Sermon: What does it mean and, what does it matter that Jesus is our Passover Lamb? By: Dan Young John 13 Feb 4, 2018 What does it mean and, what does it matter that Jesus is our Passover Lamb? Well it means everything! In that it is extremely important!!! Let us read Rev 5:2-6a, 9,& 10. It speaks about the Passover Lam Rev5: 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelations 5:2,3,4,6a,9-10 This is speaking about Jesus the passover lamb. Jesus is the lamb who was slain! It is his blood that purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 1 of 11
Today, while we continue journey in the book of John, now beginning in chapter 13, we begin a 6 week portion on the last 8 hours or so of Jesus time with his disciples in the upper room & the Garden of Getsemani. John 13 to 17. It focuses on Jesus last words and his inter-action with his disciples the night before he was to be murdered. There is so much in chapter 13 that one could preach on. I am taking a twist in this message. Here is a list of six sermon topics from this one chapter. 1- The passover dinner and it s significance (which I will focus on today). But also there is the portion about 2-Jesus humbly washing the disciples feet and telling them that they are correct in calling him Lord and Teacher. And just as he washed their feet, they are to do likewise, This is just after Jesus triumphal entry to Jerusalem. 3- Jesus stating that one of his disciples will betray him, 4- Jesus tells Peter that Peter will deny Christ by the next morning. 5- Jesus telling his disciples that he is leaving them and that they cannot go to where he is going. 6- Jesus tells the disciples to love one another. And that by loving one another, others will know that they are Jesus disciples. Congregation, as your pastor I ask you to memorize John 13:34-35. 34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. NIV 2 of 11
I believe these 6 themes are too much to embark on, so So rather than giving info on so many different themes, I ask you again to continue reading and meditating on chapters 13-17 of John. I encourage you to dive into the other gospels where Last Supper & Garden of Getsemani discourses are described. See what God would say to you. Really. What would God say to you in these passages today? Jesus conversation with his disciples is just before one of the most important events of all world history. I want you to know who God is Who Jesus is. He is everything! It is about him. And he is about to die. What can he say to you in this passage? John 13:35 says that the world will know we are Jesus disciples by our loving one another. God wants us to love one another. It is important to him. It is not easy, but we are called to do so. John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The word passover and the fact that Jesus knew that he would be leaving the world and going to his father shortly (in less than 24 hours) seems to shout out to me: pay attention. Passover for the Jewish people is a time of celebration. Some historians speculate that over 200,000 people would travel to Jerusalem each year for the passover celebrations. *(Jerusalem at the time of Jesus- JCBS.ORG). At the time of Christ, it was an important ritual that had been repeated annually for over 1400 years. Something Jesus surely did each year for the past 30 plus years. It includes the reciting of scripture, drinking wine, and feasting. I understand that scripture was read and wine, bread, and lamb (along with bitter herbs) were consumed each year. There was much meaning and symbolism in the passover and 7 day unleavened feast that followed. Jesus is going to take this particular passover celebration and give it additional new meaning with a twist. - This being that the wine and bread represent his blood, and his body broken for us. That he is the perfect lamb. The perfect sacrifice for the human race. 3 of 11
You might remember that when we preached on John 6, right after Jesus fed 5000 men with 5 loaves and 2 small fish. It was after this that many of Jesus disciples found the teaching too hard and no longer followed him after he told the people that they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus asked the 12 disciples: Do you want to leave too? Peter responded by saying: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God. John 6:67-69. Well, by the following high noon, Jesus will have been nailed to the cross. He knew his crucifixion was coming and he knew the disciples would abandon him. Remember that he will in just a few short hours sweat blood due to the agony of what he was facing. He did not want to face the crucifixion, but he knew that he had come to earth specifically for this purpose of being the savior/messiah/perfect sacrifice of God. He had spent 3 years in public ministry with this gang of men. He was entrusting his mission to expand his kingdom with these 12 men (well eleven). And, now it was the time for his last words. Actually he did not just entrust the mission to the disciples, but rather he knew that the Holy Spirit would be working in the midst of them and would fill them with power. So, where do we start In my typical fashion having A D D, and loving to look at the larger context of the story, I am going to take us first to John, chapter 1 so as to remind us of somethings. Remember this last supper is really looking at the passover celebration and significance. I don t believe the timing of Christ s crucifixion was coincidental to the passover. Rather it had GREAT meaning. I want us to remember that believing is important. That God becomes flesh. That he came to save the world. John 1:1-3a In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. John 1:4a In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. 4 of 11
