No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it.
What does that mean?
Simply this: in order to partake of the Passover, you had to be consecrated, part of the Lord's elect, His chosen nation. Anyone who was not a part of the Lord's nation did not have the right--either in God's sight or in the sight of God's people--to engage in the celebration.
Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a society today in which churches regularly "water down" the Bible, Christ, and Christianity in order, so they say, to be "relevant"--in other words, to attract new parishioners who will, it is hoped, enlarge the church rosters, donate generously to church projects, and provide some semblance of legitimacy. Youth groups, even in many so-called conservative churches today, are little more than dating scenes with a few Bible verses, guitars, and "hallelujahs" thrown in. College ministries are, in many cases, pairing ministries, in which young men and women play a game of relational "musical chairs" until the odd man or woman out is forced to "live a life of chastity" as everyone else strolls off, arm in arm with his/her future spouse, into the sunset . . . and into a life of meaningless superchurch attendance, shallow faith, and a suburban pseudo-Christianity that looks an awful lot like the feckless materialism so endorsed by other, more pagan elements of our society.
It really is amazing to me that so many professing Christians in the United States fail to see the glaring inconsistencies of a religious culture that publishes a lot of books, music CD's, and even (it seems) special movies about Jesus but which also happily sends its children off to public schools, endorses a home life which forces the man to spend 8 or more hours a day away from his wife, and acquires every bit as many technological gadgets, entertainment devices, and other toys as its atheistic and/or pagan counterparts.
Worse, many of the very denizens of this church culture balk at basic ideas which are found in the Bible, such as the fact that sin is not only wrong but is not to be tolerated in those who would educate others in the way of Christ, the infallibility of scripture, and (yes, I know a lot of you will want to dispute me on this point) the premise that the Earth is, in fact, only 6000 years old. I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that scripture supports, vigorously, each of these points, and I suppose that at some point the time will come when I will devote several posts to each of them, but for now, I would simply like to emphasize that there is a very sharp dividing line between those who have unflinchingly given their hearts, bodies, and souls to Christ and those who merely use Christ's name to gain for themselves good social standing.
The Lord was very serious about who could participate in the Passover celebration, and is even more serious about who can celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus. I believe two scripture passages from the New Testament will serve to illustrate this point:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
1 Corinthians 11:23-32, emphases mine
It is important to note that Paul meant "died" when he said "fallen asleep"--this is corroborated by other passages in the New Testament which phrase death as "sleep" or "falling asleep."
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."
Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Acts 5:1-11
I understand that the second passage I quoted does not specifically refer to the celebration of what we in the United States call communion, but think about it for a moment: Ananias and Sapphira lived in a community in which everyone shared everything in common, and in which believers in Christ were routinely ostracized. Don't you think that in this environment, Ananias and Sapphira probably celebrated the Passover and Christ's Last Supper along with the other believers? I think so, and I think this is why their sin was all the more grievous--it was a betrayal not only of finances but of heart and soul and blood, a stab in the back to friends, comrades, and to the very God whose Son they had so willingly accepted as their Savior.
I am afraid that the professionalization of most of America's seminaries has led to the rise of aliens and strangers not only in the body of Christianity but within its very leadership. I would like to be able to say that most of us do not know who these aliens and strangers are, but the sad fact is that all too many of us are well aware. And out of concern for popularity or fear or simple lack of determination, we just don't want to confront them.
At this point, I'm sure some of you are reading this post and thinking, "This guy is proposing that we engage in a postmodern spiritual witch hunt."
No.
That is not how you "confront" a leader within your church circles whom you know is not a real partaker of the body and blood of Christ.
What I am instead urging is that you treat such people within your denomination or home church the same way that you would treat anyone else who is not a believer in Christ: Lead them there, through prayers, through the winsomeness of Christ inside of you, and through the truth of God's Word, articulated in the power of unconditional love.
It works very well for the hard-core cocaine or pornography addict, and it has just as much power with a man or woman pretending to be a Christian. I know because I was such a man, and I was constantly driven to my knees by people around me who exemplified Christ and worshipped Him. I know now that to be a part of the body of Christ is more than to recite a prayer, attend church regularly, or even read my Bible--it is, in essence, to be a member of something beyond "cause" or "body" or "self." Believers in Christ--real believers--know instinctually who their brethren are, both past and present. It is as Paul wrote so many centuries ago:
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:4-6
It follows, then, that those who are in the body of Christ have a bond with one another that goes beyond body and soul, and that each and every one of them would know, at least on a subconscious level, who is and is not a real Christian. (This verse, by the way, is not the only verse I can cite from the New Testament as either articulating or demonstrating this principle--for further information, I would encourage you to read the book of Acts and the Gospels of John and Luke.)
