Passover (Pastor Jeremiah Shipley)

Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military size.

It wasn't the type of people. Good morning everybody.

If y 'all could please turn your Bibles to Exodus chapter 12. We good?

Alright sweet. Alright good morning.

Are we doing alright today? Excellent. I love when we do this. If you don't know the passage you need to go read it.

Jesus is preaching. And all of the children and the infants were running up to Christ.

And the mothers were bringing their children up to Christ. And the disciples in this most revered and holy moment told the kids to go away.

And tried to shoo them away. And in a very very beautiful way Christ says stop.

Let the children come. For if you do not have faith like that of a child you will not be into the kingdom of God.

So it is beautiful to me to have the kids in here. And I do love it. Exodus chapter 12 will be our passage today.

Starting in verse 5. This is the context of the

Passover. Let us read it and then I'll give you the background. Your lambs shall be without blemish.

A male of a year old. You can take it from the sheets or from the goats.

And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. When the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and the lentil.

And the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night. Roasted on the fire.

With unleavened bread. And bitter herbs they shall eat. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water.

But roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning.

Anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you will eat it.

With your belt fastened. Your sandals on your feet. And your staff in hand. And you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night.

And I will strike all the first born in the land of Egypt. Both man and beast.

And on all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am

Yahweh. The blood shall be a sign for you. On the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood. I will pass over you. And no plague will befall you.

To destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt. Let us pray. Father the beloved comes to you this morning.

In honor and respect of your name. God let us.

Focus on you. Let us learn from your word today. And let us remember what you paid.

And the blood that you gave. In your name I pray. Amen. Alright.

So what's the context here? The context is the plagues of Egypt. If any of you have ever seen

VeggieTales. Or the Prince of Egypt. You should have some kind of context. Of what we're talking about here.

Israel. Was not a real nation yet. It was a people. In slavery.

In captivity. And God got a guy named Moses. Who was a nobody.

Nomad out in the land. And said you're going to go up to Pharaoh. And tell them free my people.

Let us leave. And that's all a really cool story as well. But that's a different sermon. So Moses goes and he tells

Pharaoh. Hey. God said it's time to let these Israelites go. All these Jews and Hebrews out here.

You've got to let them go. He said no. And then he said yes. Then he said no.

Every time he said no. God would lay a plague upon Egypt.

He would turn the Nile into blood. He would send darkness. And locusts.

And gnats. And frogs. And he would send all these plagues upon Egypt. And the last one.

The final one. The tenth one. Was the killing of the firstborn.

Now when we say firstborn. In most cases. We're not talking about babies here. We're talking about the firstborn son.

Of both. Every person. And every animal. Now. This is something called.

A prophecy. Not in the same way. That we would normally see.

When we see in Isaiah. When Cyrus is prophesied. In 400 years.

King Cyrus will come and be king. And free the people. We're not talking about a direct prophecy.

This is something called a type. In English class you learned it's called foreshadowing. A foreshadow.

A shadow to come. There is an image here. The fancy term is called typology.

That there are types within Scripture. To show us something. That's to come.

That's not exactly clear. Passover. What we're about to read.

What you just read. Is a actual. Historical event. That actually took place.

But also had. A metaphorical. Future meaning. For the coming of Christ Jesus.

Now. The casual reader. Of the Bible. Completely misses this. If you are a casual reader.

Of the Bible. You read it to check the box. That you're a good little Christian.

You completely miss this. And if you don't. Actually take seriously.

The studying of the word of God. Like okay. What did we do?

We ate with our staff in hand. No idea what that means. Why are we putting blood on the door post?

You miss all of the imagery. And all of the importance here. So we're going to talk about three things today.

We're going to talk about one. The Passover itself. We're talking about two. Some. Some of the ways that Christ.

Fulfilled the Passover. And then we're going to talk about the Lord's Supper. And how we remember the

Passover. Of Christ himself. So. Number one.

We got to understand the context. Like I said. It was Egypt. It was the Israel coming out of the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh had just doubled their work. Pharaoh had said. Your labor will be increased.

Twice fold. We will raise the quota. That you have to produce. And refuse you the supplies.

Mike. If you had to go get all of your own supplies. And get three times the amount of work done. That's not an easy job.

Is it? You're supposed to have all your stuff right there. You have what you need right there at hand. You get it done.

You go. Pharaoh said I will provide you no supplies. And you have to double the amount of work.

You have to double your production. This labored. Upon the people.

And the pain. And the suffering of the people of Israel. Is important here.

