Overview-
In chapters 12-13, the concern is with specific regulations for worship
regarding the exodus. The Passover and Unleavened Bread mentioned here suggest
that later generations are called to celebrate this moment via liturgical
reenactment. Typically, remembering and celebrating are acts that need have no
great historical interest but rather events that recalls and hands on to the
present and future generations the ancient victory and liberation that is
Israel’s. [1]
How We Worship - This chapter/lesson in Exodus 12
gives us pause to reflect on the importance and necessity of worship for the
maintenance of community identity. It also speaks to the importance of doing
worship right. Much Christian worship is either excessively doctrinal and
cognitive or didactic and moralistic. However, as this lesson reminds us,
worship includes a suspension of judgment, an imaginative reentry into the
story, and a willingness to allow the story itself to shape and inspire faith
for both parents and children. Our communities of faith should always-in every
place and in every time, be prepared to reengage the ancient, faith-fueling
stories of the Bible. [2]
What
great moments do you celebrate with your family? Any peculiar celebrations
that originated with them? What is the ritual of the celebration?
- What do you find noteworthy about this Passover
observance?
- What is the impact of this celebration on future
Israelites? What does this Jewish feast have in common with its Christian
counterpart (Holy Communion)? [3]
Walter
Brueggemann reflects on Exodus, chapters 11 and 12 in his sermon, “The
Midnight of Power and Weakness, though he is more interested in the death of
the firstborn and its implications than with the liturgical directions for
Passover. [4]
