The Passover Lamb of God
For the first Passover the children of Israel were told to provide their own Lamb to be sacrificed. But 400 years earlier the bible prophetically foretold that God would provide himself a lamb for a sacrifice. (Exodus 12:40, Genesis 22:8a)
We read of Abraham’s breathtaking obedience to the word of the LORD, when he was willing to sacrifice his own son, believing God would raise him from the dead. (Genesis 22:1-19, Hebrews 11:17-19)
When Isaac asked innocently, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” His Father replied with the towering prophesy: “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” (Genesis 22:7-8)
God then miraculously sent a perfect ram to be the substitute for Isaac, foreshadowing the Perfect Lamb who came from Heaven for you. (Genesis 22:1-19, Hebrews 11:17-19, John 3:13, Isaiah 49:16, Luke 15:4-7)
Pastor and bible commentator, Jon Courson, calls this the “Great Switcharoo”. The God of the bible sent His Son to come and pay the price for sin we could never pay so that we can be set free from sin and death and have life with Him forever. (John 3:16, Hebrews 9:15, Romans 6:22-23, 1 John 2:2)
This fulfills the greatest prophesy of all time, that God so loved the World that he gave his only Son, (the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world), that whoever believes on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, John 1:29)
Slay and Eat the Passover Lamb
When rebellious Israel was enslaved in Egypt they called upon God for mercy, who sent Moses to lead them to freedom. (Exodus 1-15)
On the night of their national Exodus each Jewish home killed a Passover lamb, painting its blood on their door frames, and eating its meat before the journey out of Egypt. (Exodus 12:7)
The LORD told Moses, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” leaving the children of Israel unharmed. But every household in Egypt without the blood on their door lost their firstborn in divine Judgment. (Exodus Ch.12)
God instructed Israel to keep a Passover Feast as an annual reminder of their redemption which would ultimately come through Christ. (Exodus 12:14, Hebrews 9)
Solomon built the Temple where Levitical animal offerings were made for centuries. Countless lambs, and cattle, were sacrificed as ‘types’ of the coming Lamb of God who would offer Himself in perfect atonement for sins. (2 Chronicles 2:1, Leviticus 17:11)
However, a veil came over the hearts of the Jews, they failed to see the Glory of Christ in those offerings, and killed Him when He came down to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:14-16, Matthew 26:3–4)
But that’s not the end of the story.
Death could not keep the sinless Lamb of God in its grip. After Jesus Christ spilled his precious blood on the cross, three days later He rose from the grave. (Acts 2:24b , 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Corinthians 15:4)
So the punishment for sin, which is death, has been swallowed up and our relationship with God can be restored. (1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Corinthians 5:18)
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Romans 10:9)
This is the greatest news for all human kind.
Happy Passover!
1 Peter 1:18-19 – Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
References:
http://joncourson.com/teaching/teachingsplay.asp?teaching=TC4007
(“The Great Switcheroo”, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, 03-09-04, TC4007 on joncourson.com)
