2022 Passover Service

Ronald Weinland

In each Passover service, we are to reflect upon the severe suffering and death of our Passover, Joshua the Christ. We are to focus and think upon the kind of suffering Joshua experienced for us so that we can more deeply and more thankfully respond to such a sacrifice that enables us to be forgiven of sin, that then makes it possible for us to have a personal and a growing relationship with him and His Father, our Father, the Almighty Self-existing Eternal God.

Although sobering, this service is also encouraging because it reveals the depth of God’s kind of love and that of our Passover. We’re reminded that our participation in this service is an expression of our belief and faith in the death of Joshua the Christ on our behalf. Faith in the reconciling death for us.

We should also be reminded of our commitment to want Christ and God to live their life in us. God has given us this appointed time to remind us of that kind of love or the kind of love (I should say), the sacrificial love, the reconciling love, Joshua the Christ has shown mankind and to His Church.

We’re going to begin here with this service looking at the New Testament Passover in 1 Corinthians 11:23. Paul is speaking here and telling the Church, For I have received of the Lord that which I am also delivering to you: that the Lord Joshua on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take and eat of it, for this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.

After the same manner he also took the cup after he had finished dinner saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood. You are to do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death until he comes.

Therefore, whoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. That literally means guilty of his death because that’s what sin is.

But let a person examine themself, and then let them eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For anyone who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to themself, not discerning the Lord’s body. So, that’s both physical and spiritual, understanding what he went through for us, and it’s also about the Body of Christ, the Church.

For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. This really has more to do with that which is spiritual.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened or corrected of the Lord, so that we should not be condemned with the world.

John 13:1—Now, before the Feast of Passover… God’s Church understands it’s talking about that season of the year when the Feast of Unleavened Bread is coming and the Passover before that. So as those things were approaching, specifically here the first being Passover, Joshua knew that his time had come for him to depart out of this world unto the Father, he loved his own who were in the world, and loved them to the end.

When dinner ended, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Joshua knew that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and would now go to God, so he arose from the dinner, laid aside his robe, and took a linen cloth and wrapped it around himself.

And after he had poured water into a basin he began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the linen cloth with which he was wrapped. So then he came to Simon Peter. Peter asked, Lord, are you to wash my feet?

And Joshua answered and said to him, What I am doing you do not know now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, You are not to wash my feet! And Joshua answered him, If I do not wash you, you will not have any part with me.

Simon Peter replied, Lord, not my feet only—kind of have to chuckle at this a little bit—but also my hands and my head! He wanted a more thorough washing here.

So Joshua said to him, Whoever is washed has no other need but for the feet to be washed and is otherwise made completely clean. And you are clean, but not all. For he knew who would betray him; therefore he said, You are not all clean.

So after he had washed their feet and had taken his robe and sat down again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he who is sent greater than He who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

So, it’s at this point that we have the foot washing service.

All of you that are watching this on a video, now would be the time to pause it and then come back and continue when you are finished.

Isaiah 53:1. Prophecy telling about Joshua who had come much, much later. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm or the strength of the Eternal revealed? So, what an awesome thing to understand our calling and this applies to everyone who is called, but it gets very specific now here as it goes into talking about Joshua.

For he, speaking of Joshua, shall grow up before Him, before his Father, as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no special appearance or attraction; and when we shall see him, there is no countenance that we would desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we did not esteem him.

Surely he has carried our sickness, or as the word is corruption, and burdened down by our suffering. Yet we did devise or account him to be stricken, to be allowed to be slain of God, and afflicted. So, this was part of God’s plan. God is the one who determined all this.

Thereby he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed or broken for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, everyone to our own way. And the Eternal has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Verse 10—Yet it pleased the Eternal that he be broken, in other words, to allow it. He has put him to grief so that when you shall make his life an offering for sin He will see His Seed. So, speaking of what he would do as our Passover. He will prolong his days, speaking of what God would do. And the pleasure of the Eternal will prosper in his hand.

Verse 12—Therefore I, God Almighty speaking, will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he has poured out his life unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressions.

So, when it speaks about “By his stripes, we are healed,” it goes far beyond anything that is physical, though we have that benefit and blessing to be able to go before God. He tells us to do so when we are sick. But Christ’s sacrifice was indeed for our healing, the healing of our lives, but it’s about our mind, the ultimate of healing.

His sacrifice was given so that we can have our sins forgiven, and thereby begin the process of being reconciled to God the Father through him and His Son being able to dwell in us to make reconciliation possible.

Hebrews 4:14—Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Joshua the Christ, or Joshua the Son of God, as it says here, let us hold fast our profession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tested in the same manner, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Then in Luke 22:14—So when the hour had come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. Then he said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Incredible when you think about it. He knew what was coming and he looked forward to the fulfillment of this time and all the things he would be able to teach them that night.

Verse 19—Then he took bread and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave some to them, saying, This is my body which is given to you; do this in remembrance of me. So Joshua told the disciples to eat a piece of unleavened bread which symbolizes his body that was broken to the point of death for us so we might be able to receive and eat of the spiritual unleavened bread of life.

John 6:32—Then Joshua said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you that Moses did not give you that bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who came down out from heaven and gives life unto the world. Then they said to him, Lord, ever more give us that bread.

So Joshua said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

Then verse 48. Again he said, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread, they shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Then verse 53—Then Joshua said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me, and I in them.

1 Corinthians 10. Again, Paul explaining this part of the service. In verse 16 he says, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread. One way of life.

1 Corinthians 11:23—For I have received of the Lord that which also I am delivering unto you, that the Lord Joshua on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. So, we follow that each year.

