The first Passover in Egypt centered around the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed and its blood put over the doorposts as a sign of faith and protection from that which the Lord would do in the killing of the firstborn of all who. The great promise of Exodus 12:10 - "when I see the Blood, I will pass over you," is the hallmark promise of what this writer believes to be Israel's greatest feast on her calendar - the beginning of months, the Feast of Passover. When we came to Christ, who brought us out of Egypt through His precious blood, we experienced a "first of months," or beginning spiritually as we became new creatures in Christ Jesus! Old things were passed away, and ALL things became new! I want to say that again louder - ALL THINGS BECAME NEW, as OLD things - the things of Adam's fallen nature- passed away. It doesn't mean we're perfected saints yet but neighbor the blood of Jesus is perfecting us! The Blood of Jesus is sanctifying us, justifying us, cleansing us, delivering us, and changing us into new creations in Christ!

 

Exodus 12:1-3
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, [2] This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. [3] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

2 Cor. 5:17-21
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [18] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation

 

Exodus 12:13-14
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. [14] And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

 

The blood on the door posts was to be a token to all Israel that God would pass over those who placed their faith in the slain Lamb from which the blood came. It was a powerful prophetic eternal picture of the coming Crucifixion years into the future when Heaven's glorious Lamb shed His blood for the sins of all mankind. Holy Spirit through Paul declares that Jesus Christ is our sacrificial Lamb.

 

The Passover Lamb

 

1 Cor. 5:7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

 

The Passover lamb in Egypt was to be a "male without defect," a type of Christ, the "lamb without blemish or defect."

 

In addition, when the lamb was roasted and eaten, none of its bones were to be broken, speaking to us of the Psalmist's prophecy of the coming Messiah, whose death was both miraculous and prophetic in nature:

 

Exodus 12:46
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

Psalm 34:20
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
 

It was customary during crucifixion to break the leg bones of the person after a few hours in order to hasten their death. The only way a person could breathe when hanging on a cross was to push up with his legs, which was very exhausting. By breaking the legs, death followed soon by asphyxiation. However, in the case of Jesus, they broke the legs of the other two men, but did not break His, since He was already dead.

 

John 19:32-33
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

John 19:36
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

 

The feast of Passover contains many symbolic and prophetic tones of Christ, our risen Lamb! Let me tell you this friend and I should have stated this sooner. The cross of Christ and His subsequent resurrection, of which Passover celebrates, is the only thing that stands between man and eternal hell. Men today don't believe in a hell but the fact of Christ's resurrection warns all men - without exception - that there is a life after this life we see in the natural. EVERY single human being will spend eternity after they die on this earth in either one or two places - heaven or hell. For the child of God death has no fear but a glorious promise. Because HE lives, we shall live also!

 

For the sinner without God, eternity does not hold such a promise of life but eternal death and punishment in the lake of fire, separated from God for all eternity. That sounds blunt but blunt is what this writer must be to express the importance in faith in the Passover Lamb we speak of. We no longer partake of a roasted animal but we partake of a LIVING CHRIST. John declared, "Behold, the LAMB of God, who takes away the sin of the World."

 

John 1:29 - The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

 

During a normal Passover celebration, five days before the lamb was to be sacrificed, it was chosen by the head of the house. Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem five days before the lamb was killed in the temple as the Passover sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel. Therefore, Jesus entered Jerusalem on lamb selection day as the lamb of God five days before He would lay down His life on the Cross for the sins of all mankind.

 

The nation of Israel did not understand the significance of this then and millions do not understand it today; with a fickle heart scores greeted Him with palm branches and hailed Him as King, shouting "Hosanna," which means "save us." However, Israel's religious leaders were not looking for a spiritual Savior, but a political savior, and thus had rejected Christ's claim He was both Israel's Messiah and the Son of God. I ask you today,  how many millions of people have their faith in a "political," or "social," or "racial," or a myriad of other christs instead of embracing and having their faith in the Crucified Lamb of Glory, embracing His cross and walking after Him in self-denial, repentance and faith?

 

One cannot come to God except one come through Christ the Son; one cannot come to Christ except one take up his cross, deny himself and follow after the Lord. Denying one's self signifies repentance and crucifying the lusts and power of the flesh through yielding ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Luke 9:22-24
Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.  [23] And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. [24] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

 

Palm branches were a symbol of freedom and defiance, since Simon Maccabeus had entered Jerusalem with that symbolism years earlier. Christ knew the hearts of those welcoming Him in such a manner and He knows the hearts of all those who falsely accept Him today. His reaction was to weep as He recognized Israel's blindness in understanding His purpose in coming - the Cross. Israel wanted freedom from Rome; Christ came to give freedom from Satan, who controlled both Rome AND Israel at that time. Israel wanted a political savior; When Christ came the first time, He came to change the hearts of men, not change ruler ship over Jerusalem.

 

John 12:12-13 - On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.

 

Matthew 21:8 - And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road.

 

I wander how much He weeps today over His church which little understands His purpose in coming as well! Israel stumbled over the Cross, called a "stumbling block," to the Jews and "foolishness," to the Greeks i.e. Gentiles, and millions stumble over the Cross today. There is an offense related to the Cross that most don't want anything to do with. There was an offense in sprinkling lamb's blood to the door posts in Egypt but without the sprinkling of blood those outside the house lost their firstborn to the death angel. Neighbor, hear this writer - there is a death angel coming for ALL those not under the Blood today just as he came to the houses in Egypt so long ago.

