Prof. M. M. Ninan
Passover is a historical renactment of a historical event in the life of the Hebrew nation. The passover ceremony describes these events in a graphic way so that the generations that follow will remember that. Here is the instruction:
Exodus. 12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
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This is a new beginnining of freedom for the Jewish nation, So was it for the New Israel on the ultimate fulfilment of the Passover. You must be born again into a new life into a new community called church. |
3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
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Notice that this lamb is not for the individual person alone, it is for the family - the household. The new covenant of freedom is not for the individuals, it is meant for the household. It can even be a neighborhood as the next verse shows. Salvation is for the household including infants. |
4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.
5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
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The sacrifice must be an adult blemishless sheep or goat (from Jews or Gentiles). Jesus was 30 years old, the prescribed adult age for entering into religious service when he entered into the ministry. His ancestory was not Jewish alone, but both Jewish and Gentile as Mathew points out. They included not only saints, but also sinners. Sheep and the Goats usually refers to the righteous and the unrighteous, saints and sinners as in |
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Mat 25: 32-33 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. |
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During the temple period, the lamb was to be certified blemishless by the
priests. There used to be a class of priest shepherds who kept these lambs for sacrifice
just outside the city of Jerusalem. It is probably to these shepherds, the angels gave the
message of the birth of Jesus the ultimate sacrificial lamb. This indeed was the glad
tidings of great joy. Luke 2: 10-12 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." |
John the High Priest cum Prophet selected Jesus
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.John 1:29 Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. |
John was Priest
John was born of Zechariah and Elizabeth both of Priestly family
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Blemishless Lamb: Chosen
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Must live within the house as a member – loved by the children for three full days |
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The lamb was to be part of the family living within the family rooms, playing with the children and being loved by them. This lamb was to become so much part of their life that the sacrifice would have been so painful. This is the substitution of the person. As the lamb was to be sacrificed in the afternoon on the fourth day, Jesus was in the eye of the community for three and a half years. |
when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
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All the people will together, some with great regret, by order and compulsion, sacrificed the perfect lamb. The substitition is complete and acceptable only when this is done. |
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Mat. 27: 22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called
Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" Salvation is effectual only when one accepts the substitutionary death of Jesus as ones own. Jesus Christ is called the ``Lamb of God'' and ``the Lamb that was slain'' (John 1:29; Rev. 13:8). Paul says, ``Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed'' (1 Cor. 5:7) |
Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
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After 31/2 years living with the community not going into gentile territory, Jesus was given over by the hand of the Priest Judas Iscariot and sacrificed at twilight exactly on the Pass over day. |
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Mark 15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the
ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour (slaughter them at twilight) Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah." 36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. Usually the lambs are killed for the family in the front door frame. The killed lamb is hung from the door post and skinned. According to the instructions given they were to put the blood on the lintels and side posts. The blood that dripped from the lamb will form a pool at the foot. The whole scene is a typical picture of the crucified Christ. It was this cross and the blood that saved the Israelites. John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." 38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. |
8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts.
10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover.
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All mankind deserves death. The angel of death will strike both the Israel and the Egyptian first borns. But those who are protected by the blood of the lamb will be passed over. Same way though all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, the blood of Jesus will spare them if they are willing to apply it themselves. It is not predestination, it is free choice. |
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.
22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.
3. Blemishless 4. Kept under eyes
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Just as the blood of the Pascal lamb was a protection against the death of the firstborn who were covered, so is the blood of Jesus to those who have accepted Jesus' sacrifice as their own.
