Lent: why Passover?

THE ATONING SACRIFICE Second of three parts

God commanded Moses to institute Passover with Israel’s liberation from Egypt (Ex. 12). After nine plagues, the Pharaoh still refused to set Israel free. The 10th plague — the death of their firstborn — broke the king’s resistance.

The blood of the Passover lambs would protect the firstborn of Israel. When God saw this blood on the doorposts of Israelites, he passed over them.

A list of rules defined the Passover and the following week of Unleavened Bread. It was only for believers: Israelites and their circumcised slaves.

The year-old lambs (young adults) could be either sheep or goat. The lamb had to be roasted over fire, not boiled. Its bones should not be broken. More than one family could share, but the meat could not be taken from one house to another (they could not leave their homes while the destroyer was killing first-born Egyptians).

What remained of the lamb (skin, bones, and entrails) had to be incinerated before the next morning. They had to eat the lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread — pointing to their bitter bondage and their hasty exit from Egypt.

The feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread should be celebrated annually, so they would remember.

Most of the Passover rules pointed to the Messiah. Like the lambs, he was a young adult. His substitutional, atoning death made God pass over (forgive) those protected by his blood. It worked only for people of faith. As the lambs were roasted in fire, and leftovers burnt in fire, the Messiah suffered hell on the cross in the place of believers. His bones were not broken (John 19:33, 36).

Many Hebrew firstborn might have lived through that night with fear and anxiety. However, their safety was guaranteed by the blood on the doorposts, not by their subjective feelings. Likewise, we should not be haunted by our feelings, but assured by the blood of the Lamb — the price Christ paid for us, which he concluded with, “It is finished!” It is done.

Because Passover and Unleavened Bread occurred in the same week, both names were used for the entire weeklong festival (Mark 14:12, John 18:28).

Just before Jesus instituted the Last Supper, he said that he looked forward to celebrating this Passover with the disciples (Luke 22:15).

Jesus was sentenced and crucified on the Day of Preparation ( John 19:14); that is, the day before Sabbath, the day they prepared the Sabbath meals. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury Jesus’ body before the start of Sabbath at sunset (John 19:3842, Luke 23:50-56).

Jesus was crucified on Passover to show he was the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, Rev. 5:6-10).

Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books.