#4. The Passover Lamb of Whom We Partake (1 Cor. 5:7; Ex. 12:3-14; Mt. 26:26-30)
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
http://www.jesuswalk.com/lamb/lamb_4passover.htm
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1 Corinthians 5:7
"Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without
yeast -- as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed."
The Apostle Paul writes, "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7), echoing the early church's
belief that Christ was a fulfillment of the Passover or Paschal
lamb (from Hebrew pesach, "passover").
As I study the New Testament, I am becoming more and more
convinced that Jesus, too, saw himself in this role, and implies
as much in his words at the Last Supper -- which, it turns out,
were shared in the context of an actual Passover meal. Let's
explore this aspect of Christ's ministry of atonement as the
Passover Lamb. To do this, we need to go back thirteen or
fourteen centuries before Christ to the people of Israel when
they were slaves in Egypt.
The Plague on the Firstborn
As God begins to deliver Israel from Egypt, he sends Moses to
Pharaoh with the demand, "Let my people go!" Pharaoh refuses.
Following each refusal, God sends plagues of increasing severity
upon Egypt, culminating with God's decree that each firstborn son
in Egypt would be slain (Exodus 11:5). But when Moses declares
God's words to Pharaoh, Pharaoh refuses to believe them.
To protect from this plague the Israelites who lived in Egypt,
God instructs Moses that each household should select a yearling
male lamb and slaughter it at dusk on the 14th day of Abib (the
Hebrew month that corresponds with March-April).
"Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the
sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat
the lambs" (Exodus 12:7).
During the night the angel of death passes through Egypt
slaying the firstborn of both men and animals to bring judgment
on Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.
"The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are;
and when I see the blood, I will pass over (pasach) you.
No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt"
(Exodus 12:13).
"When the LORD goes through the land
to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top
and sides of the doorframe and will pass over (pasach)
that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter
your houses and strike you down" (Exodus 12:23)
The Hebrew verb used in these verses is pāsach. While
there are several theories about the meaning of this verb, two
seem most plausible. The traditional etymology is the meaning "to
pass (over),"1 that is, the merciful passing over of a
destructive power. Some interpret pāsach as meaning "to
defend, protect," that is, "the Lord will protectively cover the
houses of the Israelites and will not allow the destroyer to
enter."2 In either case, the blood is a sign to the
Lord that the house that bears it should be exempted from the
judgment on the firstborn.
The Sacrifice of the Passover Lamb
Just what kind of sacrifice is the initial Paschal lamb
offered at the Exodus? It is not like the scapegoat on the Day of
Atonement (Leviticus 16) or one of the morning and evening
offerings (Exodus 29:38-43; Numbers 28:1-8). Most of these
offerings were to atone for sin in some sense, while the
commemorative sacrifice of Passover lambs in the temple each year
was not considered as an atonement for sin.3
But what was the significance of the initial sacrifice of
Passover lambs at the first Passover? Five offerings were
performed in the tabernacle and, later, in the temple.4
Of these, Old Testament scholar Richard Averbeck observes that
the sacrifice of the Passover lamb bears some resemblance to the
peace or fellowship offering. In this type of offering, a
representative piece of meat is offered before the Lord and to
the priests. The rest is eaten by the offerer and his family as a
kind of celebration meal -- similar to the celebration meal of
the Passover. Averbeck also notes similarities between the
original Passover act of placing blood on the doorpost and lintel
and the ordination of priests, where blood is placed on the
priest's ear, right thumb, and right big toe as an act of
consecration (Leviticus 8:23-24). He sees the initial Passover
offering as a consecration or setting apart of the people within
each household who partook of the sacrifice.5
Israel's sin doesn't seem to be in the forefront; rather, the
lamb seems to be a kind of substitute or interposition for the
firstborn males and animals in the household. However, there may
be some idea of expiation or purification present since hyssop is
used to smear the blood. Elsewhere hyssop is associated with
expiation and purification.6 In addition, some
Rabbinical writings refer to the redemptive effect of the blood
of the Passover lamb.7
Q1. (Exodus 12) In what way did the lambs
on the first Passover protect the families of God's people?
What is the primary point of comparison between the first
Passover lambs and what Christ did for us as our Passover
Lamb?
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The Last Supper as a Passover Meal
Jews were instructed to partake of the Passover annually to
celebrate and commemorate God redeeming them from slavery in
Egypt. By Jesus' day, Passover was to be celebrated only within
the precincts of Jerusalem, so the city was jam-packed with
pilgrims during this season.
