Rolling On

Introduction

Eating a meal after a funeral has been a tradition for over a thousand years. Some meals are informal allowing for people to share thoughts of the deceased either privately or publicly. All the meals reaffirm the importance of family and community. While it would be difficult to prove, the meals also are a reminder that life carries on. The meal serves to remind the living that we have to move forward, for this is the first of many meals that will be eaten without the loved one and are required to sustain life. The first meal eaten after the formal event of a funeral, is eaten in community and is a reminder of the deceased’s life. Looking back and looking forward are integral parts of the meal.

The Passover meal began on the night that the nation of Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage. The meal was eaten in order to prepare the people for a journey that would come quickly. Lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs all had a role to play in describing what was happening. The bitter herbs were a reminder of their years of bitterness in slavery. The unleavened bread made quickly describing the speed of leaving Egypt. The lamb was the sacrifice made to cleanse the people and to align them with God once again.

Our text includes and links two elements—circumcision and the Passover. Both of these are physical and yet have spiritual meanings. The Passover meal was a reminder of God’s deliverance. It became one of the major feasts in the Jewish calendar. Jesus took the Passover meal and gave it an additional meaning. Jesus in eating the Passover meal with his disciples told them that the unleavened bread, which had previously demonstrated how quickly God’s deliverance came, was now his body. The bread became the lamb. The sacrificial lamb was now Jesus. In John 1:29 and 1:36, John calls Jesus the lamb of God. The symbolic substitution carries our understanding that eating the bread is a connection with the one who takes away the sins of the world.

Jesus took the bread, pronounced that it was connected to him, and pointed to the future—a time when we would await a second deliverance. The deliverance from our sin took place at the cross. In our acceptance of what Jesus did for us, we find forgiveness of our sins. Eating the bread is a reminder that our sins have been forgiven. It reminds us that a second deliverance is coming. A deliverance from this world to being with the father forever. Eating the supper each week can allow the ritual to become routine. That is about us not about the supper. The supper is filled with meaning but we are the ones who give the meaning a place to live and thrive. Don’t blame the weekly observance for our inability to expose and revel in the meaning. Israel lost the significance of the Passover meal because their annual observance was tainted by hearts that were not set on God. So let us eat the meal with our hearts set on God.

Two songs before the supper. Prayer for the bread. Sing another song between the bread and the cup. Prayer for the cup. Sing another song looking forward to the return of Jesus after the cup. Prayer of praise and thanks. Then dismissal of children to Bible hour and giving.

Odd Timing

Joshua has led the army across the Jordan and they are now encamped in an area that is very close to Jericho. Archaeologists and historians believe that there are two Gilgals. One is a city; the other was a camp outside of Jericho. Evidence for both have been found. In 4:19, we are told that they camped just east of the border of Jericho. This is camp Gilgal as it will be named in 5:9. It means “rolling on.”

5:1-8 tells the story that God instructs Joshua to have all the men circumcised after they have crossed the Jordan and very close to the enemy. The name of the place is a reminder of the event. In other words, Joshua had all the men come to a hill, performed the circumcision, and the hill got a new name. Why is this story here? Two reasons. First, the male children had not been circumcised during the wandering time in the desert. We understand that circumcision is a sign for the Jews of belonging to God. What we may not understand is the link between circumcision and engaging in God’s work. In Exodus 4 as Moses is on his way to engage Pharoah to release God’s people, God tells Moses to circumcise his boys. Why? Moses needed a dedicated household. He needed a household that was under the sign of belonging to God. His boys were Egyptian. It was necessary for Moses to have committed his household to God. The army of God camped near Jericho didn’t have the sign of belonging of God. The covenant was agreed upon but no sign of commitment from Israel.

The second reason this story is told is to reveal the faith of Joshua. By circumcising the army, Joshua has incapacitated his men on the threshold of the enemy. 5:1 tells us the enemy was afraid and discouraged. God took this as the time to reveal that to Joshua and his men, but also to allow Joshua and his men to reveal their faith. Who does this? Who would days before battle incapacitate the army? Who would incapacitate the army when the enemy is within striking distance? It would have made more sense to circumcise the men before crossing the Jordan. This is faith seen and demonstrated.

But then there is a third reason. It has to do with the Passover. 4:19 the army crosses on the 10th day of the first month. 5:10, Passover is celebrated on the 14th day of the first month. The circumcision took place between those two events. It’s the first month. A new year. The deliverance from Egypt has become realized. They are in the promised land. They share the Passover meal together—the roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. They eat from the land itself. Before the battle begins, these wounded soldiers are reminded this land is yours. God has already given this land to you. Eat the food of the land. And 5:12, the manna stopped. From this day forward the people of Israel would eat food that they had not grown, drink water from wells they had not dug, and eventually live in houses that they had not built. This reveals the promise of God and the people share in its promise and eat the Passover in the new land. According to Exodus 12, only circumcised men could eat the Passover. While God is not bound by time, he knows the calendar. The first month (just as our New Year) was a reminder of what had been and a focus on what can be. But only the circumcised could participate in the Passover. This is the rolling on of Gilgal. God has moved Israel from 400 years of slavery into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So the reproach of Egypt (5:9) has been rolled away. A new beginning. A new place and land. A promise kept. Egypt behind.

Our Circumcision

Isn’t the same true for us? In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul takes this image and gives it a fuller meaning. He says all have to be circumcised not in the flesh but in our nature. Paul says that we all have been circumcised by Christ. Look at verse 11. “Putting off” is the word “stripped away.” This is what Jesus did. He stripped away our sin. We submit to baptism as the means by which our sins are stripped away and then we are raised by the power of God. The word power is “energy.” It was the energy of God that raised Jesus from the dead and it is the energy of God that raises us out of our baptism where he strips away our sin. Baptism is necessary because that is where the stripping away of our sins takes place. It is the place of dedication. It is the place where life is given.

Baptism is the means by which we have our sins forgiven. And after our baptism we can participate in God’s work in the world. After our baptism we are ready for battle. We have a new life. The reproach of our sin is rolled away. A new beginning. A new place and new name. A promise kept. Sin in the rearview. We are ready to engage. We come up out of the water alive. Overflowing with thankfulness. So much thankfulness that it erupts out of us. We walk with Jesus holy, forgiven, energized, free, no shame.

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