The Passover
Opening Song: Messenger Dox
Call to Worship:
Pastor Bobby Owens
1 Corinthians 5.6-8
Historical Reading:
Pastor Zachary McGuire
Westminster Confession of Faith 27.1-2, 4-5
Sacrament of Baptism
Dr. Alex Loginow
Song:
Nothing but the Blood
Confession & Pardon:
Pastor Michael Champoux
Welcoming of New Members in Covenant
Pastor Kevin McGuire
Song:
Doxology
Song:
See the Destined Day Arise
Sermon:
Dr. Alex Loginow
The Passover (Exodus 12.1-32)
Introduction
Bethany and I began dating in March 2007. She was a junior in high school; I was a freshman in college. After she graduated high school in June 2008 we got engaged and in August she moved down to Louisville to go to school and work as we prepared to be married in May 2009. From March 2007 – August 2008 we dated long distance and I travelled home to visit as often as possible. This story takes place on one of those visits.
My parents live at 13/Campbell and at the time Bethany lived near 13/Schoenherr so I would regularly traverse 13 mile due east. On one such evening I was driving back to my parents’, I was almost home, at 13/Dequindre and I saw those flashing lights in my rear view. I got pulled over. Looking back I know I was guilty but I can’t remember if I ran a light or if I was speeding but what I do remember is the first thing the police officer said to me. He asked, “Are you a Christian?” To quote Arthur Spooner, “file that question under ‘C’ for curveball.”
It turns out that the officer noticed my Southern Seminary parking sticker on the back of my car and he asked because he was a Christian as well. He let me off with a warning and wished me well with my theological education. I was guilty but my condemnation was passed over because of the seminary sign that I had on my car. That is the idea we see in Exodus 12. YHWH passed over the people of Israel because of the sign of the blood on their doorposts.
Exodus Review
It’s been over a month since we studied the book of Exodus together so let’s refresh our collective memory. You know how when a new season of a show comes out Netflix has like a 3-minute recap of last season to remind you of what was happening? Let’s do a 30 second recap of Exodus 1-11. Jacob, who was renamed Israel, was the grandson of father Abraham. He and his 12 sons moved to Egypt to be with Joseph because of a famine. That’s where the book of Genesis closes. The book of Exodus opens 400 years later and Jacob now has so many descendants that their population rivals a small nation. Because there are so many Hebrews, the Egyptians enslaved them to keep Israel under their thumb.
As the book of Exodus opens Pharaoh is systematically aborting all of the Hebrew baby boys but YHWH saves a baby named Moses. Pharaoh’s daughter then adopts Moses. When Moses is 40 he murders an Egyptian slave driver who is beating a Hebrew and for fear of his life Moses runs away to Midian where he marries his boss’ daughter and has kids. For the next 40 years Moses quietly shepherds his father-in-law’s flock as YHWH prepares Moses to shepherd God’s people. At 80 years old YHWH appears to Moses in the burning bush and commissions him to lead the Exodus.
Moses then returns to Egypt where he and his brother Aaron confront Pharaoh and God judges Egypt for their idolatry and oppression through the 10 plagues, or strikes as Jewish theologians have called them. This morning we find ourselves at the 10th and final strike: the death of the firstborn and the institution of the Passover. Now that we have our bearings let’s look at Exodus 12.1-32 together. As we do every week here at Christ Community Church we’re not merely interested in what the text originally meant, but we’re also concerned with how the story of the Exodus is connected to our story specifically through the story of Jesus Christ.
The First Passover
And the story of the Exodus has been building to this climatic plague. This is the final strike of YHWH against Egypt for their idolatry and oppression. Egypt has not loved God and neighbor and God judges them.
The Passover Lived
The last sermon we heard from the book of Exodus was in late July when Pastor Kevin preached Exodus 11. In Exodus 11 YHWH warns of this final strike; in Exodus 12 YHWH strikes a final time. But before he does YHWH instructs Israel about what they are to do. They are to prepare the Passover feast. It can be easy to get lost in these ancient instructions but the point is that God gives them a meal to mark their redemption. This feast of the Passover lamb and the unleavened bread is to prepare their hearts for the glorious salvation from slavery that YHWH is about to accomplish.
The feast required an unblemished lamb and unleavened bread. The lamb was to be perfect or unblemished. That means no sick or injured lambs. The strongest and most prize worthy sacrifice is what YHWH required. And the bread must be unleavened.
The point of the unleavened bread was two-fold: (1) it was for urgency. It would take time for the dough to rise and time is something the Hebrews did not have. (2) It was didactic. Scripture later explains the importance of unleavened bread by equating leaven with sin. In his ministry Jesus Christ warned of the leaven of the Jewish leaders (Matt 16.6; Luke 12.21).
