WHY DID JESUS DIE AT PASSOVER?
Passover this year
falls from 5th to 13th April and includes the Christian
Easter.
Passover is an 8-day Jewish festival that remembers how Moses overcame an Egyptian Pharoah’s reluctance to secure the liberation of the Hebrew (Jewish) slaves.
This was no easy task:
God nudged Pharaoh in the right direction by sending plagues that made life
totally miserable for the Egyptians, culminating in the tragedy of the death of
the firstborn.
Angel of Death
The Children of Israel
were miraculously spared this loss since God told Moses to have them daub the
blood of a sacrificed lamb on their doorposts, so that the Angel of Death would
pass over their homes.
Death of the Firstborn
was the tenth plague in God’s series of escalating woes for the Egyptians that resulted
in the death of every firstborn male in the Land of Egypt, human and animal.
‘Passover’ (Pesach
in Hebrew), is so called because the blood of the sacrificed lamb caused the
Angel of Death to pass over their homes. The festival reminds Jews how God
saved them to life.
Sacrificial Lamb
Jesus aligned himself
with the sacrificial lamb of Passover whose spilt blood ensured the Jews’ salvation.
Hundreds of years
before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Isaiah foretold this role paralleling Passover
for Israel’s promised Messiah: “He
was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth,” (Is.53:7).
Confirmation that Jesus would become our Passover lamb came upon his birth when shepherds understood who he was after they were told, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” (Lu.2:11-12).
Swaddling and
laying in a manger was exactly what those shepherds used to do with the very
best, most valuable lambs without blemish, intended for sacrifice upon the
Temple altar.
They rejoiced
but Jesus’ mother Mary was left pondering as to the ultimate destiny of this son
God had given her.
John the Baptist
Confirmation
came as Jesus the man was about to begin his ministry. John the Baptist declared
after baptizing him that he was, “The lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world,” (Jo.1:29).
John saw him
as a sacrifice to redeem us from our sins, as Isaiah also foresaw: “because he poured
out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he
bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors,” (Is.53:12).
Passover Lambs in Jesus’ Day
Many Jews
celebrate Passover by eating roast lamb as they did in the time of Jesus. As he
suffered, dying on the cross, Jews would have been lining up at the Temple,
each with the lamb he had bought from the shepherds who grazed their flocks in
‘Shepherds Fields’, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
It was a real
conveyor belt line of priests passing things to one another as they slaughtered
each lamb and sprinkled its blood upon the Great altar, remembering not only
being spared death by God’s Passover lamb, but also the journey to freedom that
it instigated. When Pharaoh freed the Hebrew slaves, Moses lead them to God’s
Promised Land of Milk and Honey— Israel.
That’s a lot
to celebrate!
Bobbie Ann Cole, Christian Author, Speaker and Writing Teacher is offering you a free, 20-minute 1-2-1 throughout April. No sales. Simply writerly problem solving and getting to know you better. Email bobbie@bobbieanncole.com for your slot.
Thank you for setting this out for us - the symbolism of the Christian story is so closely bound up with Jewish history and religious practices. (Sheila aka SC Skillman)
ReplyDeletePaul writes in Romans 11: if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith."
DeleteThis pretty much describes the Jewish-Christianity story, I feel.
This is such an interesting piece, and I had never heard about those rather special shepherds who raised the lambs for theTemple before. I wonder where you learned it? Have you heard of Alfred Edersheim (mid-Victorian) who wrote about Jesus the Messiah? Quite a learned man... including in Jewish commentary (Mishnah etc) He writes about these shepherds, but there is nothing in the book about the swaddling of the lambs. We happen to have a copy of the book, so hunted out the relevant part to know more. (I took a paper on inter-testamental Judaism as part of my degree, though that was a long time ago. Of course I didn't study Edersheim there though of course! We have the book because my husband bought it out of interest.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for directing me toward Alfred Edersheim - I will try to read his work. I have also heard it argued that there were caves where the shepherds nurtured their best lambs - which can be thugs - and that Jesus was born in one. That doesn't quite fit with the 'guest room' mentioned in the Gospel.
DeleteThe shepherds who heard/saw the angels heralding Jesus birth were most likely shepherding the spotless lambs to be slaughtered for the Passover. How powerful is that message that they were among the first to see the real spotless Lamb of God who would later be slain for all mankind for all time .. before the cross and after. Ellen
ReplyDeleteYou are correct - which would mean that Jesus was most probably born at Pesach (Passover), since the shepherds came with their great flocks of lambs to sell as Passover sacrifices. Luke says that there shepherds keeping their sheep in the fields by Bethlehem - exactly the scenario at Passover.
DeleteI don't agree with those who try to make calculations of Jesus' birth based on John the Baptist's tours of duty which a) are at best speculative; we don't have precise information and b) we don't know how long after Zachariah's annunciation Elizabeth fell pregnant.