April 8th – Passover

Today is Passover, the major Jewish spring festival, lasting 7-8 days, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, and observed in the Old Testament. During this time, the Jewish people remember when God used Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). God’s people had been in bondage, and He delivered them out of slavery.

To the Egyptians during that time, the Israelite’s ritual of putting the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes was foolishness. But to God, it marked those who would be saved because it was the blood of a lamb covering them, delivering them from judgment. Exodus 12:13, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

What does this mean to New Covenant believers today? It was a picture of what was also yet to come, how Jesus as the Lamb of God would come and take away the sin of the world as John testified. John 1:29, NLT, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Today many people begin the remembrance of what God did thousands of years ago. Yes, we can look back but let’s also see His continued plan of deliverance and blessing. Today we can receive what God did for us through Jesus. His blood applied to our hearts cleanses us, delivers us, and sets us free to know and experience God’s love and grace.

Yes, you can celebrate God’s Passover because of Jesus but don’t get stuck just on that celebration. Celebrate the fact you are forever forgiven because Jesus gave His life for you. Celebrate your deliverance, sanctification, justification, holiness through Him. God’s gift that continues to give a transformed heart and life.