Those who first heard these words would
have looked upon Jesus with utter amazement as the lamb was at the center of
one of the most significant events in Israel’s’ history, their deliverance
from slavery in Egypt. God commanded each family to take a lamb, keep it for
three days and then kill it at midnight. Blood from the lamb was then put on
the door posts and lentil of the house. That night, an angel was sent to kill
every firstborn in the land of Egypt but he passed over every house with
blood on the door posts and lentil. Israel’s deliverance immediately followed
and this deliverance has been commemorated every year since at the Passover
feast.
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Christ fulfilled the Passover when He died
on the cross as God’s Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7). He was crucified on the very
day Israel commemorated the feast (Mark 14:12). As Isaiah wrote, “He was led as
a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He
opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
The gory nature of what was commanded is
naturally offensive but it points to the true cost of sin in the eyes of God.
The blood of the lamb was required in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The
blood of Christ was required to ensure man’s deliverance from sin. The question
is ... how is this applied to you?
God would have you “Behold the Lamb of
God.” You can have deliverance from sin in Him.