|
Jesus Christ Our Passover By Don Billingsley "Behold!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). These words
were spoken almost 2000 years ago by John the Baptizer in the presence of his disciples, near the bank of the Jordan
River. The
disciples, hearing what he said, were startled!
They looked in the direction John was facing, eyes searching, finding,
and then focusing on the Man who was looking directly at John as He made His way
toward him. This was a moment in time
for John. As far back as he could
remember, John had been told by his parents and others of his miraculous birth,
and the purpose for it. He had
learned that his special mission in life was to prepare
the way of the LORD (Luke
1:5-25, 67-80; John 1:23). John had never met Jesus
Christ; but he had been given a sign
to look for that would clearly identify Him.
John bore witness to the sign of the Holy Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove upon Christ (John 1:32). Jesus
had never sinned; therefore, there was no need for His repentance in order to be
baptized. But it was imperative He
set the example for all others (John 13:15; Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:16; 6:44).
John and Christ entered the
waters of the Jordan River; and there, John baptized our Savior. It was then
that John saw the sign, the dove descending upon Christ, that revealed beyond all doubt this was, indeed, the Messiah (John
1:32-34). This was the beginning of the 3 1/2 year ministry of Jesus Christ that would end with His crucifixion and death on the tree. THE
LAMB OF GOD The utterance of John was an
allusion to what we find written many years before by one of God’s prophets: “He was oppressed and
He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led AS A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER; and as A SHEEP before its shearers is
silent; so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). Can we picture in our minds
eye a man taking a sheep in his arms, holding its head up with one hand, and
with the other, knife in hand, swiftly cutting its throat?
Can we see him holding the young animal while its life’s blood pours
out in a steady stream until it finally goes limp in his arms? The beautiful
young lamb, a symbol of innocence and perfection, now dead. The lamb is a symbol of
Jesus Christ. The lamb’s death,
carried out as portrayed above in ancient Passover ritual, pointed to the
Savior’s death. Though Christ was
pictured as a lamb, He was God in human flesh; His life did not end as quickly
and mercifully as the sheep. As much as is possible, try
to visualize what He experienced during the long, torturous hours following His
final Passover service, until His last breath was drawn in merciless death.
Think about the long, pain filled hours He suffered on the stake,
crucified without mercy, ridiculed, abandoned, forsaken (Psalm 22:1-21; Isaiah
53:3). Though it is beyond our
mental and emotional ability to truly grasp, there is a need to bring the
picture of Christ’s sacrifice vividly to mind in order to understand what His SACRIFICE
really means for you, for me – and all mankind. Why did Christ have to die
this way? Why did He suffer
betrayal by His own people and a brutal death at the hands of hardened Roman
soldiers? The Bible tells us
it was for a very great purpose: “For God SO LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever [comes to] believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). OUR MERCIFUL AND LOVING
SAVIOR The LOVE Christ expressed
for mankind is pictured in the very small morsel of unleavened bread and sip of
wine we consume during the Passover service; and it is with these things in mind
that we should examine ourselves, making sure we properly discern and then
partake of the symbols of His sacrifice in A WORTHY MANNER.
Very few, however, actually grasp the depth of what the
BREAD AND WINE represent! When I look back over my
life and consider the laws of God I have broken, I flinch, knowing I’m the one
who deserves all that Jesus Christ suffered.
When I am particularly disgusted by my failings, I ask myself, “How
could Jesus Christ ever forgive me, and continue to forgive me, as I continue to
stumble in my life?” I suppose all truly
converted men and women have thought about these things, and asked themselves
the very same question. The answer
to that question is both humbling and heart-warming:
God loves us that much! With
this in mind, our hearts should be filled with praise, honor, and glory to the
Father and to Christ for Their awesome, unfathomable love and mercy. LAMBS
SLAUGHTERED IN EGYPT To better grasp the fullness
of the meaning of the statement that John made of Jesus being THE
LAMB OF GOD WHO WOULD TAKE AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, it will be necessary
for us to read of the real lambs that were slaughtered by each family in Israel. After being in bondage for
many years, the sufferings of Israel grew, and their groaning came up before God
in heaven. He then chose Moses to deliver them, and take them to the Promised
Land – a land filled with milk and honey (Exodus 2:23-25;3:6-10). First, they had to experience IN PHYSICAL TYPE deliverance from sure death through the BLOOD OF A
NEWLY SLAIN LAMB! God gave specific
instructions to Israel through His prophet, Moses, that were to be carried out
to the very letter if their lives were to be spared: “Speak to all the
Congregation of Israel, saying, “On the 10th day of this month
every man shall take for himself a lamb, … a lamb for a household ... Now you
shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month.
