Over and over in Scripture we find this command. In the Old Testament, God instituted seven feasts (Leviticus 23) for the Jewish people, so they would remember and pass their memories of God’s faithfulness to the next generation.
Three of the seven feasts required Jewish males to travel to Jerusalem each year: the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths). If distance prevented Jewish males from attending all three, they tried to attend the most important one, the Passover. The Passover was important because this feast pointed toward Calvary where the Lamb of God was slain.
In the book of Exodus, the ten plagues and subsequent exodus of the Israelites were so significant for Israel’s birth as a nation that the month they came out of Egypt became the first month of their religious year. God set aside sacred periods of holy days and festivals as rest from daily life and as time to remember by worshiping Yahweh.
Specific Requirements
The sacrificial lamb was selected on the tenth day of the first month, Abib (March-April). The lamb had to be a year-old male, free of any blemishes or defects. (A kid goat could be substituted if a lamb was unavailable.) The sacrificial lamb was separated from the flock until the fourteenth day when it was slain at twilight. Such specific instructions ensured the Passover lamb was fit for the sacred sacrifice.
Each lamb was sufficient to feed one household or could be shared with a neighbor. The laws requiring its preparation were specific: roasted, not boiled, and never eaten raw, a practice of the neighboring pagan nations. The Law required the lamb be prepared whole, including its head and unbroken legs. Any leftovers were to be burned, leaving nothing behind.
The blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel (the space above a doorway) of the house where the meal was eaten. The blood indicated the household members had followed the Lord’s instructions and were consecrated to Him. It recalled the night the occupants of each house were “passed over” while the Lord destroyed the firstborn throughout Egypt, thus the feast’s name: Passover. For the Israelites, the blood reminded them a life had been sacrificed for their own.
The house was cleaned meticulously, eliminating any trace of leaven. For the Passover meal, only unleavened bread was permitted. According to Exodus 12:19, unleavened bread was eaten for seven days before the tenth plague was unleashed. Those who chose to eat leavened bread demonstrated disdain for the Lord’s work in establishing the nation of Israel and faced the consequences of banishment or even the death penalty.
The Passover meal was eaten with bitter herbs, a reminder of their years in slavery. “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover” (Exodus 12:11). The Israelites were to be ready to travel.
The first Passover was a family affair where each household sacrificed a lamb. In Numbers 28:16-25, the priests received specific instructions for preparing the Passover. These detailed instructions were provided just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, highlighting their importance. “Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season” (Numbers 28:2). Lambs were offered as communal sacrifices, consumed by both the priests and those bringing the offerings, in the presence of God in the Israelite camp and later at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Special Observances
Throughout the Gospels, we see the high regard Jesus held for the Passover. Luke 2:41-52 records the only mention of Jesus’ boyhood including a trip to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus stayed in the Temple, asking and answering questions that amazed the teachers with His understanding. At 12, this was the last Passover before His adulthood. John the Baptist later recognized Jesus as Messiah and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
John 2:13-23 records Jesus traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. With whip in hand, He cleansed the Temple of moneychangers by overturning their tables, telling them, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise” (verse 16).
John 6:4 records the Passover a year before Jesus’ crucifixion. By this time, Messianic hopes ran high. Jesus was in Galilee and fed the 5,000 with the lad’s lunch. All four Gospels record the passion week and Jesus’ final Passover celebration (Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:1-26; Luke 22:7-20; and John 13).
“Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed” (Luke 22:7). Jesus and the disciples were staying in Bethany, but the Passover meal had to be eaten within the walls of Jerusalem. Jesus sent Peter and John to Jerusalem to make preparations. The meal included unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs, sauce of crushed fruit, and the lamb.
They were instructed to find a man carrying a water pitcher, unusual because women typically handled this task. They were to follow him to his home and ask, “The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?” (Mark 14:14). A large, furnished room awaited them. According to Jewish custom, anyone in Jerusalem with a spare room would, upon request, make it available to a pilgrim celebrating Passover. It seems Jesus already had made arrangements with the owner.
Jesus knew His hour had come (Luke 22:14). He told the disciples, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer” (verse 15). Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (verses 17-18).
Jesus again took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it saying, “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (verse 19). After eating, Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (verse 20).
After this, Jesus went to Gethsemane, and His disciples followed. There Jesus agonized in prayer. Three times He begged, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:36-46). God’s plan from eternity past was coming to pass.
Symbolism Fulfilled
Beginning with the fall in Genesis 3, the only way to approach holy God was through a blood sacrifice. After Adam and Eve sinned, they sewed fig leaves together for clothing. Because that was insufficient, God killed an animal and clothed them with its skin.
As the Jews brought in their sacrificial Passover lambs, Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem while the crowd shouted, “Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9). The lambs were pastured in Bethlehem until taken into Jerusalem for slaughter. The Lamb of God had been born in a Bethlehem stable 33 years earlier. Jesus and His disciples stayed in Bethlehem with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus before they came to Jerusalem to celebrate His last Passover.
In Jerusalem, the religious leaders tried to question and trap Jesus, but their efforts were in vain. Those aware of Jesus’ location were instructed to inform them, and Judas delivered. After the betrayal and mock trials, the Jewish leaders appealed to Pilate for Jesus’ crucifixion. Pilate found no fault in Him (John 19:4), yet to appease the Jewish mob, he had Jesus scourged, beaten, and finally crucified.
Hundreds of years before, Isaiah prophesied, “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all….he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (53:6-7). “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities” (53:11).
Not only was Jesus crucified at the third hour, but His blood also spilled on the ground satisfying God’s standard. At the ninth hour, Roman guards watched Jesus die as the Passover lambs were slaughtered at the Temple.
The lambs were roasted on a spit shaped like a crossbar, roasted whole, with no bones broken (Numbers 9:12), and eaten completely. After Jesus’ death, the Jews did not want the three bodies left on crosses during the Sabbath. They asked Pilate to have their legs broken (John 19:31). “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs” (John 19:33).
Since it was the day of preparation for their Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus sought Pilate’s permission to bury the body of Jesus. According to Jewish custom, His body was wrapped in linen cloths with spices. Jesus was in the tomb on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest (John 19:38-42).
On Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, Jesus arose! This was also the first day of the Feast of First Fruits. How appropriate! What a reminder that God’s timing is always perfect. We join John the Baptist and say, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), mine and yours. O, what a Savior!
About the Writer: Elizabeth Hodges served many years as the director of WNAC. Find a complete list of resources she consulted for this article at www.wnac.org.
