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The Lamb of God Celebrates Passover

He wrote the story and then submitted Himself to it.
Lesson 52 from The HOPE Study Guide

INTRODUCTION

And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

– Luke 22:14–20

And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

– Matthew 26:26–28

And so it came to pass, that Jesus, whom John called the Lamb of God, went up to Jerusalem, to observe Passover…Jesus gathered His disciples to celebrate Passover. Taking the Passover bread, Jesus broke it and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.” Then He took the wine, which represented the blood of the Passover lamb, which had been placed over the entrances of the Hebrew dwellings. And He said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

– The HOPE, Chapter 10

OBSERVE & CONSIDER

Recall from Lesson 34 that God instructed the Hebrew people to institute an annual celebration called Passover so that they would remember how He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. When the ruler of Egypt refused to let the people go, God sent death to every first–born child in the land, but He “passed over” those in a dwelling with the blood of a lamb over the entrance. They were “covered by the blood.” Many Hebrew people traveled great distances to observe Passover in Jerusalem, the main city of their land. Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus took His disciples to Jerusalem to observe Passover.

According to the Biblical account (Exodus 12:5-8, Numbers 9:11-12), the Passover meal included three essential food items: roasted lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Each of these elements was meant to remind future generations about what God had done to deliver their forefathers from  bondage in Egypt.1

The lamb would remind them of the unblemished lamb that had to be slain, and its blood placed on their doorposts so that death would “pass over” those inside. The bitter herbs would remind them of slavery under the Egyptians. The unleavened bread had a double meaning. First, because this bread did not require time to rise, it reminded the Hebrew people of their hasty departure from Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:3). Second, with leaven being a Biblical symbol for sin and corruption, this bread would remind them of a life that was not ruled by sin. Against this backdrop of rich history and imagery, Jesus gathered His disciples for a Passover meal and then proceeded to give a radically new spiritual meaning to this sacred tradition. Continue reading →


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The Passover – Images of the Promised Deliverer

A picture of the promised Deliverer.
Lesson 34 from The HOPE Study Guide

INTRODUCTION

“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household…Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.’”

– Exodus 12:3, 5, 6

‘And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’

– Exodus 12:13

Moses returned to Egypt. And with his brother, Aaron, Moses went before the Pharaoh. But the Pharaoh’s heart was hard toward the Hebrew people, and he refused to let them leave Egypt. So God sent a series of terrible plagues on Egypt. But none of the plagues touched the Hebrew people. After each plague, the Pharaoh still refused to let the people go. Then God commanded every Hebrew family to slay a lamb and place blood from the lamb over the door of their dwelling. And God sent death to every first–born in the land, except those who were in a dwelling with blood over the entrance. As with Adam and Eve in the garden, and Abraham and his son on the mountain, it was yet another picture of how a sacrificial substitute would someday deliver humankind from Satan, sin, and death.

– The HOPE, Chapter 6

OBSERVE & CONSIDER

As we see from the Bible verses and The HOPE excerpts above, Moses returned to Egypt to deliver his people. But the ruler of Egypt refused to let them go, even after God sent a series of plagues which should have caused him to realize that God Himself was behind Moses’ request. After nine plagues which brought diseases, insects, reptiles and various natural disasters to Egypt (without affecting the Hebrew people),1 God told Moses to institute something that is celebrated in part by the Hebrew people to this very day. It is known as the Passover.

Through Moses, God instructed the Hebrew families to take an unblemished lamb into their households and to care for it for four days. That sweet innocent lamb must have become like a member of the household! After four days they were to kill the lamb and prepare it for a meal. God gave them specific instructions for preparation of the lamb, and what they should eat with it. Every element of the Passover meal was rich with special meaning. Numerous books have been written on this subject. (See “For Further Study”).

God also instructed the Hebrew people to place blood from the lamb over the doors of their houses. God said that He would send death to every first born in the land, passing over those dwelling in any house with blood over the door. And everything came to pass, just as God said. Continue reading →