THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #89 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #71
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3772
THE LIFE OF MOSES #71
THE FIRST PASSOVER #2
Passover is one of the most important
religious festivals in the Jewish calendar.
Jews celebrate the Feast of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) to commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses.
In the New Testament, Passover and Easter are tied together.
Jesus enters Jerusalem and gathers his disciples to celebrate the Passover meal, memorialized by Christians as the Last Supper.
Soon, He is arrested, tried and executed on the cross, dying just before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.
But there are significant differences between the Jewish and Christian understanding of Passover.
1. The Christian Perspective.
Our understanding of Passover emphasizes the blood of the Passover lamb, which Moses commands the Israelites to put on their door frames so that the Angel of Death, sent to kill the firstborn of Egypt, will “pass over” them.
This image—the lamb whose blood saves—is taken up in the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation.
As a consequence, the religious imagination of most Christians connects Passover to Good Friday, the day on which we remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
The theological meaning is plain: Jesus himself is the Passover lamb, offered as a sacrifice for the whole world.
2. The Jewish Perspective
It took me many years to realize that my Christian assumptions were very different if not wrong.
Blood and sacrifice are integral to the meaning of Jesus’ death, to be sure.
But that turns out to have very little to do with the way in which Jews actually celebrate Passover.
The reason has to do with history.
During the time of Christ, Jews came from the surrounding provinces to bring lambs to the Temple in Jerusalem for the Passover sacrifice. It was at this time that Jesus shared a sacrificial meal with his disciples.
Not long after the time of Jesus, however, a Jewish political uprising prompted the Romans to take the drastic measure of destroying the Temple in Jerusalem and consecrating the city to their own gods.
This forced a revision of Passover. With no Temple, sacrificing lambs was not possible.
The Jewish authorities in ancient times refocused the Passover celebration on the shared meal. The result is the Seder, the set order of prayer and scripted retelling of the Exodus story that Jews now use.
The blood of the lamb is mentioned in the Passover Seder, but only in passing. What comes to the fore instead is the obligation to recall what God has done for his people: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” ( Deut 26:8 )
Put in Christian terms: The Passover Seder recalls and celebrates the resurrection of the people of Israel.
3.Conclusion
Today's study shows the difference between the Jewish and Christian approach to Passover.
The Jews look back to their long history and celebrate their ancestors' freedom from slavery which birthed their nation.
We look to Jesus as the Lamb of God - our Lord and Saviour who saved us from sin, death and the devil.
As John the Baptist proclaimed in John 1:29
"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Passover is thus a powerful type and shadow that points us to the Person of Christ as our Passover Lamb.
