And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover No stranger shall eat of it;
God speaks to Moses and Aaron after the rescue, with Israel already on the move. He now says who may share the meal He has just given them, and who may not. The question it forces is not "who is saved?" but "who may sit down at the feast?"
(The writers quoted below use an older translation. It says "stranger" where the ESV says "foreigner.")
The limits appear here for the first time, and one writer is careful about what they do and do not touch.
We have looked at the passover and all that went with it. We still have to consider the "ordinance of the passover," which the Lord laid down as a lasting memorial. There are restrictions here that we have not read of before. They are important to notice and to remember. They apply, not to redemption itself, but to the enjoyment of it.
God gave these rules the moment the rescue was over.
We had a first hint of this in the unleavened bread. Now God insists on it much more strongly. He guards the precious feast of redemption against those who would dishonour it and turn God's grace into a licence to sin. Deliverance had only just happened. The people were hardly on the road before God announced how the passover was to be kept from then on. The deliverance itself becomes the reason, as it were, for the instructions that follow right after it.
Commentators differ on what the excluded person pictures. One takes the word simply as someone unidentified.
The first regulation given is that no stranger should eat of the Passover. A stranger is one who is not known. The New Testament tells us, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). To lay hands on someone is to express fellowship with him. If we do not know the person, we must be careful not to do this until we know him.
Another reads the excluded classes by what each one lacks.
Strangers and foreigners as such had no place at it. A "stranger" was anyone not counted as part of the nation of Israel. A "foreigner" was anyone with no stake in the country they were heading for. The "hired servant" could not share in it either, since his link with Israel rested on the wages he earned. So when it came to sharing in the memorial feast, the Lord said with great clearness and precision who should and who should not take part.
The next verses name three groups. All three had to meet the same requirement.
Three groups might keep the passover: the Israelites, their servants bought with money, and the stranger living among them. But the condition for all of these alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the passover table unless they had been circumcised. Only in this way could they come under the covenant God had made with Abraham — the covenant on which He was now acting, bringing them out of Egypt to be His own people. The feast had a household character. So a servant bought with money became part of the family and was included. A hired servant had no such place or standing, and so had no share in it.
One writer explains what that cutting meant, and what it levelled.
Circumcision was necessary before the Passover could be eaten. In other words, the sentence of death must be written on our nature before we can feed on Christ with understanding. Circumcision points forward to the cross. It made no difference what advantages of person or position a man had. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that cutting of the flesh. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. In the same way now, there is no share in the joys of God's redeemed except through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions. It levels all distinctions. It unites everyone in one holy gathering of blood-washed worshippers.
Yet the next verses leave a way in.
Yet God kept a door open for the stranger who would submit to Israel's law. He asked no stricter conditions from him than from the home-born. It is beautiful to see how all dividing lines give way before the faith that asks, "Is He the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?" The answer can only be, "Yes, of Gentiels also."
Notice, too, that the outsider was never ordered to come.
No one commanded the stranger to keep the feast. If he wanted to come, the way was open. But he had to meet the same requirement as the children of Israel.
One writer applies this rule to the meal Christians keep now.
The Passover also tells us clearly who are to eat of this feast... In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating, hoping to gain blessing! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
- Redemption first. The rules come after the blood, not before it. They govern the enjoyment of redemption, never redemption itself.
- Then guarding. God fences the feast right after the rescue. The rescue itself becomes the reason for the rules.
- One condition. Israelite, bought servant, resident stranger — three groups, one requirement. Without it, no seat at the table.
- No rank. One requirement levels everyone. A circumcised beggar stood nearer to God than an uncircumcised king, and the cross still sweeps away every distinction.
- Open door. No one ordered the outsider in. But no one shut him out either. His way in was the same as the home-born Israelite's.
but every man's bondman that is bought for money -- let him be circumcised then shall he eat it.
A slave bought with money could share the Passover meal, but only after his master had circumcised him; a hired servant could not. So who belongs to God's household, and how does an outsider get in?
One writer counts up who was allowed at the table. What ties them together is not birth but one requirement.