In verse 7 we see that John the baptist came as a witness so that through him all might believe. Ver 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (His own being the jewish people). Ver 12. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. So why did I take us back to John 1? One of the central beliefs of the evangelical faith is that Jesus is both man and God. The incarnation of God becoming man. It is not that Jesus became God when he was baptized, but rather that God became man when the Holy Spirit came on the virgin Mary and she conceived. (Luke 1:35) This idea of Jesus being the perfect offering, the sacrifice. The Lamb. He had to be a perfect offering. He did not sin. He was sinless. He was the second Adam. The first Adam failed. The first Adam was flesh. Jesus was the second Adam and the life giving Spirit. Any other human could not fulfill that ability of Christ. This sacrifice was to appease God. That is why I started out reading from Revelations 5. about the lamb being able to open the scroll and that the lamb is worthy. From the website Got questions.org: Question: "What is propitiation?" Answer: The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. The necessity of appeasing God is something many religions have in common. In ancient pagan religions, as well as in many religions today, the idea is taught that man appeases God by offering various gifts or sacrifices. However, the Bible teaches that God Himself has provided the only means through which His wrath can be appeased and sinful man can be reconciled to Him. In the New Testament, the act of propitiation always refers to the work of God and not the sacrifices or gifts offered by man. The reason for this is that man is totally incapable of satisfying God s justice except by spending eternity in hell. There is no service, sacrifice, or gift that man can offer that will appease the holy wrath of God or satisfy His perfect justice. The only satisfaction, or propitiation, that could be acceptable to God and that could reconcile man to Him had to be made by God. For this 5 of 11
reason God the Son, Jesus Christ, came into the world in human flesh to be the perfect sacrifice for sin and make atonement or propitiation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17). Now jump to John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! "He [Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.... This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 2:2; 4:10). Why did I read these verses? Because the book of John was written for a purpose John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. The Messiah The lamb of God. The passover lamb. Jesus is the Word, who was with God and is God and became flesh. This is all crucial to this moment of the last supper and time in the Garden of Getsemani. This is why he will be murdered. This is his claim to be God, to be the son of God. The Jewish leaders could not handle that. It was blasphemy in their eyes. At this point, for those who are new to the Scriptures, this event called the passover is significant. Jesus is celebrating the passover with his disciples in the upper room. Where does this passover come from? Side note (It may be that they celebrate a meal like the passover one day early, as it appears Jesus may have died on the passover). The passover is first mentioned in the Old Testament. I mentioned that Jesus is the passover lamb. It goes back to the story of Moses when he was called by God. and the last of the 10 plagues God had Moses call down on Pharaoh, King of Egypt. 6 of 11
Travel back to Genesis with me. You may remember that God chose Abraham hundreds of years prior to Moses to bless him and his people (the jews). In Gen 15:13 Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. That Abraham had Issac, who had Jacob. Jacob s name was changed to Israel. He had 12 sons. Then the 12 tribes of Israel. The next to youngest son was named Joseph. Joseph is the one with the coat of multicolors. The guy who told on his brothers when they did wrong and who was the favorite of his father. Well Joseph was sold as a slave into Egypt, but later rose to be the second in command to Pharaoh. When there was a 7 year drought. God used Joseph to save the people of Egypt from famine. He became famous. Eventually all of the 70 family members of Jacob/or now called Israel moved to Egypt and were treated well until Joseph died. Now lets jump to Exodus. Somewhere along the line, another pharaoh did not remember Joseph, and they mistreated the Israelites badly and treated them as slaves. It got so bad that the Egyptians made the jews kill their own male babies because there were so many of them. Hundreds of years later God told Moses, a jew, who was almost killed at birth, but ended up being raised as the son of pharaoh s daughter. At about age 40, Moses tried to help the Israelites but ended up killing a man. Moses ran away into the dessert and lived as a shepherd for 40 years more years. Then at age 80 he saw a burning bush and heard God speaking to him from the bush. God spoke to Moses and told him that he was to go back to Egypt, tell Pharaoh to let the Jews go free, and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God told Moses that Pharaoh would not listen at first. In Exodus 3:19-20 But I know that the King of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. Chapters 11 and 12 of Exodus describe the last plague and the instructions for the first passover. Remember that the Israelites were essentially imprisoned as slaves for about 400 years. Pharaoh had been obstinate in not allowing them to be released. After nine plagues (or miraculous signs), God now tells Moses that Nisan was to be a new first month of their calendar year for the Jewish people from that moment forward. That on the 10 day of the month Nisan, the Jews were to set aside a lamb, unblemished, perfect 7 of 11
