The Passover and Jesus

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Yesterday I was reading through Exodus 12, and I thought it would be cool to point out some parallels between the passover and Jesus. He is after all the 'passover lamb' and the ultimate fulfilment of that celebration.

The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (Exodus 12:5)

"Without defect" means pure, without fault. Though the lambs sacrificed at the passover had to be physically 'perfect' (not deformed), I think this ties to Jesus in another way as well. He was spiritually without defect. He did not sin, and that was the reason that he could take our sin and pay the price for us. He was perfect, and therefore he could take our sin and we can take his righteousness and be saved.

“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." (Exodus 12:12-13)

If we put our faith in Jesus then we are purified from all sin. Consequently we also escape God's judgement. He sees Jesus' blood that has washed our sins away and we are forgiven and not destroyed.

"And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” (Exodus 12:26-27)

Jesus was sacrificed so that we may be spared from God's wrath when he returns to judge the earth. If you have put your faith in him and have repented of sin then God's wrath is laid on Jesus instead of you and you are forgiven. That was the point of the Passover lamb - that God's wrath would pass over God's people. Jesus is the true and better Passover lamb.

Do not break any of the bones. (Exodus 12:46)

 Jesus was sacrificed for us, but not one of his bones were broken. This was prophesied about by David in Psalm 34:20 and comes to fulfilment in John 19:33

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

Isn't it awesome how Jesus fulfilled evert prophecy about him in the OT, even those that he physically could not control. he most certainly is the Messiah, and he most certainly is God.

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. (Exodus 12:14)

The Passover was to last forever. Well, until what it pointed to came to be. Jesus fulfilled the Passover, he is the once-for-all sacrifice that we need, so we no longer need the blood of sheep to pay for our sins. Jesus paid the price that we never could and he fulfilled the Passover. Now we celebrate the Lord's Supper, which Jesus introduced instead of the Passover and it points us directly to his sacrifice for us.

Have you accepted Jesus into your life as the atonement for your sins? Or are you still under God's wrath?

Edit:

I just had something else pointed out to me: 

"Don't forget about them picking a lamb on the tenth day of Nisan and killing it on the fourteenth day. Just as people were picking lambs Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass and on a colt the fowl of an ass. As they yelled hosanna they were unknowingly choosing their lamb sacrifice and as they were killing the lamb they selected on the fourteenth day between the evening sacrifices, they did the same to Jesus and He died at the same time the lamb sacrifice were dying to fulfill the scripture." 

I'm not sure that Jesus died at the same time that the lambs were slain - I thought it was the day after that he was crucified, but his suffering began at that time - he was arrested that night. Either way he fulfills the OT to the letter. God is awesome!

Other points from Exodus 1

While looking at Exodus one and how it supports the Pro-life campaign, I made two other observations.

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• God gives families.

Exodus 1:20-21

So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Because the midwives feared and obeyed God he blessed them by giving them families. This tells us that families are a blessing from God, our father.

For me the first point of application is that God knows who I will marry and he has that all planned out. If he sees fit to bless me with a family like he does most people, then all I have to do is trust him and be faithful to him where I am. He can do the rest. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't look for a wife, but it means that I shouldn't get all worried about who I will marry or when that will happen. God has it all planned out and he is more then capable to bring it about. What I have to do is serve him faithfully where I am.

That's both hard and easy. It's much better to trust God and to wait for his timing because it means I don't have to stress about it. But it is hard to give it over to God and to let him take control of that. But it's what I need to do to glorify him.

The other point of application is that children are a blessing from God. Some people get worried because as of yet they haven't been able to have kids. A better response is to pray and serve God faithfully. He can provide children if it is his will, and if it isn't then we need to trust him that his plan is far better then ours.

Families are a blessing from God. Be thankful for them and serve him faithfully at all times.

• There's a massive foreshadow of Christ here.

Throughout the Old Testament there are little snippets f things that point directly to Jesus. In this chapter we see Pharaoh killing all the baby Israelite boys. In Luke Herod does the same thing. In both accounts at least one escapes. Moses escaped and he would later bring the law to Israel, rescue them from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land (though he could not take them in because he sinned).

Jesus survived and bought the new covenant: Grace. He doesn't rescue us physically, he does more then that and rescues us spiritually from sin and God's eternal wrath. He doesn't just lead us to a promised land on earth but secures our favour in God's sight eternally so we can go to heaven and be with him through grace. He didn't sin and he will return to take us to heaven when he comes back to judge the earth.

Those were just two interesting points from Exodus one. My teacher has been encouraging us to read the old Testament and ask where we see Jesus in it, and believe me it's been good to do.

God Bless,
Nat.