Word of Salvation – Vol.30 No.28 – July 1985
The Passover
Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde on Exodus 12:13,14
Scriptures: Exodus 12:1-20;
Belgic Confession Art. 35
On Australia Day we officially commemorate the founding of the nation on January 26, 1788, when Governor Philip and his fleet sailed into Sydney Cove. To remember the event, thousands of people spend an afternoon in The Rocks area to watch marches, bands and stunts, and enjoy the carnival atmosphere. But on the whole it is a rather unspectacular celebration of a rather unspectacular event – a few ships sailing into Port Jackson bringing the first settlers and convicts.
In other nations, however, the celebrations of their beginnings are more spectacular and more dramatic. Take, for instance, the Bicentennial Celebrations in the United States. But then again the events they commemorate are more dramatic too – years of battles, skirmishes and war with the British before independence was finally won. And since 1776 many a modern nation owes its founding and its independence to the shedding of much blood.
In this respect the founding and the independence of the Old Testament nation of Israel was no different. There was the shedding of much blood. But because of the hand of God this blood was not the blood of men, but the blood of lambs. And when this day of independence for Israel was celebrated in years to come, it was commemorated in a national feast not to honour great men, but to honour a great God.
Let’s then have a look at the meaning and significance of this great Jewish feast, The Passover. I would like to look with you at the Passover under three headings:
- The Passover in the Old Testament.
- The Passover in the New Testament.
- Its significance for us today.
Firstly then, the Passover in the Old Testament as it was originally celebrated in Egypt and through Old Testament Jewish history.
(i) The Passover is to be celebrated during the first month of the Jewish calendar year which on our calendar would correspond to parts of March and April.
(ii) Day 10: Each household was to set aside a lamb or a kid a male that was unblemished and a year old. In short, an animal from the flock that was in top condition.
(iii) Day 14: The animal is to be killed at twilight i.e. between sunset and when it gets dark. Then its blood is to be put on the lintel of the house and on the doorposts, and that night it is to be roasted whole (we would say ‘barbequed’). None of its bones are to be broken. Then it is to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs – bread that hadn’t risen and perhaps wild lettuce. Any left-overs are to be burnt the next morning.
It was during that night that the firstborn of Egypt were struck dead and Israel was told to make its departure while it was still night. Their haste and their urgency is briefly captured in verse 34 (Ex.12):
“So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.”
Their bread didn’t rise because it didn’t have time to rise. This then, accounts for the last part of the feast.
(iv) Days 14-21: The feast of Unleavened Bread all leaven to be removed from every home. So for a week they would be eating this crisp, brittle almost wafer-thin bread. Even today you can buy “Matzas” in health food stores. They’re quite nice really. Anyway, on the first and last of these days there was to be a holy assembly.
(v) So these were the arrangements for the Passover…
Day 10: Set aside your lamb or kid.
Day 14: Slaughter the animal at twilight and eat it at night with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
Day 14-21: A week of eating unleavened bread.
So that was the original observance of the Passover. For future celebrations Moses gives detailed directions no less than 5 times, once in Exodus, again in Leviticus, twice in Numbers and finally in Deuteronomy.
But the yearly celebration is going to have a few changes as compared to the original Passover:
– Nothing is said of sprinkling the blood on the doorposts.
– It is simply a memorial feast.
– Special sacrifices are instituted on the days of unleavened bread.
– In Deuteronomy we are told that the Passover lambs are to be sacrificed
“where God chooses to establish His name” (Deut.16:5 & 6),
i.e. Jerusalem.
So you may ask: “How did the children of Israel go with this annual week-long celebration? Did they do it each year as Moses told them to? After all he had told them 5 times.”
As we read on through our Old Testament we find, sure enough, that under Joshua the Israelites celebrated the Passover on the plains of Jericho before the city fell. But then we don’t hear of it until the reign of Hezekiah almost 500 years later. “You mean to say they ignored it for all that time?” Well, in 2Chronicles we are told it hadn’t been celebrated since the days of Samuel, and that’s at least 300 years and includes the “golden age” of Israel under David and Solomon.
So it was not until Hezekiah’s time that the Passover was first celebrated in Jerusalem. Then again about 100 years later it was celebrated in Josiah’s reign after the book of the law had been found in the temple.
Finally, we read about the Passover in the Book of Ezra. The exiles had returned. The temple had been rebuilt. Then we are told that “they observed the feast … for seven days, with joy.”
I think there’s at least a devotional thought here for us. There’s a Christian practice. we are told to observe again and again. At first we succeed, then we grow lax and finally we ignore it altogether. Then the privilege is taken away from us and we see it for what it really is.