So there were three groups who might keep the Passover: (1) the Israelites, (2) their servants bought with money, and (3) the stranger living among them. But the condition for all of them alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the Passover table without being circumcised. Only in this way could they come within the terms of the covenant God had made with Abraham (see Genesis 17:9-14). That covenant was the ground on which He was now acting, when He brought them out of Egypt and took them to Himself as a people.
The verse turns on how the man came to be in the house. He was bought, while a hired servant worked for pay. Commentators read the contrast as two ways people think they stand with God.
A servant bought for money could eat the Passover once he was circumcised. But a hired servant could not… The hired servant serves for wages. So he pictures someone who claims to keep the law as the basis of his relationship with God. So he is not saved by the grace of God. The slave, on the other hand, was bought for money. He belongs to his master, and so he pictures a believer whom the Lord Jesus owns.
Another writer says why wages in particular shut a man out.
The covenant of grace will not mix with the idea of working for wages. The feast of redemption is for people who can do no good at all. They shelter under the shadow of the Almighty: "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
Buying the man was not enough. He still had to be circumcised, and one writer shows what that cutting of the flesh pointed to.
Whether the man was a native Israelite, a servant bought with money, or a stranger, all had to be circumcised. This outward rite cut around and off part of man's flesh. It pointed on to what the death of Christ carried out, as Colossians 2:11 shows… As Christians we are to recognise that we have put off the flesh completely in the death of Christ. We are "circumcised" in His "circumcision;" that is, His death.
God required the same cut of every man, whatever his birth or standing.
A man's advantages of person or position did not matter in the slightest. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that flesh-cutting operation. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. So it is now. There can be no share in the joys of God's redeemed except by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions, levels all distinctions, and unites everyone in one holy congregation of blood-washed worshippers.
The Passover was a family meal, and that explains which servant could join it.
Remember that this feast had essentially a household character. So a servant bought with money became, as it were, part of the family, a real member of the household, and for that reason he was included. But a hired servant had no such place or standing, and so he was left out.
The Passover rule named who could share the meal. Writers carry that straight over to the Lord's supper.
In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating to get blessing! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
Who comes to the table matters, and so does the attitude they bring.
Circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh, so that the flesh is given no place. Someone with a self-confident attitude is in no condition to take part in the Lord's supper. Some say they have "a right" to do so, but no! This is rather a privilege for those who realize they have no rights, because all their confidence is in the living God.
- Bought — he reached the table because someone paid for him, a picture of the believer whom the Lord Jesus owns.
- Not hired — wages shut a man out. The feast of redemption is for people with no strength of their own.
- Circumcised — buying him was not enough. The flesh had to be cut off, and that pointed on to the death of Christ.
- Levelled — one condition for all meant rank counted for nothing. A circumcised beggar stood nearer to God than an uncircumcised king.
- Household — the outsider ends up a real member of the family, no longer a stranger but a fellow citizen with the saints.
A settler and a hired servant shall not eat it.
Exodus 12 ends with rules about who may share the Passover meal, and verse 45 shuts out two kinds of people: the foreigner and the hired worker. Why exclude a man who lives among God's people and even works for them?
These rules come after the Passover night itself. One writer marks the shift:
We have looked at the Passover and the things that went with it. We still have to consider the "ordinance of the Passover" as the Lord laid it down for a lasting memorial. There are restrictions here that we have not read of before. They are important to notice and remember. They apply not to redemption itself, but to the enjoyment of it.
The verse names two classes, and each is kept out for its own reason. One writer defines both, then shows how a man could change sides:
The Lord shut out strangers and foreigners as such. A "stranger" was anyone not identified with the "commonwealth of Israel." A "foreigner" had no interest in the country they were heading for — the country they belonged to, according to the Lord's purposes. The "hired servant" had a link with Israel based only on the gain of set wages, and he could not share in the feast. No uncircumcised person could join the company entitled to eat. By purchase and circumcision a servant could take his place, and a stranger who identified himself completely with the nation by circumcision became "as one born in the land."