Then the whole assembly of the Congregation of Israel shall KILL it at
twilight (or dusk) ... And they shall take some of the BLOOD
and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses ...” (Exodus
12:3-7). “... it is the LORD’S
PASSOVER.
For I will PASS THROUGH Egypt that night, and will STRIKE
ALL THE FIRSTBORN in the land both man
and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I
WILL EXECUTE JUDGMENT. I AM THE
LORD. Now the BLOOD
will be A SIGN FOR YOU on the
doors where you are. And WHEN
I SEE THE BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER YOU; and the PLAGUE
(of death) shall NOT be on you to destroy you WHEN
I STRIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT! (12:10-13). After these specific
instructions, Moses then told them something they had better not do if they
valued their lives: “... And none of you
shall GO OUT OF THE DOOR of his house UNTIL
morning” (Exodus 12:21-24) PROFOUND
MEANING FOR US TODAY All the things Israel was
commanded to do in the land of Egypt at the time of that Passover have a much
deeper and greater meaning for all of us as Christians.
This was what John the Baptizer was making reference to when he said in
the presence of others, “Behold! The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of he world!” John was alluding to the time when the true
Lamb of God was to be slain – His
life to end by THE POURING OUT of His
life’ blood that would make possible the saving of life from the second death.
The blood of each physical lamb was to represent THE
LAMB OF GOD WHO WAS TO COME, and would enable all who were under that blood
to be saved from death. With this in mind, it is
very important we consider very
seriously the reminder by the apostle Paul to the Corinthian Church of what
Jesus said to His disciples during that last Passover service. Paul was addressing what some of these people were doing by
turning the Passover service into a drunken potluck feast.
He was then led by God to strongly correct and emphasize the vital
importance of understanding the meaning of the Passover symbols, and what they
should mean to them, and to all of God’s people for all time: “Therefore whoever EATS
this bread (= His body), or DRINKS
[from] this cup (wine = blood) of
(symbolizing) the Lord IN AN UNWORTHY
MANNER will be GUILTY OF THE BODY
AND THE BLOOD of the Lord, ... For he who eats and drinks IN
AN UNWORTHY MANNER, EATS AND DRINKS JUDGMENT on himself, NOT
DISCERNING THE LORD’S BODY (I Corinthians 11:26-27, 29).
“FOR THIS REASON many are weak,
and sick among you, and many sleep” (Margin: are dead, Verse 30). To understand these symbols
that would help us take the Passover in a worthy manner, we need to think about
the original Passover when all Israel was spared from death by smearing the
blood of the slain lamb over the doorways of their individual homes.
Then we couple that with what Jesus Christ, THE
TRUE LAMB OF GOD, did when He permitted the leading Jews to turn Him over to
the Romans to put Him to death through the horrors of crucifixion. The crucifixion of Christ
lasted for six long hours. It
involved a struggle for His very breath of life.
Christ experienced extreme agony, sickness, fever and chills; then, a
Roman soldier thrust a spear into His side.
Christ screamed out in pain. As
the spear left his side, His remaining blood poured out, and – God died!