without defect. just one years old. Then on the 14th day of Nisan- or the passover, they are to gather together as individual families in their homes, and slaughter a year old male lamb without defect at twilight. (after the sun goes down, but before dark). They are to eat unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and the lamb that night, but not only that, they are first to take the blood of the lamb and put it on the sides and top of the door frame of their houses so the spirit of God would pass over and not kill the first born of those who have the blood over the doorways. But to all the Egyptians who do not have the blood over their doorways, their first born sons will die. Including first born of animals, slaves, and people- even to the son of pharaoh. That night after dark, it happens. Pharaoh s son dies along with the first born in every house of Egyptians. Then that night Pharaoh finally lets the people go free. It was God who struck down the Egyptians. In another verse (Ex 12:23 God says that he will not permit the destroyer to enter the Israelites home when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the door frame.) In Ex 12:12 it says that this judgement is on all the gods of Egypt. God tells Moses that the Israelites are to commemorate the day and that the generations to come are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. A lasting ordinance. For seven days they are to eat unleavened bread (without yeast). They are not to work for 7 days except to prepare the food. The bitter herb represents the bitter years the people lived in Egypt. The unleavened bread was to remind them that they were to eat with readiness to leave right away when God told them. They did not have time to let the yeast rise. And the lamb s blood was to wash away their guilt. As the years go by, and the tabernacle and later the temple is built, once a year the high priest would enter into the holy of holies and sprinkle the blood, it was representative of God s relationship being restored or reunited with man- that man s sin was washed clean. The blood on the doorway was to keep the angel of death or the spirit of God from killing the first born. This is part of the symbolism. Jesus is the passover lamb and the high priest. 8 of 11
The jewish people were to celebrate the passover to remind them and teach their children the story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt. About how they were rescued/ saved from their bitter lived. How the sacrifice of the lamb took the place of their first born sons. Now Jesus is the passover lamb. Here is more. Hebrews 9:11,22,28, & 10:12-14 11 But when Christ came as high priest He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. 10:12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. NIV Now about love we are to love one another. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? (7) Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (8) Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of the Pharisees: Matthew 16:6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees..." While Jesus doesn't define the sin of the Pharisees in the Matthew passage we don't have to be in the dark as to what it was for it is the overwhelming characteristic of the Pharisees and it is clearly stated for us in Luke 12:1 which states 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is 9 of 11
hypocrisy.' This is the first leaven to beware of. Hypocrisy - saying one thing and doing another - putting on a religious show outwardly when your heart is far from God. The leaven of the Sadducees: Matthew 16:6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the... Sadducees." The Pharisees were know for their religiosity and hypocrisy but the Sadducees had a different problem. They were known for their reluctance to believe in the supernatural. They didn't believe in angels or in the resurrection (Luke 20:27-38). They were the spiritual skeptics of their age while maintaining a show of religion. 1 The leaven of Herod: Mark 8:15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of... Herod." Herod is an interesting case. He was in a position of worldly power but also desired to see Jesus so that he could see a sign. There are several warnings here. One is against the desire for worldliness and power that can easily spread and unfortunately, looking at the Western church today, we see so much of this leaven. But the other warning is in combining this through seeking signs and wonders in attempting to gain greater power. Does that one ring any bells today? 2 The leaven of legalism: Galatians 5:7-9 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? (8) This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. (9) A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. The problem in the Galatian church was that they started with faith and Jesus plus nothing but were soon persuaded that they needed to add aspects of the law (like observing certain days, circumcision, righteousness by works etc). So their faith became Jesus plus... Paul instructed them (in no uncertain terms!) that this was not from God and was in fact a leaven that quickly leavens the whole lump. The leaven of immorality: 1 Corinthians 5:1,7 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife... (7) Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. The context of this well known passage in Corinthians concerning leaven is sexual immorality. 1st century Corinth, which is in southern Greece west of Athens, was know unfortunately for an 'anything goes' attitude 3. It had a reputation for gross immorality. And as we see here it had infiltrated into the Church. Paul correctly identified this as a leaven. The church was following the ways of the culture in which they lived. It was a slippery slope that only headed in one direction. And rapidly. Does this sound familiar? What has happened with sexual immorality in our day? What is the attitude of the church? Does it stay true to what God says in His word or has the leaven started to spread its influence through the church? Unfortunately, to ask the question is to answer it. It is not the 10 of 11
job of the church to judge the world. But it is the role of the church to maintain and obey God's word within it. (see Paul's discussion of this straight after the passage quoted above in 1 Cor 5:9-13.) (Above notes regarding leaven come from jesusplusnothing.com article by I Gordon titled: The Feasts of the Lord: The Burial - Jesus in the feast of Unleavened Bread) While Jesus and the disciples were eating the Passover, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28) 11 of 11