilege to know the full story afterwards, we are dropping into the middle of this story and to wonder, “Will this really happen?”
These instructions and events can be understood as a ritual or liturgy that tells and narrates the act of God that is about to take place. That is, this ritual both tells about the act of God that will ultimately liberate the Hebrew people from bondage and slavery and is a ritual that will remain to retell and reenact the work that God has done.
It seems much of the Old Testament readings up to this point in our Year in the Bible journey, throughout Genesis and now into Exodus, have been stories that have repeated both what HAS happened and what WILL happen to God’s people. Good ritual, liturgy, and even good stories have a way of reminding us of where we came but also point to where we hope to go. They are both about the collective memory of who we are, who God is, and where we came from and paint a picture of a vision of future hope often heard in the words and promises of God and to God’s people.
For Christian hearers, this Passover story doesn’t remain in isolation but colors our understanding of the saving work of Jesus most often seen in the Last Supper, or communion.
That in and through communion, we give thanks and “re-member” the way of Jesus. We are reminded of the saving work of God, of who we are, and also of the promise that God has for us—a God who has passed over us, a God who has brought us out of Egypt and towards the promised land.
Questions for Reflection:
- Where do you see yourself and God in the exodus story?
- How does ritual or worship play a role in how you remember and live into the hope and promises of God?
Prayer:
God of Memory and Hope,
Remember us. Redeem us. Renew us. Give us with your grace and send us out into this world attuned to your work of hope.
Amen.
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