To those of you out there who are reading this post and are wondering, for whatever reason, if you are a real Christian or not, there is a very clear distinction between a "born again" (see John 3) believer in Christ and a non-believer who simply echoes the words and phrases of the Bible (and of the institutional church) without attaching any meaning or substance to them. It is my contention that anyone who is indeed a member of "the Lord's nation" as I phrased it at the beginning of this post already knows, even if only at a subconscious, instinctual level, who the real believers are . . . but we live in a world which has, for the most part, divested itself of any serious discussion of spiritual topics in relationship to religion in general (or Christianity in particular), so I would like to present a brief sequence of points at which you can see this divide between the Christian and the pseudo-Christian playing itself out:
1. Real Christians are holy.
I always heard, and from reputable as well as disreputable sources, that the word translated as "holy" in the Bible means "set apart," and this interpretation, I think, is borne out by the simple fact that in the Bible, anything that is holy is to be treated with great reverence and respect, over and above what one would do for objects that are common or ordinary. If a Christian is holy, then we must assume that Christians are (1) treated as if they are holy, even at an unconscious level, by those around them and (2) that they act, speak, think, and make decisions in ways that are different than those of their non-believing friends, relatives, or coworkers.
This second part is very important, because it is not a conscious or affected approach to life. Real Christians act, speak, think, and make decisions differently without even noticing, at times, that they are doing so--it is simply part of who they are.
2. Real Christians evangelize.
I understand that when most of you hear the word "evangelize," you think of those people who stand on street corners or who go door to door and pass out pamphlets--but this is not the essence of evangelism as it is presented in the Bible. You see, those who are part of the Lord's nation focus first on evangelizing their families.
1 Timothy 3:4-5, in the context of church leadership, articulates this principle very well:
He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)
In other words, what Paul was implying was that all Christians, regardless of whether or not they were bishops, deacons, elders, or simple laity, had, as first priority, the winning of their families to Christ. This will not be news to those of you who actually received Christ as your Lord and Savior and gave freely of your hearts, bodies, and souls to Him--after all, who were the first people you came to with your testimony? They were, of course, your family and closest friends.
Again, this is not a deliberate activity--it is, instead, an unconscious one. The first thing that a new believer with a broken family does is try to pray for that family, just as the first thing a new believer with an unbelieving family does is witness to his/her brothers, sisters, parents, and children. More often than not, real believers in Christ succeed in convincing their families to commit themselves to Christ as well.
3. Real Christians are Christ-like.
This is the one that is most evident to anyone who is "of the world." You see, people who are not in Christ lie, cheat, steal, and bulldoze their way through life, not because they necessarily mean to be evil most of the time but because this world is all they have and all they really know. It is a shock to them that someone would tell the truth, deal fairly with others, and share of themselves, even when it is not to their advantage--but you see, this is what Christ did even as a matter of course throughout His life.
You may say, "Well, Christ could afford to be a little lowly," and that is true . . . but it is also true of the believer in Christ.
I'll share an example from my own personal life: I tend to be a fairly "meek" person most of the time, and I don't always (or even sometimes) exhibit the "killer instinct" that a lot of people express in the workplace or in school in order to get ahead of others. I know this makes me vulnerable in the eyes of some, and yes, I have been taken advantage of, both personally and professionally, by people who have used what they saw as my "naivete" against me, but . . . I don't really care about this world. Its charms, its possessions, and its entertainments are nothing to me because I know that my life is going to end someday, and whatever the Lord has planned for me then will be far more beautiful, captivating, and mesmerizing than anything this pathetic excuse for an existence has to offer.
If you can't say in your heart that you love Christ more than you love the paltry things of this life, then you may be interested to know that even in the Old Testament, there was provision for those who were aliens and who wanted to participate in the Passover celebration.
Exodus 12:48 says
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.
Or, to put it in terms more applicable to the world we live in 2000 years after Christ's resurrection
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
If you have been reading this post and know in your heart that you are not a real Christian, then you also know deep inside that you are a sinner. Romans 10:9 provides 2 preconditions for your salvation:
1. You must confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord."
2. You must believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.
Paul goes on to say in the next verse that "it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
So I leave you with these questions:
Do you believe God raised Jesus from the dead?
Are you willing to allow Jesus to be Lord of your life?
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