Finding Christ In The Passover Part One

I want to discuss the relevance of celebrating Passover (pesach) and, more

importantly, how the Passover all points to Jesus. There is plenty of direct
symbolism and in-depth meaning behind this Jewish celebration. It is important for
Jewish people in this generation and in Biblical times to keep the Passover.
Exodus 12:11 says, “It is the Passover of the Lord.” It’s no wonder God told Moses
in Exodus 12:24, “You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and
your children.”
Jesus the Christ explained to his disciples that his Passover with them in
Jerusalem would be the last one that he would celebrate with them. The Messiah
expounds on it for them in Mark 14:25: “Truly I tell you I will never again drink
of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom.” Where
do we possibly begin to link the Passover to Jesus? First, God lays out His
application for Moses and the Israelites, telling them when to have the Passover.
This pattern can be found in Exodus 12:2. “This month shall mark for you the
beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.” This means
that the Hebrew date of Passover falls on the 14th of Nisan, which in the
Gregorian calendar is the month of April. It is important to note that God, and
not Moses, commanded the detailed regulations in how to pick the Passover lamb and
when to kill it and how to prepare it. Jewish law regulated picking a lamb out for
your family to sacrifice. Since you could not take home just any lamb, the Priest
had to thoroughly inspect it for any kind of blot or blemish. Exodus 12:5: “Your
lamb shall be without blemish.” In order for the Messiah to meet these criteria,
He himself must pass this biblical command of Exodus 12:5, having no blot or
blemish. For us to start connecting Exodus 12:5 to Jesus, we should proceed to 1
Peter 1:19. “But with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without
defect or blemish.” Here we really begin to start understanding who Jesus is from
the Passover. Our next progression will be the exact timing of when to kill the
Passover lamb, and what the bible has to say about this, and how to correlate it
with Christ’s death. “You shall keep it until the 14th day of this month, then the
whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight,” Exodus
12:6. As this important festival came slowly together, on April 14th the entire
assembly of Israel congregated around the sacrificial lamb to be killed. While the
entire assembly of Israel were to have been gathered that night for the Passover
lamb, the same is true about Jesus, having a congregation of His own around Him.
“The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers have gathered together
against the Lord and against His Messiah. For in this city in fact both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together
against your holy servant Jesus,” Acts 4:26-27. When the time came for all Israel
to congregate around the Passover (pesach) lamb, God commanded a special, yet
divine, designated area for the actual Passover to take place. “You are not
permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord
your God is giving you. But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a
dwelling for His name, only there shall you offer the Passover sacrifice, in the
evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt,” Deuteronomy
16:5-6.
Under Jewish law, the Passover lamb was not to be killed inside the city and if it
did occur by ignorance of the law or by not adhering to what God had said then the
system would be invalid. This prophecy is brought forth into fruition with the
Messiah being brought out of the city of Jerusalem. Hebrews 13:11-12 sheds light
for us to understand the sacrifice aspect of the Passover. “For the bodies of
those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a
sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also suffered
outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by His own blood.”

by Michael Jones