Eucharistic meditation

Exodus 12:7-8: And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

It’s no accident that the book of Exodus begins with courageous midwives who bring Israelite boys safely into the world in defiance of the blustering threats of Pharaoh.  Exodus is a story of birth. Throughout the book, we hear about how Yahweh “brought out” Israel from Egypt and how the house Israel “came out” of Egypt.  Both phrases use a verb that can be used of the “bringing forth” of descendants.  Yahweh comes to deliver His son Israel from slavery; we could just as well say that Yahweh comes to deliver His son Israel from the womb of Egypt.

The process comes to a climax on the night of Passover.  As Pastor Sumpter pointed out, the blood on the doorway pictures Israel’s departure as a birth.  Doorways are frequently symbolic birth canals in the Bible.  Sarah stands by a door as she eavesdrops on the Angel of Yahweh who tells Abraham, “Sarah your wife will have a son.”  Sacrifice, which is a rebirth into fellowship with the God of life and participation in the life of God, is always offered at the “doorway” of the sanctuary.  Eli watches by the door of the tabernacle when Hannah comes to pray for a son, and Naaman stands at Elisha’s doorway to see the prophet who can renew his leprous flesh like the flesh of a little child.

At Passover, Egypt writhes in the birth pangs of the final plague until Yahweh, the divine Midwife, brings Israel out through the bloody doorway into new life.  Within the womb of Egypt and within the womb of Israel’s houses, Yahweh feeds His and cares for His people until the beginning of their months.

All of this points ahead to the final exodus performed by the greater Moses, Jesus Christ.  Like Egypt, the whole creation groans in the pain of childbirth until now, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, the new Israel.  Within that groaning creation, we are the firstfruits of the Spirit, nurtured and nourished in the womb of the world, waiting with eager hope for the day when creation will be set free from corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.