Jesus — Lamb of God - Tuesday
TODAY’S VERSE
Exodus 12:13
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. (ESV)
Yesterday, we walked through John 1:29, where John the Baptist declares Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” So… what does Lamb of God refer to, anyway?
Let’s back up, pull out our Bibles, and turn to Exodus. After 400 years of brutal slavery in Egypt, God responded to the cry of His people, the Israelites (aka the Jews), by sending a servant, an exiled Israelite shepherd named Moses. God sent Moses to approach Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, and ask him to release the Israelites from the bondage of slavery. Repeatedly, Pharaoh said no, and repeatedly, God’s judgment fell on Egypt in the form of a plague. There were frogs and gnats, water turned to blood, the death of livestock, and a few more. Not one of these ten plagues was good for the Egyptian people, but the tenth was the worst of all. In Exodus 11, the Lord warns Moses of the final plague: the death of the firstborn. All firstborns across Egypt would die, human and cattle, from the highest social class to the lowest. But God is faithful, and He maintained His promise to Abraham regarding the Israelites (see Genesis 15:5). In Exodus 11:7, the Lord says, “But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”
In Exodus 12, God instructed the Israelites on how they could be spared from that final plague. The key? The blood of a spotless lamb, painted on the doorframes of each house. This event became known and celebrated annually as Pesach, or The Passover, commemorating when God spared the Israelites by passing over their homes during that night of death, before God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. Generations to follow have celebrated Passover, and in Jesus’ day, this was no different. Fast forward to John 13, and we see a pretty amazing parallel: Jesus’ crucifixion happened over Passover. That wasn’t a coincidence. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, is the only human to ever live a sinless life (Philippians 2). He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Don’t miss this: Jesus is the final Passover lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for sending Jesus as the final Passover lamb. May I never forget Christ’s sacrifice. You are faithful, Lord. Amen.
