The Lamb of G-d

LAMBS - unknown

According to John 1:29, Messiah Yeshua is the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sins of the world.  Revelation 7:14 declares that our robes have been washed white by the blood of the Lamb.

Every year, the Pesach lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Aviv.  On that very day Messiah entered Jerusalem in his "Triumphal Entry" as the spotless Lamb of G-d.

Just as the Pesach lamb was examined for four days before the sacrifice on the fourteenth of the month, so, too, Messiah was examined and questioned by the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians during those four days.

Just like the Pesach lamb was not to have a single bone broken (Numbers 9:12), Messiah did not have any of His bones broken during his beating or crucifixion (John 19:33, 36).

 

Removing Sin? Not This Lamb!

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Yeshua was our Passover, however, in the Levitical sacrifices, what type of sin does the Passover lamb serve to remove?

None.

The Passover lamb was purely a sacrifice to remember G-d's redemption of Israel from bondage in Egypt and His taking of Israel as a nation to be His own treasured possession. As our Passover, so too Yeshua reflects Israel's redemption from their bondage to sin (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:12).

The blood of the Pesach lamb in Egypt was used to mark those who belonged to G-d and keep them safe from G-d's wrath. So, too, as our Passover, Yeshua's blood covers us and keeps us safe from G-d's wrath (Romans 5:9).

 

The Last Seder?

THE LAST SEDER - unknown

As our Passover Lamb, Messiah was crucified on the day of Pesach and His last meal with His disciples is often called "The Last Supper"

It's possible that "the Last Supper" was actually "the Last Seder" (see Traditions of Pesach for more information about the Seder).

Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, and Luke 22:7-8 tell us that on the "first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover was being sacrificed" the disciples asked Yeshua where He wanted them to prepare the Passover meal.

Although the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Pesach (i.e. on the fifteenth of Nisan) the "first day of unleavened bread" is generally observed on Pesach since the Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). Since Yeshua and his disciples ate the Passover meal that night then it meant the following day (when Yeshua was crucified) was Passover. The Hebrew day begins at sundown. The "day" begins at evening, goes through the night and into the following morning and afternoon. The next day begins at sundown.

In Luke 22:15, Yeshua stated that He "earnestly desired to eat this Passover with" His disciples. If Passover was the following day (when the animals were to be sacrificed), then what was He eating with them? It wouldn't have been a Passover lamb.

John 19:14 tells us that it was the "preparation day" for the Passover when Yeshua was crucified. If so, then this last meal was likely the day before Passover itself since the day before Pesach was the day used to prepare the animals for the Temple sacrifice the following day.

For more thoughts on this subject, see the "Was Jesus' Last Supper a Seder?" article from Biblical Archaeology Society.

 

Keep the Feast!

Whether the Last Supper was indeed the Last Seder or not, Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth to "celebrate the feast", skip the leaven, and instead have the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  (1 Corinthians 5:8)

Rather than turning away from the appointed times of G-d, we find Paul affirming the Passover to the believers in Asia Minor.  And this is after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah!

 

Let's move on to some Pesach traditions...