Eucharist



Eucharist

Lesson Plan 1: The Covenants & the Passover

Pray

1. Introductory Discussion (5-10 min)

-Has anyone heard of the word “covenant?” What is it? Can we name some covenants? What do covenants do (bring humanity back to God)? How well do we do keeping our end of the covenants we make with God?

2. The Covenants (10-15 min)

-Since the creation of man God has been trying to keep humanity close to Himself through covenants. Sadly humanity has time and again resisted God’s call and went astray.

-The first covenant God made with man was with Adam in the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam everything but had but one rule. Read Genesis 3:1-19.

-Man disobeyed God and broke the first covenant that He made with us. Through this act of disobedience sin enters the world along with pain, suffering, death, and the prospect of eternal damnation (hell).

-The sin of Adam and Eve was that they didn’t trust God. They thought God was holding something from them. They didn’t want this but wanted to be like God. This desire to be God is the first sin. We call this original sin and we all receive original sin from our parents all the way back to Adam and Eve.

-Since that time man has lived apart from God though He has called us back to Himself through other covenants and will return us to His side redeemed through the final and eternal (unending) covenant to come.

-The entire Bible is one long story of God trying to “undo” what was done by Adam and Eve.

-The next covenant God offers to us is through one man, Abram. Abram is childless and God seeks to begin to call His people back through this one man and his descendents which God will give him.

-God promises to give Abram a son and land if Abram will be trust and believe in the one true God & circumcise every male of his household on the 8th day to show the ratification and continuation of this covenant.

-Abram agrees is given a son and his name becomes Abraham. Abraham’s son and grandsons will become the foundation of the Jewish people.

-The next covenant will show the strength and power of God

3. The 10th Plague and the Passover of the Lord (20-30 min)

-The Jews or Hebrews end up slaves in Egypt because Pharaoh fears that the Jews may rise up against him. For years these descendents of Abraham cry out for deliverance from the oppression of Egypt.

-God hears the plight of His people and intervenes to help them.

-He calls one man and makes him His advocate. Moses is a shepherd tending his flocks outside of Egypt. He had been in Egypt but after killing one of the Egyptians he fled for his life.

-Moses is tending his flock one day when one of his sheep goes astray and he follows after it. What happened next is one of the most important events in history. Read Exodus Chapter 3.

-God reveals His name to Moses “I AM.” The learning of God’s name marks a new stage in the relationship between God and man. Names place us in relationship. Before we know someone’s name they remain distant-a stranger. Learning someone’s name allows us to call out to them by name and to get their attention. The same is true of God. Knowing God’s name allows us to call upon and shows that we are not strangers. He knows our name and now we know His.

-God sends Moses back to Egypt to gain the freedom of the Jews. Moses asks Pharaoh to release them but he refuses. Thus, God unleashes ten terrible plagues upon the Egyptians.

-1. The Nile turns to blood; 2. frogs; 3. gnats; 4. flies; 5. pestilence (disease); 6. boils; 7. hail; 8. locusts; 9. darkness.

-the tenth and final plague shows God’s power

-Read Exodus Chapter 11

-God is to strike down the first born sons of all of Egypt to break Pharaoh’s heart of stone so that he will allow the Jews (Hebrews) to go free.

-(***Catechist note: you may want to show “The Prince of Egypt” here. The scene of the Passover is a nice illustration of what you will be talking about.

-Read Exodus Ch. 12:1-28.

-The Passover foreshadows Christ and Christ’s descent among the dead after he died on the cross we will cover how this event foreshadows the Eucharist in a later lesson.

-Each year the Jews commemorate this event by celebrating the feast day of Passover. Jews enjoy the meal prescribed for them in the book of Exodus.

-Some of the symbols of the Passover meal:

- Vegetable (Karpas) –They began a formal meal by dipping vegetables in salt water before eating them. Hence, at the beginning of the seder a vegetable – usually lettuce, cucumber, radish or parsley – is dipped in salt water and eaten. It is sometimes said that the salt water represents the tears our ancestors shed during their years of enslavement.

