On the day when
Christ entered into Jerusalem,
He knew that in just a few days He would be crucified. He knew He was to be the
Passover lamb, the “Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of the world” (John 1:29).
That He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter
(Isaiah 53:7). That all those people
who were cheering Him on, throwing their palm branches and their blankets
before Him—many of the same people would be calling for His death by Thursday.
But He also knew that He must allow His blood to be poured out so that God’s
wrath could pass over the people. Today we’re going to finish up looking at the
Passover by looking at the final official, God-sanctioned Passover.
But for
now, let’s read Exodus 12:13-20—“13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague
shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to
the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an
everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the
first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened
bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off
from Israel.
16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day
there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on
them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So
you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will
have brought your armies out of the land
of Egypt. Therefore you
shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall
eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19
For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what
is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether
he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in
all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”
The Passover was one
of three “Great Feasts” that were to be kept by all Jewish males. And at around
this time of year, about 2000 years ago, all of Israel
was gathered in Jerusalem—some
estimates put the population at the time of Passover at around 2,000,000
people. All these people had gathered to take part, since God commanded “You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting
ordinance.” Now, before we get started let me point something out. How
long would you say an “everlasting ordinance” would be in effect? There are indeed some who think we should
still be keeping all the feasts and all the holy days, since God Himself does
indeed refer to them as “memorials” or “ordinances” that are for “all
generations, even forever.” You can find some of these people on TV on Sunday
mornings. One such program is called “Tomorrow’s World”, then there’s Gerald
Fleury and his show “The Key of David”, the late Garner Ted Armstrong and his
late father Herbert W. Armstrong—and there are many more. They teach that even
now we should be keeping the Passover—and all the other feasts—in the same way
as it was kept in Christ’s day.
At the other end of the spectrum are people who
take a machete, if you will, and they make a perfect cut between Malachi 4:6 and Matthew 1:1. And they try and make two different Gods, one mean,
angry, nasty God of the OT, and another kind, gentle, tolerant God of the NT.
And both of these extremes are wrong. When God says something is an
“everlasting ordinance,” He means it’s an “everlasting ordinance.” But, by the
same token, He has done away with the formal, ritual, ceremonies that were
connected to these various feasts.
Now, does it sound like I'm talking
out of both sides of my mouth yet? Well, it’s not that God changes His requirements. “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). What He does is He gives us types and pictures and
prophecies—all of which are but shadows of the reality. And when He gave the
Passover as an “everlasting ordinance,” He didn’t mean that every generation of
people would smear the blood of sheep or goats on their door frame until the
end of time. This was a type, a shadow, a prophecy—that was fulfilled by
Christ. And in the NT we see that the feasts—including the Passover—were
inextricably linked with Christ. First Corinthians 5:7—Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed
for us. Christ fulfilled the shadow that was the Passover. Colossians 2:16-17—16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or
regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things
to come, but the substance is of Christ. And gave even gave knowledge of
Christ to men like Moses and Abraham and Jacob.
It was in Christ that God made
a covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3:17—The law…cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed
before by God in Christ. Abraham saw that promise fulfilled, as Jesus told
the Pharisees in John 8:56—“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it
and was glad.” Jacob saw Christ even though he didn't realize what he was seeing. Genesis
28:12—Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was
set up…and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. The apostle that Jesus loved wrote in John 1:51—"Most
assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." And even Moses
saw Christ. Hebrews 11:24-26—24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt... Notice what he says in Hebrews
11:26—Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt.
Moses looked forward to Christ. We don’t have it written down in the OT that
Moses saw Christ—but then again, we don’t know everything that God told
Moses—we simply know what God told Moses to write down. So Christ,
rather than being this figure that suddenly appeared on the scene out of
nowhere, has existed for all eternity, being known to the Patriarchs and
prophets—although not known to the people.
There are times in the NT where you
will find the word translated “mystery.” We think of “mystery” as something
shadowy and something that only the greatest detectives and the deepest
thinkers can figure out. Or, like last week, when I mentioned the Gnostics. The
Gnostics were known for seeking out “mysteries,” and to them it was secret
knowledge that only the most spiritual person could understand. But in the
Bible, when we see the word “mystery,” we shouldn’t think of it as something
that we humans have no hope of ever understanding. While it does indeed mean
“hidden knowledge” it is not hidden to the point that no human of average
intellect could ever grasp it. But only those who have received the Holy Spirit
will understand them. The biblical meaning of the word “mystery” is
“Not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural understanding, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and only to those who are awakened by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a ‘mystery’ implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed.”
First Corinthians 2:7-8—7 But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for
had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. To
those that do not know Christ, the words of Scripture are still a mystery. They
are hidden from their understanding because they have not been given the spirit
of understanding.
The true meaning of the Passover
was another “mystery.” It was a picture, a shadow, a prophecy of Christ hidden
in the commands and ordinances surrounding it—the lamb signified Christ
Himself, the blood of an innocent animal was a figure of the blood of the
innocent Jesus, the vertical doorpost and horizontal beam of the doorway
signified the upright post and horizontal beam of the cross. Knowing all that,
we can see now that when God gives an “everlasting ordinance” or a “statute
forever” He does not mean “for a couple thousand years, then we’ll change it up
a little.” But He may not necessarily mean “It will be done exactly like this
forever and ever.” Many of the “everlasting statutes” were shadows, pictures, and
prophecies of Christ, and now that we have the substance—whereas before we only
had the shadow—we do not fulfil the Law outwardly with ritual and ceremony. We
keep the Law inwardly, by faith in Christ who kept the Law for us. Romans 8:3-4—3
For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…4 that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.