They were supposed to take a lamb. The way that God had said this.

Is you're going to take a lamb. A perfect lamb. One year old. You kill it.

You sprinkle the blood on the door post. And the lentils. And then you eat it. And God sent the destroying angel.

Over the land of Egypt. And if he saw the blood on the post. He would pass over.

And not kill that son. This was a judgment.

Of the wrath of God. On Egypt. Now one part. That's very important here.

Is it was not on Egypt alone. It was on everybody. Just like the wrath of God.

Today is on you. It is on everybody. And this day the wrath of God.

Was falling on everybody. If you did not have. The blood. You were to be dead.

And judged. The correlation here is obvious. If there is not the blood.

Of Jesus Christ. Marking your forehead. Then the judgment.

Still lies on you. The judgment lies. The judgment remains.

If there is not. The blood of the lamb. On your door post. This is something.

That we are to remember. This was a feast. This was a feast.

Celebrated by the Jewish people. Every single year. Similar to the feast.

We have. That we are supposed to remember. It's the exact same.

The Jewish people. Were saved by the lamb of God. And they were to remember it.

Every single year. We are saved by the lamb of God. And we are to remember this.

Every time we do it. The idea of this.

Is not a new testament idea. If you don't understand the old testament.

You do not understand the new testament. This wrath of God. Is the same as that of the cross.

The cross is the ultimate example. Of where the wrath of God.

And the justice of God. Come to meet with the grace of God. And the mercy of God.

God is a just God. He cannot just look over sin.

I've said this to you all before. If a judge. Is looking over the case of a murderer.

And decides that. He had a nice hair day today. I'll let you go free. That is what we call a bad judge.

Nobody would look in here. And say justice was served. God is not an unjust judge.

So he cannot just pass over. Your sin. That doesn't exist with God.

So the cross is the time. When his justice. Is served.

And his mercy. Is delivered. If somebody is just let go.

Justice was not served. Mercy was given. But justice was not served.

And if justice is hammered down. We say amen that's good.

But there was still no mercy. The judge that puts the life sentence on.

Was a just judge. But he was not a merciful one. The cross. Is that ultimate example.

Of where the two come together. And this is so important.

For us to understand. Because the question of. What are you saved from. What are you saved from.

The answer is not your sin. And it is not hell. We are saved from God. Lena you're okay baby.

Thank you Lucy. Sorry May Dee Dee.

You know. So often. We ask the question. What are we saved from.

But we don't want to say God. Because that's mean. A loving

God wouldn't do that. But we're missing the whole point. The problem is.

That we don't understand. How sinful sin is. We think that sin.

Is a little white lie. We don't see. Sin. As the disgusting.

Abhorrent nature. That it is. You know what the ultimate sin is y 'all.

The ultimate sin. Is not sexual sin. It's not cursing.

The ultimate sin is rejecting. The sacrifice of Christ. How to great a sacrifice was made.

How great a price was given. And for us to casually.

And in our arrogance. Flippantly. Push that to the side.

What greater sin is there. Than that. So when you say.

Well I've never murdered somebody. I'm not a pedophile. I'm not these things. Okay.

But understand the greatest sin. Is not those. It is the rejecting.

The sacrifice of Christ. Christ fulfilled.

The Passover. Christ fulfilled the Passover. The blood was supposed to be put.

On the door post. And on the lentil. And in John 10 Christ says. I am the door.

Anyone who comes to me. Will be saved. Christ is the door.

Of salvation. You have to walk through him. He says I am the way.

I am the truth. I am the life. If you do not go through Christ. You don't have salvation. You have to understand the

Old Testament. In order to understand the New Testament guys. The two. There were seven feasts.

In the Old Testament. Seven feasts. The two biggest ones were Passover.

And the Day of Atonement. Called Yom Kippur. Now Pastor Jeff has talked about Yom Kippur many times.

He doesn't use the name. But Yom Kippur was the one where. They would take two goats. And they would kill one.

Representing the slaying of the sacrifice. And they would take the blood of that. Put it on the forehead of the other goat.

And send it out into utter darkness. Send it out of the city. Out of the presence of the people of God. Out of the presence of God.

Never to be seen again. And that would so represent. Atonement. And expiation.

Now. For thousands of years. They had the Day of Atonement. For thousands of years.

They would honor and focus on the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur. Thousands of years.

Again and again and again. Year after year after year after year after year. But in all of Jewish history.

You know how many days of Atonement there were? One. There was only ever.

