Christ Our Passover

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I do not know about you, but I simply love this text. To me it is as though Jesus Christ himself had come to calm my fears. Here in the days leading up to Jesus' death on the cross, we see yet another event taking place. There behind the scenes, hid to prying eyes, are found the ages of man. For it is written as in 1 Corinthians 2:9 "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." Small wonder then that the ages to come should ring with his praise. See, it all started with Egypt so long ago and a certain Pharaoh who refused to let the people go. Exodus 11 tells of the last of the plagues which came for the first-borne of everyone there. God's people had been instructed to slaughter a lamb and paint its' blood on the door. That way when the angel of death came it would know to pass over them. How many know that when God says 'time's up,' you're walking on up out of there. So often we like to see the end of the story when God's hardly finished writing the book.

He is hardly done with you yet. Have a little faith today even if it cannot be great. Look ahead then towards the time of Moses law with all its old covenant requirements. What a lot of work to keep is it not. It was so bad that an animal could not even come to harm in Jesus' day and expect something to be done about it. Yet those of John 1:29 knew him as "the Lamb of God" taking away the sin of the world. So, it came to be in the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve's sin that the Lord God took an animal's life and clothed them with skins so that their shame and their nakedness no longer appeared. Fast forward then another span of years. Coming out of Egypt, the Mosaic law demanded a sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Exodus 12 gives the list of requirements a first-borne male, with no spot or defect to be found. So, it was for a sign of deliverance out of the land of Egypt among them.

Notice also the similarities between offerings. All demanded these same basic requirements be met prior to the giving thereof to the Lord. Some of which could be returned in the form of a feast to the givers thereof and some could not. Passover was one such of those feasts. Always was it eaten with unleavened bread with no fault on the animal and no sin in their hearts. See how good God is, our one for all, our all in one. Is it not interesting to note how the deliverance works. By the manner of his death on the cross he completed the burnt offering. As John 1:29 says, see "the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." Found within are the sin and guilt offerings also. So is he our peace offering being made unto us peace by "the blood of his cross" in Colossians 1:20. Finally, let us see the grain offering as at the last. This is where your cooperation helps. In order to have sacrifice there must first be an offering.

Here, the feast of Passover is eaten with unleavened bread just as his body meat and his blood drink indeed. The story is, was, and has always been about Christ our Passover sacrificed for us. Sure, God takes no delight in such as Psalm 40:6 states, but in those that do his will. See, there is nothing more that God desires than those who do his will. What then you might ask from them chosen saints of God. It seems then such an offering demands a response. God calls out to his people in Isaiah 1:18 demanding a reasoning together. How he wishes to exchange the sins as scarlet and crimson for the whiteness of his wool, pure as the driven snow. This is the Lamb of God we are talking about here. So, we take on Christ, partaking of him as one would a feast, and putting him on as though a garment. With the old leaven of the flesh gone, as the text says, it is removed and done away with such that it is found no more. Then is the vessel as an empty temple cleansed of which has been found most unworthy. Such must be filled lest worse things come upon some.

That is where the totality of the people's response to the burnt offering comes into play. See, when the burnt offering was rendered, it was customary for the person that made sacrifice to place their hands upon it showing their sin. Thus, was it burnt up on the altar of fire. So, we also give him our bodies for him to possess in fashion likewise, a willing sacrifice acceptable unto God. For our God of Hebrews 12:29 "is a consuming fire." I care not what side of the altar you are standing on. Let us then be willing to welcome him in. It should be some comfort then at the last that I like John in Revelation 21:1-2 heard of a new Heaven and a new earth coming down out of the old to the wonder of all of his people. The old is passing away, my friends, of Revelation 21:5. Behold, he makes all things new whether that be our world, our present mess, all our distress, our times of trouble too, or even ourselves. Let us with one accord make ready as a willing bride to receive him. The old covenant is no more, the statutes thereof done away. It seems that God is in the house. It was for this cause then that he gave himself in 1 Timothy 2:6, a ransom for many. Why do you not open the door to your heart and let him on in. So, it will be that our children will ask 'what of the passover.' Then we should finally have answer 'what then of Easter and what of the cross.'