02-04-26 - 'Appointed Times: Christ our Passover (Easter Message 2026)'

In this Easter message, Reverend Tim Gutmann turns to the significance of Passion Week, focusing on the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the central importance of the cross. He highlights how much of the Gospel accounts are devoted to this single week, underscoring its eternal significance.

The sermon centres on the biblical theme of Passover, revealing Jesus as the fulfilment of the Passover Lamb. Drawing connections between the Exodus and the crucifixion, the message explains how Christ’s sacrifice brings redemption, deliverance, and freedom from sin. What was foreshadowed in Israel’s history is fully realised in Jesus.

The teaching emphasises that the cross was not an accident, but God’s divine plan of salvation. Through Jesus’ death, sin is judged, and through His resurrection, victory is secured. The message calls viewers to understand the depth of what Christ accomplished and to respond with faith and gratitude.

With a strong Easter focus, the sermon invites believers to reflect on the cost of redemption and the love of God demonstrated through the cross. It concludes by pointing to the hope found in Christ—the Lamb who was slain and who lives again.

Listeners can watch the full Midweek Church Service live every Thursday at 7pm on Revelation TV.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

So it is a very special week, and I said last week that the Passion Week, that last week of Jesus' life, so much of the Gospels are devoted just to one week. I think over a third of the book of John. That's why John said, listen, if I was to write everything Jesus said and did, there wouldn't be enough books in all the world because just one week covers a third of the gospels. I mean it's incredible. And this week was key, it was pivotal to history. It was the turning point. We went from the Satan holding the keys of death and our destiny being sin, death, hell, and Jesus resting back, taking the keys of death and Hades. Worthy is the Lamb, and it was the Lamb, and that's what everyone missed. That's what the enemy missed. That's what the Romans missed. That's what the religious leaders missed. That Jesus was going to save us through his sacrificial death on the cross. But it's this, it's so clear. And so many people miss prophecies at the time because it's like jigsaw piece puddles. But we get to see the completed jigsaw, if you like, we get to see the completed picture, and you can say, Wow, I mean, literally, Jesus is on every page of the Bible, Old and New Testament. You can see, for example, this time, and this is why we love to celebrate, by the way, Passover, Paysach. Uh, because there's so it's so enriching because Jesus literally fulfills those feasts, every single one of them from pays, unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost, 50 days after that, and of course, there's three more to come. We look forward to the Feast of Trumpets. Does that mean you know the trumpets that the angels will sound and will see the Lord in the air? Yeah, Yom Kippur, Atonement, and then of course the last one tabernacles, when he tabernacles with us on the new Jerusalem. We can't wait for that fulfillment. Three more to go, and it's getting close, it really is getting close. But let's get back to Passover, let's get back to Paysak. You know when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey, and I love this by the way. I mean, this my mind's going everywhere because I'm so excited this time of year. When he rides in that donkey, and normally a victorious king or a king or a Caesar would ride in on a mighty horse. You see how God uses the donkey, the humble. You see how a king would ride in and people would be uh um awed by the procession and the horses, but Jesus rides on a humble donkey, a cult of a donkey. And I don't know if you guys have seen, but particularly the Mediterranean donkey and many of the donkey types, they all have a cross on their back. I don't know if you know that, Google that after. But he rides in on the donkey, that humble donkey, which spoke to Balaam in the old testament, that humble donkey, which you would ride not as a king, but if you are in a time of peace or if you didn't have enough money for a horse, Jesus rides in on a donkey and they say this Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They said uh Hosanna, and that is actually, I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but that's a uh particular psalm. There's a group of psalms called the Egyptian Hillel, Psalm 113 to 118, and they sing these psalms uh especially at Passover at Pesach, and I don't think the people knew when they were throwing palm branches, waving palm branches, and singing that psalm and saying that psalm, Hosanna, Blessed Uzi, who comes in the name of the Lord. I don't think they realize the fulfillment because obviously we hear, and you've heard uh preachers on this where a little short time later they were shouting, Crucify, because they wanted their king to go and destroy the Romans, but Jesus came to come and destroy death. He came to bring life, eternal life, and they were singing this psalm Hosanna. But actually, if you read a few verses before, it says, The stone the builders have rejected has become the capstone. So the rejected stone gets raised, but I don't think people realize that when they were singing Hosanna, which means save us, save us, and he is Yeshua, he is salvation, he is the lamb, that Passover lamb. You go all the way back to the Old Testament to Exodus chapter 12, verse 7. God commands his people to paint the blood on the doorpost. Looks something like that. It says they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the house in where they eat it. And so they took, they dipped the hyssop into the lamb's blood