One actual Day of Atonement. Because those blood. Of bulls and goats.

Never actually did anything. It was a type. A shadow.

Of the single Day of Atonement. Of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ dying.

Was the only atoning. Of sins that ever happened. It was the only time.

Any sin. Was ever actually. Paid for. See we say the foreshadowing.

What's casting the shadow? The thing casting the shadow. Is Christ. When we say the foreshadowing.

That something. Christ is the thing to come. He is the image.

That the light of God. Is casting the shadow forward. There's only ever actually.

One Day of Atonement. All the others. Were nothing but a type.

It was nothing but a shadow. To come. For since the law of God.

Was but a shadow of the good things. To come. Instead of the true form of these realities. It can never by the same sacrifice.

That are continually offered. Every single year. For those who draw near. This is Hebrews 10.

But in these sacrifices. There is a reminder of sins. Every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats.

To take away sins. Let me remind you of something. We are to remember this. But we are never to repeat it.

The death of Christ is never repeated. This is where the Catholics get it so wrong.

That in the Eucharist. The Catholic form. They believe that the blood.

That the juice. Or the wine and the bread. Actually turn into the blood and flesh of Christ.

And so every time they do that. They believe that Christ is actually being. Re -crucified again.

And dying again for your sins. That is so incorrect.

Christ died once for all. He is never put back on the cross.

But. It's never repeated. But it is remembered. That is what we are here to do today.

Now let me take just a second. On the importance of remembering. We do not remember.

Just for the sake of our educational purposes. And to know what happened.

We remember. Where we came from. How many of us have come from dark places?

Addicts. People who have been in abusive situations. People who have come from such high levels.

Of arrogance and pride. And stubbornness. And the Lord has had to humble you. That one might be worse than any of them.

How far have you come? We need to have the attitude.

I heard someone say this one time. It was so beautiful. I will never forget my sin. I will never forget.

How far I have come. The depths and the darkness of your depression. Of your addiction.

Of your despair. Of your loss. Of your loneliness. Of your heartbreak.

Hold on to those memories. Some people say let them go.

Forget about it. I say no. Hold on to it. Because if you forget how far you have come.

That's when you start taking what Christ did. For granted. You will start taking this for granted.

You will start having a. Nonchalant attitude.

It's not a big deal to go to church. It's not a big deal to read the word. It's not a big deal. As long as I live a decent life.

I'm fine. You hear the laziness. In those words.

You have forgotten. My friend. How far you came. And you have forgotten.

How far you can fall again. Paul the great apostle said.

Take heed of yourself. Lest you fall. He was talking to Christians. He was talking to the church.

And so I say to you. My friends. This morning. Check yourself.

Because you are not an exception. To the rule. You can fall again.

And let me tell you. Listen. As a Christian. If you fall.

You will go deeper and darker. Than you ever were before. That pit.

Will be so much more lonely. It will be so much more lonely.

For the believer. Than the non -believer. Take heed this morning.

Check your arrogance. Check your pride. Refuse to fall.

Reach into. Accountability. And pull it in. Doesn't matter that they make you mad.

Hold on to that. Because it keeps you in check. Don't be.

In a sound vacuum. In a way. You just hear what you want to hear. If you aren't told.

If no one around you disagrees with you. You have a problem. If there's no one around you.

Telling you where you're wrong. Because you're wrong often. There's a problem. In the

Passover. We see substitutionary atonement. The whole thing of Jesus Christ.

That a son was to be killed. But the lamb took it's place. My friends. You are the son.

And the child to be killed. Is Christ going to take your place or not? It is key.

In the story. Of the Passover. Jesus Christ. Partook of the

Passover. Three. Four times with his disciples. Three.

Four times with his disciples. It happened every year. They celebrated it every year. And the day.

The week he was killed. Was Passover week. If you don't know that. That is vitally important.

It is not a coincidence. That the day they were to kill the lamb.

Was the day that Christ was killed. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday. And as Jesus Christ.

Is coming to Jerusalem. And they sing Hosanna Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest. They think they were choosing their king.

They were not. They were choosing their lamb. They thought they were choosing. The one to be on the throne.

They were choosing the one to be slain. The day that he came into Jerusalem.

Was the day in Jewish history. That they were to choose the lamb. It is the same day.

On the calendar. The month of Nisan. The month of Nisan. It was the same day.

And then the following four days. Within the Jewish tradition of Passover.

