The meaning of the Passover: Christ our Passover Lamb

Increasingly today, family members no longer eat together but consume their meals in their different corners, watching television or being absorbed by their phones. There is something so sad about this, as gathering around a meal is an opportunity to enjoy fellowship without distractions. When Jesus faced His last meal before His arrest, he arranged to spend it with his disciples. It must have been a poignant meal since it was the time of the Jewish Passover (Matt 26:17), a reminder of Israel’s redemption from slavery. Jesus was about to achieve redemption for us from the slavery of sin, so it is appropriate to reflect on this meal as the Old Testament presents it and how Jesus came to reinterpret its significance in the light of His own coming death.

The blood of the lamb

Just before the exodus, Egypt faced the last plague. Since Israel was God’s ‘firstborn son’, and Pharaoh was keeping them enslaved, the Lord would kill all the firstborn in the land in judgment (Exod 4:22-23). However, even God’s people would fall under His judgment unless they sought His protection. The lamb they were required to slaughter had to be unblemished denoting a sacrifice (Exod 12:4, 27), albeit an unusual one not offered on an altar to God.[1] The animal’s blood was to be smeared over the doorposts and lintel (Exod 12:7) indicating that a death has already taken place. The death of the lamb replaced the death of the firstborn, so God would pass over that house knowing that judgment had been done. Of course, God needed no sign, but participation in the blood rite showed that Israel believed God: those who did not have the mark on the house would be judged, those who trusted that the death of the substitute lamb averted judgment would be saved.

Sacrificial blood in later Israel, as well as in other ancient cultures, was used for consecration and purification (e.g. Lev 16:18-19; Ezek 45:18-20). Thus, several scholars argue that the blood rite marks out the houses as a zone of purity, a sanctuary like the temple, offering asylum (note how Israel was expected to stay indoors until morning, Exod 12:22).[2]

The Passover meal

While the people waited for death to pass them by, they were to eat an unusual meal marked out as special by the fact that no leftovers were kept but burnt the next day (Exod 12:10). To ensure that there was enough for all but no waste, households needed to combine if there were not enough people to eat a whole lamb (Exod 12:4). The meat was to be roasted over a fire (Exod 12:8; perhaps symbolising purging by fire and making it similar to sacrifices burnt on the altar).[3] Leaving in haste meant that the meal was eaten with unleavened bread (Exod 12:8, 11; not enough time for a leavened dough). Leaven was also associated with evil because it permeated the dough and because its fermentation reminded Israelites of death and decay. This is the reason why grain offerings (in the form of baked cakes) that accompanied animal sacrifices were not to have any leaven (Lev 2:11).[4] The bitter herbs (Exod 12:8) were a reminder of the bitter experience of slavery. The act of eating meant participation in the benefits of the victim (the lamb) in that Israelites gained life because of the lamb’s death. Eating also involved a sense of fellowship with each other. They experienced together the bitterness of slavery, the danger of death as they huddled in their houses and trusted in the redemption God offered.

Our Passover Lamb

While Jesus ate with His disciples, God’s judgment and redemption would have been in their minds as He re-interpreted the meal in the light of His own impending death. The disciples would only have understood in retrospect that Jesus became the Passover Lamb whose blood would protect them from the judgment of God. Using the simple elements of bread and wine (rather than the meat), Jesus applied the message of Passover to Himself and made it into a rite that we repeat every time we eat the Lord’s Supper. Eating symbolically of His body like Israel did of the Passover lamb is a participation in the benefits of His sacrifice that brought us life. The unleavened bread carries the idea of purity, both Jesus’ own as the unblemished lamb as well as the need for us to celebrate our redemption by living pure lives for the Lord (1 Cor 5:6-8). The wine represents His blood that paid the penalty for our sin so that we may be forgiven (Matt 26:27-28). The phrase ‘the blood of the covenant’ evokes the blood sprinkled on Israel at Sinai as God made a covenant with His people (Exod 24:3-8). It also reminds us of the new covenant promised to God’s people that will lead to forgiveness and a transformed heart (Jer 31:31-34). On this Good Friday, let’s remember His amazing grace that gave His pure self in exchange for our sinful one: His death for our life.

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[1] In later practice, of course, when Israel had the Jerusalem temple, the lambs were slaughtered by the priests and offered on the altar, but the meat would still go to the worshippers. As far as we know, the smearing of blood on the doorframe of houses was not repeated in the land.

[2] E.g. William H.C. Propp, Exodus 1-18: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 2 (New Haven: Yale UP, 1999), 437.

[3] Ibid., 396, 440.

[4] The honey mentioned in Leviticus 2:11 alongside leaven was not the kind we know made from pollen by bees. Rather it was produced by the fermentation of fruit. Thus, it was excluded from sacrifices for the same reason as leaven. The association of leaven with wickedness is also evident in the New Testament (Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:8). Jesus’ use of leaven for hypocrisy is particularly apt because of the way leaven creates air pockets and puffs up the dough. Unusually, He also uses leaven as an illustration for how the kingdom of God grows from small beginnings (Luke 13:20-21), though this is an exception to the generally negative connotation of leaven.

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