EMANCIPATION

THE CROSS - OUR EXODUS

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear son. Colossians 1:13

Let’s take a moment to travel back in time and recall possibly the most monumental events in Israel’s history – The Emancipation of Israel

The story we read in the book of Exodus describes the deliverance of God’s people from slavery. For over 400 years Israel had been held captive by Pharaoh and had been subjected to a tyrannical regime of hard labour. In effect, they were captives to Pharaoh’s treadmill. You could say that the ideological mantra that powered this treadmill was not that dissimilar to that of our own era – ‘More for Less’ was embedded in the enslaving Pharaonic system. Not only had God’s people lost their freedom in becoming slaves to this incredibly prosperous empire, in many ways they had also lost their identity. The Exodus narrative tells us of the man whom God chose to confront the powers of Egypt, represented in the person of Pharaoh. Despite God’s display of His power, Pharoah’s heart is hardened until, one night, the whole land - every community - is visited by the angel of death. Only those whose houses are marked by the blood of a sacrificed lamb are spared. Pharaoh finally agrees to let the people go and they begin their Exodus from Egypt. God shows Himself to be Israel’s great rescuer.

Following this remarkable event The Passover Celebration is established. This is a family meal, during which the events of that day were retold. The memory of God’s deliverance was to be kept alive in subsequent generations by the celebration of this freedom festival. Still today, 1000’s of years later, this festival is celebrated in the homes of Jewish people all over the world.

Hundreds of years later, the promise given to the Israelites, that God would raise up a prophet like Moses, is fulfilled when God clothes himself in human flesh. Jesus takes up the Exodus story, the true purpose of which is to look forward to the day of the ultimate Exodus and the deliverance of the whole of humanity from the tyranny of its slavery to the de-humanising powers of sin, darkness, and death. He even takes the much loved and celebrated Passover meal and redeems it, He repurposes the account of Israel’s deliverance and then gives it to His followers in the form of what we call communion -  breaking bread, or more traditionally the eucharist . This now is our freedom festival too; it celebrates our liberation from the power of the enslaving systems that leave us as less than God intended.

You may ask, what are these enslaving systems? What do you mean by de-humanising powers? Just as the Israelites slavishly laboured for the presiding ideologies that Egypt held to be true and considered the route to happiness, security and success, we too today, can so easily be held captive by the ideologies of our 21^st century culture. Here are just a few signs of how the treadmill will trap you and then hold you tight in its grip.

Sometimes unknowingly, our aspirations can make slaves of us, as we think we must work harder, earn more, improve our performance, do more, make a better life, reach higher, and dream big, Many define success as expecting the best, not settling for less and a right to be ‘living the dream’

We don’t have to look too far to realise that, whilst each of these aspirations are not without some merit, they are more likely to lead to anxiety, and so peace becomes increasingly illusive. Fears of all shapes and sizes grow as the pressure to maintain the status of success become an increasing burden. This ideology is a breeding ground for inadequacy, discontent, disappointment, and dissatisfaction. Ideas that seemed to promise life, instead, threaten to extinguish true life.

Just as the Passover Festival celebrated the Hebrew’s emancipation, led by Moses, from captivity and enslavement to the ‘More for Less’ Egyptian social and economic model, so the Eucharist celebrates our emancipation, led by Jesus, from our captivity and enslavement to a presiding cultural ideology. More than that, not only have we been emancipated by Christ, but we also have a new identity as a consequence. We are no longer slaves, held captive by the degenerate and systematised ideologies of this world. As Paul says ‘For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into his Kingdom’, now we are sons and daughters of the living God and citizens of a new reality – the Kingdom of God.

Reflection

1: Spend a moment inviting the Holy Spirit to be with you as you reflect on what you have read. In what ways are you freer today as a consequence of placing your faith in God and answering the call to become a follower of Jesus. Share your freedom with a friend when you next meet or text them.

2: We live in a world  not that dissimilar to that of ancient Egypt in terms of the way we think. For example, Pharaoh wanted ‘more for less’ and so do we! He also feared scarcity, but never had enough. Are you satisfied or always wanting more?