What Is the Passover?

Passover Recalls How God Rescued Israel

The first Passover was not a joyous occasion. It happened as part of the plagues God sent on Egypt to rescue his people from Pharaoh. In order to get Pharaoh to release God’s people from slavery, God threatened to send one final plague. He would send an angel of death who would kill the firstborn child of every family who lived in Egypt. The only way to be spared was to slaughter a one-year-old lamb and to spread the blood of that lamb on the top and side doorposts of the family home. 

Exodus 12:12-13 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

They were told to slaughter this lamb, to eat a meal from it in a very special way, and to put the blood on the doorposts. This was a sign of their faith in God. In this way, they would be delivered from his judgment.

Passover Shows How God Saves His People

One reason the Passover was celebrated so often in the Bible is that it shows the way God brings salvation to his people. In fact, God instructed the people to make sure that this celebration was repeated every year in Israel. 

Exodus 12:26-27 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’

Every year, as the Israelites celebrated Passover, parents would teach their children about the first Passover, to explain that this is how God saved his people long ago. This is how God still saves his people. He saves them by his mighty power as they put their faith in him.

Jesus Is Our Passover Lamb

The Passover is meaningful to Christians as well as Jews because of the role Christ played.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

The NT teaches that the true meaning of Passover is ultimately demonstrated in Jesus Christ. When he died on the cross for our sins, he was our Passover lamb. Just as God saved Israel when they believed in him and acted on their faith by following his instructions, God forgives our sins when we believe in Jesus. As Christians, we can look at the Passover and see its fullest meaning demonstrated in Jesus Christ.