There is some question whether the Last Supper Jesus held with
his disciples was a Passover meal or a special meal the day
before Passover. The Synoptic Gospels are pretty clear that the
Last Supper was a Passover meal (Mark 14:12; Luke 22:13-15), but
the chronology of John's Gospel seems to indicate that Jesus was
crucified just before Passover began (John 18:28). These can
probably be harmonized by assuming the use of different calendars
among the Jews.8 However, I'm convinced that the Last
Supper was indeed held on Passover as part of the Passover meal.
Let's look at some of the elements of the Passover meal as it
might have been held in Jesus' day:9 Each element of
the meal was blessed and then commented upon (the haggadah)
by the head of the household, in this case, Jesus.
- Unleavened bread
was a symbol of past misery and the
speed with which the Israelites had to pack and leave before
the bread had risen (Exodus 12:34).
- Bitter herbs
represented the bitterness of slavery
(Exodus 12:8).
- Fruit purée
was reminiscent of the clay the Israelites
used to make bricks in their captivity as slaves in Egypt.
- Passover lamb
was a reminder of God's merciful "passing
over."
This was a very special meal, since neither wine nor meat were
common as everyday fare. Here is a reconstruction of the meal
based on the research of New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias.10
- Preliminary Course
- Blessing of the festival day (Kiddush) spoken over
the First Cup of wine.
- Preliminary dish of green herbs, bitter herbs, and fruit
sauce.
- Serving of the meal proper (but not yet eating it) and
mixing the Second Cup of wine.
- Passover Liturgy
- The head of the family says the Passover narrative (the
haggadah).
- Singing of Psalm 113 (called the "little hallel").
- Drinking the Second Cup of wine.
- Main Meal
- A blessing is spoken over bread by the head of the
family, who broke it and distributed it to those at the
table. Here is where Jesus would have blessed the bread,
broken it, and distributed to his disciples. Here he forever
made the bread special and set it apart with these unique
words, "This is my body given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me."
- Eating the meal of lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs.
- Blessing spoken over Third Cup of wine, called the Cup
of Blessing (see 1 Corinthians 10:16). Here, before the
concluding "hymn," that is, the great hallel, Jesus
would have blessed the cup and said, "This cup is a new
covenant in my blood, poured out for many (for the
forgiveness of sins). Drink of it -- all of you."
- Conclusion
- Singing of Psalms 114-118 (the called "great hallel"),
recalling the words, "When they had sung a
hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matthew
26:30).
- Blessing spoken over the Fourth Cup of wine.
Bread and Wine in Light of the Passover Lamb
If this outline of the Passover meal at the Last Supper is
accurate, then Jesus' words about the bread being his body and
the cup being his blood are immediately adjacent to eating the
Passover lamb. I can't escape the conclusion that Jesus' words
were interpreted by his disciples -- and probably intended by
Jesus -- to be understood in relation to the Passover and the
Passover lamb.11 Clearly the early church thought of
Jesus as the Passover or Paschal Lamb that had been sacrificed (1
Corinthians 5:7). Perhaps the analogy is: Jesus interposes
himself to redeem his people from their bondage to sin, just as
the Passover lamb was interposed to redeem the people of Israel
from slavery in Egypt.
Words of Institution Contain Explicit Sacrificial Terms
(Matthew 26:26-28)
It's pretty clear that what we call Jesus' "words of
institution" use clear sacrificial language.
"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and
eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks
and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you.
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Matthew 26:26-28)
The words of institution are found with some variations in
Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; and 1 Corinthians
11:24-25. While I can't be exhaustive, let's briefly examine
Matthew's account. Most striking to me in this passage are Jesus
words: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins."
1. Jesus associates the red wine with his own blood and then
asks the disciples to drink it
.
This would be startling to anyone, especially to Jews who were
prohibited from drinking blood (Leviticus 17:10-11). In John
6:53-57 such offensive words caused some disciples to leave Jesus
and no longer follow him (John 6:66). Coupled with Jesus asking
the disciples to eat bread that he identified as his body, we
have a remarkable and powerful image. Jesus is asking his
disciples to feed on him (John 6:57) and unite themselves to him
and to his death using a very intimate and powerful figure. How
could the disciples forget such a vivid idea? They couldn't.
Jesus intended that they remember.
2. Jesus identifies his blood with the institution of a new
covenant
.
Though the original manuscripts of Matthew's Gospel may have
omitted the word "new," the concept of a new covenant was surely
in his mind. The concept of the "blood of the covenant" is found
in Exodus 27:7-8, where blood is sprinkled over the people of
Israel when they agree to the original covenant they were making
with Yahweh at the foot of Mt. Sinai. But the Prophet Jeremiah
heralded the coming of a new covenant of forgiveness of sins
replacing the Mosaic covenant:
"'The time is coming,' declares the LORD,
'when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah...
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,' declares the LORD.
'... they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD.