They were to examine the lamb. And see if it had any blemish. What did

Jesus Christ go through. That same week. The following days. He went from court to court to court.

And what did they say. We find no fault in him. He was examined.

Again and again. And they said we find no fault. We find no blemish. There is nothing wrong with him.

He fulfilled the Passover lamb. He was the right age.

Selected on the right day. He was examined just like the lamb was. And they said we find no fault.

Four thousand years ago. This was established. Jesus fulfilled it.

Perfectly. For Christ.

Our Passover lamb. Corinthians chapter 5. Christ. Our Passover lamb.

Has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival.

Not with old leaven. The leaven of malice and evil. But with the unleavened bread. Of sincerity and truth.

That is what we are doing today. We are fulfilling.

What 1 Corinthians tells us. To now celebrate. The final

Passover lamb. Of Jesus Christ. To celebrate the lamb of God.

Who was slain. When you see this. When you understand.

What happened here. Of Yom Kippur. And Passover. And then you see John the

Baptist. Look over and says. Behold. The lamb of God. That takes away the sins of the world.

John the Baptist knew what he was saying. He was saying. This is not a lamb.

That will be on a throne. But he will be killed. Jesus.

Looks at his disciples and says. I have earnestly desired.

To eat this Passover. With you. He tells his disciples. Go find the room.

Go prepare the Passover supper. Get everything ready. Because I.

Have earnestly desired. To have this with you. He knew.

The disciples still didn't get it. He knew this was going to be their last time. The last hurrah.

They have had this holiday. If you will. For years together.

It's been something they have looked forward to. Every year like Christmas. And imagine for a second if you will.

That your loved one. Your spouse. Your child. Your whoever. Had a terminal illness. And you knew it was going to be your last

Christmas with them. That's what Jesus is feeling here. This is the last Christmas together.

Before you pass. We know that. They are not going to make it any longer.

That level of emotional. Kind of seriousness. Is what Christ is feeling here.

And in Jewish tradition. It was the responsibility. Of the head of the household. To recount.

The story of the Passover. So everyone would sit down. And for dinner. The father.

The figure. The head. Would say well you know. The Pharaoh was doing this.

And lamb. And they were brought out of Egypt. That would do that. Jesus had done that for three years. But this time he didn't do that.

Being the only one with the authority to. He changed the Passover festival. He said.

This bread. This bread is my body. And it's broken.

For you. This cup. Is the cup of my blood.

Drink it. In remembrance of me. He fulfilled

Passover. And changed it. In a sense. We are doing the

Passover festival. Today. Which by the way. Passover was at the end of March.

Beginning of April. So this is even the same exact month.

That they were celebrating this. Which is why we celebrate. The resurrection day of Easter. At the end of March.

Beginning of April. It's the same days. Christ.

Fulfilled it. And even at that time period. There was an understanding.

That you have to do something. You are not. An inactive participant.

You are an active participant. Today. Why did it say in Exodus. That you had to eat the food.

Because you couldn't just kill the lamb. You had to partake of it. It's not enough for Jesus to die for you.

You have to partake of Christ. You have to have Christ within you. If Christ is not within you.

You are not a Christian. Why did it say. That you are to eat.

With your staff in hand. And clothes on and ready to go. Because at any moment.

They were to be called out of the land of Egypt. And at any moment. You can be called home. You are to be ready.

For the coming of Christ. At any day. They had to be ready. Any day. Any hour.

To leave Egypt. You have to be ready. Any day. Any hour. To leave this world. So the question for you again today.

Is are you ready. To meet your maker. You have to be ready.

Staff in hand. Ready to roll. The same idea is throughout all of the scriptures.

All of the scriptures. Of the watchman on the wall. Is he falling asleep during the night shift.

Or does he stay awake. And stand his guard. Ready to fight the fight. That is what we are called to do.

As Christians. I cannot tell you when Christ will come back. But I can tell you.

You better be ready. You better be ready. For when Christ calls you.

We are to be 24 7. Ready. For Christ.

It says in Numbers chapter 9. If anyone who is clean. Is not on a journey. Fails to keep the

Passover. That person shall be cut off from his people. Because he did not bring the

Lord's offering. At it's appointed time. That man shall bear. His own sin.

Even. 4000 years ago. In Numbers 9. The idea that your devotion to Christ.

Was vital. If you did not keep Passover. Your sin was on you. I tell you today.

If you do not accept Christ. If you are not his son.

If he is not your Lord. Your sin.

Is on you. You will bear the weight of your sin. You will bear the guilt.