Jesus, our Passover Lamb
The Passover Feast
1 Corinthians 10: 6&11 “Now these things happened to Israel for our example…”
Leviticus 23:5 “In the fourteenth day of the first month (Abib in Hebrew, Nisan in Babylonian tongue…used during captivity in Babylon) at sunset, is the Lord’s Passover.”
Exodus 12:1-11 “ On the 10th day of Abib (Nisan) you shall select a lamb…one per family.”
“It shall be a male lamb, of the first year, without blemish.”
“You are to keep it up until the 14th day (the 14th of Nisan).”
“In the evening of the 14th day you shall kill the Lamb.”
“Put its blood on the doorposts of the house where it is eaten.”
“Roast the meat, do not braze it. Eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
“ Do not let any of it remain uneaten”. “Whatever is left, burn with fire.”
“In so doing, the angel of death will (pass over) the household.”
“This is the Lord’s Passover.”
His death is our salvation.
The bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery to sin, and the bitterness of His necessary death.
Mark 11:1-11 On the 10th of Nisan, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt of a donkey. The crowd gathered around Him and shouted “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
They had just selected THE Passover Lamb, whose blood would cover them that believe, delivering them from death. It happened on the 10th of Nisan at the exact same time all of Israel was selecting their lambs for the Passover feast that was coming in 4 days. No one had any idea what they were doing.
Matthew 26:17-21 Jesus tells the disciples to go prepare for the Passover. He sat down with them and ate the Passover meal. He told them to eat and drink all of it, for this was His body and His blood…shed for the remission of sins (vs 27-28).
Jesus never calls this a last supper. He does call it the Passover feast that they should do till He returns. He says HE will not drink of the fruit of the vine until He does it with us in His Father’s Kingdom. The church continued to keep this feast in remembrance of His death and resurrection, on Passover every year.
That night, he would be examined by 6 mock trials. Every one examining Him could find no flaw in Him. Even Pilot said, “I find no guilt in this man”…3 times, he said it.
As these examinations were occurring by the religious leaders (and the Romans, but reluctantly) who would crucify Him, they were also examining all of Israel’s Passover lambs to make sure they had no spot in them. Jesus was found as the Lamb of God, without sin. No one could find any spot in Him.
This is still the 14th of Nisan that began at sunset. He is tried through the night. Then every bit of His flesh is consumed by beating, until He is no longer recognizable as a human (Isaiah 52:14 …many were astonished at you. His appearance and His form, were marred more than any man…meaning beyond the appearance of a human).
Jesus stood before His accusers and would not say a word in self defense. The lambs who were all going to be slain for all the people’s Passover meals were being shorn at the same time. Lambs are silent as they are being shorn, and they stand still, without resistance, as they go to slaughter.
“ I was not rebellious, neither did I turn back. I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I did not hide My face from shame and spitting (Isaiah 50:6).
The Book of the Prophet
Isaiah
53
1
Who hath believed our report? Rom. 10.16 and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? Joh. 12.38
2
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4
¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: Mt. 8.17 yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 1 Pet. 2.24
6
All we like sheep have gone astray; 1 Pet. 2.25 we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7
¶ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, Rev. 5.6 and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: Acts 8.32, 33 for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 1 Pet. 2.22
10
¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors: Mk. 15.28 · Lk. 22.37 and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The sky turned dark for three hours as Jesus was being crucified. “You shall slay the lamb at evening on the 14th day.”
God caused the sky to turn dark while it was mid-day; was this so that the pattern would be perfect? How could Jesus eat the Passover lamb and also BE THE Passover Lamb at the same time? It is because a day according to the Creator occurs from sunset to the following sunset…not sun up to sundown, like our day. So God caused the sun to set at noon that day on the 14th…therefore being evening on the 14th.
