HOW MUCH OF CHRIST JESUS SHOULD WE ABSORB?

When the Passover Lamb was slain, and the Lord delivered His enslaved children, Moses commanded, ’You shall roast the lamb, and eat the head, the legs and the entrails thereof. ( Exodus 12:9 ) .The children of Israel understood what God had commanded Moses. What does this mean to us as believers in the Lord Jesus?

The Lord Jesus kept the Passover, so fulfilling the requirements of the law. Also, HE said, ‘I have desired ( fervently, passionately, yearningly ) to eat this passover with you before I suffer.’ Of course, he had the cross sufferings in mind. Every home in Jerusalem had chosen their special lamb, to be sacrificed on the same day. So the doorway of the home where our Lord met with his 12 disciples had been sprinkled with its blood , and the roasted lamb ( symbolising the unspeakable sufferings of Christ, Jesus God’s Lamb) was to be totally eaten.

God’s Son is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,’ as John the Baptist had courageously shouted from the waters of Jordan. Unmistakably, the roasted lamb on the table should have stirred the disciples’ hearts to understand the mystery of the cross sufferings of our dear Lord. The whole lamb is there: brain and spinal cord; the heart and lungs of the thorax; the digestive system with the intestines, the liver, ( the chemical laboratory ), the excretory system; the filtering kidneys, the reproductive system,: the legs and the muscular system.

In every home in Jerusalem, the passover lamb, with all its functioning systems displayed, was to be eaten. So with the beloved Christ and His disciples: so would the Lamb of God be devoured on the cross within hours.

What does it mean to eat the head of the Passover lamb? This leads us to consider the Lord Jesus in His headship of the church, which is His body. The brain controls the activities of the body, transmitting its control to every muscle and tendon through the spinal cord. It directs the activities of heart and lungs; it regulates the activities of all the organs and functions in the abdomen. The brain is director and comptroller of the body. The bible affirms this anatomical, God-given illustration.

Paul magnificently showed the predominance of Christ in his Ephesian letter , ’He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him, who fills all in all.’ (1:22,23 ) God’s word clearly displays the pre-eminence of the Head of the church. Surely, no man or earthly priest; but the Son of God, the Son of Man, even our beloved saviour.

In chapter 5:23 of the same letter, Paul wrote, ’Wives submit to your own husband, even as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, as also CHRIST is the head of the church, and he is the saviour of the body.’ Now it is clear why the children of Israel were told to eat the head of the lamb; for the ONE who presided over the last supper went to the cross of Calvary to become our saviour and head or undisputed Leader of the church. Bow before your supreme Head: serve Him lovingly as a slave for life.

Paul in Colossians 1:18 takes us from the cross to the glorious resurrection of the Lord,’ HE is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning (He created and sustained His universe ), the first begotten from the dead ‘( conqueror of death, the grave and all satanic forces ) for a glorious purpose, ‘that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.’ Our family, professional and church lives are enriched and enlarged when we justly recognise the Lord Jesus. Make Him Lord. Show your children Who rules in your home and hearts. They will surely copy you.

Furthermore, as the brain accumulates wisdom and stores knowledge in the frontal cortex, so ‘In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ (Colossians 2:3) The spiritual leaders in each community are those who have drawn from the infinite resources of the Lamb of God. Oswald J. Sanders, bible teacher and missionary leader of OMF ( Overseas missionary fellowship ) showed from the studies of God’s word the unlimited understanding and golden riches in the life of our Lord Jesus. Intimate private discussion over a dinner table with this dear man deeply blessed us as he shared eternal insights.

Do you soak up and assimilate the eternal intelligence of our Lord as the Israelites ate, digested and absorbed the Passover lamb? Your life will be deeply blessed.

Our Lord Jesus surprised when He spoke on this important subject in his bread of life chapter . ( John 6:53) Did our Lord foreshadow His last Supper when He said, ’Most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. This challenges us, for we must take on board the virtue of His holy flesh and His redemptive blood. Our peers and helpers must constantly observe the gracious Lord of life in our daily living.

Eternal life and resurrection are linked with these deep truths: ‘Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.’ The vital, foundation truth is to consume the ‘HEAD’ of the Passover Lamb.

Our Lord added, ’My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.’ (v55).

This is not an emergency army supply, as every soldier carried, ( bully beef, dog biscuits, chocolate ), which sustains life in an emergency. This is God’s perfect provision for us His beloved children in the ups and downs of our spiritual walk.

Healthy believers have good appetites for our lovely Lord. How is your’s?