Signs Pointing to Jesus
Exodus 12 records God’s plans for the first Passover:
It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 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. (Ex. 12:11–13)
God was in the process of delivering his people from slavery in Egypt. He was unleashing his almighty power to redeem his people from the trauma they had suffered over four hundred years. His final act of deliverance would be to strike dead the firstborn of every house in Egypt—except those of Israelites who painted blood on the doorposts. In a sign of redeeming grace, God would pass over those houses, and the children of Israel would live and be delivered out of slavery.
Paul David Tripp offers 30 selected readings for Easter, adapted from his book Everyday Gospel, with questions to help readers reflect on and celebrate how the resurrection of Jesus Christ radically changes life today.
When the disciples gather with Jesus to observe the Passover, they have no expectation that anything will be different from how the Jewish people have celebrated the feast for generations. But that night everything they understand about the Passover changes:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt. 26:26–29)
The good news is that Jesus is the Passover Lamb who has purchased our freedom and our forgiveness.
With these words, Jesus tells his disciples that the very first Passover and every Passover since had pointed to him. He wants them to know that there is a deeper form of slavery than the physical slavery that their ancestors had experienced. This slavery is infinitely more tragic and causes infinitely more suffering than the Egyptian slavery. And this slavery is universal; no one escapes it. This deeper slavery is the slavery of every heart of every human being to sin. Jesus wants his disciples to know that every lamb of sacrifice was pointing to him. Jesus is saying, “I am the final Lamb of sacrifice, and by my death I will break the power of sin and purchase forgiveness for all who trust in me.”
The bad news all of us have to face is that sin captures us all. It always enslaves and leads to death. The good news is that Jesus is the Passover Lamb who has purchased our freedom and our forgiveness. We do well to put our trust in him.
This article is adapted from Everyday Gospel Easter Devotional by Paul David Tripp.
