READING: Exodus 12-13, Matthew 16
“. . . when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Exodus 12:13
It was one of the first “pictures” of the Bible that I remember. I was a 13-year-old when I first followed Christ, and I knew nothing about the Bible. I could not have told you about the Israelites in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, or the first Passover. I distinctly recall, though, first hearing my pastor speak about the Passover lamb and the application of the blood on the homes of the Hebrews. “They put the blood on the door frame of their homes,” he said, “and the death angel would ‘pass over’ their homes when he saw the blood.”
It was that blood of the lamb that differentiated the Hebrews from the Egyptians when judgment fell, and it marked the Hebrews’ obedience to God. Their faithful response to God protected them from coming judgment. My pastor told the story, and I could see in my mind that dramatic picture of blood at the top and sides of the doors.
Several years later, I visited the Holy Land, where I stood at a place where some scholars believe Jesus died. Again, I saw in my mind the shedding of blood. This time, though, the blood was not the blood of a lamb, but the blood of the Lamb of God. There, Jesus our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) bore our sins. He was our substitutionary sacrifice whose shed blood provides our redemption. My mind wandered far in the emotion of that moment, and I envisioned God’s passing over me in judgment because He saw the blood of Christ that covered me. The Lamb bore for me the wrath of the Father over my sin – and that picture of redemption was a weighty one, indeed.
To be honest, though, I probably marveled at the thought of the Passover Lamb when I first became a believer more than I did in later years. The drama of redemption astounded me back then. It was fresh, real, and powerful in my life. I couldn’t wait to read it, and I passionately sought to tell it to others. Over the years, however, I fear that story became too routine to me. I had heard it and taught it so many times that I had lost some wonder over the life and death of the Lamb.
Nevertheless, living in the Word of God is now restoring that wonder in my life. Jesus is “the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16) who chose to “go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, [and] be killed” (Matt 16:21). He truly was the Passover Lamb who died for me while I was still caught in sin (Rom. 5:8). That picture of grace is beginning to light my fire again.
ACTION STEPS:
- Meditate throughout the day on the truth that Jesus is the Passover Lamb.
- Live in the joy of redemption today.
PRAYER: Thank You, God, for providing redemption through the death of Your Son.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Exodus 14-15, Matthew 17