This week we resumed our journey into the series, “Come to the Door,” which focuses upon the salvation of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This week’s message is based upon the passage of Exodus 12:21 – 28, and is entitled, “Jesus: the Ultimate Passover Lamb.”
Exodus 12 depicts for us the institution of the Lord’s Passover. God gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron to share with the Hebrew people in the context of their final night in Egypt. The tenth and final plague from God’s hand was about to be carried out upon Pharoah and the land of Egypt. This plague was one in which the Lord Himself struck all the firstborn sons and animals of the Egyptians with death.
In preparation for their exodus from the nation of Egypt, God instituted this Passover observance— not only for that particular generation of Hebrew people, but for every generation of those who belong to the nation of Israel. The observance of the Lord’s Passover even today plays a vital role among the people of Israel. It does so because of its connection to… a) Egypt, which reminds Israel of her former bondage as slaves to another nation; b) the exodus, which reminds Israel of her deliverance by God’s own hand; and c), the Promised Land, which reminds Israel of her covenant with God.
When God delivered His people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, it marked the dawning of a new day and the beginning of a new life for them. When God delivers a soul from the bondage of his or her sin through the redemption provided in His Son, Jesus, it marks the dawning of a new day and the beginning of a new life for that person. And Jesus is the Lamb of God who makes our salvation both possible, and personal.
What can you and I take away from this Old Testament passage of Scripture for our day? When death comes knocking at your life’s door, you will be prepared only if your life is redeemed and protected by faith through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Let us examine two major thoughts from this text of Exodus 12:21 – 28. One, let us consider the sacredness of the Lord’s Passover (vv.21 – 23). As Christians, Jesus Christ is the true and ultimate Passover Lamb, the source of man’s redemption from sin. This motif of a sacrificial lamb may be clearly seen in several Scripture passages throughout the Bible. For example, we acknowledge it in…
o Genesis 22:7 – 8— when Isaac said to his father, Abraham, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
o Isaiah 53:7— “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”
o John 1:29, 34— John the baptizer declared of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!… And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
o 1 Peter 1:18 – 19— the Apostle Peter declared, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
o Revelation 5:1 – 14 \ 14:1 \ 21:22 – 27 \ 22:1 – 5— indeed, let us give all praise unto the Lord Jesus, and sing with all of heaven even today, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…”
o 1 Corinthians 5:6 – 8— the Apostle Paul declared to the church in Corinth that “indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (v.7).
So, what made the Lord’s Passover such a sacred event? The blood— the blood of an unblemished, spotless lamb.
And what makes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ such a sacred event? His blood— the blood of the sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Note two things with me concerning the significance of the blood of the lamb. First, let us think about the purity of the blood of the Lamb. Jesus knew no sin during His earthly life (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus committed no sin of His own in His humanity (cf. 1 Peter 2:22). And in Jesus, there was no sin (cf. 1 John 3:5). Jesus was, and is, God’s perfect Lamb— the One of whom the Father declared in Matthew 3:17, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Then, second, let us also think about the purpose and power of the blood of the Lamb. The purpose of the blood of those lambs sacrificed during that first Passover in Egypt was to protect and redeem those who had chosen to take God at His Word by personally applying that blood to their doorposts, and also above the door to their homes. Cf. Exodus 12:13. There is a bit of Old Testament history related to the manner in which the blood was applied to the doorways of those Hebrew homes that I find interesting. A friend of mine from earlier in our ministry by the name of Shimon Barner shared this insight with me. He pointed out to me that when the hyssop was dipped into the basin of the lamb’s blood, it was applied with two vertical strokes on each doorpost, and then two horizontal strokes across the top of the doorway. His point is that the strokes formed the image of a cross on each doorway. Isn’t that remarkable to think about? All I can say is, “Only God!”
During an observance of an orthodox Lord’s Passover, there are four cups which are observed: 1) the cup of Sanctification; 2) the cup of Plagues \ Deliverance; 3) the cup of Redemption; and 4) the cup of Hallel \ Praise, or Acceptance. Jesus Himself fulfilled the cup of Redemption through His death on a Roman cross. He is our cup of Redemption! Cf. Leviticus 17:11 & Hebrews 9:22.