'For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.'" (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
3. Jesus links his death with the Suffering Servant's
sacrifice for the sins of many
.
As mentioned in Lesson 2 of this series, the phrase "for many"
points back to Isaiah 53:11-12, where the Servant "bore the sin
of many." Jesus uses the phrase "poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sin."
To pour out blood in order to obtain forgiveness for another
is clearly the concept of a blood sacrifice. In our day, some who
are offended by this concept seek to reinterpret the meaning of
the Lord's Supper, but it's pretty hard to hide the truth that
Jesus intended it to remember his death as a sacrifice for sins.
Q4. Why is it so important to forgive
those who have offended us before partaking of the
Lord's Supper? In what sense are the Lord's Supper and
unforgiveness incompatible? (Consider Matthew 26:28; 1
Corinthians 11:27; Matthew 6:14-15; 5:23-24; James 5:16.)
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4. Jesus looks forward to the ultimate Passover in the
Kingdom of God.
"I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from
now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my
Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29)
Here Jesus is referring to the Great Banquet alluded to in
both the Old and New Testaments. The Jews of Jesus' day saw this
as a final or eschatological Passover celebration with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob and the other patriarchs and prophets (Luke
13:28-29; 14:15; 22:30; Revelation 19:9)
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"Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians
5:7), and in the Lord's Supper we are invited to partake not only
of the sacrifice (see 1 Corinthians 10:16-18), but to celebrate
both our redemption through Christ's atonement and his coming
again. The next time you have the privilege of partaking of the
Lord's Supper, remember and be thankful.
Just as the Passover lamb was interposed to redeem the people
of Israel from slavery in Egypt, so Jesus interposes himself to
redeem his people from their bondage to sin. Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world.
Prayer
Father, thank you for the rich imagery of Christ as our
Passover lamb. Thank you for his willingness to be sacrificed on
our behalf. Thank you for the comfort and hope that we find in
the Lord's Supper. And thank you for the expectation we have of
the final Banquet with you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Key Verse
"Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without
yeast -- as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has
been sacrificed." (1 Corinthians 5:7)
References
- Pāsach
, BDB 820. Joachim Jeremias, "pascha,"
TDNT 5:896-904; M.R. Wilson, "Passover," ISBE 3:675-678.
- Victor P. Hamilton, pāsach, TWOT #1786.
- Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus (A.
Ehrhardt (trans.); Basic Blackwell, 1955), pp. 146-147.
- Richard E. Averbeck, "Sacrifices and Offerings," DOTP
706-773.
- Richard Averbeck, telephone conversation, 3/5/03. R. Alan
Cole refers to it as "apotropaic" in the sense of averting
God's "stroke." R. Alan Cole, Exodus (Tyndale Old
Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity Press, 1974), p. 106.
"Apotropaic" means "designed to avert evil." Cole notes,
"Although, strictly speaking, there is no thought of
'atonement' here, the rationale of the blood ritual is the
same: it represents a life laid down (Leviticus 17:11). The
term "passover sacrifice" occurs in Exodus 12:27, with similar
references in Exodus 23:18 and 34:25. The Hebrew noun zebach,
"sacrifice" is a generic noun often linked with offerings or
burnt offerings. The verb zābach is mainly used of
killing animals for sacrifice (Herbert Wolf, zābach,
TWOT #525a).
- Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament:
Pentateuch, 2:13-14, concludes that "by the smearing of the
door-posts and lintel with blood, the house was expiated and
consecrated on an altar." He bases this conclusion on the fact
that the hyssop-bush is used, and "sprinkling with hyssop is
never prescribed in the law, except in connection with
purification in the sense of expiation (Leviticus 14:4, 6, 49,
51; Numbers 19:18-19; cf. Psalm 51:7)."
- Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, p. 146, n. 4, quotes
Pirqe R. 'Eli'ezer 29 (14d): "For the merit of the blood of
the covenant of the circumcision and the Passover blood, I have
redeemed you out of Egypt, and for their merit you will be
redeemed at the end of the fourth (Roman) universal empire
(i.e., in the days of the Messiah)," cited by P. Billerbeck
4.40. Pesahim 10:6 reads: "May we eat there of the
sacrifices and of the Passover-offerings whose blood has
reached with acceptance the wall of thy Altar, and let us
praise thee for our redemption and for the ransoming of our
soul." (Attributed to Rabbi Akiba, early second century, quoted
in Marshall, Last Supper, p. 168, fn. 2)
- Marshall, Last Supper, pp. 57-75; Jeremias,
Eucharistic Words, pp. 1-60.
- Marshall, Last Supper, p. 179, Table 1, copied
essentially from Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, pp. 58-59.
- Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, p. 60.
- Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, pp. 144-145.
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