Verse 44 lets in the slave bought with money; verse 45 turns away the man on wages. The difference shows in how easily each man could leave:
It was to be what we may call a household feast, for it shut out everyone outside Israelite households. The hired servant might leave his job at short notice, so he did not count as part of the household. The bondman had sold himself for money, under the rules of Exodus 21:1-6, and he did count as belonging to it — on one strict condition, that he was circumcised. This feast was for all Israel, and no one could excuse themselves from it.
One writer explains why the verse names the man on wages:
The main point here is plainly this: only the circumcised are to share in it. That is clear enough in meaning when we remember what circumcision implied, and it also shows why the rule names the "hired servant" among those refused. The covenant of grace refuses to be mixed with the thought of work done for wages. The feast of redemption is for people with no power for good, who shelter under the shadow of the Almighty. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
One writer traces the same rule in the plan the prodigal son made on his way home:
So the prodigal turns at last toward the light. There is bread in his father's house. He will return. Yet he makes a great mistake. He says, "How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread!" And there is not even one hired servant in his father's house! God may "hire" a man of the world to do His will, just as He gave Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar as the "wages" for His judgment, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried out on Tyre. But in His house He has only children at His table. As it was said of the Passover feast, which pictured it, "No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it."
One writer draws a line from this rule to the table Christians gather at now:
But the Passover also tells us clearly who are to eat of this feast… In Ephesians 2:19 we read, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." It is clear that only those who are children of God, "brought near by the blood of Christ," may eat of this supper. How sad to see unconverted people eating, hoping to get a blessing from it! This is the opposite of the Word of God.
- Belonging. The Passover was a household feast. It shut out everyone outside Israelite households, and the hired man could leave at short notice, so he never truly belonged.
- Bought. The slave bought with money could eat once he was circumcised, because he belonged to the house. The man on wages could not, because he only drew pay.
- Grace. God will not mix His feast of redemption with work done for wages. It is for people with no strength for good, who shelter under the Almighty.
- Sonship. There is not one hired servant in the Father's house — only children at His table. That is why the prodigal's bargain was a mistake.
- Now. The same line runs to the Lord's Supper. It is for people who are no longer strangers and aliens, but members of the household of God.
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth any of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Three short rules close the Passover instructions. Israel must eat the lamb in one house, carry none of its flesh outside, and break none of its bones. For centuries Israel kept the last rule without knowing why. Then Roman soldiers left one crucified man's legs unbroken.
The house in view is not any house. It is the one whose doorframe carries the blood. You could not feed on the lamb apart from the death that sheltered the family.
Only in the house whose doorposts and lintel carried the sprinkled blood of the lamb could Israel eat its flesh as God intended. We cannot separate our feeding on Christ from the deep meaning of His death. People can only eat the Lamb where they own the atoning power of the blood. Men have expressed admiration for Christ in finely decorated words of human feeling, while ignoring or denying the reality and atoning power of His death. But apart from that death no one can know Him or value Him.
Two rules guard one thing. The picture must stay whole, and so must the group that shares it.
If Israel had ignored this instruction, two things would have been lost: the meaning of the picture, and the unity of the household — or of the whole nation, if you take Israel together. The blood was on the house. The Passover lamb was only for those sheltered by the blood, and for no one else. So no one could carry it out of the house.
Israel kept this rule generation after generation with no explanation attached to it. The explanation arrived at a cross, and it arrived through men who had no idea they were obeying anything.
Israel had kept many a Passover since then, and had kept that rule too. Yet the reason for it remained a mystery. Now the reason came to light. And John marks it, in that the soldiers did not break the Lord's legs. God now showed what He meant. In that command He had been looking forward to the death of His Son, who would give up His life, no man taking it from Him. It was natural enough not to break His legs, since the reason for that finishing stroke to the crucified ones did not apply in His case. Yet the soldiers could have broken them out of sheer cruelty. But God, we must say, held them back. Those Roman soldiers did not know that in what they left undone they were carrying out God's mind.
Bones give a body its shape. Damage the bones and the shape goes with them. That is why God guarded the bones of the lamb.
