Definition: the major Jewish spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, lasting seven or eight days from the 15th day of Nisan; of the Jewish calendar.
Scriptures: Exodus 12: 12-13 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” …
Isaiah 53:5 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore, let us keep the festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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Definition: the major Jewish spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, lasting seven or eight days from the 15th day of Nisan; of the Jewish calendar.
Scriptures: Exodus 12: 12-13 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” …
Isaiah 53:5 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore, let us keep the festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
THOUGHT
When Moses petitioned the Egyptian Pharoah to release God’s chosen people who had become enslaved by Pharoah, Moses’s pleas were ignored. Consequently, God sent nine plagues upon the Egyptians. It was the tenth plague that forced the Pharoah to angrily and urgently surrender to the will of God and release the Hebrews.
During this plague, the death angel, under the orders of God, was to kill the first-born sons of all the people who did not cover their doorposts with the blood of an unblemished lamb. For each blood-protected dwelling, the angel would mercifully “Passover*”, sparing the lives of all in that home. Pharaoh's resolve crumbled only when his own first-born son fell victim to the death angel's blow, revealing the futility of his authority against the power of God. Urgently Pharoah ordered the Hebrews to leave Egypt. It was with urgency that the Hebrews left. God had ordered the Hebrews to make bread without leaven as a symbol of the burden of sin that they carried in this foreign land. Within hours of the tenth plague, the Hebrews began their exodus out of Egypt to the “promised land” of God.
Approximately 1480 years later, Jesus, also of Jewish descent, entered the city of Jerusalem as part of the traditional observation of Passover. During his 33 years of life, Jesus had lived, taught and ministered the Words of his Father and performed many miracles. When he entered the gates of Jerusalem, because of Jesus’ ministry and the performing of miracles throughout the land, throngs of people exalted and revered him. The audacity of the people to exalt a commoner and call him “King of the Jews” was more than his enemies could tolerate. This angered the Jewish leaders and caused the Roman hierarchy to take notice.
Just as rapidly as the Pharaoh, during the time of Moses, had ordered the Hebrews to leave Egypt; the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, at the urging of the Jewish Sanhedrin counsel, ordered the execution of Jesus. It was during the Passover that Jesus, “the sacrificial lamb of God” was tried, executed and buried. This is a parallel that cannot be ignored.
During the time of Moses, it was the blood of the sacrificial lamb placed on the door posts that caused the death angel to Passover the homes and spare the lives of the inhabitants, allow them to escape from their bondage, overcome the challenges of their journey and enter the land promised to them by God.
Similarly, as was prophesied by Isaiah, it is belief in the shed blood of the lamb of Jesus the Christ, covering the doorposts of our hearts that allows the death angel to “Passover” and redeem us from the bondage of sin, give us the power to sustain and overcome the challenges of life’s journey and guarantee everlasting life in the kingdom of God.
So, as we acknowledge or celebrate Passover let us remember to do so spiritually and with reverence. “Let us keep the festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.“ I Cor. 5 :8