In our call to worship Pastor Bob read from 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul uses leaven as a word picture for sin (cf. Gal 5.9). If the people were going to be acceptable to God they had to consume the righteousness pictured by the unblemished lamb and the unleavened bread. God’s people did not have righteousness inherent to themselves. They needed and alien righteousness – one that comes from outside of them.
Then God’s people were to take blood from the Passover lamb and smear it on the doorposts of their homes. The blood would be a sign that they are the set apart people of God. When YHWH would strike dead all of the firstborn in Egypt that night, he would pass over every home that had blood on the doorway.
At this point some of you may be thinking what kind of God would do this? Let me explain. This past week we started our new church Scripture reading plan and we’ve been reading through Genesis. The book of Genesis tells us that in the beginning God created Adam and Eve and God made a covenant with Adam. If Adam kept the covenant he would live. If Adam broke the covenant he would die (Gen 2.17).
Adam broke the covenant and so Adam and all of humanity are condemned to death. Sometimes the sentence of death is executed providentially through disease or natural disaster. Other times God justly executes the death sentence in more unique ways; think of the flood in Genesis 6-9, or Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. The Passover is another example of God’s right as creator and covenant keeper to execute the just sentence of death on his sinful creatures. That’s why the Hebrews had to be covered under the blood of the Passover lamb. If any of the Israelites did not seek the crimson refuge they too would be executed because they are sinners.
Not only were the Egyptians sinners in general but also they were being specifically judged because of their idolatry and oppression. YHWH had not given the 10 Commandments yet but they were written on the heart of humans when God created Adam in his image. So for example if Adam had cut down some wood from the tree of life and fashioned it into an idol he would have been sinning even though the first commandment had not yet been formally given. Or if Adam had cut a branch and fashioned it into a bat and beat Eve to death with it he would have been wrong even though the sixth commandment had not been formally given.
The same is true of the Egyptians. In verse 12 YHWH says, on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am YHWH. The Egyptians had broken the first four commandments with their idolatry. As we moved through the first 9 strikes we noted how YHWH was specifically judging each of Egypt’s false gods. In the Passover YHWH most ultimately judges Pharaoh who was worshipped as divine. Pharaoh’s son was considered the son of god.
The Egyptians had also broken the latter six commandments. They enslaved and oppressed the Hebrews. They systematically aborted a generation of Jewish boys. The just penalty for breaking God’s law is death and in this final strike judgment is executed. So in the Passover we see a simultaneous act of salvation and judgment by God. YHWH saves the Hebrews through his judgment of the Egyptians.
The Passover Relived
And this simultaneous act of salvation and judgment was to be remembered forever. The Passover meal was not merely to be celebrated on this first occasion but was to be an annual feast. God’s people celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for hundreds of years. In their misunderstanding the Jewish people still celebrate to this day.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was in part to remember. It shall be for them a memorial day. The Hebrew word זִכָּרוֹן implies not merely remembering an event but a reliving of it. Listen to this helpful footnote from the NET Bible:
“The point of the word ‘remember’ in Hebrew is not simply a recollection of an event, but a reliving of it, a reactivating of its significance. In covenant rituals ‘remembrance’ or ‘memorial’ is designed to prompt God and worshiper alike to act in accordance with the covenant.”
The Passover was not only for that specific generation of God’s people. Every generation was to remember and relive this salvation.
The feast was also in part for teaching. Verses 26-27 say:
26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of YHWH’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses (Exod 12.26-27).
God’s people were commanded to teach their children of the salvation and judgment poured out by God in the Passover.
Notice also that Israel’s national and liturgical calendar was to be structured around the Exodus. Ligon Duncan said, “We see in the first two verses that time itself is to be wrapped around this historical event of God’s redemption.” This was Israel’s highest holy day and their lives revolved around it. The same is true for us as new covenant Christians. One way we do this here at Christ Community Church is we observe the church calendar, which I would argue is not mandatory for Christians but helpful.
What is mandatory for Christians is to go to church on Sunday. Scripture leaves no wiggle room that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It is the new covenant Sabbath. It is the first day of the week. Monday is not the first day of the week. That’s a pagan understanding of the calendar. Jesus Christ resurrected on Sunday and so our lives revolve around the gathering of God’s people on the first day of the week in celebration and worship of the risen Christ.
The Final Passover
Because Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Passover. For hundreds of years God’s people rehearsed the story of the Passover annually at the Feast of Unleavened Bread until the final Passover arrived in the flesh. The Passover was never the destination. It was a signpost pointing us to the true and final Passover lamb. The Passover was a providential picture in time and space that was leading us to Christ, our Passover lamb (1 Cor 5.7).
