LESSON 42
FOOT WASHING
AND
THE LORD’S PASSOVER
1. Are there certain ordinances that we should observe?
1 Corinthians 11: 1, 2
2. What new ordinance did Jesus institute when He was on earth?
John 13: 4, 5
3. What indicates that this new ordinance has a spiritual significance?
John 13: 7, 8, 12
4. Why did Jesus set us this example?
John 13: 13-17
5. What is the meaning of this ordinance?
John 13:16, 17; 1 Peter 5: 5; 1 Timothy 5:10
6. What ordinance did Paul receive from the Lord and pass on to the church?
1 Corinthians 11: 1, 2, 23-26
7. When was this first instituted?
1 Corinthians 11: 23; Luke 22: 7, 8, 14-20
8. Did Jesus call this the Lord’s Supper or the Passover?
Luke 22: 8, 15
9. How often was the Jewish Passover celebrated?
Exodus 13:10
10. When was it celebrated?
Deuteronomy 16: 6; Exodus 12: 6
Note: The Passover lamb was killed “In the evening” or as the marginal reading renders it “between the two evenings”. According to Jewish
reckoning “Between the two evenings” is from 12 o’ clock noon until nightfall. (See Jewish Encyclopaedia Volume 9. Page 553 Art. “Passover) Bible times was reckoned on the basis of four watches” in the night (Matthew 14: 25) and twelve hours in the day (John 11: 9). The first hour of the day would correspond to our 6 o’clock in the morning (Matthew20: 3-6) Jesus died the ninth hour of the day (Matthew 27: 45, 46) which is 3,00p.m our time and was also the time of the day that the Passover lamb was slain.
11. Who now is our Passover Lamb?
1 Corinthians 5: 7
12. What is the Lord’s Passover (Lord’s Supper) a memorial of?
1 Corinthians 11:26
13. How often should it be observed?
Exodus 13: 10; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
Note: The word “often” as used here means a yearly observance as the high priest went “often” into the most holy place (Hebrew 9: 24-26) The celebration of any person’s birthday or great event is kept yearly at the proper time. So we should with Christ’s death, otherwise it loses its meaning.
14. At what time of the day should it be observed?
Matthew 26: 20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23
The reason the New Testament Passover is called the Lord’s Supper is because it was observed at supper time. It is not the Lord’s breakfast or the Lord’s dinner as some people observe it in the morning etc.
15. On what night in relation to the Jewish Passover did the Lord institute the Lord’s Supper?
1 Corinthians 11: 23
Note: Bible evidence is that Jesus was betrayed the night BEFORE the Passover Lamb was slain. The Jews had not yet eaten the Passover Lamb (John 18: 28) when Jesus was to be tried and condemned to die.
But Jesus had already eaten the Passover Supper with the disciples. So then, since Paul say’s that we are to observe this ordinance “the same night that Jesus was betrayed” the proper time to keep it would
be at the beginning of the 14th Nisan (Abib) which is after sunset of the 13th. The Jewish religious year began in the Spring, the first
month Nisan (Abib) corresponds to our later part of March or in some cases the first part of April.
The Jewish months were regulated by the moon (lunar months) the first months beginning after the New Moon following the Vernal Equinox [see the Jewish Encyclopaedia; art. “Calendar”]. So the way to determine the time to observe the Lord’s Supper is to locate the first new moon after the Vernal Equinox, the day following would be the first day of Nisan; the 13th day AFTER the sunset would be the proper time for the Lord’s Supper.
Church History proves that the early Christians continued to observe the Lord’s Supper once a year and was reckoned by the time the Jews had their Passover (See Neander’s Church History Vol.1, p.4113) It was the Apostate church that introduced the idea of having it more often and commercializing it. Many Protestants are following the traditions of the church, but God wants us to be guided by the word of the Lord only.
