Passover 1 - Expiation
| The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household... The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover. (Exodus12:1-11) |
The first aspect of Passover I want to explain is "Expiation".
Expiation: "the act of atoning for wrongdoing or sins, typically through some form of reparation, penance, or punishment. It is the process by which someone seeks to make amends or restore balance for a moral or religious transgression. Expiation often involves acknowledging one's faults, seeking forgiveness, and undertaking actions or rituals to cleanse oneself of guilt or sin." (ChatGPT)
In the context of Moses and the Israelites, the Angel of Death was going to visit the Israelites because they too had been worshipping Egyptian gods. (This is confirmed in Joshua 24:14) They needed forgiveness too.
The act of expiation God gave them was to offer an unblemished sacrifice and to paint its blood on the doorposts and thresholds of their homes.
At Easter we celebrate that Jesus willingly became the expiation for our sins.
He is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." (John1:29)
And because He was without sin, He could die in our place so that we could be forgiven.
We should "paint" His blood at entrance and exit of our day to day lives:
As I start each day, I remember that He loved me so much that He died for me.
At the end of each day, I remember that He paid for all my sins.
Because of His expiation I am a loved, forgiven and restored child of God.