The next day, after His death, was the 15th…this begins the feast of unleavened bread. It is a time of purification…getting the sin out of the house (getting the sin out of our selves…our house, body). It is a picture of two things. First it is a picture of Jesus’ sinless body (the unleavened bread) cleansing us from all unrighteousness. His blood, on Passover, covered our guilt for sin. Now, His sinless body is cleansing us from all unrighteousness…getting the leaven, or the sin out of us. This feast goes on for 7 days. This is also pictured in Exodus as the Israelites wondered in the desert eating unleavened bread. God delivered them out of Egypt (out of sin), now He had to get Egypt, (sin ) out of them. Unleavened bread refers to Christ’s sinless body. Jesus tells us that the manna they ate in the wilderness was His body. So their 40 year wondering is a picture of our journey in Christ as He gets the sin out of us, making us like Him. Crossing Jordan, out of the wilderness, represents intimate fellowship with God. The land of milk and honey…not Heaven, but here, in Christ’s fullness. It is also pictured on the last day of the feast of unleavened bread. All the leaven (sin) that was found in the house (our body, our heart) is baked in bread and not eaten but given to God. This pictures the believer handing all our sin in the heart over to God…making way for deep fellowship.
On the 17th of Nisan, 3 days and 3 nights after Passover, Jesus is raised from the dead! He is risen! This begins the feast of firstfruits. The firstfruit offering is the first and best of the harvest. Jesus, on the 17th of Nisan, is raised from the dead, ascends to the Father in Heaven and presents Himself as the firstfruits offering on the very day of firstfruits. It is complete. Sin has been paid for and the first (Jesus) of the resurrection to come (us) has gone to the Father. This is a promise of more to come. The more to come is all who will put their trust in Christ (the full harvest)…we will be raised from the dead also (the resurrection of the dead).
Mary Magdaline was the first to see Jesus as He arose. Why? Because she was there waiting in belief and hope. She could not touch Him until He presented Himself to the Father…He was on His way in His resurrected body. If she had touched Him, she would have contaminated the firstfruit offering. This can only be handled and brought into the Holy of Holies by the High Priest. Jesus is THE High Priest.
The firstfruit offering is waved before the Lord. It is a fellowship offering. This means that the covering and cleansing is complete and now there is a way…
On the 8th day, Jesus could now be touched. His disciples were able to touch His resurrected body.
So the feast of firstfruits on the 17th of Nisan represents His accomplishment and promise to return in glory for His sheep!
He is risen!
We can ask ourselves: With such proof and miraculously timed events, and fulfilled prophecy, how is it that Israel is blinded to this? Jesus said it was because of their unbelief and love of tradition rather than love for His word (Matthew 15). They missed Him when He came.
But how is it that the church does not see this and celebrate it anymore? Let’s go back to the opening of this email. Israel and her path all happened as examples to us, the church.
The Jewish Passover today is so filled with extra things that God never ordered that the gospel is completely hidden to them because of all the traditions they added. Has the church done the same thing with Easter and all its strange traditions and add-ons?
The few Jews who did see Christ when He came, were those the Bible says were waiting for Him, watching for Him. They saw Him when He came. They knew the scriptures, not the man-made traditions. The ones who were busy with the traditions of man (Matthew 15) Jesus says were blind and did not see Him. Jesus says concerning these blind guides, “Leave them alone. They are blind guides, leading blind followers…both will fall into a ditch.”
So how was it possible for none of the religious to see that He was chosen as the Lamb on the 10th, was crucified as the Lamb on the 14th, was raised as the victorious Lamb on the 17th? And to then say…The Messiah has come!!! Fulfilling all the scriptures!
Well, how is it possible for the church to let the 14th go by unnoticed, then the 17th…etc? Instead there is a season Lent, not in the Bible, with all its holy days, not in the Bible and completely incorrect. Is it because the church is busy with her man-made traditions, just like the religious of His day.
Remember that Israel was looking for the Messiah too. But they missed Him.
We need to know the scriptures, watch for His appearing, and be ready when He returns!
God bless!