Christ our Passover Lamb.

Exodus 12:1-14, Genesis 22:7-8, 1 Corinthians 5:7

For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. I Corinthians 5:7

The Passover lamb was the animal God directed the Israelites to use as a sacrifice in Egypt on the
night God struck down the firstborn sons of every household (Exodus 12:29). This was the
final plague God issued against Pharaoh, and it led to Pharaoh releasing the Israelites from slavery
(Exodus 11:1). After that fateful night, God instructed the Israelites to observe the Passover Feast as
a lasting memorial (Exodus 12:14).

The Old Testament is filled with historical fact that illustrates a spiritual truth, it is a shadow of what
God will fulfill in His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The Paschal Lamb (a lamb sacrificed at
Passover) and the Passover observance of the Old Testament portray the sacrificial offering of
Christ on the cross in minute detail. The Holy Spirit guided Paul to pen this statement in 1
Corinthians 5:7 . . . For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.. The first Believers
observed Passover. The Apostle Paul took the Feast to a deeper level, exhorting the Church to
grasp its symbolism. As we eat the unleavened bread, we must recognize that leaven, or yeast,
symbolizes sin. Sin has a costit was because of our sin that Messiah was sacrificed. You are a
new creation in Messiah! Therefore, rid yourselves of sin, for Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Lets take a look at what Christ is from the lenses of both the Old and New Testament:
- Christ is our great Authority (Matthew 28:18),
- He is our Ransom (1 Timothy 2:6),
- He is our Substitute (Isaiah 53:5-6, 10-12),
- Christ is our Way, our Truth, our Life (John 14:6),
- Christ is Example (1 Peter 2:21),
- Christ is our Life (Colossians 3:4),
- Christ is our Friend (John 15:13),
- Christ is Redemption (Ephesians 1:7),
- Christ is Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5),
- Christ is Our King (1 Timothy 6:15),
- Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and for this study,
- Christ is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Comparison of the Passover lamb in the Old and New Testament

Exodus 12, 1 Corinthians 5:7

1. The Choice of the Lamb.

Exodus 12:21, Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29.
In the Old Testament, an innocent lambs life was to be taken and its blood used to avert certain
physical death, the lambs were not arbitrarily selected but rather deliberately examined and chosen.

2. Without Spot and Blemish.

Exodus 12:5-6, Leviticus 22:20-21, Luke 23:14, I Peter 1:19, 2:22, Hebrews 4:15.
The Passover lamb was to be in the prime of life and without blemish. Blemish also symbolizes sin.
Jesus, our final and perfect atonement, lived a sinless life. The Perfect Lamb of God was slain for us
to cover what we could not cover without Him. Our ugly sins before the righteous face of God. He
was slain to cover the sins of imperfect humanity. Romans 3:23, 6:23, II Corinthians 5:22. Christ was
made to be for us what we could never be without Him, He was made to do for us what we could not
do for ourselves, He was made to provide for us what was beyond the human grasp without Him.

3. Chosen - The lamb was chosen by the family.

Exodus 12:3, 5, John 3:16-17, Luke 3:23.
The Passover Lamb must be a choice male lamb in the prime of his life and it was necessary for the
Passover lamb to be slain. The Passover Lamb was chosen, they each chose their own lamb, God
chose ours for us. The Lamb of God was slain for only one house and one family, only those in the
house of God (the church of the living God) will be spared from spiritual death, covered and
protected by the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:25, 1 Timothy 3:15,
Ephesians 3:13-14.

4. No bones broken in either.

Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20, John 19:36. Luke 3:21-22.
The Passover Lamb had to be without blemish hence, explicit instructions were given by inspiration
and delivered to the people, no bone was to be broken in our Passover Lamb. With all that Jesus
went through before he was crucified, yet none of his bone was broken.

5. Redemption involved in each.

Exodus 12:13, Ephesians 1:7, 1 John 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19.
In the Old Testament, the God-prescribed blood was applied to each house; Safety was inside the
blood not outside the blood; Safety was inside the house protected by the blood from the lamb. The
death of a lamb gave them life. Concerning Christ as our Passover Lamb, The apostle Peter tells us
that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot. In
order to find refuge, Israel had to be in a physical house sheltered by the blood of the slain lamb, in
order to find eternal refuge, we must be in the spiritual house (the church) that is sheltered by the
blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7, 2:13, Colossians 1:14, Hebrews 9:22, 1 John 1:7, Revelation 1:5,
5:6,9).

6. Each served as a memorial.

Exodus 12:11-14, Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25.
The lamb is a memorial of the passing over of the angel of death in Egypt while Christ, our Passover
Lamb has provided believers a memorial feast called the Lords Supper. It is done in His memory.
Israel was to fully explain the meaning of the supper from generation to generation while concerning
Christ our Passover Lamb, Christians are to instruct one another in the meaning and significance of
the Lords Supper. (Deuteronomy 16:3, 1 Corinthians 11:23).

For the Church of the New Testament, and so for every redeemed soul, the beginning of months is
the cross of Calvary and the shed and sprinkled blood. The selection of the lamb on the tenth day of
the month and its being kept until the fourteenth, suggest unmistakably the coming of Christ in the
fullness of time, and the three and a half years of His public ministry . . . and the waiting for the
accomplishment of His sacrifice. The death of the lamb reminds us of how He (Jesus) was delivered
up and formally condemned to death. The sprinkled blood expresses our personal application of the
merits of His death, the complete justification and acceptance of the soul that has found refuge
under the precious blood.

This is the heart of what the Passover teaches us, taking us through the story of the deliverance of
the Hebrew children by the hand and grace of God. Deliverance not only out of Egypt, but also from
sin and death by the blood of the Passover Lamb. You reach the blood of Christ when you reach His
death. One dies to sin through REPENTANCE, One is buried (immersed) with Christ in BAPTISM,
and One rises from the watery grave to walk in newness of life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 6:3-
5).