God will not have the perfection of Christ spoiled, as a broken bone would spoil the picture of Him. With the bones perfect, a naturalist can show the construction of the whole animal. Upon the perfection of the bones depends the symmetry of form. God will keep this true of Christ. We should handle Him with reverence as we seek to grasp the wonderful Christ of God.
The rule guarded more than an animal's skeleton. It guarded who Christ is.
The bones are the framework of the body. There must be no violation of the lamb of sacrifice. This speaks of the basic character of the Lord Jesus. If someone dares to deny His deity, that is as good as breaking a bone of the lamb. The same is true if someone denies His completely sinless Manhood, or denies that He is the Son of God from eternity.
One house, one lamb, one unbroken body. Mackintosh sees the church's oneness pictured here.
Here is as fine and beautiful a picture as we could have of the one body and one Spirit. The Church of God is one. God sees it as such, maintains it as such, and will show it as such... Blessed be God, the unity of His Church rests in His keeping, just as her justification, acceptance, and eternal security do... Rome's soldiers were rough and hard-hearted. Hostile forces have worked against the church age after age. Still the body of Christ is one, and nothing can break its divine unity.
The lamb stayed whole on the table. Christ stays whole as our food.
The lamb was to be kept whole. So too with the true Passover Lamb, a bone should not be broken. It is the whole Christ, who gave Himself up for us, on whom we feed, and shall feed for all eternity.
- Whole in the sheltering. Israel ate the lamb only inside the blood-marked house. Admire Christ but deny His atoning death, and you stay outside the door.
- Whole in the keeping. Nothing was carried out, because the lamb belonged to those under the blood and to no one else.
- Whole in the dying. Bones give a body its shape. God would not let even a picture of His Son be spoiled.
- Whole in the fulfilling. For centuries the reason stayed hidden. Then Roman soldiers, knowing nothing of it, left His legs unbroken.
- Whole in the feeding. It is the entire Christ, undivided and unbroken, on whom His people feed now and forever.
All the assembly of Israel shall hold it.
The Passover chapter ends with law, not story: God sets out who may sit at this table and who may not. Verse 47 states the scope, and the verses around it answer two questions — who belongs to this congregation, and what happens to anyone who stays away.
The command covers the whole nation — the home-born and the outsider who had joined them. Refusing it carried a penalty:
Every one of the congregation, and the stranger who was circumcised, all alike had to keep the Passover. If they refused to do that they were cut off. Being cut off from the congregation of Israel corresponds to being outside this fellowship today — the fellowship that is according to God. It was to be a holy convocation, that is, a coming together to this feast of the Lord. That was what would draw them together in holy fellowship. They had this in common: they owed all their blessing to the lamb that had died.
The feast belonged to Israel alone, yet the outsider was not turned away. One writer finds in that a hint of how far God's gifts reach:
First, the foreigner was to be excluded: the Passover feast was to be for Israel alone. The seed of Abraham, the family of faith, alone can commemorate a deliverance which they only have known. Yet God kept a door open for the stranger who would submit to Israel's law; the terms for him were no harder than for the home-born. It is beautiful to see how all lines of division give way before the faith that asks, "Is He the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?" What can the answer be but, "Yes, of Gentiles also"... God's choicest gifts are His most universal gifts.
Notice what God does not do. He commands Israel to keep the feast. He never commands the stranger — He only opens the way:
Suppose someone had no right to it — an outsider to the nation of Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise. If he wanted to keep the Passover to the Lord, he might do so, as long as he did it according to the ordinance... This is one of the striking early hints of grace found again and again even under the law. They announce very plainly that God was always looking on to the time when His grace could travel out in the gospel to all the world. And notice, as a foreshadowing of that blessed time, there was no command to the stranger to keep the feast. If he wanted to do so, the way was open. He only had to have the qualification for it, just as the children of Israel had.
Three kinds of people could sit down to the lamb. One requirement covered them all, and one kind of worker was shut out:
There were then three classes who might keep the Passover: the Israelites; their servants bought with money; and the stranger staying with them. But the condition for all of these alike was circumcision. None could have a place at the Passover table unless they had been circumcised. Only in this way could they come within the terms of the covenant which God had made with Abraham. A hired servant might not eat it, but a servant bought with money might, if he was circumcised. This feast had a household character. A servant bought with money became part of the family; a hired servant had no such place or standing.
