“The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. ‘An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.’” (Exodus 12:47-49 NIV84)

We 21st-century Christians might be a bit offended that the Lord would restrict participation to such a wonderful feast. We Western Christians have a tendency to make everything about us. As soon as we sense a restriction, we want to flex our “rights” muscle. We may be found saying, “I have a right to decide that for myself! Nobody has the right to restrict my involvement, but me.” I would add one exception: what if the restrictor is God Himself?! Isn’t the Passover His festival. Doesn’t the Redeemer have a right to create the rules around the remembrance of what He has done. The answer is, of course He does.

God specifically declared that the Passover was a celebration that only the faithful were welcome to participate in. It didn’t matter if you were a Jew or a Gentile, both had to be circumcised into the faith. Only then were they welcome to participate in the Passover celebration. I think by carefully looking at the way Jesus and the Apostle Paul defined the Lord’s Supper, you would find a similar restriction. The Lord’s Supper, like the Passover, is a celebration of the faithful: like-minded believers gather to celebrate their redemption through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

May we be open to hear, understand, and put into practice any and all restrictions God has placed upon our Christian lives.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church