Take Bible reading. We are told again and again from the Scripture and the pulpit how important it is to read daily. At first we try, then we become lax and then we stop altogether. But think of those who have been deprived of their Bibles. Even if they can lay their hands on a small portion, they read it with joy!
Let us be diligent then in observing the practices God has given us – Bible reading, prayer, church-going. Let’s not be lax. Otherwise He may deprive us so that we can enjoy them once more.
Now we come to the Passover in the New Testament. In Jesus’ time the Passover in Jerusalem had again become an annual event. As a boy of 12 he went to the Temple during the Passover. When Peter was put in prison by Herod it was also the annual Passover week.
But the most significant Passover of course was the one when Jesus was crucified and raised. A couple of days earlier Jesus reminded the disciples of its significance: “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered over for crucifixion ” (Mat.26:2).
Now let’s have a selective look at these next couple of days:
(i) On the first day of Unleavened Bread (the 14th day of the month), Jesus tells the disciples where to prepare the Passover in the Upper Room.
(ii) That night the 13 of them are together and celebrate the Passover. “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. Then He took a cup of wine. As they were eating He attached new significance to the bread and the wine.
(iii) In our minds the bread and wine have become so significant that we have forgotten there was anything else. Have you ever seen paintings of the Last Supper? All you see is bread and wine. But haven’t you often thought that this is a rather meagre meal for 13 grown, healthy men?
You see, the point is, they were eating The Passover they were eating a whole barbequed yearling lamb. And with it went the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs – and of course the customary beverage of the day which was wine.
(iv) No emphasis is placed on the lamb that was eaten. But rather Christ takes the less significant symbol (the unleavened bread) and something without symbolic significance (the wine), and gives them a deeper symbolic meaning. Incidentally, there’s a debate today whether or not we should use fortified wine. But shouldn’t it be whether or not we should use unleavened bread?
(v) “But, you may ask, “Why is there no direct mention of the Passover lamb that was so central to the meal?” Because on that same day the Passover Lamb would be slain.
Why emphasize the symbol, when there’s the reality? Why give attention to the shadow when the person is there? What good is a sign-post, when you are already at your destination?
Down the ages all those thousands of Passover lambs had pointed to the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God – and here He was! On that Passover day He was to be sacrificed.
(vi) But wasn’t the Last Supper on Thursday and the crucifixion on Friday? Strictly speaking didn’t Jesus die on the 15th and not the 14th. day of the month? Wasn’t His death a day late?
No, because this is the Jewish reckoning of time. A day is not from midnight to midnight, but from sunset to sunset. The Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday. Once I visited a synagogue. It was on a Friday night. When I was a theological student one of my friends always used to study on Sunday nights. Some people pointed an accusing finger. “You can’t fault me. I work out my day like the Old Testament Jews. I have Saturday nights off.”
Like all the Passover Lambs before Him, the Passover Lamb was slain on the 14th day of the first month in the Jewish year.
(vii) Another point: When Christ died on the cross, the men on either side of Him had their legs broken, but He didn’t. John comments on this detail: “For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken’.” (John 19:36). And what Scripture is this? It’s Exodus 12:46 where the people are instructed how to kill the Passover Lamb: “Don’t break any of its bones!”
To the day and even down to the details, Jesus was the true Passover Lamb the Passover Lamb that God had prepared for His people.
This brings us to my third point. How is the Passover relevant to us today? What is its significance? At the original Passover the Israelites put the lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes and the destroyer passed over. Now the Passover Lamb had been slain and His blood shed. Has His blood been sprinkled on the doorway of your life? By faith can you say that His blood was shed for you? Will you be spared the torment of eternal death?
If you don’t know the answer to these questions I would really like you to talk to our minister or to one of the elders of this church. You really need to be sure. On that night of the fourteenth, the Israelites had to be very sure that the blood was on the doorposts. Today the blood of the Lamb of God has been shed and you’d better be very sure that it has been applied to you. It’s a matter of life and death. Paul recalls the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to remind us to be pure. Speaking to the Church at Corinth he says:
“Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover has also been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1Cor.5)
The Passover has been sacrificed. We are now, as it were, in the week of unleavened bread. So get rid of that leaven. Get rid of that malice and wickedness. Get rid of that leaven of corrupting influence in the church. As we would say today: “One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.” Get rid of that leaven of sin and present yourselves to God as pure people. Be men and women of sincerity and truth. The Israelites had to clean their houses of leaven. Have you cleaned your life of insincerity, lying and hypocrisy?
“Let us celebrate the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” And remember today is a feast. We are celebrating our independence! It’s not a sombre day. It’s a joyful day. The 14th day of the first month was Israel’s day of liberation. And today that’s what we commemorate. That’s what we celebrate. Hallelujah..!
Amen.