Passed Over

Passover

The Bible contains God’s promises to save his people and the steps he took to redeem us. Throughout history, God has been fulfilling his promise, the promise he made to Adam and Eve that a descendant of theirs would crush the serpent.

God crushed the false gods worshipped in Egypt. God’s mighty arm rescued Israel out of bondage, out of the land of slavery. Through nine plagues, God demonstrated his power, his supreme authority over all creation. He demonstrated, beyond a shadow a doubt that there is only one God, the Lord, the God of Israel.

Through repeated requests and demonstrations of his power, God appealed to Pharaoh and Egypt. But Pharaoh would not let the people go, bringing him and his nation to ruin. God commanded the Israelites to observe the Passover as a reminder, a permanent, annual reminder of who he is and what he did.

Every time we read the 10 commandments, we hear, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” The Passover celebration didn’t simply look back at what God had done; it was preparing the people to look forward at what God will do.

God, through Moses, commanded the people to set aside a perfect lamb, a lamb without blemish, four days before the Passover. When John the baptist saw his cousin Jesus approaching, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The apostle Peter described Jesus as a lamb without blemish. Jesus entered Jerusalem, setting himself apart, four days before Passover, when he offered himself up on the cross.

God instructed the Israelites to slaughter the lamb, and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts. They were to remain in their homes, under the protection of the Lamb’s blood. They had to make that connection. Only the houses that had the blood were protected.

But still, they had to act in faith. They had to trust that on that precise night God would do as he promised, and that the angel of the Lord would kill all the firstborn of Egypt. They had to trust that by slaughtering a lamb, that putting its blood on the doorposts of their house, that God would spare them when the judgement came.

By faith, they sprinkled the blood. They trusted God’s promise to pass over their homes. That God would graciously spare their first-born child.

Faith is trusting in God’s promises.

Faith is simply trusting in God’s promises.

By faith, we trust God’s promises. By faith, we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. It is a physical reminder that because of Christ’s blood, shed on the cross, the Angel of the Lord passes over us. We’re spared the judgement we deserve because of Christ’s blood.

When we eat and drink, we remember the Lord’s death. We remember what Christ came to do, to seek and save the lost. We remember what he had to do in order to save. We remember that Christ bore upon himself all God’s wrath. We remember that he is the one who saves us. All we do is receive his salvation by faith. We don’t have to do this, this, this and that in order to be saved. Just as the Israelites sprinkled blood on the doorposts, we drink the wine. Just as the Israelites ate the body of the lamb, so we eat the bread—reminding us that Christ’s blood saves us from the angel of death and destruction!

The sprinkled blood pointed to Christ’s blood. Even back then, it was Christ’s shed blood that saved them—not the lamb’s blood. The drinking of the wine or the grape juice doesn’t save us, eating the bread doesn’t save us, Christ’s blood and Christ’s body saves us. Communion causes us to look back and remember what happened all those years ago during that first Easter, and back even further to God’s amazing power to rescue an entire nation. As surely as God did that, God surely rescues us from sin and slavery.

And so, as you have participated today, think about what Christ did, remember and believe that he died for you. Remember and believe that he died so that you may live, really live, in this life and in the life to come.

Know this, just as surely as the Israelites were passed over and saved, you will be passed over and saved! Amen.