Exodus 11:1, 12:21-30
1The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.
Prayer: O God, deliver us from the bondage of sin and teach us to trust in the Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of the world. Amen.
The Passover of the Lord
In Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, who has delivered us from the bondage of sin, dear fellow redeemed!
After 430 years the Lord would deliver the people Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The Lord sent Moses and his brother Aaron to go before Pharoah, the most powerful ruler in the then-known world, probably Amenhotep II (1450–1420 B.C.), to say, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘let my people go’” (Exodus 5:1). Pharoah was not pleased with this demand. How dare these lowly slaves come to him with such a request! He snarled, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). Pharoah’s refusal to let God’s people go began the battle between the proud Pharoah and the mighty God. God made himself known to Pharoah through ten devastating signs which have become known as the ten plagues.
The Lord sent plague after plague—he turned the Nile River into blood, sent frogs from the Nile River which entered the Egyptians homes, hopped into beds, pots, dishes, and even people, he sent lice, and then flies. With each of these plagues God showed his power over one of the various gods of Egypt. He was showing himself to be the true God over all creation. At times Pharoah got so frustrated from these plagues that he said he would let Israel go, but only on certain conditions. But after the Lord removed the plague, Pharaoh would change his mind. But each time Pharoah refused to let God’s people go, the Lord sent a more severe plague—like sickness, boils, hailstorms, locusts, and darkness. Yet, what made Pharoah even more enraged was that these plagues only affected the Egyptians—God didn’t let them harm the Israelites. Still, Pharoah would not let Israel go.
- The Passover: Points us to Christ
This brings us to our lesson today where we learn about the Passover. The date was April in 1446 B.C. Even though the Lord had shown his power with nine terrible plagues, Pharoah still refused to free Israel. So, the Lord was about to send his tenth plague, more terrible than anything before. It would change Pharoah’s mind. It would be the death of the first-born of all men and animals in the land of Egypt.
The Lord instituted the Passover to save Israel from this terrible plague. Each family was to find a year-old lamb without blemish or spot. It was to be separated from the other sheep and on the appointed day killed at the eve of the day. The blood was to be saved in a bowl and the lamb itself was to be roasted outside on a spit. While the lamb was roasting and the Passover meal was being prepared, the head of the household took the lamb’s blood and painted it on the doorposts of the home. Then the family, having prepared themselves to leave Egypt, ate the Passover meal, which consisted of the lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. That night, the death angel visited each household in Egypt killing the first-born. However, when the death angel came to the homes of the Israelites and saw the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, the angel passed over, sparing all those inside. That is why it is called the Passover.
In addition to having Israel observe the Passover in Egypt, he commanded this be observed every year by the Israelites throughout all generations. Israel was to celebrate this meal yearly to remember how the Lord saved them from the death angel and how, through this, he graciously delivered them from bondage in Egypt.
Yet, the Passover meal not only pointed the Israelites back to God’s deliverance in Egypt, but it pointed forward to the greater deliverance God would accomplish for all people through another Lamb. By nature, all of us were enslaved in the bondage of sin, far worse than the Israelites slavery in Egypt. We were all enslaved to sin by Satan, which only led to hell. He caused us to do things that would only hurt ourselves and those around us, and we even did those things willingly. Even now that bondage can be seen in our old sinful flesh as Paul describes, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Romans 7:19).
The Israelites couldn’t save themselves from their slavery in Egypt and neither can we save ourselves from the slavery of sin and death. God had to deliver them and he had to deliver us. And that is why God, through the Passover meal, pointed all the Old Testament believers to the true Lamb of God who would save all people from the bondage of sin and hell. As Isaiah foretold, “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… He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter…” (Isaiah 53:5–7).
This is why John the Baptizer declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus would save us with his blood as the Passover lamb. This is why we sing in our communion liturgy, “O Christ, the Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.”
All the Old Testament sacrifices, all the blood that was spilt, pointed to Jesus who would be the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. As Paul writes, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). As the blood of the lamb saved the firstborn in Egypt so we are saved by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. He too was a lamb without blemish or spot. He was the holy and innocent Son of God, who took our place, so that we could be saved. So that God’s judgement would pass over us.