Likewise, our appropriation of the atoning blood and work of the Lord Jesus is personal, and intentional, as well. Like Thomas, we, too, must declare our faith and trust in Jesus alone for our salvation as he did in John 20:28— “My Lord and my God.”
Let me ask you as sincerely and humbly as I know to do so: “When death comes knocking on your life’s door, will you be ready?” It really is true; when death comes knocking at your life’s door, you will be prepared only if your life is redeemed and protected by faith through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now for the second major thought we can glean from Exodus 12:21 – 28. Let us consider the symbolism of the Lord’s Passover (vv.24 – 28). This passage serves a foreshadowing in a number of ways of our Lord’s redemptive work through His death on an old rugged cross over two thousand years ago. It speaks to the remembrance of our Redeemer (vv.24 – 25). For us on this side of the cross today, let us remember…
1) our God’s goodness— He is our provider and protector; our strong tower and shelter.
2) our God’s faithfulness— He is our sufficiency and sustainer; the Keeper of all His promises.
3) our God’s grace and mercy— like that Hebrew generation in Egypt, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves; and He grants us what we need by His grace, and withholds from us the wrath and condemnation we truly deserve by His mercies.
The symbolism of the Lord’s Passover also allows us to recognize the redemption we possess through our Redeemer (vv.26 – 27a). We acknowledge that we are no longer who we used to be. We now have a new identity and life in and through the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We acknowledge, too, by faith in Jesus’ crucifixion and bodily resurrection, God has delivered us from “the power of darkness and conveyed [transferred] us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins”(cf. Colossians 1:13 – 14). Furthermore, we can also declare that Jesus is one day returning for His church, fulfilling His promise that His followers shall be with Him forever and ever in the Promised Land of heaven!
Finally, the symbolism of the Lord’s Passover points us toward the reverence we hold for our Redeemer (vv.27b – 28). There is at least a two-fold aspect to such reverence revealed in this part of the text. One aspect involves worship (v.27b). The response of the people upon receiving this instruction was bow their heads and worship. Such bowing and worshipping declares, “I humbly surrender my will to the Lord’s will. I agree with, and embrace, His will and His ways. I willingly cooperate with His will and purposes.”
The other aspect relates to the issue of obedience (v.28). Look at the last phrase of this verse— “so they did.” Could there be any more effective way to express the reverence we are to hold for our Creator and Redeemer— the Lord Jesus Christ— than through our expressions of both worship and obedience? Our worship declares that He alone is worthy of our praise, our adoration, our worship; for He is our sovereign God and Lord. Our obedience declares that above all else, and anyone else, we genuinely believe and trust in our God and Savior.
That generation of Hebrews who experienced the exodus made a personal and intentional decision to prepare for that moment when the Lord Himself chose to pass through the nation of Egypt, taking the lives of their firstborn sons and herds. They chose to obey the Lord’s instructions, and covered the doorways of their homes with the blood of a spotless lamb. By doing so, they were protected— even redeemed, we might say— from the power of death on that night.
Likewise, the doorway of our hearts, our souls, our very lives must be covered by the blood of God’s own Lamb, Jesus, if we are to be redeemed and protected from death and its wages. And we must be intentional regarding this spiritual responsibility. Each one of us must be, because receiving God’s gift of salvation is deeply and intensely personal. Hebrews 9:27 teaches that it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” So, when death does come knocking at your life’s door, will you be prepared for that moment? You can be, but only if your life has been redeemed and protected by faith through the blood of Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb.
“O the Blood of Jesus”
Brenda & Ken Barker
O the blood of Jesus, O the blood of Jesus, O the blood of Jesus,
It washes white as snow.
O the cross of Jesus, O the cross of Jesus, O the cross of Jesus,
His death brings life to me.
O the love of Jesus, O the love of Jesus, O the love of Jesus,
He freely gives to me.
O the blood of Jesus, O the blood of Jesus, O the blood of Jesus,
It washes white as snow.
Thank God, there is still “pow’r, pow’r, wonder working pow’r in the precious blood of the Lamb!”
Anchored to His Faithfulness,
Allen Roberts