Earlier we mentioned our church-wide Scripture reading plan. Along with Genesis this past week we were reading the Gospel of John. In John 1.29 John the Baptizer says of Jesus Christ, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Dr. Jim Hamilton says that the Exodus is the great archetype of salvation in Scripture. It is a type of what God has done finally and fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Passover is leading us to the gospel.
The gospel is the announcement that God is our holy creator. And just like Adam, Israel, and the Egyptians we are guilty of breaking God’s law. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23). Pastor Mike led us earlier in the confession and pardon and reminded us that Scripture says that if we say we have no sin we lie. Adam broke the covenant and we are guilty in him. We are born with a sin nature and because of that we do sinful things. We sin in thought, word, and deed, by what we do and by what we leave undone. Because of our sin we deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell.
If that were the end of the story it would be just but it would be depressing. But thanks be to God that is not the end of the story. For us and for our salvation the Father sent the Son to be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. His name is Jesus and he lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15). Because he did not break God’s law in thought, word, or deed, he is the true and final spotless Lamb of God.
Just as the Passover lamb was slaughtered and it’s blood covered Israel from God’s wrath, Jesus Christ died on the cross bearing God’s wrath against sin for all of his people. In the Passover God spared the sons of his people but he could only do that because on the cross he did not spare his Son. Exodus 12.30 says there was a great cry in Egypt over the death of the firstborns. Matthew 27.46 says of Jesus as he died: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus was then buried and on the third day he resurrected from the dead. His resurrection is proof that God had accepted his sacrifice and that our sins are paid for. Now everyone who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ will be saved from God’s wrath. Being saved means that our sins are forgiven and we have hope that when Jesus returns he will raise us from the dead and we will live with him forever.
What does it mean to place your faith in Jesus Christ? The Reformed tradition has long talked about faith with three components: knowledge, ascent, and trust. First you must have the knowledge of who Jesus is and what Jesus did. But knowledge alone does not save. You must also ascent to the validity of these truth claims. But even knowledge and ascent fall short of saving faith. You must finally transfer your trust to Jesus alone.
You must repent and believe. If the Holy Spirit has changed your heart you will turn from your sin and toward Jesus Christ. You will crucify your pride and you will trust in Jesus alone to save you. That means that if you were to stand before Christ in the judgment and he were to ask you why you don’t deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell your only answer is, “I do deserve that but, Jesus, you took it for me on the cross and my faith is in you.” The gospel beckons you today: repent and believe in Jesus!
In Remembrance of Christ
And everyone who does trust in Jesus is called to remember and relive that salvation at the Lord’s Supper. Like God’s old covenant people we too have a meal to remember and relive our salvation. On the night that Jesus was betrayed he transformed the Passover meal into the Holy Eucharist and he commanded us to do this in remembrance of [him]. This is why the Jewish people today are confused in their continual observance of Passover. Not because Christians want to dismiss Jewish history and culture but because God instituted the Passover to point us to Jesus. Jesus himself fulfills the Passover and in the New Covenant our meal of remembrance is not the feast of unleavened bread but the Lord’s Supper.
And just as God’s old covenant people were to teach their children via the Passover we too must teach our children in Holy Communion. Don’t be satisfied with your children simply hearing the instruction at the Eucharist each week from whatever pastor is leading that portion of the liturgy. Talk to your kids about communion every week. Explain that the unleavened bread pictures the sinless body of Christ and that the wine pictures the blood of Christ that covers us like the blood of the Passover lamb. Teach them that the Lord’s Supper is for those who believe and that Jesus communes with his people every week at the Lord’s Table.
As we have feasted on the Word and as we prepare to feast on this holy meal our hearts should be humble and thankful. The word Eucharist means, “give thanks.” We should be humble because we deserve eternal death because of our sin. We should be thankful that in Christ God’s wrath has passed over all who believe in Jesus. We should live lives of obedience in thankfulness for the sinless life and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ in our place. And we should tell anyone who would listen how he or she can be saved through Jesus alone.
Conclusion
When I was pulled over all those years ago I was guilty but the officer passed over my guilt because of the sign of my seminary sticker. In the same way YHWH passed over the children of Israel because of the sign of the blood on the doorway. He did so because hundreds of years later he would not pass over his only begotten Son on the cross. Now all who trust in Christ alone experience the true and final Passover. God passes over our sins for all eternity because Jesus bore the wrath of God for the sins of God’s people. The story of the Passover connects to our story through the story of Jesus.
And on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took the Passover meal and transformed it into the Holy Eucharist. Every week at the Lord’s Supper we remember and relive the true meaning of the Passover. Jesus is the Lamb of God sacrificed for our sins. The blood of Jesus covers us so that wrath of God passes over us. Every week we gather around this table to remember and proclaim that Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. Repent and believe the gospel.