- The Passover: Teaches us about Faith
The Israelites preparations for the Passover meal likely confirmed the Egyptians bias about these strange people—now they are putting lamb’s blood on their houses? Who are these people? Outwardly speaking, the Israelites actions seem strange. Yet, they followed these instructions because they trusted in God. No matter how foolish or strange they looked, they knew that God is faithful to his word. While our lesson doesn’t mention the word faith, it is on bold display. Consider what is described right after the Lord gave these instructions to Israel, “Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” The Israelites had faith in God’s promise, and they were delivered. They were saved by trusting in God’s word. We too are saved through faith in Jesus, trusting in his blood which has covered our sins.
Faith is a popular topic today. Unfortunately, the focus of faith is often confused and misunderstood. Most Christians realize the importance of faith since we are saved through faith. Jesus is the focus of our faith. But the trouble comes when people make faith itself the focus of their faith. People wrongly think that if things are going well in your life, it is because you have a strong faith. However, if things are going wrong, then you must have a weak faith. So, we hear statements like, “You’ve gotta have more faith! You need a stronger faith!”
The devil loves for us to focus on our faith because he uses this to lead us to either spiritual pride or despair. He gets people to think of themselves more highly than they ought, trusting in their own goodness, which causes them to forget their dire need of a Savior. Yet another pernicious attack of the devil is to lead people to despair—to think that they have no faith or not enough faith. But you see, this isn’t hard for the devil to do, because we are often weak in faith. So, when a Christian is facing doubts, questioning if they have enough faith, or struggling to fight against sin, the devil says, “A real Christian wouldn’t have doubts. You don’t have faith.” Or “You fell into sin again? You don’t even act like a Christian. How dare you come stand before the almighty God after the things you have done!”
When the devil gets us to think that our faith or our life is what saves us, he is full of glee because from there he can cause all sorts of trouble of conscience and doubt. So, don’t fall for the devil’s tricks. Instead of focusing on yourself, how strong your faith is, how good or bad your life has been, we need to be focusing on someone else. Jesus and only Jesus. He is the one who came to save you. He is the one who has perfectly kept God’s law and loved the Father above all things. He is the Lamb of God who has taken away your sins and opened heaven’s gates.
Every Christian at some time or another will face doubts about their faith. You’re not the only one. But if you are questioning your faith, know that you have it. An unbeliever is not concerned about whether or not they have faith. But even more importantly, instead of asking or thinking about whether you have a strong or weak faith, ask yourself if Jesus died for your sins. Did he? Yes! Do you have Jesus? Yes. But more importantly, he has you. The Lord has called you by name Baptism. You are his child. He will never abandon you.
Christians can sometimes get worried about whether they are worthy or not. But consider our lesson this morning. The Lord did not check who inside the house was worthy. He checked the blood on the doorposts. None of us are worthy, but the blood of Jesus Christ has covered all our sins. Faith is powerful, not because of itself, but because of the object of our faith. So whether you have a strong faith or a weak faith, it does not matter, because you have Jesus who is strong for us.
As Israel was about to embark on their long journey, the Lord commanded that they stand ready for departure, with staff in hand. As their last meal they ate the Passover meal, which was their food for the way, their strength, their life. Our Lord Jesus has given us a meal to prepare us for our journey of life until we reach the promised land of heaven. If you need forgiveness and strength, if you feel burdened and weighed down by life’s journey, there is no better place for you to go than the Lord’s Supper, where you receive the Lamb of God who takes away all your sin. Here Jesus gives you the strength to do all things through him (Philippians 4:13). An early church father once described how we should feel leaving the Lord’s Table, “Let us then return from (the Communion) table like lions, breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil; thinking on our Head (Christ) and on the love that He has shown for us…” (John Chrysostom).
The Israelites were saved by trusting in God’s word and the blood of the lamb. They did not look to themselves for hope or confidence, they looked to God. We are saved by trusting in God’s word and the blood of the Lamb. We are saved by repenting of our sins and putting our trust, hope, and confidence in only Jesus. Your faith saves you, because your faith is in Christ alone. Amen.