and they put it on the doorpost. Kind of looks like a cross, right? And uh the angel of death it passes over. Not because of anything they did, not because of their merit, not because they were good people or good Jews or anything else, it was literally the blood of Jesus. This is so important. I talked last week about us being the priesthood, a holy priesthood, and that is as well. There's so much in that because the priesthood in the Old Testament, it was a bloodline thing, it wasn't a merit thing. It wasn't like if you train hard enough and if you work hard enough, you could be a priest. It was literally bloodline, it was it was beyond their control, even this was something that God ordained, and in the same way, the blood of Jesus, it passes it, it causes death and hell and that Satan's power, it all passes over us because the blood of Jesus is enough. And like a lamb, he was uh like a lamb to the slaughter, Jesus was silent before his accusers, Isaiah 53, verse 7. I mean so many scriptures Jesus fulfilled. He was oppressed and afflicted, he didn't open his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter, or like a sheep is silent. He opened not his mouth, and that of course prophesies how Jesus before Pilate didn't defend himself, he didn't tear down those who were accusing, he was just silent because actually, uh, as we read last week, and as we remember, Jesus set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem. He was going to Jerusalem on a mission, and that mission was to save you, and it was to save me. This is what Jesus did. Incredible. As well, like the lamb, the Passover lamb, the Paysak Lamb, it says, Not one of his bones was broken. That's in John 19, verse 36. All of these prophetic things, those around are seeing Jesus fulfill, and it's not until after that they look back and say, Wow, Jesus literally fulfilled the role of the Passover lamb. For these things took place, that scripture would be fulfilled, not one of his bones will be broken, not one of his bones should be broken. And then he cried those three words, those three words that have resounded in history ever since. Like I said, this pivotal moment in our history, Jesus said, John 19, verse 30, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head. And you know what? I imagine if the enemy, powers and principalities, or if the rulers heard him say that, they might have thought, he's giving up, we've won. But actually, that was a victory cry right there. The Greek there, if you don't know, is tetelistae. It's a word that has three meanings. It is finished. We we we translated that into three words. It is finished in the Greek, it is tetelistae, and it has three meanings. Number one, it has a financial meaning, the debt is paid in full. It actually says that in Colossians, they're like the legal requirements of the debt have been paid in full. It also has a judicial meaning. In those days, if you went to jail and you served your time, they open the prison doors, they stamp a bit of paper, Tetelistai, you've done your time. The sentence has been served, and finally, and this is my favorite by the way, it has a military meaning when the enemy is finally conquered on the battlefield and the last man is destroyed. The commander will shout out, TE Telesti, it is finished, we are victorious, because Jesus on the cross of Calvary, he was victorious. Colossians 2 verse 15 says this. Colossians 2 verse 15, it says that he made a public spectacle of powers and principalities triumphing over them on the cross. He triumphed on the cross. The cross was triumph. The enemy probably thought this is our victory. But when we look back at Pesak and we see the Passover lamb, and when we look back at what Jesus did, this wasn't the enemy's victory, this was Jesus's overwhelming victory over sin, over death, over hell. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 8 says, None of the rulers of this age understood it, because if they had, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. Do you catch that? If the Romans knew what they were doing, if they would know that little over three centuries later Rome would be Christian, if they had known that actually by killing Jesus, what they're doing is bringing life and this movement that and this body, this organic body that is the church, was born. If only they'd known. And also powers and principalities, the rulers of this age, as Paul writes, meaning the demonic realm, if they had known, they wouldn't have seen Jesus crucified, they would have done everything they can to stop it. Because actually, that symbol of death and suffering, that Roman symbol of cruelty became our symbol of life, of hope, of healing, of salvation. The cross is our salvation. And Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he took the cup, said this is the cup of the new covenant, or in the paysack meal, the third cup, which is the cup of redemption. Before then, you have the cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, and then the third cup, redemption. By his blood, we're redeemed. And then he says, You won't drink again until the fourth cup. And the fourth cup, which we'll have in the wedding supper of the Lamb, is actually the cup of praise. And we cannot wait for that in the wedding supper of the Lamb. Can you see why the pace acts so rich with meaning and how Jesus fulfills it so wonderfully? And I'm gonna finish with this. He didn't stay on that cross, he didn't cheat death like some claim. He didn't send someone else to die. Jesus didn't cheat death, he beat death. And he beat death for you, and he beat death for me. Death isn't the end. Our story has a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful future. Our destiny is with Jesus, is with the Lord forever and ever and ever. We know our future because Jesus rose from the dead.