Passover Supper

Matthew 26:17

. . .  Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

David wrote:

Why are Religious holidays are not to be observed?
Why is it wrongly called the Lord's supper?
What is wrong with Angel decorations?
you need to explain more...
Thanks
David

 

Dear David,
God Bless you, and thank you for writing. Let's look at a few Scriptures for the answers.

Is The Last Supper Really The Passover Christ Shared With His Disciples?

Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Col 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Col 2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;

Col 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men.

Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Colossians is one of the seven Epistles written by Paul while in Prison for the Gentiles and they contain The Mystery Truth of The One Body which Christ Jesus is The Head.

Shadow

The Greek word so translated is, skia and occurs seven times in the New Testament.

Matt. 4:16 The region and shadow of death.

Mark 4:32 Lodge under the shadow of it.

Luke 1:79 In the shadow of death.

Acts 5:15 The shadow of Peter passing by.

Col. 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come.

Heb. 8:5 Example and shadow of heavenly things.

Heb. 10:1 The law having a shadow of good things to come.

Now let's look at Colossians 2:17:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the Body is of Christ (Col. 2:16-17).

While the Epistle to the Hebrews does not teach The Truth of The Mystery, it does lead the believer on from the rudiments of the faith to the reality found only in Christ and speaks of the observances imposed under the law, as shadows of heavenly things and of good things to come. If this is God's will for Hebrews, who had been under the law, how much more must it be so for Gentile members of The Body of Christ, who were never under the law? While Colossians 2:17 contrasts the shadow with The Body, there is no explicit reference to the title of The One Body here, as meaning The Church of that name. Shadow and body here are placed over against one another. For example, patterns and images are placed over against shadow in Hebrews. The reason for the altered term may be discovered in the nature of the things compared. In Hebrews, there is a fulfillment of what had been adumbrated in the law, but in Colossians, we have already been told that The Mystery had been hidden from ages and generations (Col. 1:26), and had formed no part of the typical teaching of Moses. It is a happy coincidence that The Body can be used both of the opposite of shadow and of the new constitution of The Church. Dean Alford, a member of the Church of England, wrote:

We may observe that if the ordinance of the Sabbath had been, in any form, of lasting obligation to the Christian Church, it would have been quite impossible for the Apostle to have spoken thus. The fact of an obligatory rest of one day, whether the seventh or the first (our italics), would have been directly in the teeth of his assertion here.

Much has been written by zealous teachers, that would put the believer into bondage, and exalt mere self-denial into a positive grace. Colossians 2 warns against the mere neglecting of the body (Col. 2:23). While much emphasis is laid upon the observance of The Lord's Day as a Sabbath, one seldom comes across a positive exposition of the words, The living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. We are complete in Him; let us not in any sense step down from our high calling. Of the Galatians, Paul wrote I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain -- and that because they had turned again to weak and beggarly elements, and observed days, and months, and times, and years (Gal. 4:9-11). The only religion ever given by God was done away at the cross. We have something infinitely greater than religion, and we have the substance as opposed to the shadow, For The Body is of Christ. To now add more "holy days" is to add more religion and confusion, to miss the mark (sin), to ignore what God has said, and refuse to acknowledge The Truth, which is for today that those things which were shadows are past and we are called to the reality of The Church which is finished in Christ Jesus Who alone is Head.

Let us turn to the Scriptures, where we first read of this institution of the "Lord's Supper. When was this ordinance instituted? Matthew 26:26-30 supplies the information:

"And as they were eating (i.e., the Passover, see Matt. 26:17 and Matt. 26:19), Jesus took bread (i.e., a Passover loaf of unleavened bread), and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the Disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body. And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's Kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives."

So the "Lord's Supper" is actually the Passover, and we note that we find mention of the "Lord's Supper" in those Scriptures written before the beginning of this dispensation, but not even a hint of it afterward because it also is part of God calling His people Israel but not the new dispensation of The Church which is His Body whose citizenship is in heaven.

We hope this helps,
The Believers

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