The Passover Lamb

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. When you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed down and worshipped.

The Israelites went and did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Exodus 12:21-30

The Seder meal is how the Jews celebrate the Passover. It is a happy and joyous occasion, because on the night of the Passover, the first born of the Jews were spared.

The Passover meal Jesus and His disciples shared the night before His death was a celebration as well, but with serious overtones. It signaled the beginning of the events that led to His sacrifice and our redemption from sin and Satan.

From spiritual slavery to spiritual freedom. From death to life. As we celebrate our own deliverance, we can say with joy to one another, “L’Chayim! To life!”

Deliverance from sin

is the greatest of all freedoms.

Our Daily Bread – May 15, 2006