Chapter 2

Passover

פֶּסַח

Pesach · PEH-sahkh

Key 2: Rescued by a Substitute

At a Glance

Meaning: To pass over; to spare and protect
When: 14 Nisan, at twilight (Leviticus 23:5)
Duration: One day, followed immediately by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread
Key Scriptures: Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-5; Deuteronomy 16:1-7

Preparing live dates...

Dates follow Israel observance, with times at Jerusalem astronomical sunset.

What Scripture Says

Exodus 12:3-6 (NKJV)

"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year."

On the tenth day of the first month, each household chose a lamb and kept it until the fourteenth day. It had to be perfect, and it was slain at twilight.

Exodus 12:7-13 (NKJV)

"And when I see the blood, I will pass over you"

The blood was applied to the doorposts and lintel with a bunch of hyssop (Exodus 12:22). Judgment fell on Egypt that night, but no house marked by the blood was struck. Protection did not depend on who lived inside. It depended on the blood.

Exodus 12:8-11 (NKJV)

"It is the LORD’s Passover."

The lamb was roasted whole and eaten that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Israel ate dressed to travel, with sandals on and staff in hand, ready to leave at once.

Exodus 12:14 (NKJV)

"So this day shall be to you a memorial"

God commanded that the night be remembered by every generation. When children asked what it meant, parents were to tell the story (Exodus 12:26-27).

Exodus 12:46 (NKJV)

"nor shall you break one of its bones."

The lamb was eaten in one house, and not one of its bones was to be broken.

Exodus 12:48-49 (NKJV)

"One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you."

A mixed multitude left Egypt with Israel (Exodus 12:38). A stranger who joined himself to the LORD could keep the Passover as one born in the land.

In the Tabernacle and Temple

Once Israel settled in the land, the Passover was to be kept at the place the LORD would choose to put His name (Deuteronomy 16:2, 5-6), which became Jerusalem. Those who were ceremonially unclean or far away on a journey were given a second opportunity one month later, on 14 Iyar (Numbers 9:9-12).

Scripture records great Passovers at turning points of national renewal: at Gilgal after Israel crossed the Jordan (Joshua 5:10), under King Hezekiah, who invited all Israel to come to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30), and under King Josiah, of which Scripture says no such Passover had been held since the days of the judges (2 Kings 23:21-23). After the exile, the returning community kept the Passover at the rebuilt Temple (Ezra 6:19-22).

In the Days of Jesus of Nazareth

In the first century, pilgrims filled Jerusalem for Passover. Lambs were slain in the Temple courts on the afternoon of 14 Nisan and taken home to be roasted and eaten that night. The historian Josephus reports that the lambs numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Jesus’ family went up to Jerusalem every year at the Passover (Luke 2:41-42).

Jesus ate His final Passover meal with His disciples, saying, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). He took bread and said, "This is My body," and took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:19-20).

Matthew, Mark, and Luke present the Last Supper as a Passover meal. John’s Gospel notes that on the morning of the crucifixion the religious leaders had not yet eaten the Passover (John 18:28), and scholars discuss how the accounts fit together. All four Gospels agree that Jesus died at Passover.

Jewish Observance Today

With no Temple, there is no Passover sacrifice today. Instead, families gather on the evening that begins 15 Nisan for the Seder, an ordered meal that retells the Exodus using a book called the Haggadah.

The Seder plate
Matzah, bitter herbs (maror), a roasted shank bone recalling the lamb, a roasted egg, salt water for tears, and charoset, a sweet paste recalling the mortar of slavery.
The four questions
The youngest child asks, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"
Four cups of wine
Drunk through the evening and traditionally linked to four promises in Exodus 6:6-7: I will bring you out, I will rescue you, I will redeem you, I will take you as My people.
The afikoman
A piece of matzah hidden during the meal, found by the children, and eaten as the last taste of the evening.
Elijah’s cup
A cup poured for the prophet Elijah, whose coming Malachi foretold before the great day of the LORD (Malachi 4:5).
Next year in Jerusalem
The Seder ends with the hope, "Next year in Jerusalem."

Fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth

Each connection is labeled: what the New Testament states directly, and what Christians interpret from the patterns of Scripture.

Christ, Our Passover

Stated in the New Testament

"For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Lamb of God

Stated in the New Testament

John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

Without Blemish

Stated in the New Testament

Peter writes that we were redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Not One Bone Broken

Stated in the New Testament

John records that the soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs, "that the Scripture should be fulfilled, 'Not one of His bones shall be broken'" (John 19:33-36).

The New Covenant in His Blood

Stated in the New Testament

At the Passover table, Jesus gave the cup a new meaning: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20).

Set Apart Before the Feast

Theological interpretation

Some connect Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem a few days before Passover (John 12:1, 12) with the lamb set apart on the tenth day of the month (Exodus 12:3). The timing link is an interpretation.

The Cup After Supper

Theological interpretation

Many identify the cup Jesus took "after supper" with the third cup of the later Seder, often called the cup of redemption. The New Testament does not describe first-century Passover practice in that detail, so this connection is an interpretation.

The Key to Humanity

Rescued by a Substitute

At the first Passover, the firstborn of every marked household lived because a lamb died in its place. Israel was not spared because its people were better than the Egyptians. They were spared because they were under the blood. Anyone could shelter there, and a mixed multitude did. The New Testament carries that truth to the whole world: the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and Revelation sings of the Lamb who redeemed people "out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). Passover is the key that tells humanity how rescue comes: not by earning it, but by receiving it.

Seventh-day Adventist View

Seventh-day Adventists understand Passover as a ceremonial type fulfilled in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God. Rather than keeping the annual feast, Adventists remember His sacrifice through the Lord’s Supper, which they celebrate together with foot washing, following Jesus’ example at the Last Supper (John 13:1-17).

Hebrew Words to Know

פֶּסַח

Pesach

Passover; from pasach, to pass over or spare.

שֶׂה

Seh

A lamb or young goat, the animal chosen in Exodus 12.

מַצָּה

Matzah

Unleavened bread.

מָרוֹר

Maror

Bitter herbs.

הַגָּדָה

Haggadah

The telling; the book read at the Seder.

Questions for Reflection

1.
The Israelites were safe because of the blood, not because of their own goodness. What does that say about how God rescues people?
2.
Passover was meant to be retold to children. Who in your life needs to hear the story of how God rescued you?
3.
Israel ate dressed and ready to leave. Is there anything God is calling you to walk away from?

See Jesus in all the feasts