The bread is symbolic of Christ’s suffering in our place for our sins, and the unleavened bread is also symbolic of the life of Christ living in us in our need to live by every word of God. This symbolism of eating the bread also pictures the unity we are to have in the Body of Christ.

So, I’m going to give time for anyone to uncover the bread if it’s covered, and then I’ll pray over it. If you’ll all bow your heads.

[Prayer over the bread] “Eternal Holy Father, we ask You to bless this bread as a symbol of Christ’s body given for us. Christ suffered for us, and we are to be willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake. Thank you, Almighty God, for Your love and all Your mercies and favors that’s given to us.

We ask You to give us of Your mind, an attitude of giving, of loving, and of serving others as members of the Body of Christ. We know that we’re so awesomely blessed to be able to be here this evening to observe this Passover service. We’ve been called by You and have this opportunity that pictures the very beginning of Your great plan of salvation.

So, we give You thanks now and ask this blessing of you in the name of our elder brother, Joshua the Christ, amen.”

So, at this time, everyone that’s out there, needs to break the bread, and we’re going to do that here as well, and then pass it out. After being served, each person should eat a small piece of that bread thinking about its meaning as you do so.

So, if you’re watching on video, if you’d pause at this time, return, and continue with the video.

Matthew 26:27. Here Joshua the Christ instructed his disciples to drink the wine which symbolized his shed blood. Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Take a drink of it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

1 John 1:7—But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Joshua the Christ His Son is cleansing us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Then Hebrews 9:11—But Christ having become a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal’s spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For this cause, he is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

So, at this time everyone should remove the covering from the wine and I’ll pray over it. If you’ll all bow your heads.

[Prayer over the wine] “We come before you again, Holy Father, and give you thanks and ask You to bless this wine as a symbol of Christ’s blood shed for the remission of our sins. So, we thank You, Great God, for the sacrifice of Joshua in our stead to die for us, washing us clean that we might be able to become reconciled to You.

So, we thank You for Christ’s willingness to submit to Your will even to death. So, Great God, again thank You for blessing us in participation in this Passover service. We give you this thanks in the name of our elder brother, in Joshua the Christ, amen.”

So, it’s time to distribute the wine to each person. You should take a glass and drink it and think about how it is a symbol of your acceptance of the blood of Joshua the Christ for the remission of your sins.

At this time, if everyone would pause their videos and then proceed when you’re finished.

So, everyone who has coverings for the bread and wine, this would be the time to cover them back up.

We’re going to turn over to John 13:33. Christ said, Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, but even as I said to the Jews, Where I am going, you cannot come, so now I am telling you of a new commandment I am giving you, that you love one another.

And so, again here, it says as I have loved you, which has to do with what he’s getting ready to fulfill, that which is a matter of sacrifice.

…as I have loved you, that you also love one another. In this, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 14:1 he said, Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many places of dwelling; if not, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Now, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will be coming again, speaking of what he’s going to do through the power of his spirit living and dwelling in us.

I will be coming again and receive you unto myself, so that where I am, you may be also. So where I go you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said to him… Over and over again here, we know the story of how they didn’t get it at all until later. This was all physical to them.

Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way? And Joshua replied, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. It’s awesome to understand here that until Pentecost they still didn’t understand what this was all about, what they had experienced.

Verse 7—If you had known me, you should have known my Father also; and after this you will know Him and have seen Him. And again, they didn’t grasp that, what that meant.

Verse 10—Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of myself or from myself as the word is, but the Father who dwells in me, He does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Verse 15—If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another comforter. Because he’s not going to be around. Just a short time more and that’s it. He’s talking about then what the Church is going to need, speaking of the spirit, the holy spirit.

…give you another comforter that it may abide with you forever—the spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive because it cannot see it, neither know it. But you know it for it dwells with you and will be in you. This is an awesome thing to understand that for some 1900-plus years, people in the Church still didn’t grasp and understand fully what this was all about.

I will not leave you comfortless; I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me, because I live, and you will live also. Speaking of that life that’s going to be in us. At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 15:1, he went on to say, giving the example here of the true vine he says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He removes. So again, this is about the Church. We are to produce fruit. It’s done by God’s spirit, and wherever God’s spirit goes it will produce fruit, and if His spirit isn’t there, fruit isn’t being produced, so that’s why he’s giving this example.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He removes, and every one that bears fruit He prunes so that it may bring forth more fruit.

Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides (dwells, remains, or continues) in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, they are thrown away as a branch and are withered; and gathered together to be cast into the fire to be burned.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it will be done unto you. Herein is my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; even so will you be my disciples.

So, with that, we’re going to conclude with the song. Everyone should have their copy there.

In Thy Loving Kindness, Lord

Psalm 51

Dwight Armstrong

In thy loving kindness, Lord, be merciful to me;

In compassion great blot out all iniquity.

Wash me thoroughly from sin, from all guilt cleanse Thou me;

For transgressions I confess; sins I ever see.

'Gainst Thee only have I sinned, done evil in Thy sight,

That Thou speaking may be just, and in judging right.

My iniquities blot out, my sin hide from Thy view,

And in me a clean heart make, spirit right renew.

From Thy gracious presence, Lord, O cast me not away,

And Thy holy spirit take not from me I pray.

Joy which Thy salvation brings again to me restore;

With Thy spirit free do Thou keep me evermore.

Sacrifice dost thou not want, else would I give it Thee,

And with offering shalt Thou not delighted be.

For a broken spirit is to God a sacrifice,

And a broken, contrite heart, Thou wilt not despise.