(Audio)
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Today we celebrate the lamb whose precious blood saves us from the angel of death.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (see John 5:51)
We need the body and blood of this lamb to be saved. If the blood of Christ does not anoint our own hearts we too will ultimately face God's judgment, just as Egypt did. Our hearts dwell in the land of sin and worship of foreign gods. Only the blood of Jesus protects us so that we can begin our exile from Egypt toward the promised land.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect (see First Peter 1:18-19).
Sin is serious and merits judgment. But God does not want to see us condemned. He loves us and longs to see us fulfilled and fully alive. He cannot do this by ignoring sin, looking the other way, pretending everything is OK, while it festers and corrupts his creation. He has no alternative but to bring judgment on sin and those who cling to it. But he does not do so without also doing all he can to provide a way to salvation for all who will accept it.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (see John 3:17).
The most amazing thing about the way God chose to deal with sin is that not only did he not ignore or minimize it but that he took the full consequences of sin upon himself. He didn't ultimately insist that each person pay an unpayable debt. He didn't simply look the other way and give the world something less than the full restoration it needed. He himself became the lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Jesus is the lamb, our perpetual sacrifice, and our hope before the throne of God. If he will go as far as this, what won't he do to save us?
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
Jesus shows the deep inner meaning and logic of his sacrifice when he washes the feet of his disciples.
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He stripped himself of his outer garments, the divine glory he had from the foundation of the world, in order to do a task that was too low even for a servant. He humbled himself out of obedience to the Father and love for us.
One thing which was not evident in the original Passover that should now be evident is just how this should transform us. The lamb is no longer some arbitrary third party. The lamb is the one who has chosen to be humbled for the sake of love. He therefore calls us to do the same. Our hearts can learn this when we ourselves are anointed by his precious blood. Jesus, by not minimizing judgment, but with his abundant mercy has revealed this deep necessity to us.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
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