And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

As I read through Josiah’s life again, I noticed today that Josiah was the first king of Israel or Judah to keep the Passover. Isn’t that interesting? Not David or Solomon or any other king, but this twenty-six-year-old ruler of Judah just before the period of exile (2 KIngs 23:22).

Now the importance of the Passover is two-fold for us. First, it was a reminder of God’s power to deliver His people from slavery in the land of Egypt. Secondly, the Passover is a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ as the true Passover Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

And it is important to remember that during His last Passover meal, Jesus instituted a new ordinance of communion for us –

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

Over the years, I’ve attended churches where the Lord’s Supper is observed on a weekly basis and churches where it is remembered on the first Sunday of the month some have been less consistent, but I see a real value in the meaning of the ritual, don’t you?