Have you ever read the passover story?
We’ve been on a journey discovering how Jesus is foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Today I want to share one that seems a bit graphic: a lamb being slaughtered. 🔪🐑
But stay with me, I promise this one will blow you away.
When the Israelites were desperate to leave Egypt, God instructed them:
“Each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household… The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect... Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 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.” – Exodus 12:3,5-7
Later that night, an angel of God passed judgment on Egypt, striking down every firstborn–except in the houses where the Lamb’s blood covered the doorposts.
This event was the final straw for the Egyptian pharaoh, who summoned the people to leave. Victory, finally!! 🎉
To this day, Jewish families celebrate the festival of Passover annually, remembering how God brought His people out of Egypt (Exodus 12).
Roughly 1500 years later, John the Baptist was the first to refer to Jesus as:
The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29 NIVUK
Jesus was crucified during the festival of Passover, at the exact time the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the temple courtyard.
Coincidence? Absolutely not! It was a divine design.
The blood of the Passover lamb, smeared on wood vertically and horizontally, saved the Israelites from God’s judgment for one night. But the blood of Jesus, the ultimate Passover lamb, smeared on the cross, has redeemed us forever!
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. – 1 Corinthians 5:7
Take a moment today to thank Jesus for becoming the perfect Passover Lamb, sacrificed for our sins.
