the Passover has been celebrated for over 3,000 years since its inauguration in Egypt and Mount Sinai. It tells of salvation from death and the new birth of a nation. People remember the Exodus to renew their faith that history is ultimately governed by the One who will triumph over oppression and tyranny with justice and freedom.
Jesus takes Passover to another level teaching that His sacrificial death on the cross is the eternal plan of God to save, liberate, and give eternal life to people from every nation on earth.
At its core, the Passover is about the LORD saving his people from slavery and death and leading them into an eternal kingdom of freedom and life on earth as in heaven.
Crying to God from Ancient Egypt
Imagine a time long ago in ancient Egypt. The Israelites, enslaved and mistreated by the Egyptians, cried out for freedom. Their cries reached the ears of God, who decided to intervene and rescue them from their suffering. This intervention came in the form of ten miraculous plagues that brought judgment on each of the Egyptian gods who had exploited rather than saved them. Each time Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go free another plague followed, more intense than its former.
Saved by The Blood of the Lamb
The final plague was the most devastating of all. The Angel of Death would pass through Egypt, claiming the lives of every firstborn son. But there was hope for the Israelites and for all who listened to them. YHWH (the Name of the LORD) instructed for a lamb to be sacrificed for every household and for their doorposts to be marked with its blood. Every family, whatever their nationality, who obeyed this simple command saved their firstborn sons from death. When the Angel of Death saw this sign, He would pass over their homes, sparing their firstborn sons from death.
New Nation with the Saving God in the Midst
This act of sacrifice and redemption became known as the Passover. The blood of the lamb saved them from Pharaoh, bondage, judgment, and death. That night marked not only their deliverance from bondage but also their resurrection into new life as a free nation under YHWH. He revealed himself as the God who is in their midst to judge oppressors and save, protect, provide for, and lead them on their journey to freedom.
Fast Forward 1,500 years
The Passover holds profound significance in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each element of the Passover narrative finds fulfilment in the person and ministry of Jesus, revealing Him as the ultimate fulfilment of God’s plan for humanity.
Jesus was a remarkable healer who delivered people from evil spirits and healed those who came to him, including the lame, blind, deaf, mute, sick and lepers. He even raised the dead.
He also amazed people by teaching about His coming Kingdom of Justice, love, compassion, and forgiveness on earth as it is in heaven. He challenged the status quo and offered a message of hope to all who would listen.
None of his disciples understood until he rose from the dead that Jesus’ primary mission was to suffer and die as a sacrifice to take away sin.
God’s Plan from Before the World Began
The Scripters teach that in the mind of God the lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the earth.[1]
As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the Passover, he repeatedly told his disciples that he had to be falsely accused, handed over to the Gentile Romans to be mocked, beaten, and put to death on a cross, yet he would rise again in victory on the third day.[2]
The Last Supper
The evening before his trials, beatings and crucifixion, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. The third cup is called the cup of redemption. After the meal Jesus took the third cup gave thanks and gave it to his disciples saying, ”Drink this all of you: for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.[3]
Jesus revealed the full meaning of the Passover bread without yeast. It reminded them of leaving Egypt in haste without having time for the bread to rise. Leven also represents the sin that permeates all our lives. The bread with no leaven represented the man with no sin. Jesus offered the unleavened bread to his disciples saying ‘’take and eat, for this is My body broken for you”.[4] From then on they were to eat and drink in remembrance of his perfect love and sacrifice for them.[5]
The Sacrificial Lamb
Jesus was born in a stable and visited by shepherds in Bethlehem, a town five miles south of Jerusalem where lambs were raised for sacrifice in the temple.[6]
Preparing for the first Passover Moses had told the people to take a perfect lamb on the 10th day of Nissan and take care of it until they sacrifice it on the 14th day of Nissan.[7] Jesus intentionally rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on the 10th day of Nissan and was crucified on the 14th day of Nissan.
John the Baptist and John the ‘beloved disciple’, proclaimed to all who would listen that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes sin away from the world.[8]
Paul identified Jesus Christ as the Passover lamb that was sacrificed.[9]
Innocent
The religious leaders who were jealous of Jesus accused Him of many things and tried to dismiss His claim to be the Messiah the Son of God. Amid the many accusations, three people declared him innocent.
