CHRIST OUR PASSOVER
John 6:53, “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Lk. 22:14 “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
That night, Jesus and His apostles shared an early Passover.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us…”
The Passover Rules: An unblemished lamb. Chosen on the tenth day, and killed on the 14th day of the month Nisan (4 days). It must be slaughtered between the evenings. It must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. It must be killed in Jerusalem. No bones of the lamb are to be broken. It could not see corruption (had to be burned or eaten).
From the Great fall of Adam to Abraham was two thousand years. From Abraham to Jesus were two thousand years. Choose the lamb on the tenth day, slay it on the fourteenth… Jesus was slain on the four thousandth year.
Mal. 4:2, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings (Kanaph).”
Wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, corner, shirt, extremity skirt, corner (of garment)
“But the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in the fringes [of his garment]”
When was the sun created? The fourth day.
Mat. 9: 20, “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”
He came on the fourth day, the 4,000th year, with healing in the corners of His garments.
Let us turn our attention to the events which led up to the crucifixion.
Six days before the Passover (8th of Nisan), Jesus arrived in Bethany. At this time he was a hunted man. Ever since the resurrection of Lazarus a few days prior, the Jewish leadership was plotting to put Jesus to death.
John 12:1-4 – “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house will filled with the fragrance of the oil.”
This is interesting when we read in Leviticus about the grain, or meat offering, which was often baked as bread.
Lev. 2:1“ ‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it 2and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord…4“ ‘If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of the finest flour: either thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in or thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with olive oil. 5If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. 6Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of the finest flour and some olive oil. 8Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar.”
And Mary anointed Jesus with oil.
John 12:4, “Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put therein. 7Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying has she kept this. 8For the poor always you have with you; but me you have not always.”
Jesus was the grain (bread) offering. “This is my body given for you…”
John 11:49-50; 53-54 – “And one of them, Caiaphas, being the high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish…Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.
It was the High Priest, who would every year, choose the Passover Lamb to be sacrificed for the entire nation.
On the 10th day…choose the lamb…
On the 10th day of Nisan, as directed, the chosen disciples found a donkey with a young colt tied in a doorway near an open street.
The city of Jerusalem would have been packed. People by the hundreds of thousands were thronging into the city.
Within the city of Jerusalem, the crowds of were in anticipation of a great procession with the arrival of the Passover Lamb chosen by the High Priest Caiaphas. Every year, four days before Passover, a vast entourage of priests would file out of Herod’s Temple. They would line the sides of the Damascus street, two by two, maintaining positions on either side of the street, as they rocked back and forth with palm fronds in their hands, while the High Priest and his entourage went outside the city, where they inspected the flocks of yearling lambs to find the most perfect lamb. Year after year this custom was dramatized on the fourth day prior to Passover.
1 Peter 1:18, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world…”
According to Peter, the Lamb of God was foreordained before the foundation of the world, which would have been four thousand years earlier.
And on this day, four days before Passover, Jesus presented himself as the King of Israel, entering the city on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Daniel had prophesied the King of Israel would come 173,880 days after the command to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Jesus entered Jerusalem, fulfilling that prophesy to the day.
Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion; shout, oh daughter of Jerusalem: behold, the King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass...”
Matthew 21:8, “And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”
Some of the Pharisees challenged Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” Jesus answers, “If these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
On the 14th day, in Jerusalem, slay the lamb.
Jesus spent the beginning of the 14th day with his disciples in an Upper Room, where he had what we call the Last Supper. It was not yet time for the Passover feast, but the Lord wished to keep the feast with his disciples. You will note that no lamb is mentioned at this supper, only bread and wine. This is because the Passover lambs had not yet been prepared. But the lamb was there, with them. His name was Jesus.
Luke 22:17, “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes."
There are four cups of wine on the Passover. Their meanings are taken from Exodus 6:6-7:
Cup 1 - The Cup of Consecration: “I will take you out of Egypt.” Simply put … God delivers, He alone intervenes! All the miracles and the plagues were part of the plan of God to deliver Israel from Egypt. In spite of their hardships, He was with them. The same is true today!
