Exodus

The Passover Lamb

God used a number of plagues to cause Pharaoh to let the people of God leave the bondage of slavery in Egypt. The final plague was to strike down the firstborn son of the Egyptians. God instructed the Israelite people to select a year-old male lamb without defect, slaughter the lamb—making sure not to break any of the bones—and to apply its blood to the tops and sides of the door frame of their houses. And when God saw the lamb’s blood, He would “pass over” the home and not permit “the destroyer” to enter and kill. Any home without the blood of the lamb would have their firstborn son struck down. God then instructed the Israelites to observe the Passover Feast as a lasting memorial.

It is not a coincidence that the night Jesus would be betrayed, arrested (and eventually crucified), it was the Passover Feast He was observing with His disciples. The disciples may not have understood the significance in the moment but eventually they would. It was not that event in Exodus 12 that was the ultimate passover lamb they were to observe, it was the very one who was washing their feet that was THE Passover Lamb. He was the “Slaughtered Sheep” (Isaiah 53) who was without defect (1 Peter 1:19). He died without His bones being broken (Psalm 34:19–20; John 19:33). And most importantly, His blood “passes over” the penalty of our sins when we placed our faith and trust in Him. In Hebrews 9:22, the author says, “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”

Every Israelite who had the lamb’s blood on the door frame, were able to leave the bondage of slavery. And we, if we’ve been washed by the blood of the Lamb, have also been set free from bondage, from the slavery of sin. Sadly, there were times the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt, to bondage. And sadly, it’s true today as well. We think the “old life” has something for us, but it only leads to bondage. The Savior’s sacrifice was too great to cheapen it by looking back to the former ways. Let’s embrace our Passover Lamb today. Let’s take time to remember the sacrifice and rejoice in the freedom we have in the Promise Land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”!

• In what ways are you looking back at “the former ways”? How could they lead you back to the slavery of sin?
• If there’s some unconfessed sin in your life, will you confess it to God today? The blood of Jesus covers it!
• How can you live a life of gratitude this week in response to Jesus being your Passover Lamb?