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 is quite the chapter. Paul is having to address serious immorality in the Corinthian church. And he is not playing around. His directives to the church not only dealt with the brother who was in the wrong but also the position of the church towards brothers and sisters in Christ who were caught up in sin. To boil it down, it was separate from the sinning believers but not from the world. If we incorporated the discipline that Paul suggested in today's culture, the backlash would be epic. What Paul was trying to accomplish was not to allow the sins of the world to harm the church.
And in the middle of the message on church discipline, we see the phrase 'Christ our Passover.' These believers in Corinth must have understood some of the history of Israel. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt when God delivered them out of their bondage. The Passover involved every household killing a lamb and marking the doorposts of each house with blood. It may sound a bit gory, but as always, God had a reason. The very night that Israel killed the lambs, God judged Egypt. The destroyer came in and killed the firstborn of every household. But whenever the destroyer saw the blood on the doorposts, he would pass over that house, and the occupants would be spared.
Fast forward to Jesus being the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the world. When He shed His blood on the cross, it was for mankind. Now, everyone who receives Jesus as their Lord comes under His blood, and the destroyer has to pass over us. No longer are we in fear of God's eternal judgment. Jesus, our Passover lamb, was sacrificed for us. Right in the middle of this chapter on dealing with sexual immorality is this blip on the spiritual radar. Christ our Passover. This phrase is also a reminder that we have been changed and cleansed, and we are not to live in the same sins that dominated us before Christ.
Paul deals with some serious stuff in the book of Corinthians. By today's standards, his actions could be regarded as harsh. But Paul was serious about protecting a young church.
Application
The issues Paul dealt with then are still with us today. The methods of dealing with sinning brothers and sisters may be less severe, but the danger still exists. If you are hanging out with someone who professes Christ yet refuses to change their immoral behavior, you could be in for a rough ride. We love people and will do what we can to reach them. But we also have to stay alert and on guard. We can't allow the spiritual darkness of an unrepentant believer to pull us down with them. We can love them and pray for them without hanging out. No one ever said the Christian life was easy. But then again, neither was Christ being sacrificed for us as our Passover.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for Your sacrifice for me. Thank You that You are my Passover, and I don't have to live in fear of judgment. Help me be a light, an example, to the world and to my fellow believers.