Jesus told us to be sure we included two “ordinances.” An ordinance is simply something that Jesus ordered His Church to do, on an ongoing basis, as central acts of worship. These two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The origin of the Lord’s Supper stretches back about 1400 years before Jesus was born. Exodus 12 tells of Moses confronting Pharaoh and telling him to let God’s people go. This stubborn Pharaoh of Egypt resolutely refused to release the people from bondage. To get his attention, God sent 12 plagues on Egypt. Finally, God told Moses to have the people wipe the blood of a sacrificial animal on their doorposts. This sacrifice would be a signal for the angel to Passover the people of Israel and inflict God’s discipline of every Egyptian’s home.

From that day forth, the people of Israel have celebrated Passover, to commemorate God’s protection and deliverance. Then, just before his arrest, Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples and changed the meaning of the celebration. Today, we continue to observe this commemoration in the form of what we call the Lord’s Supper.

Scripture: Exodus 12 and Matthew 26