Passover: A Christian Observance

Jesus Christ was betrayed, tried, beaten, and put to death on Passover, which is why Christ is now called "Christ our Passover" in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 5:7). God planned it this way intentionally because Christ is not a "sacrifice for our sins" in some vague context: He is specifically the "Lamb of God" - the Passover Lamb. There were many types of sacrifices in the Old Covenant, so why did God choose the Passover sacrifice in particular to coincide with and represent the death of the Savior? Let's first take a look at the history of the Passover prior to Christ.



First of all, God commands in the law that we observe the Passover every year:

Leviticus 23:4-5
These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover.

The first Passover took place during the Exodus. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years before God sent Moses and Aaron to lead them out of captivity. Recall that there were 10 terrible plagues that took place in order to convince Pharaoh to let them go. The 10th plague, the plague of the firstborn, was the culmination of the suffering of the Egyptians and the worst plague yet: every firstborn male of every family and of every animal throughout all of Egypt died in a single night. The Israelites, however, were instructed by God to kill a lamb, roast it with fire, and eat it, and to put its blood on the doorposts of their houses so that God would "pass over" their homes and spare their children and animals:

Exodus 12:12-14
For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast... Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

The Israelites were commanded to observe this service every year as a memorial because of what God had done for them.

As I explained over the course of the last 3 articles, we are all condemned to death because of our sins because we have broken God's law - this is a plague that the entire world is subject to, except for those who share in Christ's death. Just as everyone in Egypt was subject to the plague except for those who had the blood of a lamb on the doorpost, so also everyone in the world is a slave to sin and will die forever unless they will cover themselves with the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:22-26
For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God also passes over our sins, just as He passed over the firstborn of Israel. In doing so, the death penalty for our sins has been paid by the death of Christ, our Passover Lamb. Just as God instructed Israel to observe this event as a memorial, so also does Paul tells us (as Christ told him) to commemorate Christ's death for our sins:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

When it says "on the same night that He was betrayed," we know that the night being referred to was the Passover. Therefore, we are to "proclaim the Lord's death" on Passover, the anniversary of Christ's death.

The Passover event in Exodus was a precursor to what has still yet to come on earth. As Christians, we are accepting Christ as our Passover Lamb in preparation for judgment, which will bring the second death to anyone who will not put on the blood of the Lamb. As a Christian, it is vital that we not only accept Christ as our Passover, but also that we commemorate His death, as we have been instructed to do. There is much more to learn about the symbolism of Passover that I have not even begun to address, and you can find more, including the meaning of the bread and wine, at The Passover: Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die?

Today, most Christians celebrate Easter around the same time of year as Passover. As we have seen, God clearly instructed us to keep the Passover - so then why do we find people who read the same bible celebrating a different day, Easter, which is not once mentioned in the bible? In the next article, I'll be examining why people do this and whether Christians should be celebrating Easter.