When he saw Jesus being condemned Judas told the chief priests “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.”[10]
While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”[11]
When Pilate saw that the crowd was calling for Jesus to die and were about to riot, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘’I am innocent of the blood of this just person.’’[12]
Perfect Sacrifice
The Apostle Peter teaches that Jesus was the perfect lamb without any defects.[13]
Like the unblemished lambs, Jesus was presented to Israel as being perfect before being sacrificed on the 14th day of Nisan at the beginning of Passover.[14]
Jesus like us was tempted in every way but knew no sin.[15]
The Passover Lamb’s Bones not Broken
The Passover regulations commanded that none of the bones of the Passover lamb should be broken.[16] At Roman crucifixion, Roman soldiers often broke the legs of their victims when it was time to end their life. However, John, the beloved disciple records in his gospel that Jesus’s legs were not broken for He had already given up his life. To check he was dead a soldier thrust a spear into his side.[17]
Synchronized Timing
The law of Moses commands that the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered at twilight.[18] Jesus bled and died in Jerusalem the same day and time the spotless lambs were being slaughtered for Passover.
Justice and Mercy Satisfied
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.[19]
One Perfect Sacrifice to End All Sacrifices
Jesus died once for all sins. At the moment of his death, the thick curtain that separated the Most Holy Place in the temple tore from top to bottom. This was a sign that the separation between the LORD and humanity and the curse of death was now removed.[20] There was now no more need for any animal to be sacrificed or blood spilt for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice paid the price once and for all.[21]
Teaching after Rising from the Dead
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his followers and showed them from the Scriptures and prophets how the Messiah had to suffer and then enter his glory.[22] His death on the cross was the ultimate act of love offering forgiveness and new life to all who would believe in Him.[23] To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.[24]
God Dwelling on the Earth in Human Beings
Jesus plainly told people that He and all who believed in Him were the real temple and dwelling place of God. He clearly prophesied that the temple in Jerusalem would be torn down to its foundations so that not one stone would stand upon another. The Romans did exactly this to Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.[25] This encouraged the followers of Jesus to scatter carrying the presence of God all over the world.
Do you want God to forgive your past and to come to dwell with you?
- The LORD loves you.[26]
- He has done everything for your salvation.[27]
- All you need to do become a beloved child of God is A,B,C.
- Admit that you have lived a self-centred life ignoring God’s gift of Jesus and tell Him that you are sorry about everything that you have thought, said, and done against Him and His people.[28]
Ask Him to forgive you and to come into your life and lead you as your LORD and Saviour.[29]
- Believe the Lord Jesus Christ died to forgive you all your sins and has risen again to give you new life.[30]
- Confess to God and yourself, before the angels and demons, that Jesus Christ is LORD and has risen from the dead.[31]
Learn to follow Jesus by reading His Word in the Bible and obeying His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth whom He sends to live in everybody who has been made clean by His perfect sacrifice.
References
[1] Revelation 13:8.
[2] Matthew 16:21, 17:22, Mark 8:31; Luke 9:21-22, 13:33, 18:31-34.
[3] Matthew 26:27,28.
[4] I Corinthians 11:24-25.
[5] Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38.
[6] Bethlehem Shepherds https://www.johnbmacdonald.com/blog/why-shepherds-at-bethlehem#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20according%20to%20the%20Jewish,in%20the%20Temple%20at%20Jerusalem.
[7] Exodus 12:3-6.
[8] John 1:29, 36.
[9] 1 Corinthians 5:7.
[10] Matthew 27:4.
[11] Matthew 27:19.
[12] Matthew 27:24.
[13] 1 Peter 1:19.
[14] John 19:4.
[15] 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15.
[16] Exodus 12:46.
[17] John 19:31-37.
[18] Exodus 12:6, Leviticus 23:5.
[19] Romans 3:25-26.
[20] Matthew 27:50-56.
[21] Hebrews 10, particularly 10:10.
[22] Luke 24:13-35.
[23] John 3:16.
[24] John 1:12-13.
[25] Siege of Jerusalem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70_CE)
[26] Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14:1.
[27] Romans 6:23; John 1:12,13; John 14:6; Ephesians 1:13-14.
[28] 1 John 1:8-9.
[29] John 5:24, 6:27; Acts 2:21, 4:12.
[30] John 3:16-18; Acts 16:30-31.
[31] Romans 10:9-10.
