Passover (Pesach) is one of three major feasts in the Jewish calendar. It was one of the “pilgrim feasts,” during which the Israelites were expected to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple during the feast. However, the first Passover occurred before any Tabernacle or Temple, while the Jews were still slaves in Egypt.
Beginning in Exodus 12:3 and following, God instructs the people on how to prepare for the first Passover, “on the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. . . . Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month.
Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire-its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover.”
In Exodus 12:12 and following, God gives the reason for the Passover, “for I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy all mention Passover as do many books detailing the history of the Jews.
What does this have to do with Jesus?
- Jesus was a Jew.
- Jesus and his disciples had likely come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with his disciples when he was betrayed
- By the blood of the lamb being smeared on the lintel and doorposts of the houses of the Jews, the judgment of God passed over them on that first Passover in Egypt. Similarly, by the blood of Jesus, the wrath of God passes over those who believe Jesus died for their sins.
- Jesus converted the symbols of Passover (cup of redemption) and the unleavened bread into symbols of the new covenant – what we know in the Christian tradition as communion.
Throughout Jewish history, the Passover celebration was pointing forward – to the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world and cause the wrath of God to pass over the children of God.
Who are these who have been passed over? Those who believe that Christ is the Son of God and that His death was a substitutionary death – Jesus because the substitute sacrifice – the lamb to be slain.
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Rooted and Grounded 