(Matthew 27:50; Isaiah 53:12). THE
BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
When we really think about
the absolute necessity of all the families of Israel having TO
KILL A PHYSICAL LAMB AND THEN BRUSH THE BLOOD OVER THE ENTRANCE TO THEIR HOMES
TO SAVE THEIR LIVES, the Spiritual significance of the BLOOD
OF THE TRUE LAMB OF GOD that is SYMBOLIZED by the WINE
should not escape us! Those people
would have died had they not had the BLOOD OF A LAMB over the doorway entrance
into their homes. THE BROKEN BODY
OF JESUS CHRIST
Why did Jesus Christ permit
Roman soldiers to remove His clothing, force Him to bend His bared body over a
small thick stone pillar about three feet tall in the courtyard, and tie His
hands to the iron rings imbedded in it? Once accomplished, the
trained Roman lictor virtually tore His body apart from his face to the bottom
of His legs with his whip that consisted of several strips of leather – the
end of each one had a chunk of bone, or a small piece of a iron chain sewn to it
(Isaiah 52:14). This was called the
halfway death! This beating was not
necessary for the forgiveness and blotting out of our spiritual sins by the
BLOOD of Christ, which the wine represents! It has another very important
meaning that is made known by the piece of unleavened bread that is eaten before
the drinking of the wine during the Passover. The purpose of it is made known by
Isaiah: “Surely He has borne our
griefs (margin: Literally SICKNESSES)
and carried our sorrows (Margin: Literally
PAINS); Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded (Margin: or pierced through) for our transgressions (of spiritual laws), He was
bruised (Margin: crushed) for our
iniquities (Transgressions of Physical Laws).
The CHASTISEMENT for our peace (welfare) was upon Him, AND
BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED” (Isaiah 53:4-5). The horrible scourging was
to pay the penalty of our physical transgressions, that would make possible
the healing of our sicknesses and diseases along with the removal of
pain. This is made very
plain at the beginning of Christ’s ministry: When evening had come,
they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, AND HEALED all who
were sick, THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED
WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY ISAIAH THE PROPHET, SAYING: He ‘Himself TOOK our
infirmities and BORE our sicknesses’ (Matthew 8:16-17). This is why we are
instructed to do the following when we have health problems: “Is anyone of you sick?
Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them PRAY
OVER HIM, anointing him with oil IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, and the PRAYER OF
FAITH will save the sick, and the Lord will RAISE HIM UP...” (James
5:14-15). (There is not sufficient
space in this article to explain this in greater detail.
If you should like more on the subject please read: “Does God Heal
Today” by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, 1979 edition.) The forgiveness of both our
Spiritual and physical sins was spoken of in the Book of Psalms: “Bless the LORD, O my
soul, and forget not all His benefits: who FORGIVES all your iniquities
(Spiritual), who HEALS all your diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3). The
apostle Peter also summed up both blessings, when he wrote: “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body
on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by
whose stripes you were healed” (I
Peter 2:24). “And I looked, and
behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the
midst of the elders, STOOD A LAMB AS
THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN, ... ” (Revelation 5:5-14).
In this scripture we find Jesus Christ REPRESENTED
AS BEING IN THE VERY ACT OF POURING OUT HIS BLOOD for the sins of mankind.
This scripture strengthens our FAITH, knowing when the sinner comes
before God’s throne of mercy and grace he finds a sacrifice provided for him
by God – a continual sacrifice for all time, and the newly-shed blood to blot
out his sins. “As
it had been slain” – bearing the marks of His past death-wounds, standing,
though bearing the marks of one slain – in the midst of heavenly glory –
Christ crucified is still prominent (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16; 9:24-28). As we enter this Passover
season, let each of us soberly and very seriously consider our thoughts
regarding the meaning of each of those symbols as we take each one to our lips,
and then into our mouths, during this soon-coming Passover service. They mean
health and life to all who partake of them in a worthy manner. At the same time, realize we
can never of ourselves become worthy, but through real repentance for our sins,
and the acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for them, He will make us
worthy. Think back to the time many
years ago when the Messiah was striding toward John to begin fulfilling His very
purpose for being born in human flesh; and then reflect on the immortal and
emphatic words from John, that speak to you, and me – and all of mankind, for
all time: “BEHOLD!
The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. - Don Billingsley |
| |
|
|