Passover and Christ's Sacrifice

Since Christians need to understand their connection to their Jewish roots in the Old Testament, I usually give a teaching for every Jewish holy day. Passover begins this year at sundown, Monday, March 25. This comes from the Lent Devotionals on christianbook.com:




The Passover feast was established to celebrate Israel's deliverance from Egypt and to remind the people of how God had delivered them from the plagues and slavery. From this point on in history, the Hebrew people would clearly understand that for them to be spared from death, an innocent life had to be sacrificed in their place. The unblemished lamb, now called the Paschal lamb, is a type of the true Lamb, Jesus Christ. The Crucifixion story, showing the justice of God's passing over and sparing those who are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, parallels the Passover.





The Passover was observed in the month of Abib, which corresponds to late March and early April on our calendar. A year old male lamb without blemish was selected and killed at dusk. Christ, perfect and without sin, died in the late afternoon hours (Luke 23:44-45). Caution was made to not break the bones of the lamb. So it was with Christ's body (John 19:31-37). The Passover occurred before the law was established in the Old Testament showing that it was the blood of the lamb that delivered mankind out of bondage, not the law. The lamb was a sacrifice, a substitute for the person who would have died in the plague. Christ is our substitute over the penalty of death. The lamb's death signified freedom to Israel. Christ's death redeems us.

At the Passover, it was not enough that the blood of the lamb was shed. It had to be applied to the door by the believer. The blood was to be sprinkled with a hyssop branch upon the sides and top of the door as an outwardly sign of accepting the blood's atonement. The hyssop represents faith in accepting the promise of God's protection. When we profess our faith in the blood of Christ, we will openly do our best to live and love for Him.

God's Order in Prayer

I John 5:14, 15: "If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." Notice again, God's order in prayer: first, emptied of all our own desires, then filled with Christ's desire, thus being filled with boldness to claim the fulfillment of these Spirit-born desires, and to "know that we have the petitions we desired" by an assurance of faith before we see or feel the answer. This is solid ground in prayer, and, we shall be thus kept from wavering during any trial of faith which may follow.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

How Can We Doubt?

How can we doubt His love? He is watching us in the hard places. He will not allow a trial too many; He will only let the dross be consumed, and then He will come gloriously to our help. Even now your cry has entered into His ears, and He is preparing to deliver you. His compassion longs to set you free. His love will delight in your deliverance, for He is more tender than any earthly parent.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Stumbling

 So many have been stumbled because they have seen the inconsistent walk of those who call themselves by the name of Christ. . . It does not glorify God for you to give a sweet testimony in a prayer meeting and then go home and be disagreeable and irritable to those around you. Unbelievers would soon say, "I would not like to be such a Christian as you. I would rather be none at all."

-- Carrie Judd Montgomery