Cup 2 - The Cup of Deliverance: “I will take Egypt out of you.” Becoming the people of God takes work! Knowing what the Lord requires and then becoming like Him, representing Him to the world around us.
Cup 3 - The Cup of Redemption: This is the cup that Jesus used to memorialize His blood. Without this cup we cannot be completely transformed into His image! (1 Cor 11:24-26).
Most scholars believe Jesus stopped at the third cup, the cup of redemption. He will drink the fourth cup with us when He returns.
Cup 4 - I will take you to be my people: Jesus is waiting for the marriage feast before He drinks from this cup.
Passover wine was red and mixed with warm water.
“But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”
“19And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me…”
Let’s look at the Unleavened Bread. These are flat, bland, cracker-like wafers, which are both striped and pierced (Isa 53:5 “…and with his stripes we are healed.” Zech 12:10, “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced”). There are three matzos and usually are placed in what is called a Matzo Tash, a square white silk bag that is divided up into three compartments for the three matzo wafers. Early in the Seder, the Host takes the middle matzo and breaks it in two, leaving one half in the middle and puts the other half under the cloth for the “afikomen.” It is always wrapped in linen and hidden in a dark place.
How many men were crucified that day? Three. Jesus was the one in the middle. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took His body, wrapped it in a shroud and placed it in a tomb (a dark place.) John 19:33-35,
"After the Last Supper, Jesus went with his disciples to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he was arrested, falsely accused, and brought to Pilate. Pilate examined Jesus, questioning him to see why the priests and Pharisees wanted him to be killed.
Finally, after establishing his innocence, and his wife warning him that she had dreamed about Jesus, he declared to the leaders of Israel, “I find no fault in this man.” At around that time, the High Priest would have stood in the temple, holding the chosen Passover lamb. He would have declared, “I find no blame in the lamb.”
The lamb was then lead to the slaughtering area, while Jesus was taken to the mount crest called Golgotha hill to die. In route, the crossbar was thrown across his shoulder, like Isaac carried his own wood for the altar, and there Jesus walked out to the peak of Mount Moriah.
Back in the Temple, the Passover Lamb was being bound for slaughter, while on the rocky ledge called, Golgotha, Jesus was being bound upon the wooden tree. It was closing in on the ninth hour for the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. Darkness pervaded across the whole land. The elements were silenced. Even the forces of nature waited in anticipation.
The High Priest had stood, watching the sacrifices of thousands of Passover lambs. He would, by tradition say “I thirst,” and water would be given to him. Jesus on the cross called down to the guards stating, “I thirst.” Then, as the High Priest raised his hand and struck the knife into the heart of the Lamb, he cried out, “It is finished!” outside on the hillside of Moriah, which looked like the image of a skull, Jesus heaved a mighty gasp and cried out, “It is finished.”
John 19:30 – “He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
The bowels of the earth began to rumble, the towers of the city walls began to shake, the ground began to heave, and the tombs on the side of the Mount of Olives were rent open. The Temple curtain which lay between the Holy and the Most Holy Place shredded from top to bottom, when the great lintel that held the curtain broke and fell to the pavement below. The Holy of Holies lay empty. The presence of the Almighty One of Israel was gone.
Then soldiers were instructed to break the legs of the ones crucified. They broke the legs of the two men beside Jesus, but, because Jesus was already dead, they did not break His legs.
It is amazing to me that Roman soldiers, ordered to break the legs of Jesus simply chose not to. Did that Roman soldier understand the implications of the Passover? Surely not. Yet, he fulfilled prophecy.
Psalms 34:20, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
No bones of the lamb are to be broken…
The Passover Lamb could not see corruption. It must be burned or eaten. Under Levitical law corruption happened after the third day.
Psalm 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Quoted by Peter)
Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. His body did not see corruption.
This do in Remembrance of me.
Examine yourself:
1 Cor. 11: 27 “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”
Communion:
“23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.”
