The Passover
Notes
Transcript
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
As we open our Bibles to Exodus 12, I just want to take a moment and consider next Sunday as it approaches. Don’t let this week go by with little thought, only to join for the celebration of the resurrection next week.
Today marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. As we consider the great price that was paid for our sin, don’t shy away. The torture and death of Jesus on the cross wasn’t just because Adam ate the apple. It wasn’t just because Israel worshipped every false god of every land they entered, it wasn’t just because of the sin of the Pharisees or the Romans, it was because of our sin too, that Jesus had to come. When God judges Egypt, and finds that they are guilty of sin, their punishment is death. We’ll see some of that today in the death of the first born of Egypt. The punishment for sin is death. Spiritual death and eternal separation from the One we were created to glorify and enjoy forever. That judgement is the one that each of us have earned for ourselves, yet God, in His mercy, sent His Son, not just to live as an example for us to follow, but to live as a perfect man, then take our place on the cross that we might have new life in Him.
This week, when we remember that Gospel message, that good news, don’t turn away from what led up to Easter Sunday. Lean into it. Every lashing he received was an act of love for you. Every drop of His precious blood was poured out for you.
This Easter, read about what Jesus did on each of the days leading up to Easter if you’ve never looked into it. It all starts with Palm Sunday, where the king, who was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, enters the city.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The palm part of Palm Sunday comes from every Gospel account, but I’ll quickly read John 12:13 “
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!””
Palm leaves were used to celebrate victory. They were welcoming their King as the one coming to rule, no idea what was to come next.
I’ll let you read about Monday through Wednesday on your own if you’re interested, but I want you to spend this time considering the life, persecution, and suffering of Jesus, all throughout His ministry.
Maundy Thursday is the day of the last supper and the day we received the new commandment, John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Consider how Jesus lived that life of persecution and suffering, and still loved the lost world.
Good Friday is the day that Jesus was hung on the cross to die, along with all of our sins. Consider what he endured on your behalf, and what an act of true love that was.
Holy Saturday is the day that Jesus body lay lifeless in the tomb. Let our flesh be as Jesus was on that day. When He was raised, he was raised to new life, and we too are raised with Him. Let us sit silently in anticipation of that great truth.
And on Sunday morning, when the sun rises and the birds are chirping and that fresh air morning air hits your face, I want you to say, Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed.
It’s seems fitting that as we approach Easter, we should remember the Passover. We should remember the best story of foreshadowing of this great redemption of the people of God perhaps in all of scripture.
The Final Plague
The Final Plague
Exodus 12. The whole story of Exodus is centered around one single event, the exodus. The complete and permanent leaving of Israel from Egypt. We have this beautiful story of God’s faithfulness, power, mercy, love, delivering His chosen people from forced service and bondage in Egypt, to loving service and freedom at Mt. Sinai. There are some Israelites that we get to see a good bit of in this book, but there is only 1 main Character. God. He is present and active in a very direct way. He wants all creation to know the story of how He redeemed His people.
What was God’s purpose in these plagues?
Remember God’s covenant with Abraham that was then reaffirmed with Moses. God has heard the cries of Israel, and he will deliver into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The 9 plagues that led up to this point have been pointed at the worship system of Egypt, showing that Yahweh is the one true God. The false gods of Egypt are shown as such.
This 10th and final plague will prove to be the proverbial nail in the coffin for pharoah. After this 10th plague, pharoah will release the Israelites from their bondage to serve the Lord their God.
This plague is unique in many ways, most notably, it is the longest plague account that we get by a large margin. Also, every other plague was brought on by God with maybe only one sentence of instruction to Moses and Aaron. Raise up your hand, put our your staff, but this plague came with many instructions that were to be heard and adhered to by all of God’s chosen people.
This chapter is definitely a longer one with this back and forth rhythm of narrative and instruction. This is a story that will be remembered forever, and for the Israelites, one that will be reenacted throughout their generations.
Exodus 12
Exodus 12
v.2 This event is so significant that the calendar for Israel will be centered around this single event.
There is a warning here against the prosperity gospel. The kind of faith that we see here is a faith that leads to works. A faith in the God we have already seen prove Himself holy. Now God has worked in Israel a faith that saves them. If they trust and obey, they will be saved, but faith without this works is dead.
James 2:14–26 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend …”
Jesus, the Passover Lamb
Jesus, the Passover Lamb
63,379 cross references
17 Total times Exodus is quoted in the NT
Acts 7 Stephen preaches from Exodus
Mark 7, Matthew 5, Matthew 22 Jesus teaches from Exodus
Acts 23, Romans 7, Romans 9, 1 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 3, and 2 Corinthians 8 Paul teaches from Exodus
This is where the hyperlinked text of the bible blew apart for me, and in this moment, I realized that there was so much more richness and depth and truth to God’s word than I ever could have imagined.
1 Corinthians 5:7 “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Jesus coming to JTB
John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 19:36 “For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.””
In all of these things, in His grace and mercy, we can see the beautiful truth that the whole Bible is telling the same redemptive story throughout all of history.