I have been spending some time reflecting on the Passover and the Passion narrative of Jesus of Nazareth. I was just letting the imagery wash over me when something came to mind that I'd never considered before...probably because for most of my Christian life the Passion was only synonymous with Easter - not Passover...but the imagery was that of the first born of all of Egypt being killed as a 'last resort' to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites free. That
after all is where we get the term Passover - it was the night that Israel painted their doorposts with blood from a lamb in order that the Spirit of G_d would 'pass-over' their homes and not take their first-born!
Now many years later in the 1st century C.E. - G_d is giving
His first-born (only) son at Passover...
What beautiful imagery...imagery that I am not exactly sure what to do with but find myself drawn to!
Questions I am wrestling with:
- Is this some kind of a 'repayment' demonstrated by G_d?
- Is there a correlation or is this just coincidence?
- Why haven't I read anything in Christian commentaries about this?
- If this has meaning - what is it?
4 comments:
first off, great layout for your new blog!
second, i guess i "always" correlated Christ's (as the son of G-d) death with the Passover. (always = for so long i've forgotten how long.) it is beautiful, how G-d doesn't take what He isn't willing to give Himself.
i was thinking of the "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" verse just yesterday and appreciating how Jesus was the full embodiment of both mercy and sacrifice.
glad to see you posting your thoughts again. can't wait to get back to portions - i really miss it!
That is good imagery. Sorry I don't have any profound thoughts right now - but it is great imagery.
I would not be surprised if the two were directly related...so many things "line-up" with the Biblical holidays. Everything from Christs birth (no...I am not talking about Christmas!) to circumcision - to when Jesus taught in the temple - to the releasing of the spirit - it is all lined up perfect with the Biblical holidays.
I am only beginning to see these things, honestly - it is sad "Christians" i.e. Christ-Followers - are so out of touch with Christ's life and the beauty of the holidays. We like to dismiss them as "Jewish" or some of us might even say "Messianic" and then we dismiss them....but...if it's what Jesus did...and we're Jesus-Followers..shouldn't we know this stuff?!?! Or do we just take parts of what Jesus did and apply it to life today....
What you've found is one of the most important truths overlooked by Christians.
In particular is the importance of seeing passover as marking FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY...in the case of the Israelites it was physical slavery. In the case of Christ it was slavery to a spirit so weak and prone to faithlessness. This is the "If the son makes you free, you are free indeed" sentiment in John 8:34-36.
But there are more tie-ins as well relating to Passover<->Manna<->Sinai
and
Passover[Christ]<->Bread of Life<->Pentecost
[Pentecost (giving the law of the New Covenant in complete form through the Holy Spirit) happened 50 days after Passover...just as the giving of the Mosaic Law began 50 days after the first Passover. The Manna relates to part of God's word given to sustain the Israelites until receiving the Decalogue as Christ's preaching on earth is a snapshot of the law of the New covenant law.]
But there's more as well...in particular the Greek of Romans 3:25-26 I believe paints Christ as a passover sacrifice. The word generally translated "propitiation" there is actually not "propitiation" but "place where sacrificial blood is placed." It generally referred to the Mercy Seat, but it ALSO refers to the lintels where passover blood is placed. And what words does Paul use to refer to it...he says God was demonstrating that He had 'passed over' the sins previously made.
There's more to it than above...I listed many other tie ins on another blog...but unfortunately don't have that post handy.
The above discussion became a half-page footnote in my book.
By the way, a portion of what I was referring to in my last post is described here.
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