CHRIST OUR PASSOVER
1 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
This devotional is an example of an embedded phrase that stands out as you read the chapter. Chapter five, in my mind, is not an inspirational chapter. Paul is having to address a church member, a believer who is involved in immorality. And it’s such an egregious situation that Paul says even the Gentiles, those without Christ, are not doing this stuff.
However, in the middle of this correction, we see the phrase: Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. We do not find that terminology used anywhere else in Scripture. Christ, our Passover. And to understand what it means, we must have a knowledge of the Old Testament.
The twelfth chapter of Exodus contains the story of the Passover. Moses had been sent by God to ask for the release of the children of Israel from the Egyptians. For over 400 years, Israel had been slaves in the Egyptian economy. Moses was sent to request the release of the people. However, Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, was unwilling to release the Israelites. So God judged the nation of Egypt with ten plagues. These plagues ranged from darkness, frogs, hail, and locusts. But the tenth plague was the worst—judgment on the firstborn. From the firstborn of the people to their cattle, the destroyer was allowed access to the nation, and many people and animals died. It was a horrible judgment. But in the land of Goshen, where Israel lived, the plague did not consume their firstborn. Moses had instructed the people to kill a lamb and spread the blood on the doorposts and lintel of their homes. When the destroyer saw the blood, he had to pass over that home and could not harm the occupants. This became part of the most important of all Jewish feasts, the Passover. It is a feast that is celebrated every year. After that tenth plague, Pharaoh allowed the people of Israel to leave, and their trek out of Egypt is called the Exodus.
So now we fast forward years later as Paul refers to Jesus as being our Passover. The first Passover was a type of what would happen spiritually through Jesus. This Old Testament event would be a picture of what would happen in Christ. John the Baptist called Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. At the first Passover, a lamb was killed. Peter tells us that we were redeemed, bought out of darkness by the precious blood of Christ. At the first Passover, the destroyer could not touch anyone in the home where the blood of a lamb was on the door. The occupants were safe in the homes where there was blood. And we are safe if we are in Christ, a relationship with Him, because His blood was shed for us.
The first Passover called for the death of a lamb without blemish or spot. And Jesus was God’s lamb without the blemish of sin on His life. There are more things from the Old Testament that point to and validate what has taken place in the New Testament. But the essence of Christ being our Passover is that we have a much better deal than the Israelites of old. The destroyer has passed over us because of the blood of Christ, and we will not suffer spiritual death. Oh, we will experience the death of our bodies, but the real person, the spiritual man in us, will never die.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You were sacrificed for us as our Passover so that we might live with You for eternity. Thank You that we were delivered from the Kingdom of darkness and can enter all You have promised us.