Christ Our Passover Lamb
Today,
Passover begins on day 15 of the Hebrew month of Nissan (March or April) and
continues for 8 days. Originally, Passover began at twilight on the fourteenth
day of Nissan (Leviticus 23:5), and then the next day, day 15, the Feast of
Unleavened Bread would begin and continue for seven days (Leviticus 23:6).
Joseph, son
of Jacob, after being sold into slavery in Egypt, was kept by God and greatly
blessed. Eventually he was put into a high position—second-in-command to Pharaoh.
In time, Joseph moved his entire family to Egypt and protected them there. 400
years later, the Israelites had grown into a people numbering 2 million. There
were so many Jews in Egypt that the new Pharaoh was afraid of their power. To
maintain control, he turned them into slaves, oppressing them with harsh labor
and ruthless treatment.
At the time
Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered the death of all Hebrew males, but God
spared Moses when his mother hid him in a basket along the banks of the Nile.
Pharaoh's daughter found the baby and decided to raise him as her own. Later
Moses fled to Midian after killing an Egyptian for cruelly beating one of his
own people. There God appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush and
said, "I have seen the misery of my people. I have heard their cries, I
care about their suffering, and I have come to rescue them. I am sending you to
Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:7-10, paraphrased)
After making
some excuses, Moses finally obeyed God and confronted Pharaoh. But when Pharaoh
refused to let the Israelites go, God sent a series of plagues to persuade him.
With the final plague God promised to strike dead every first-born son in Egypt
at midnight on the 15th day of the month of Nissan. But to Moses, the Lord
provided instructions so his people would be spared. Each Hebrew family was to
take a Passover lamb, slaughter it, and place some of the blood on the door
frames of their homes. When the destroyer passed over Egypt, he would not enter
the homes covered by the blood of the Passover lamb.
These and
other instructions became part of a lasting ordinance from God for the
observance of the Passover Feast, so that the generations to come would always
remember God's great deliverance.
At midnight,
the Lord struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, and that very night Pharaoh
called Moses and said, "Up! Leave my people. Go." They left in haste
and God led them toward the Red Sea. After a few days Pharaoh changed his mind,
and decided to send his army in pursuit. When the Egyptian army reached them at
the banks of the Red Sea, the Hebrew people were afraid and cried out to God.
Moses
answered, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance
the Lord will bring you today."
Moses
stretched out his hand and the sea parted, allowing the Israelites to cross on
dry ground, with a wall of water on either side. And when the Egyptian army
followed, it was thrown into confusion. Moses then stretched out his hand over
the sea again and the entire army was swept away, leaving no survivors.
In Luke 22,
Jesus shared the Passover meal with his apostles saying, "I have been very
eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell
you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the
Kingdom of God." (Luke 22:15-16, NLT) Jesus is the fulfillment of the
Passover. He is the Lamb of God, sacrificed to set us free from bondage to sin.
(John 1:29; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53) His blood covers and protects us, and his body
was broken to free us from eternal death. (1 Corinthians 5:7)
In the
Jewish tradition a hymn of praise known as the Hallel is sung during the
Passover Seder. In it is Psalm 118:22, speaking of the Messiah: "The stone
the builders rejected has become the capstone." (NIV) Jesus said in
Matthew 21:42, one week before his death, that he himself was the stone the
builders rejected.
As God
commanded the Israelites to always commemorate his great deliverance through
the Passover meal, we Christians were instructed by Christ as well, to
continually remember his sacrifice through The Lord's Supper or Communion.
Passover in
the Old Testament: Exodus 12; Numbers 9: 1-14; Numbers 28:16-25; Deuteronomy
16: 1-6; Joshua 5:10; 2 Kings 23:21-23; 2 Chronicles 30:1-5, 35:1-19; Ezra
6:19-22; Ezekiel 45:21-24.
Passover in
the New Testament: Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 2, 22; John 2, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18,
19; Acts 12:4; 1 Corinthians 5:7.