When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’ ”

Exodus 12:26–27 (CSB)

This was a central celebration of the old covenant community. We are now, in Christ Jesus, the new covenant community (for more on the new covenant read Jeremiah 31.29-34 and Hebrews 8). We learn from Paul that Jesus is our is our Passover lamb who has been sacrificed (1 Cor. 5.7).

So how does this new covenant reality shape our answer to the meaning of communion (the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist)? How do we answer in a way that is at the same time shaped by the Passover history connected to Exodus 11-13? We take communion regularly and we ought to practice it in a way that our kids ask us why it's so important to us. Here's my new covenant shot at taking this old covenant answer and transposing it to our children:

What should parents say when children ask, "What does this communion ritual mean?"?

It is the Passover sacrifice of Jesus to our Father, for he passed and will pass over our people in the world when he struck his Son Jesus and when he will strike irreconciled humanity on the last Day, sparing our people.

What do you think about my answer? How would you answer this question to children in a way that gospelizes them?