...Passover and Good Friday...

“1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” Exodus 12:1-13.

We have arrived at the first Passover with these concluding words in Chapter 12: “11 It is the passover of the Lord. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

This precise description of the tenth plague reveals that it would take place in a matter of hours at most (“on that same night”), and that it would affect the firstborn of all Egyptian humans and livestock. It also tells us that it would be averted from homes that displayed the Passover blood on their doors as a sign of faithful obedience to God, would be a divine strike against Egypt, and—above all—would constitute “judgment on all the gods of Egypt.” The blood on the doorposts showed acceptance of God's plan for rescue and trust in his word. After all, the sight of dried blood by itself had no power to deter death; it was only as the dried blood painted on the top and sides of the door was a testimony to the faith of the inhabitants in Yahweh that it had its efficacy. Thus the statement, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you”26—in other words, I will spare all those who show that they have placed their faith in me.” 

Dear friends, this will not be the last time the spilling of blood would be a sacred sign of faithful obedience to God, for Jesus spilled His blood in faithful obedience to His Father in heaven. It is also not the last time God will spare all those who show that they have placed their faith in Christ. For we are called to place our faith in Jesus Christ.

There are so many connections between Passover and Good Friday! And there are infinite connections between Passover and our lives as Christians — for we are called to place our faith exclusively in Jesus Christ. The Word of God spoken through Jesus Christ and all the Scriptures is our lifeline. We are called to place our faith in God — no one else and in nothing else!

So today’s prayer time for us is obvious: turn to God and pray for faith in Jesus Christ! Pray for faithful living, and choices that turn us away from temptations to sin.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.