Read Exodus 11:1-12:50

HIS story is indeed one of man’s rescue. After 400 years of life in a foreign country, God was about to escort His people to their homeland. After years of bondage and servitude, He was about to offer them freedom. After identifying Moses as the man to lead them, God was about to use him to deliver them. In spite of plague after plague and one empty promise from Pharaoh after another, God was about to bring the plague that would lead to release.

But what became a plague for some became reason for celebration for others. Whether a person rejoiced or regretted all hinged on a lamb and its blood. Those who painted the blood of a perfect lamb on their frame of the door to their house were spared. Those who failed to do so suffered. The Israelites painted the blood and headed off to the Promised Land. The Egyptians didn’t and grieved the loss.

This “Passover plague” was more than just an event recorded in the annals of Jewish history. Its importance is illustrated in the fact that God commanded that the Israelites commemorate the Passover on an annual basis. He wanted them to reflect often on the events of that evening and celebrate what He had done.

Still, there is more. The New Testament makes clear that God wanted to use the Passover as the precursor to and backdrop for understanding the sacrifice of His Son. Through His shed blood, God offers people deliverance from sin to all. The Passover’s timing and imagery coincide with the sacrifice of Jesus as the perfect lamb.

Still, a response is necessary. Just as the Israelites of old had to by faith paint the blood of the lamb on their door frame, so too a person today must by faith personally appropriate the shed blood of Jesus as necessary and adequate for the forgiveness of his/her sins. And those who do have every reason to celebrate…even to celebrate and reflect regularly on what Christ has done by participating in Communion. Will you join us for Communion at either 11:00 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. on November 16th?

Steve Kern