I’ve always been fascinated and awestruck at the incredible threads that God wove through the Bible. When you read God’s Word as a cohesive story of His wonderful plan of redemption, you’ll find some fascinating parallels between events in the Old and New Testaments, and they come together on this holiest of weekends.
Millions of Jewish people the world over are celebrating Passover this week, an event from the Old Testament in which God freed His people from slavery in Egypt. God dramatically designated who were His people from those who weren’t.
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.”
The Passover lamb could not have a blemish on it — in other words, it had to be perfect. It was a sacrifice whose blood would save those who belonged to God. The Israelites were to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, which limited them to baking bread without yeast. God set aside a remembrance of the Passover that His people were to observe every year:
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Here’s What I Wrote Last Year: Good Friday and Passover: Remembering Freedom
This weekend, Christians throughout the globe will commemorate the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Some will celebrate next weekend, but as I wrote last year, “no matter the day, the sentiment is the same.”
Today is Good Friday on the Christian calendar, the day in which believers remember Jesus’ crucifixion. One book I recently read suggested that April 7 could be the actual date of the crucifixion, though we don’t know for sure.
There are plenty of threads between Passover and Good Friday. Of course, Jesus died on the cross during the week of Passover, but that’s not the only common thread.
The night before He went to the cross, Jesus ate the traditional Passover Seder with His disciples:
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had 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.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Christians remember this every time they partake in the Lord’s Supper — Communion or Eucharist, whatever you choose to call it. Though some churches take the Lord’s Supper periodically, others observe it every Sunday. (I’m honored to be part of a church body that takes Communion every week.) It’s a serious, holy moment because, as the Apostle Paul said to the church at Corinth, “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV).
Just as the Israelites were saved and identified as God’s people through the sacrificed blood of a spotless lamb, those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are saved by the blood of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sin.
…you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
This weekend, as Jews commemorate the Passover and Christians remember Jesus’ death and resurrection, think about the wonderful threads in God’s plan for redemption for His people, and let them fill you with awe.
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