Passover is the feast the Lord established when He brought Israel out of Egypt.
A lamb without blemish was slain,
its blood placed on the doorposts and lintel,
and the Lord passed over the houses marked by the blood.
Israel was to keep this day as a memorial throughout their generations.
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
The meal that saved a nation pointed to the blood that saves the world.
On the night the Lord struck the firstborn of Egypt, He gave Israel a way of deliverance.
- Each household was to take a lamb without blemish, kill it at twilight, and put the blood on the two doorposts and the lintel.
- They were to eat the flesh that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, dressed for travel.
- When the Lord saw the blood, He would pass over the door, and the plague would not enter.
That night they went out of bondage. The Lord commanded them to remember the day as a statute forever.
Jesus came to Jerusalem at Passover.
- He sent disciples to prepare the meal in the upper room.
- There He took bread and the cup and gave them as His body and His blood of the new covenant.
John notes that not a bone of His was broken, as the Passover law required of the lamb.
Paul wrote to the church, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Passover is therefore history, memorial, and fulfillment: the God who redeemed Israel by blood has redeemed His people by the blood of the Lamb.
- Passover is God’s act of judgment and mercy on the same night.
- The blood on the door was the sign that caused the destroyer to pass over.
- The lamb had to be without blemish; no bone was to be broken.
- Israel was to eat in haste, ready to leave slavery behind.
- Jesus kept the Passover and transformed it into the meal of the new covenant.
- Christ is the true Passover lamb; His blood is the true covering.
- The feast remembers deliverance and points forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
- The Lamb – Without blemish, chosen, slain, and eaten by the household.
- The Blood – Placed on the door; seen by the Lord; the plague did not enter.
- The Meal – Roast lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, eaten in readiness.
- The Judgment – The firstborn of Egypt died; Israel was spared by the blood.
- The Memorial – A statute forever, taught to the children in every generation.
- The Fulfillment – Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.
- The New Meal – The bread and the cup given in the upper room.
- Exodus 12:3, 5-7, 13 – “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses… Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old… and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it… 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 12:8, 11, 14 – “They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it… 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… This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
- Exodus 12:23, 29-31 – The Lord will pass over the door; at midnight He struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt; Pharaoh sent Israel out.
- Exodus 12:46 – “It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.”
- Deuteronomy 16:1-3 – “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night… that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.”
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 – “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
- John 1:29 – “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
- John 19:14, 33, 36 – It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; they did not break His legs; “For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’”
- Luke 22:7-8, 15-20 – “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’… And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’… ‘This is my body, which is given for you… This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”
- Matthew 26:17-28 – The disciples prepare the Passover; Jesus gives the bread and the cup for the forgiveness of sins.
- Isaiah 53:7 – “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter…”
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 – “…you were ransomed… with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
- Hebrews 11:28 – “By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”
- Joshua 5:10-11 – Israel kept the Passover in the land, then ate of the produce of Canaan.
- 2 Chronicles 35:1, 18 – Josiah kept a Passover such as had not been kept since the days of Samuel.
- Revelation 5:6, 9 – A Lamb standing, as though it had been slain; by His blood He ransomed people for God.
- Exodus 13:8-9 – “You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”
When I see the blood, I will pass over you. That is the word that brought Israel out of Egypt. The lamb was without blemish. The blood was on the door. The people ate in haste and left their bondage. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Not a bone of His was broken. His blood is the sign the judgment respects. Do not trust a door without blood. Come under the covering God has provided. Cleanse out the old leaven. Keep the feast with sincerity and truth. The God who passed over Egypt still saves by the blood of the Lamb, and the redeemed will sing of that Lamb forever.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.