3# Bo (Ex. 10:1-13:16) (THE PASSOVER: ‘DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME’) (1-23-21)

(But Have YouConsidered What The ‘THIS’ Is, That Jesus Told Us To Remember?)

(Passover Haggadah:‘The Seder Meal Book Used For The Telling Of The Exodus’):

Therefore, even if allof us were wise, all of us people of understanding, all of us learned Torah, it would still be our obligation to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt to the next generations. Moreover, whoever searches deeply into its meaning is considered Wise. (Passover Haggadah)

Passover is an opportune time to break with our past and start over as New Creatures in Messiah. Passover is an annual reminder that we must leave the old culture behind. We are free from the past, and we need to set aside those things in our lives that continue to enslave us. After all, starting over is what it means tobe ‘Born Again’!

The instructions were simple and straight forward. On the ’10th Day Of The Month’, every family was to select an Unblemished Lamb or Goat. On the ‘14th Day Of The Month’, they were to slaughter it and smear its blood on the doorposts of their houses. The blood would be a sign. God promised to Pass Over the houses marked with blood. The Hebrew word for ‘Pass Over’ is (PASACH) - פסח). We translate the word ‘PESACH’ into English as: ‘Passover’.

(Exodus 12:13)

‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will passover (PASACH, פסח) you, and ‘NO PLAGUE WILL BEFALL YOU’ to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’

Every year, as we work through the stories of the slaying of the Passover Lamb, the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and the rest of the narratives, we see the story of our salvation unfold in the language of Torah. The story of the Passover lamb is foundational for understanding the gospel. Just as the Passover lamb needed to be unblemished and flawless, we need a sinless substitute to take ourplace in judgment. Just as the blood markings protected everyone in the house, we need to take shelter under ‘The Spilled Blood Of Christ’. Just as the firstborn of those who did not prepare a Passover lamb were struck down, so too those outside of Christ are without hope.

The Passover lamb was the avenue of escape that God provided for His people in Egypt from the devastating ‘10th Plague’. And it was not just for Hebrews. Had the Egyptians sacrificed a lamb according to the instructions and applied its blood to the doorposts of their houses, they too would have been spared. The sacrificial death of Jesus is the avenue of escape that God has provided to spare us from condemnation and eternal death. We don’t have to be Jewish to benefit; one only needs to be under ‘The Blood Of Jesus’.

The Torah instructs God’s people to keep the ‘1st Day of Passover as a ’MEMORIAL’ of the Exodus from Egypt. It works as one of God’s reminders. God rescued His People from Egypt and told the people to ‘Keep The Festival’ as an Appointed Time and a ‘REMEMBRANCE’ of their Salvation.

(Exodus 12:14)


‘Now this day will be a ‘memorial’ to you, and you shall celebrate it as a ‘Feast To The LORD’; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.’

‘DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME’!

Jesus kept the ‘Seder Meal’ with His disciples in Jerusalem. He took the Unleavened Bread and the customary Passover Cup and instructed His disciples to do ‘THIS IN REMEMBRANCE’ of Him.On the day of the sacrifice, He became a spiritual sacrifice, Israel’s Passover lamb. At the Appointed Time for the Jewish people to sacrifice their Passover lambs in ‘REMEMBRANCE’ of the nation’s Salvation from Egypt, Jesus went to the cross.

When believers keepPassover, we have two things to remember. We remember the historic salvationfrom Egypt as the Torah commands us, but we also remember the Salvation granted to us through the Sacrifice of Jesus. The two Remembrances are not opposed to each other, in fact, they naturally complement one another.

Every year we keep Passover in remembrance of Jesus. Christ Himself told us to do so: “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do 'THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME" (Luke 22:19). Did He have in mind only the breaking bread and a sip from thefruit of the vine? No. He spoke within the specific context of Passover. The commandment to do ‘THIS IN REMEMBRANCE’ of Jesus refers to the Passover Seder meal. It is not ‘1 Cup’ but the traditional ‘4 Cups of Passover’. It is not anybread; it is ‘The Unleavened Matzah Bread of Passover’. What could be more appropriate for a disciple of Jesus to do than to ‘Keep The Festival ofPassover In Remembrance of Him’, just as He told His disciples? ‘THE PASSOVER: (DO THIS (PASSOVER) IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME)!