A Truly Amazing Picture

My main point in having this blog is to share pictures of our family with friends and family who we dont see often. I enjoy reading other peoples' blog who discus recipes and other helpful or interesting material but I just havent done that myself. However, as I have already taken over 100 pictures of Nathan doing various "Easter activities" and will probalby have 100 more by the end of the weekend, I did want to share with anyone who may read this a TRULY AMAZING PICTURE that God has painted so clearly throughout the Bible. Most of the info below was taken from a sermon I just heard at my church, and from other teachings on Passover. It does get quite lengthy but I was so encouraged to hear and see God's message clearly evident throughout both the old and new testaments. I hope each one of you have a truly blessed and eye-opening Easter this year.

It is amazing to me to see the similarities of the original Passover described in the Old Testament book of Exodus, the death and resurrection of Jesus described in the gospel accounts of the New Testament, and the continued tradition of Passover still celebrated today.
Below I have included both the OT and NT references describing the events of Passover and then the symbolism of the traditions still practiced. It is amazing what a great and somewhat obvious picture God has created over the years but how so many people missed it then and now. I pray for myself that I don’t miss God and His remarkable details, and that I remember His message that has been the same for over a thousand years … He is a God of hope and salvation.

Jacob whose name changed to Israel (Gen 32:28) led his family and the families of his twelve sons to Egypt for food during a famine in Canaan. However, after years of being there the Egyptians held the Israelites as slaves and servants. The Israelites remained slaves until God raised up and called upon a man by the name of Moses who approached the Egyptian pharaoh to “let God’s people go”. The pharaoh was against this plan so God caused 10 plagues to come down on the Egyptians. The last plague was the death of all firstborn sons in each household that did not have the blood of a sacrificial lamb wiped over their door.

Starting with the original Passover which occurred as the last plague in Egypt
OT: Ex 12:3 On the tenth day of the first month of the year which was the month of Nisan the Lord told Moses to tell the people to chose an unblemished lamb.
Starting with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem which we refer to as Palm Sunday
NT: Mt 21:6-9 On the tenth day of the first month of Nisan Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt through the Sheep Gate(the gate in which all the sacrifices would be brought into the temple).

OT: Ex 12:6a After choosing the lamb the people were supposed to keep the lamb until the 14th day to make sure it was truly an unblemished lamb. Then on the 14th day they were to kill the lamb.
NT: Mt 27: 4, 19, 24, 54 Over the next 4 days after His entry into Jerusalem Jesus was arrested yet was found to be innocent even in the courts. However this did not stop His persecution.

OT: Ex 12: 6b At twilight (3pm) of the 14th day the lamb should be slaughtered
NT: Mt 27: 45-50 Jesus was put up on the cross during the 6th hour, which was noon because the first hour was sun-up at 6am. Darkness came over the land from the 6th hour(noon) to the 9th hour(3pm) and at the 9th hour Jesus gave up His Spirit.

OT: Ex 12:7 The Israelites were instructed to take the blood from the lamb and wipe the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and keep the rest of the blood in a bowl at the base of the door. This would be in the shape of a cross. And as we know, Jesus hung on a cross as He gave up His blood.

OT: Ex 12:46 The Israelites were instructed not to break any of the bones of the lamb.
NT: Jn 19:31-37 Since the next day on the Jewish calendar was the Sabbath, all the bodies had to be taken down by that evening. So the soldiers of Pilate were instructed to break the legs of the prisoners on the crosses to hasten their death. However, when they came to Jesus they realized that He was already dead so they did not break His legs.

OT: During the original Passover the only way to be saved from death was to have the blood of an unblemished lamb wiped across your door.
NT: From the times of Jesus through today the only way for us to be saved from death into eternal life is to have the blood of our unblemished Passover lamb (Jesus) on our hearts and in our minds. 1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

OT: Ex 12:14, 24, 27 After the first Passover in Egypt God called His people to commemorate this day by celebrating the occurrence through a festival each year remembering and celebrating how God delivered them from the Egyptians. They ate lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and wine.
NT: Mt 26:17-19 The disciples came to Jesus to ask Him where He wanted to celebrate the Passover. The Jews had been celebrating the Passover for hundreds of years and it was a very traditional and habitual celebration. His disciples went ahead of Him and prepared for the Passover meal and then Jesus celebrated and ate with them. And in customary Jewish tradition Jesus broke the unleavened bread. But then He elaborated and told them that the bread is His body broken for them (Mt 26:26). Then He took the cup and told them that it is His blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:27-28). Jesus told His disciples to eat and drink and to do this in remembrance of me. (Luke 22:19) He told them that He would not drink wine again until the day when He would drink it anew with them in His Father’s kingdom (Mt 26:29)

Symbolism of the Passover Meal

The Jewish people would eat the lamb as a symbol of the sacrificial lamb; bitter herbs to symbolize the struggles of the captivity and plagues in Egypt; unleavened bread (Matzo) as a symbol of having to leave in haste during the first Passover and as a symbol of purity. There would be 4 cups of wine.
Matzo- the crackers are striped from the grill marks on the oven
Jesus was whipped, and beaten (striped) but by His wounds we are healed 1 Pt 2:24, Is 53:5
The crackers have holes in them (like Saltine crackers)
Jesus was pierced Is 53:5, Jn 19:34
The crackers had no yeast as a symbol of purity,
Jesus had no sin 2 Cor 5:21
In traditional Jewish tradition, still practiced today, the matzo crackers are held in
one bag that has three different compartments (sounds like the Trinity to me). During
the Passover meal the middle cracker would be taken out and broken. Half would be consumed that night and half would be wrapped in a piece of cloth and hidden until later. Similarly, Jesus was broken and died and then wrapped in linen and hidden in a tomb.

There would always be 4 cups of wine present. Before the meal the people would drink the first cup of sanctification and then the 2nd cup of plagues. Then the 3rd cup would be drunk during the meal, which was the cup of redemption.
How amazing it must have been to be a Jew with Jesus at the Passover Meal and going through the familiar breaking of bread and drinking the wine and Jesus claiming to be the bread Himself broken for them, and as He is drinking from the 3rd cup He tells them that it is His blood that will bring about redemption. And then the next day to then see His body broken and bleeding on the cross.
The 4th cup stayed on the table and was not consumed because it was the cup of Elijah, also called the cup of praise because it symbolized Elijah coming back to announce the Messiah. As we know now, John the Baptist is a fulfillment of Elijah’s prophesy of one coming to announce the Messiah. As Christians we believe the Messiah has come. We praise God for sending His son and now keep the 4th cup as a symbol of the second coming. And as Christ Himself said, “He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until the day when He drinks it anew with us in His Father’s kingdom” (Mt 26:29) This is what we celebrate and remember any time we take the Lord’s Supper, and how special it is to celebrate it during Passover just as Jesus did over 2000 years ago. Let us always remember to celebrate God, and how He has always provided a means of salvation to all people. Jn 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”