So with all that being
said, let’s see how the Passover was fulfilled in Christ. Luke 22:7—Then came the Day of
Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. This was the night
before the crucifixion, when Christ and His apostles met in the upper room. It
was the 14th of Abib (Nisan). This was the day when the people took
that “lamb without spot or blemish” that they had been setting aside for the
last four days and they brought it out and killed it and roasted it with fire
and ate it. And Christ, not having yet fulfilled all things concerning Himself,
was still under obligation to keep the Passover. Galatians 4:4—God sent forth His Son,
born of a woman, born under the law. What was the number one requirement
for the Passover lamb to be acceptable? “Without spot or blemish.” First Peter 1:18-19—18 You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like
silver or gold…19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. He was born under the Law so that He would
have to keep the Law. And that He did. First
Peter 2:21-22—21 Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example…22 "Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in
His mouth." Again, what did that Passover lamb do to deserve being
killed and burned? Nothing. What did Jesus do to deserve being put to death?
Nothing. So in that innocent lamb we have a picture of the innocent Christ.
Now, the focus of the Passover
feast was the lamb. What other two elements were included? Unleavened bread and
bitter herbs. Let’s talk about the unleavened bread. Exodus 12:15—“On the first day you shall
remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first
day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”
Exodus 13:7 (NASB)—“Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven
days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be
seen among you in all your borders.” In other words, get it out of the
entire camp. Leaven—yeast—what does it do to bread? Makes it look bigger than it
really is. Well, the reason yeast (leaven) was to be excluded for the seven
days that made up the Feast of Unleavened Bread was as a reminder of the haste
with which God brought their 430 some-odd years of bondage to an end in one
night.
But Christ applied another meaning to it. Matthew 16:6-12—6 Then Jesus said to
them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." 7
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken
no bread." 8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among
yourselves because you have brought no bread?...11 How is it you do not
understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But to beware of the
leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12
Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The doctrine
of the Pharisees and Sadducees was full of spiritual leaven—they had puffed
themselves up with human teachings in order to make themselves look greater in
the eyes of men than they really were. Anybody ever make bread from scratch?
You know what it means to “proof” the dough? That’s when you add the yeast, and
what do you do with the dough when you add the yeast? You put it in a dark,
lukewarm oven, excluding any light. That is when yeast grows most quickly—in
darkness and lukewarmness. And by extension, Christ tells us to beware of the
doctrine of false teachers, because when does bad doctrine grow best? In spiritual
darkness and spiritual lukewarmness.
And 1500 years before He sent His
Son, God warns the people to avoid leaven, and to even get any leaven out of
their house during the feast. Paul gives us this same warning, as he does many
times in his letters to the Corinthians, he tells us in First Corinthians 5:6-8—6 Your
glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole
lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since
you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for
us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven
of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
We keep the Passover—indeed, the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread—by purging
out those things that puff up and corrupt, and by living a life of truth, in
Christ. Albert Barnes—
“The sense is this - ‘As the Jews when they celebrated the Passover, on the slaying and sacrifice of the lamb, put away all leaven - as a symbol of sin - so let us, in the slaying of our sacrifice, and in all the duties, institutions and events that follow, put away all wickedness from our hearts, and from our societies and churches.’”
Also, in the original commands,
there were commands to not boil the Passover lamb. Exodus 23:19—“You shall not boil a young goat in his mother's milk.” Ralph Cudworth, a Hebrew scholar in
the 1600’s, said
“It was a custom with the ancient heathens…to take a young goat, and boil it in the mother's milk; and then…to go about and sprinkle all their trees, and fields, and gardens, and orchards with it, thinking by these means, that they should make them bring forth more abundantly in the following year. This is why God’s people, the Jews, were forbidden to use any such superstitious or idolatrous ritual.”
And many times in the Scriptures, over and over and over again, God gave them
strict commands about how He was to be worshipped, and He was not to have His
people mix the worship of the One True God with the customs of the pagans. Ezekiel 22:26—“Her
priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not
distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the
difference between the unclean and the clean.” And again, we have similar
warnings in the NT. Second
Corinthians 6:14-17—14 Do not be unequally yoked
together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with
lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has
Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what
agreement has the temple
of God with idols? For
you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them
and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17
Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord.
Now, about the command to break
none of its legs. Exodus 12:46—In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of
the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. There
was a reason they were not to break its legs. This was the only animal
sacrifice that was not cut up. To the people of Israel, this was meant to
signify the unity of the people as a nation. It was not cut up; it was roasted
whole on a spit. Now, think about a sheep. Its legs are not very agile. So to
put that lamb on a spit, what do you need to do with its legs? You gotta pull
them out of joint. It is believed that Jesus quoted all of Psalm 22 on the
cross, and in Psalm 22:14—I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of
joint. His bones were out of joint, but they were not broken. And even
in death, Jesus fulfilled the Law. This came to pass, of course, as we
read in John 19:32-36—32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and
saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs…36 For these things
were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones
shall be broken."
Christ was the fulfillment of what
the OT Law only gave a picture of. He was the Lamb without spot or blemish.
There was no leaven—no sin nor deceit—in Him. He never mixed the holy with the
profane. And not one of His bones was broken. And just as the blood of the
Passover protected the house from the Destroyer the night of the Exodus, the
blood that Jesus shed protects us from the wrath of God. Next week we’re going
to begin a study of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, and how they were
both ratified—made official—by blood.
Jesus is Lord. Amen.
