The Lamb of God

Exodus 12.1-11

The Passover has been celebrated approximately 3,456 years by the Jewish people. On the night before Jesus died He celebrated it with His disciples. As they reclined to eat He said, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." (Luke 22.15)

The Passover would become the LORD's Supper. The focus of the Passover was the lamb. This one in the upper room in Jerusalem had the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world seated there among them, Jesus Christ. He was there in symbol in that first Passover, which we just read about.

1. A Lamb For Each Family vs.1-4
God created the family. It is the foundation of social structure.
"As goes the family, so goes the nation." - Ronald Reagan
This feast was centered in the home- small intimate group- God reminding them again that the nation began as a family.

It was the father-husband who got the lamb for the family. I can remember specific things I did with my dad. Young boys who went along would have this in their memory. Every household was covered- every person. Acts 16.31

v.4 Share the lamb We are to share Christ with our neighbors, in our neighborhoods- no one should be without the Lamb.

This lamb was to be very special.
2. A Perfect Lamb v.5
It was to have no defects.
Leviticus 22.22 Do not offer to the LORD the blind, the injured, or the maimed or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as an offering made to the LORD by fire.

God wants our best, God deserves our best. God gave us His best, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, going back to Abraham's word to Issac in Genesis 22.8 God Himself will provide the lamb/ God will provide Himself the lamb.

It is sad that so many want God to give them His best but they offer God the scraps of their lives. So many have little regard when it comes to giving of themselves but they want God to give to them.

3. The Blood of the Lamb. vs.6-7
v.13 Passover- when I see the blood.

It is Jesus Who said when He took the cup and gave thanks and offered it to His disciples in that Passover Feast the night before He died. "This is My Blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many." Mark 14.24

Under the first Passover there was a lamb for each house. Under the New Covenant, "Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. I Corinthians 5.7

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. God so loved the world... John the Baptist, "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

4. Bread Without Yeast and Bitter Herbs v.8
Sinless Perfect Lamb of God
Bitter for Christ in His Death- for us in life's trials

Jesus spoke of His return in this feast- Mark 14.25 I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.

John writes in I John 3.3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.
His return makes us want to be free from sin and causes us to seek to be pure and make necessary changes to do so.

5. Nothing Leftover vs.9-11
This shows the sacredness of the Passover and the LORD's Supper and Christ and His work.We need to recapture that reverence and awe of Him today.

One more thing on this... When Jesus fed the 5,000 in John 6 He said Gather up the fragments. Let nothing be wasted. We waste so much food here in America. It is a sin- a big sin. There is coming a time if Jesus tarries when we won't be able to. Excess is never an excuse for waste. Asking God to bless the food we are going to eat and then throwing half of it out is wrong. I never saw that happen in the weeks I spent in China.

The main thing here is the Sacredness of the Lamb

Lamb of God
Jesus, Our Savior
God's Own Son
Heaven's Favor

He came to die
Upon a Cross
Gave Himself up
To save the lost

He shed His Blood
For Adam's race
On Golgotha
He took our place

Our sins are covered
By His blood
Jesus, Our LORD
Son of God