 

1 Cor. 1:22-23 - For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; [24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. [25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. [26] For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

 

That is why we preach Christ Crucified! That is why we embrace the Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ; that's why we preach about Him; that's why we sing about Him; that's why we write about Him!  To say it again  - Christ did not come to deliver Israel from Rome but to deliver mankind from the powers of darkness! For nearly 1,200 years on each subsequent day the Passover Lamb was to be sacrificed, the priest would blow the shofar (ram's horn) at 3:00 p.m. - the moment the lamb was sacrificed, and all the people would pause to contemplate the sacrifice for sins on behalf of the people of Israel. At 3:00 P.M. when Jesus was being crucified, He cried, "It is finished" - at the moment that the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the shofar was blown from the Temple.  The sacrifice of the lamb of God was fulfilled at the hour that the symbolic animal sacrifice usually took place.

 

John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

 

At the same time, the veil of the Temple (a three-inch thick, several story high cloth that demarked the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom - representing a removal of the separation between God and man. Fifty days later, on the anniversary of the giving of the law (Pentecost), God left the earthly temple to inhabit those who call on the name of Jesus through His Holy Spirit.

 

Matthew 27:51
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Luke 23:45
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst

 

Hebrews 9:3
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
 

Unleavened Bread and First Fruits  -Burial and Resurrection

 

Passover actually involves two other feast - the feast of unleavened bread, and the feast of first fruits - each speaking of the crucifixion; the feast of unleavened bread speaks to us of Christ's sinless perfection and His burial as a perfect sacrifice; the Psalmist says He did not see corruption while in the grave;

 

Psalms 16:10  - For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.

Psalms 30:3 - O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

 
Psalms 49:15 - But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me. Selah.
 

Psalms 118:17 - I shall not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD.

 

The festival of unleavened bread began Friday evening (at sunset) when the Jews would take some of the grain - the "first fruits" of their harvest - to the Temple to offer as a sacrifice. In so doing, they were offering God all they had and trusting Him to proved the rest of the harvest. It was at this point that Jesus was buried - planted in the ground - as He said right before His death. Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of those raised from the dead in 1 Corinthians. As such, Jesus represents the fulfillment of God's promise to provide the rest of the harvest - resurrection of those who follow the Messiah.

 

John 12:23-24
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

1 Cor. 15:20
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

1 Cor. 11:24
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

John 19:40
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

We also see Christ in the Passover Seder itself. Three matzahs are put together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit); the middle matzah is broken, wrapped in a white cloth, and hidden, representing the death and burial of Jesus. The matzah itself is designed to represent Jesus, since it is striped and pierced, which was prophesized by Isaiah, David, and Zechariah.

 

Zech. 12:10-12
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. [11] In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. [12] And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

 

Psalm 22:16
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Isaiah 53:5-9
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

 

Following the Seder meal, the "buried" matzah is "resurrected," which was foretold in the prophecies of David.  It was during a Passover Seder that Jesus proclaimed that the meal represented Himself and He was instituting the New Covenant, which was foretold by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.

 

Luke 22:15
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

 

Jeremiah 31:31-33

Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
 

Ezekiel 11:19-20

And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

Isaiah 42:6

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations

 

The celebration of this covenant has become the ordinance of communion in the Christian Church known as the Lord's Supper which is in fact, an actual part of the Jewish Seder, which is what actually took place during the Lord's "last supper" with the disciples.

 

Luke 22:15
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer:

 

At the end of the meal, Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, and said that it represented His body. Then He took the cup of wine, which would have been the third cup of the Seder - the cup of redemption. He said that it was the new covenant in His blood "poured out for you." 

 

Thus, it is through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ALONE that we are declared clean before God, allowing those of us who choose to accept the pardon, to commune with Him - both now and forevermore through the eternal life He offers. That is the message of Passover - the glorious declaration of Jesus the LAMB and what He did for us at the Cross and the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing Justification, Sanctification and Glorification to all those who believe.

 

This is why we celebrate Passover; this is why we preach; this is why we sing; this is why we praise God; this is why we worship; this is why we give; this is why we write; this is why we pour our lives out for the gospel's sake for it to go forth through whatever means necessary. I pray one day to be back behind a pulpit full time preaching the gospel and pastoring but until that time comes this website will be used as a pulpit to proclaim Jesus saves, Jesus heals, Jesus baptizes in the Holy Spirit and Jesus is coming again! The great message of redemption was bought with blood and praise God for it! It was not just any blood, but PRECIOUS blood, divine blood, yet human; it was human blood, yet divine. Christ was 100% man and He was 100% God at the same time.

 

Only the Heavenly Father could accomplish such! No wonder Paul called it a "great salvation." No wonder angels looked into this great plan of salvation and wondered in amazement at how fallen human creatures who come to Christ in faith could be redeemed, bought with a price through such love than no mortal tongue could even begin to describe it! This is the message of Passover! This is the glorious message of the Resurrection!

 

 

As we close today let me ask you what the Holy Spirit asked through Paul so long ago through written words yet He asks today through the words of this journal: "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" How shall we escape the wrath of God that was poured out on Calvary's cross for man's sin that is poured out still in eternity for those who reject the Cross of Christ and leave its foundation to put faith in other things than what Christ accomplished for us there 2,000 years ago? How shall we escape neighbor?

 

Hebrews 2:3
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Hebrews 3:1
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;