Reading: The Cross of Christ, pg, 139-149
In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12.11-14
The Passover story (Ex. 11-13) is a self-disclosure of the God of Israel in three roles. First, Yahweh revealed himself as the Judge. The background was the threat of the final plague. Moses was to warn Pharaoh in the most solemn terms that at midnight Yahweh himself was going to pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn…There would be only one way of escape, by God’s own devising and provision.
Second, Yahweh revealed himself as the Redeemer…For Yahweh, who had already announced his intention to “pass-through” Egypt in judgement, now added his promise to “pass over” every blood-marked house in order to shield it from his threatened destruction.
Third, Yahweh revealed himself as Israel’s covenant God. He had redeemed them to make them his own people. So when he had saved them from his own judgement, they were to commemorate and celebrate his goodness.
What does the Passover tell us about how God deals with sin?
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
Praise to our victorious King;
Who hath washed us in the tide
Flowing from his pierced side
Praise Him whose love divine
Gives His sacred blood for wine,
Gives his body for the feast,
Christ the Victim, Christ the Priest.
-Robert Campbell