-Shank bone (Zeroa) – The roasted shank bone of a lamb reminds the Jews of the tenth plague in Egypt, when all firstborn Egyptians were killed. The Israelites marked the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb as a signal that death should pass over them, as it is written in Exodus 12:12. The shank bone is sometimes called the Paschal lamb, with “paschal” meaning "He [God] skipped over" the houses of Israel. The shank bone also reminds the Jews of the sacrificial lamb that was killed and eaten during the days when the Temple stood. In modern times, some Jews will use a poultry neck instead.

-Charoset – Haroset is a mixture that is often made of apples, nuts, wine and spices. It represents the mortar the Israelites were forced to use while they built structures for their Egyptian taskmasters.

-Bitter Herbs (Maror) – Because the Israelites were slaves in Egypt bitter herbs are eaten to remind the Jews of the harshness of servitude. Horseradish – either the root or a prepared paste – is most often used.

-Bitter Vegetable (Hazeret) – This piece of the seder plate also symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. Romaine lettuce is usually used, which doesn’t seem very bitter but the plant has bitter tasting roots. When hazeret is not represented on the seder plate some Jews will put a small bowl of salt water in its place.

-Unleavened Bread-This is done in commemoration of the haste with which the Jews left Egypt. The Jews did not have time to wait for the yeast to rise so they ate unleavened bread.

-These symbols will be important for Jews down through the centuries even to today. They will also have an importance for Jesus as He celebrated the Passover and became the New Passover- the New Lamb whose blood saves us from slavery.

4. The Law (10-20 min)

-After the death of the first born the Jews are allowed to leave Egypt to return to the land of Abraham called the “Promised Land” because it was the land promised to Abraham in the covenant he made with God.

-The Jews pass through the Red Sea by a miracle and move into the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

-The Jews begin to lose faith while in the desert and so God does not allow this unfaithful generation to enter the Promised Land. They will wander for 40 years in the desert.

-During these 40 years God will feed His people with manna. Manna is bread that God sent from heaven to form on the ground. The Jews collected it and ate it to sustain themselves while journeying through the desert.

-During this time Moses leads the people and his brother Aaron becomes the first high priest of the Jews.

-While in the desert God seeks to offer another covenant to the Jews. He gives them the Law or a list of commandments they are to follow. God gives them the Law so that they may be holy as He is holy.

-Read Exodus 20:1-17. This is the giving of the Ten Commandments. God gives a number of other laws as well as we can see by reading the headings of the next few parts of this chapter and the subsequent chapters.

-The Ten Commandments help our relationship with God and with one another. God Himself etches the Ten Commandments on stone and orders that the Jews build a special box to carry them around in called the Ark of the Covenant.

-The Ark also carries Aaron’s staff as the first high priest and manna. These three things symbolize God’s care of His people (manna) and that they are to be holy as God is holy (Aaron’s staff).

-The Law makes up another covenant. God promises to be with the Jews, that they will be His people, and that He will watch over them and give them the Promised Land. The Jews in return offer their fidelity to the Law.

5. The Covenant with David (5 min)

-God makes another covenant with the Jews after they had entered the Promised Land and defeated the peoples that had taken it over while they were in Egypt.

-He makes this covenant with David, King of the Jews. God promises that David’s descendent(s) will rule over Israel forever.

-This is a promise that went unfilled until the coming of Jesus Christ descendent of David. We will cover this later.

Prayer

Almighty God and Father, You saved Your people from slavery by Your power and might. Free us also from slavery to sin and help us to experience the salvation You bring. We ask for mercy for the times we have wandered through the desert of sin and the times when we have failed to be faithful to You. Hear our prayer and look kindly upon us as we renew our promise of fidelity once again. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the Unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.

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