That requirement meant more than a mark on the body:
Here we are taught that while it was the place and privilege of every true Israelite to eat the Passover, yet no uncircumcised stranger should share in it... Circumcision was necessary before the Passover could be eaten. In other words, the sentence of death must be written on our nature before we can feed on Christ with understanding, either as the ground of peace or the centre of unity.
The same rule covered the native and the visitor alike. One writer carries that straight into church life:
The following verse is another insistent reminder that "there shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you" (Ex. 12:49). This is just as true in the assembly of God today: there are to be no double standards. One who does not want to be subject to the order of the assembly is thereby disqualifying himself from fellowship with the assembly.
- One lamb — what drew the nation together was not kinship but a shared debt. They owed all their blessing to the lamb that had died.
- One congregation — the feast was a coming together, not a private meal. Refusing it meant being cut off from the people.
- One door — only Israel had known this rescue, so only Israel could celebrate it. Yet the door stayed open to the stranger, on the same terms as the home-born.
- One condition — Israelite, bought servant, or visitor, each one had to be circumcised. The sentence of death is written on our nature before anyone feeds on Christ.
- One law — one rule for native and stranger, and no double standards for those gathered today.
And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee, and would hold the passover to Jehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and hold it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
The Passover chapter closes with rules about who may eat the meal. Verse 48 answers the question of the outsider: the door stands open to him, but one condition guards it.
The rules could have shut the outsider out. Instead they make room for him, and the way they make room is the point.
These rules also make room for the stranger — for people who were not Israelites, but who were living among the children of Israel. God is God in every age, and His heart, not yet free to act in righteousness, was always longing to bless. So a man with no claim of his own, an outsider to Israel and a stranger to God's covenant promises, might still keep the Passover to the Lord if he wanted to. He only had to keep it the way God had commanded... And notice this early sign of the day of grace to come. The stranger was never ordered to keep the feast. If he wanted to, the way was open. But he had to meet the one requirement, just as the children of Israel did.
That open door tells us something about God Himself.
God kept a door open for the stranger who would submit to Israel's law. He asked no harder conditions of him than of those born in the land. It is beautiful to see how every line of separation gives way before the faith that asks whether He is the God of the Jews only, and not of the Gentiles too. What can the answer be but that He is the God of the Gentiles as well? It is man that has fallen away from God, not God from man; it is man who puts distance between them and builds barriers. God's choicest gifts are His most universal gifts.
The chapter names more than one group who could eat, and one condition covers them all.
Three groups might keep the Passover: the Israelites, their servants bought with money, and the stranger living among them. But the condition for all of them alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the Passover table without it. Only in this way did they come within the terms of the covenant God had made with Abraham (see Gen. 17:9-14). That covenant was the ground on which He was now acting, bringing them out of Egypt and taking them to Himself as His people. A hired servant might not eat, but a servant bought with money might, if he was circumcised. This feast had the character of a household. A servant bought with money became part of the family, so he was included; a hired servant had no such place, and so had no share in the feast.
Circumcision was no formality. Commentators tie it to what must be true of a person before he can feed on Christ with understanding.
Circumcision had to come first, before anyone could eat the Passover. In other words, the sentence of death must be written on our nature before we can feed on Christ with understanding — either as the ground of peace or as the centre of unity. What circumcision pictured, the cross fulfils. Only the male was circumcised, and he stood for the female. So at the cross Christ stood for His Church... "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. 8:8)
The same condition also flattened every human advantage.
A man's advantages of person or position did not matter in the least. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that cutting of the flesh. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. It is the same now. There can be no share in the joys of God's redeemed except by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions, levels all distinctions, and unites everyone in one holy congregation of blood-washed worshippers.
The verse promises the stranger that he will be "as a native of the land." That welcome carries both sides of belonging.
When the stranger settled among them and was circumcised, he was then "as a native of the land." Exodus 12:49 insists on one law for the native-born and for the stranger living among you. There was to be no double standard. The stranger had the same privileges as the native-born, and carried the same responsibilities.
