Deuteronomy
16:1-8
“Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib
the Lord your God brought you out
of Egypt by night. 2 And you shall offer the
Passover sacrifice to the Lord
your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose, to make his name dwell
there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven
days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you
came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may
remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 No leaven
shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of
the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night
until morning. 5 You may not offer the Passover
sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord
your God is giving you, 6 but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his
name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening
at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7 And you
shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord
your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8 For
six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be
a solemn assembly to the Lord your
God. You shall do no work on it.
The celebration of feast some have long forgotten. The Passover
celebration has become the Service of the Sacrament, it is no longer a reminder
of God bringing us up out of the Land of Egypt, but a reminder of the
crucifixion of our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus himself comes up to the appointed
location (the temple in Jerusalem) to offer with his family the proper
sacrifice. Jesus follows the tradition, the command, and the remembrance.
This celebration is more than just some random occasion.
Passover is not like Hanukah. Passover is something more. It is the celebration
of the ten wonders against Egypt. It is the celebration of God calling his
people out of the land of Slavery. It is the celebration of God claiming his
people to be his very own.
God has claimed his people. He claimed them from the hand of
Pharaoh. He claimed them from their land of slavery and suffering and death.
Jesus Christ died and paid your price with his holy precious blood. Jesus Christ
is the Lamb of price, or the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
He is the Passover Lamb. This celebration is a celebration of Israel’s
salvation, and likewise the salvation of all people.
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