Why Do We Say Jesus Is Our Passover Lamb?
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In John 1:29, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John, who has often been called the forerunner, knew that Jesus was sent into the world to deliver humanity. Other times, the Bible explains that Jesus was not only the lamb of God but the perfect Passover lamb. What does Jesus being a Passover lamb have to do with him saving us?
What Did the Bible Tell Us about the Passover?
Jesus came to earth through the lineage of the Jews. It was Jewish custom to sacrifice a lamb at first Passover. You may remember the Passover in Exodus 12. God gave Moses instructions on what the feast of the Passover would be like. The Passover would become a permanent part of Israel’s religious worship
In Exodus, God instructed Moses to tell the congregation that Passover would be like the first month of the year to them. They were to take a one-year-old lamb without blemish and sacrifice it. This was to commemorate their exodus from Egypt. You may remember that God sent a plague of death to Egypt. The Jewish people were instructed to put blood over their doorposts so that death would pass by their homes.
The Passover is a memorial of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt. God delivered Israel from Egypt. This feast is a reminder of the grace of God. God gave Moses specific instructions on how the people were to conduct themselves during the Passover celebration. The lamb had to be a year old. It had to be a male lamb separated from sheep and goats (Exodus 12:5).
Also, God’s people should eat the meal in haste with their shoes on their feet and a staff in their hand. This is symbolic of how they had to make haste to leave Egypt. Pharoah was so fickle. Even though God forced his hand, he tried to stop Israel from fleeing once he realized what had happened. The Passover has become a memorial for centuries of God’s goodness and kindness to Israel’s children and their descendants.
God even gave instructions on how Israel was to educate generations about the purpose of Passover. The Lord told Moses in Exodus 12:27, “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.”
When Israel left Egypt, they also took many who were not Jewish with them (Exodus 12:38). God made provisions for them to participate in the Passover if they were circumcised, and after Mount Sinai, those who accepted God’s laws also became part of the nation of Israel. Many no doubt missed death because of their affiliation with the nation of Israel.
Why Does the Bible Call Jesus the Lamb of God?
John is not the only one who talks about Jesus being the lamb of God. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, one of his disciples Philip explains to an Ethiopian that Isaiah 53:7 also speaks of Jesus: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
All of Isaiah 53 foreshadows how Jesus came to earth and suffered our afflictions. He was despised of men, acquainted with grief, and bore our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
Jesus became the Lamb for us. There are no more sacrifices of sheep, goats, or lambs. That work was finished on the cross. Because Jesus sacrificed himself on Calvary, we can be saved. It was a sacrifice because God did not have to send Him. Since Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Ghost, He agreed to be the Lamb so that humanity might be saved. Since humanity was created, we have been on a downward spiral. The blood of Jesus has made all the difference.
How Did Jesus Become the Passover Lamb?
Jesus became a Passover lamb for humanity. Everyone is not Jewish and not privy to the tradition established by God through Moses for the Jewish people. Jewish people have to keep the Passover. They have to eat the unleavened bread during this particular season. They have to keep the Passover forever until Jesus’s return because God commanded it, and they trust Him. He made a covenant with Abraham.
Jesus came as the Passover lamb; therefore, God cut a covenant with humanity anew. Now, all you have to do is confess with your heart that Jesus is real and that you believe that He is the Son of God. Everything has been made simple for us. You have to get baptized, sprinkled, or whatever your particular religion that you are a part of requires. Most Christians prefer baptism because Jesus was baptized and set the example (John 1:32). John baptized Jesus. This is symbolic of the remission of your sins. If you are not somewhere to get baptized, that is okay too. You have to believe. God says that His commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:3).
I pray that God will give you a revelation of all that Jesus suffered so that you will appreciate and take advantage of the benefits that we have because of his suffering and because he became the Lamb for us. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, we are told that even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
What Did Jesus Say When He Had Passover with His Disciples?
In Matthew 26, Jesus gives an example of holy communion during the last supper. This is also referred to as the Lord’s Supper or Jesus’ Passover with his disciples. The Passover memorialized the flight of Israel from Egypt. The Lord’s Supper memorializes how we are to partake of this often. We show remembrance of the Lord’s body sacrificed on Calvary and the blood of the lamb shed for the remission of sins.
Jesus’ death on the cross finished the work so that we could be saved. I pray that you will get a revelation of everything Jesus dying on the cross means for humanity.
Because Jesus’ shed blood accomplished something so powerful, we can also plead or pray the blood of Jesus when facing trials. As Clarence J. Haynes explains, the Bible describes Jesus’ shed blood doing particular things (protecting us from the devil’s accusations, covering us from judgment, purifying us of our sins, giving us access to the holy of holies). So, we are claiming what we already have when we pray the blood of Jesus:
“Praying in or through the blood of Jesus is simply laying hold of what the blood of Jesus has purchased for you. You are simply taking God up on his promise that the blood would do what he said it would do. If you will put your trust in the power of the blood then God will take care of the rest. You can ask God for the things he has promised to do because of the blood of Jesus.”
(Excerpted from “What Does It Mean to Pray the Blood of Jesus?”)
When you pray, “I plead the blood of Jesus,” the devil will back up. Satan understands the blood and what it means. Before he got kicked out, the devil was in heaven with Jesus. Satan realizes what a big deal it is for God to have sent His Son to earth to die for us.
I would plead for the blood regularly. I would plead the blood on trivial as well as important things. Not only do you need to plead the blood, but you also need to have a revelation of what this all means. Jesus died so that we could be saved, but He also died so that we might live more victoriously. Shock the devil today and simply plead the blood.
The enemy does not want us to know who we are in God. Once you get that revelation, you will conduct yourself differently. You will walk into a newness of authority that a lot of stuff you have been putting up with is unnecessary and ends today.
Further Reading:
Passover in the Bible - Story and Meaning
Why Did John the Baptist Call Jesus the Lamb of God?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/kevron2001
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