How to view Passover

Sunset today marks the beginning of the Passover for Jews worldwide. It is of course one of the most important celebrations for Jewish families, marked by a number of ceremonies and traditions. It is a huge deal for Jews and I get the impression that it is true even for less observant families.

As Christians, how should we view the Passover?

First I think we need to recognize what the Passover is all about. It is a celebration of the sovereign work of God to free the Jews from captivity in Egypt. When the final plague struck, slaying the first born males in all of Egypt, the wrath of God passed over the homes with blood on the doorway. It was the blood that caused the wrath of God to pass over the homes of the Jews in Egypt:

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 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. (Exodus 12: 12-13)

There are clear implications for the Passover in Christianity. Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper while celebrating the Passover with His disciples, a key event that appears in all four Gospels preceding the crucifixion (Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 13). As importantly, at the cross Jesus shed His blood and that blood serves in a similar fashion for those covered by it through faith: it covers us from the judgment and wrath of God. Through His blood we have forgiveness of our sins and at the judgment it is that blood-bought forgiveness that will cause God’s wrath to pass over the elect. So the Passover is very important in Christian theology as well, although for a different reason.

It certainly seems that for the last two thousand year, post-Calvary, the celebration of the Jewish Passover has been an empty ceremony. The Passover as understood by Christians in light of the cross was a preparatory ceremony that prefigured the cross of Christ. We read that Christ has fulfilled the role of Passover lamb on our behalf:

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Cor 5:7)

So how should we view the Passover? I think it provides a great opportunity to recall Christ and Him crucified. It is a wonderful reminder of the promises of God to His people, fulfilled in Christ Jesus once and for all time. It is also a great opportunity to discuss Jesus with Jews. The celebration of the Passover is an obsolete ceremony and a reminder of an old covenant that has been fulfilled in a far greater way. For all of these centuries Jews have been celebrating the Passover while missing the great fulfillment of Christ. God can never be satisfied with the sacrifice of a literal lamb. He is only satisfied with the cross of His Son who became a perfect sacrifice provided by God for His people.

What happened on the cross?

At the moment that God poured out His wrath and Christ bore the penalty for our sins in His flesh, something happened, something changed. We will never understand more than a sliver of what the cross means in this life, but what has been revealed to us in the Bible is enough for man to ponder for a lifetime.

On the cross the godly died for the ungodly. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that through Him we might become the righteousness of God. What Luther called the Great Exchange occurred, our sin imputed to Him and His righteousness imputed to the elect through the God-given gift of faith (Eph 2:8 ). But what does that mean?

Some of the terminology used about the cross causes confusion. The Bible and theologians use language and terms that are pretty uncommon in normal conversation. Here are a few of them using dictionary definitions that don’t always capture the nuance of the term…

Propitiation

2: something that propitiates ; specifically : an atoning sacrifice

Propitiates

: to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of : appease

Atone

2: to supply satisfaction for : expiate

Expiate

2 a: to extinguish the guilt incurred by b: to make amends for

Justified

2 archaic : to administer justice to archaic : absolve c: to judge, regard, or treat as righteous and worthy of salvation

So when we are speaking of the cross, we need to recognize that there are a number of things going on. When we read in Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2 and 1 John 4:10 of Christ being made the propitiation for our sins, we see an atoning sacrifice, a sacrifice that appeases and satisfies the judgment of God. Sinners who were enemies of God regained his favor through the imputed righteousness of Christ. We are justified by faith, but the reason for our justification by faith alone in Christ alone is because of what He did on the cross. By His cross He made peace between man and God, reconciling us to our Creator by fulfilling the demands of the Law.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col 2: 13-14)

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Eph 2: 14-16)

The cross changed the dividing lines among humanity. Before the cross, humanity was divided by nationality. The Jews were God’s chosen people, a nation chosen among all of the nations by God’s sovereign will (Deu 7:6). It was through the Jews that the types and shadows of the cross were revealed in the sacrificial system, it was through the Jews that the Law was given and it was through the Jews that the Messiah came. Within the nation we found believers who were faithful and many who were not believers and continually violated the laws. After the cross, the dividing line is the cross. The world contains two kinds of people today, the redeemed and the lost. We have created all sorts of subdivisions within both groups (Baptist/Methodist/Presbyterian on the one hand and agnostic/atheist/”seeker”/Muslim/Buddhist on the other) but when you get through all of the labels and subgroups there are really only two types of people: Christians and everyone else. You were either redeemed at the cross or you are eternally lost. There is no second place prize.

We also see the very root of eternal security on the cross, the action that makes sinners secure in their salvation. The sins of the elect are placed on Christ and He made propitiation for them. If the Christian is able to “lose their salvation” that would indicate that Jesus died for their sins and the Christian is still punished for them. That flies in the face of God as a just judge, sort of the theological equivalent of double jeopardy.

What else can you think of that was accomplished on that day almost two thousand years ago on the cross of Christ at Calvary?

At peace with God

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"

How often have you sung this Christmas hymn? In church it is a Christmas staple, and when I was younger we used to sing it in Christmas programs at school (when we were still allowed to sing Christmas songs and still call it Christmas instead of "the holidays"). But one line in that hymn really stands out to me, God and sinners reconciled. Christmas has become, culturally, all about the giving and receiving. We think about the babe in the manger as God's gift to the world. But I am afraid that we have lost sight of the cross because of the manger. Jesus coming in a miraculous birth to a virgin, in and of itself, accomplished very little other than fulfilling one part of the prophecy. It was at the cross where the Christ child was destined to ascend that the full reality of the gift of God to His people was realized. It was there, on the cross, where He brought peace between God and sinners.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col 1:19-20)

(Emphasis added)

What all of this tells me is the depths to which we once were His enemies. Our separation was so severe, the gulf so unbridgeable that peace between God and His people could only come at a terrible cost, the cost of the life of His Son. We have no peace in this life because we have no peace with God. It was an enmity that our sin has caused and it was a separation that outside of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit we are unaware of. Sure we know something is wrong in the world, but we don't realize that what is wrong with the world is not global warming, or capitalism, or war, or those people over there. What is wrong with the world is us. We were unable and unwilling to make peace with God, so God had to send His beloved Son to make peace with us. Don't buy that Total Depravity stuff? Think we are just generally good people who needed a little nudge in the right direction? Think again...

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

So we are all depraved, wicked sinners. But didn't Jesus come to bring peace? Certainly, but not the peace we usually think of.

The peace that Christ brings is not an earthly peace, a time of peace and goodwill. 2000 years of human history have proven that. There are wars, famine, hatred. The world is certainly not a peaceful place by any stretch of the imagination. So what is all of this peace talk about anyway? We read in Isaiah 9:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

We see on the glorious night that Christ was born:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:13-14)

But yet we don't see peace in the world nor should we expect to. The peace that Christ brought is peace with His Father, a peace treaty signed in His blood.

We are cynically called to remember "The reason for the season", but the reason for the season is not the manger, it is the cross. It is not the three wise men, it is the centurion who said: "Truly this was the Son of God!". It is not the adoring shepherds, it is the crowd screaming "Crucify Him!". The reason for the season is this:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Joh 1:14)

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and by His stripes we are healed. That is reason to celebrate. Not for iPods or gift cards, but because the eternal Word condescended to dwell among sinners who hated and rejected Him. But we also read that while we were yet sinners, He came and died for us. Celebrate that on Christmas day, celebrate that God and sinners are reconciled by the cross and because of that we have peace with God for all eternity.

Now that is deserving of a...

Merry Christmas!