Passover

passover lambWhile I know that I’m a week late, I figure I would go ahead and post these notes about the Passover. They were originally written for a sermon on Palm Sunday, before the Passover festival. However, Jesus changed the church’s plan that day and we simply worship Him all morning, skipping the sermon in lue of enjoying His presence.

I did, however, use the notes this past Sunday on Easter – granted I shifted things a bit to focus on the high cost of sin. Namely, that sin leads to death and should not be taken lightly. Sadly we don’t have a sound recording of this sermon as the computer decided to reboot during the sermon stopping the recording… =(

Passover

•    So what is Passover?

o    It is a festival held each year to remember how the Lord God delivered His people out of slavery
o    The term can also refer to the Seder dinner held during the festival

*    This dinner is full of symbolism reminding people of God’s deliverance while also pointing toward Jesus

•    Background (Exodus 12:1-30)

o    The people of Israel had been living in Egypt for 400 years
o    At first they were free citizens, but somewhere along the line their entire people were enslaved
o    80-years prior to the Passover, the Pharaoh or ruler of Egypt got scared and set about killing all male toddlers and babies.

*    Very few boys survived this time
*    Moses was one of them

•    Moses

o    Moses grow in Pharaoh’s house due to an act of God
o    At 40-years old he goes into exile, becoming a shepherd on the edge of the Egyptian empire
o    Another 40 years pass until Moses, now 80 years old, finds himself standing before a burning bush
o    God tells him to go back to Egypt as He was going to bring freedom to His people

•    Ten Plagues

o    When Moses first returned to Egypt, the people of Israel were happy to hear about God’s plan
o    However they soon got tired of Moses and God’s plan for freedom

*    It was tough
*    Yes, they say some amazing miracles – plagues of frogs, flies, hail and the like
*    Some of these plagues only touched the Egyptians!!!

o     Yet in the middle of everything, Pharaoh had them working harder and harder

*    The plagues happened over a period of time – a year or so

•    The Last Plague

o    The last plague to hide the land was the death of the first born (Exodus 11)
o    The first born of everyone who was not following God was to be killed in one night
o    This was the last straw – the last battle against the gods of Egypt
o    Would the people follow God or idols?

•    Passover

o    Against this backdrop, God tells his people go through their house removing all the yeast – a symbol of sin
o    Then are then to take a lamb or a young goat and, being careful not to break a bone, kill it for their supper
o    The blood of this lamb is to spread on the door post – over the top and on both sides
o    When the angel of death came through the land, he would pass over these houses as they were protected by God Almighty

•    Picture of Adam and Eve

o    This is a picture of what God did with our first parents – Adam and Eve
o    When they turned their backs on God and decided to do things their way, they had to leave the garden of Eve for their own protection
o    God didn’t forget about them – far from it!!

*    He took an animal – the Bible doesn’t tell us what kind – and killed it – the first blood shed of history
*    The skin of the animal was used by God to make clothing for Adam and Eve

o    Protection…
o    Similar to the blood over the door post on that first Passover

•    Jesus

o    Years later God Himself would walk among humanity
o    John 1:14

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth

o    God Himself took on the form of humanity, being born in a humble stable, in a normal, average home for one reason
o    He wanted destroy the power of sin, evil and death – to bring freedom to His people

*    Similar to what happened in Egypt
*    You see, after the people of Israel were rescued from slavery, God set them up as a nation
*    He gave them guidelines and a purpose – they were to be a nation of priests telling the world about God

o    Jesus gave us the same purpose

•    Death on the cross

o    We were also rescued in the same way
o    The Israelites were set free after the death of the first born,
o    Jesus was God’s first and only son – and he died for us –
o    Jesus is also the lamb of God

*    John 1:29
*    We are protected by His blood
*    This is why we say we are covered by His blood
*    The blood of the lamb is over and around us – telling the angel of death to pass over us

•    Salvation

o    Let me be really clear here
o    There is a lot of talk in our culture – on TV, radio, in the streets and houses around this world – about how one gets to know God
o    There is only one way – that that is through the person of Jesus

*    I’m not talking about a religious system or a set of rules or even a belief system
*    I am talking about one thing: Have you personally met Jesus, the son of God, the King of Kings?
*    Have you given Him your life and come under His blood?

•    Staying under the blood

o    In thinking back to that first Passover in Egypt, I can’t help but think about how hard it must have been to stay inside the house…
o    I’m a curious person and it would have been hard to stay inside and trust God that everything would be alright

*    It is about giving up control and trusting

o    In today’s world we may not inside a physical house,

*    But we are still waiting for the angel of death to go over…
*    And during this time period we need to trust God – we need to stay under the blood of Jesus

o    We need to walk with Him and trust Him

•    This is hard

o    I know this is hard, I battle with it every day
o    I want control over my live – I want control of what I do

*    The cultural around me tells me that I should have control
*    That giving up control to anyone is wrong

o    Jesus is standing at the door, knocking – asking to come in and bring life and freedom

*    Are we going to open the door or not?

•    Holy Week

o    Today marks the beginning of Holy Week

*    A week leading up to Easter
*    The death and resurrection of Jesus

o    Tomorrow evening is the start of the Passover
o    Let us start this week by simply renewing our vows to Jesus

*    If you have never given up control to Jesus, please step forward today
*    If you have a habit of taken over from Jesus, please step forward today

o    Let us start this week a fresh – under the blood of the Lamb

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