- Door. No stranger was ordered to keep the Passover. If he wanted to, the way stood open — an early sign of grace reaching beyond Israel.
- Condition. That door had one requirement: circumcision. It was the same for Israelite, bought servant and stranger alike.
- Meaning. The requirement wrote the sentence of death on nature. Commentators point to the cross of Christ as what it pictured.
- Leveller. The condition cancelled every advantage of rank. A circumcised beggar stood nearer to God than an uncircumcised king.
- Result. Whoever came through that door stood as a native of the land — same privileges, same responsibilities, no double standard.
One law shall be for him that is home-born and for the sojourner that sojourneth among you.
The Passover rules end with one line about who they cover: the Israelite born in the land and the outsider living among them stand under the same law. So how does an outsider get in, and where does he stand once he is in?
The verse closes the case set out just before it. A stranger who was circumcised counted "as one born in the land."
When the stranger stayed among Israel and was circumcised, he was then "as one born in the land." Exodus 12:49 insists on it: "There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you." There was to be no double standard. The sojourner came into the same privileges, and under the same responsibilities, as one born at home. No different rules could apply in either case.
The feast belonged to Israel. Yet the law that fenced it also named a way in.
First, the foreigner was to be excluded: the Passover feast was to be for Israel alone. The seed of Abraham, the family of faith, alone can commemorate a deliverance which they only have known. Yet God kept a door open for the stranger who would submit to Israel's law. God asked no harder conditions of him than of the "home-born." It is beautiful to see how all the dividing lines give way before the faith that asks, "Is He the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?" What can the answer be but, "Yes, of Gentiles also"! It is man who has fallen away from God, not God from man; it is man who puts distance and builds barriers.
Notice what the text does not say. God does not command any outsider to keep the feast. The way just stands open to anyone who wants it.
This is one of the striking early hints of grace that keep appearing even in the age of law. Such hints are a clear announcement. God was always looking ahead to the time when His grace could travel out in the gospel to all the world: "Let the one who desires take the water of life without price." And notice this foreshadowing of that blessed time: here there was no command to the stranger to keep the feast. If he desired to do so, the way was open. Only he must have the qualification for it, the same as the children of Israel.
That qualification was circumcision — the cutting of the flesh. It brought a man inside God's covenant with Abraham, and it applied to everyone at the table.
Three groups might keep the Passover: the Israelites, their servants bought with money, and the stranger staying with them. But the condition for all these alike was circumcision. No one could have a place at the Passover table without it. Only this way did they come within the terms of the covenant which God had made with Abraham... Circumcision is a type of death to the flesh. What it pictures finds its fulfilment in the death of Christ.
The one condition was the same for everyone. So rank and background counted for nothing at the door. One writer sees the cross doing the same work now.
It made no difference what advantages of person or position a man had. He could have no part with Israel until he submitted to that cutting of the flesh. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than an uncircumcised king. So too now, there can be no share in the joys of God's redeemed except by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross sweeps away all pretensions, levels all distinctions, and unites all in one holy congregation of blood-washed worshippers.
One law for all did not mean everyone ate. The same passage names who was kept out and who could come in.
Foreigners were shut out — those with no interest in the country Israel was bound for. So was the hired servant, whose link with Israel rested on set wages. And no uncircumcised person belonged in the company of those entitled to eat. By being bought and circumcised, the servant might take his place. The stranger, identifying himself completely with the nation by circumcision, became "as one born in the land." So it is clear that when it came to sharing in the memorial feast, the Lord defined with the greatest clarity and precision who should and who should not take part.
- One law — the native and the sojourner stood under one rule. Same privileges, same responsibilities.
- One door — the feast belonged to Israel. Yet God kept a way in for the outsider.
- One qualification — circumcision. It pictures death to the flesh, and the death of Christ fulfils it.
- One level — that one condition erased rank. The cross now sweeps away every distinction the same way.
- One anticipation — no command was laid on the stranger; the way was simply open to whoever desired it. Commentators read this as grace showing early what the gospel would say plainly: "Let the one who desires take the water of life without price."