Behold the Lamb
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Jesus is the Passover Lamb
For a newer version of this teaching, see: Jesus Christ Our Passover Lamb
John 1:29 KJV:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Everything that happened to the Passover lamb happened to Jesus at the same time.
When the Jews were cleaning the leaven out of their houses, Jesus Christ symbolically cleaned the leaven out of his Father’s house.
At the exact time that the first Passover lamb was being killed, Jesus Christ died. The parallels between what happened to Jesus and what happened to the Passover lamb were amazing.
Resurrection power helps heal the grief in your life.
1 Peter 1:3 APNT:
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his great mercy has fathered us anew to the hope of life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 1:18–21 APNT:
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with silver that is corruptible, nor with gold, by your empty works that you received from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of the lamb, who has no spot or blemish, who is Christ.
20 He was previously appointed to this before the foundations of the world and was revealed in the end of times for you,
21 who by way of him have believed in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and your hope would be in God.
Our faith and our hope is in God because of the resurrection.
Jesus was raised from the dead 72 hours after he was put in the grave. That was the same time they were cutting the first sheaf of barley out in the fields. The barley sheaf was released from the ground at that time. During the night they would prepare the barley, making fine flour, for the first fruits offering. It would be presented in the temple about sunrise the following day (Sunday).
1 Corinthians 15:20–26 APNT:
20 But now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first of those asleep.
21 And as by way of a man came death, so also by way of a man came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all men die, so also in Christ all live,
23 each in his order. Christ was the first [and] after that, those who are of Christ at his coming.
24 And then will be the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when every ruler and every authority and all powers cease.
25 For he is going to reign, until he places all his enemies under his feet.
26 And the last enemy, death, will be abolished.
Jesus Christ is the First Fruits Offering.
John 20:1 APNT:
Now on the first of the week [Sunday], Mary Magdalene came in the early morning while it was dark to the tomb. And she saw the stone that it was taken away from the grave.
John 20:11–18 APNT:
11 Now Mary was standing by the grave and was crying. And as she cried, she looked into the grave.
12 And she saw two angels in white who were sitting, one by his pillows and one at his feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid.
13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have put him.”
14 She said this and she turned back and saw Jesus standing [there]. And she did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying and whom do you seek?” Now she thought that he was the gardener and said to him, “My lord, if you have taken him, tell me where you have put him. I will go [and] take him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” And she turned around and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbuli,” which means Teacher.
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brothers and tell them [that] I ascend to my Father and your Father, and [to] my God and your God.”
18 Then Mary Magdalene came and declared to the disciples that she had seen our Lord and that he had told her these [things].
In verse 17, Jesus said “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” But later, other women meet him on the road and he lets them touch him. What happened between those two time periods?
Hebrews 4:14 ESV:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Jesus had passed through the heavens to the throne of God, and presented himself as the first fruits—at the exact time that they were presenting the first fruits offering in the temple.
Jesus was not only the lamb, he was also the first fruits offering.
What does the resurrection mean to us right now?
Romans 4:23–25 APNT:
23 And not on his [Abraham’s] behalf only was this written: His faith was counted for uprightness,
24 but also on our behalf, because he is also prepared to count [uprightness to] those who believe in him who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead,
25 who was delivered up for our sins and rose in order to justify us.
Romans 1:1–2 APNT:
1 Therefore, because we are justified by faith, we have peace toward God by our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 by whom we were brought by faith to this grace in which we stand and boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Christ died to free us from sin. Then, when God raised him from the dead, we were justified and freed from blame. Then we were ushered into having complete, full access to the Father.
I encourage you to meditate—mutter over and over—these verses. The word meditate, in Aramaic, is a picture of a lion crouching over its prey.
Romans 8:11 APNT:
And if the Spirit of that one who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you, that one who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also make alive your dead bodies because of his Spirit that lives in you.
Romans 8:23–25 APNT:
23 And they are not alone, but we also who have the first[fruit] of the Spirit groan within ourselves and we wait for the adoption and the redemption of our bodies,
24 because we live in hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For if we see it, why do we wait for it?
25 But if we hope for something that is not seen, we continue with endurance.
Philippians 3:21 APNT:
who [Jesus] will change the body of our humiliation that it would be in the likeness of the body of his glory, according to his great power by which all is made subject to him.
1 Corinthians 15:42–57 APNT:
42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. They are sown in corruption. They are raised without corruption.
43 They are sown in disgrace. They are raised in glory. They are sown in weakness. They are raised in power.
44 It is sown a natural body. It rises a spiritual body. For there is a physical body and there is a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written: Adam, the first man, became a living soul. And the last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.
46 But the spiritual was not first, but the natural and then the spiritual.
47 The first man [was] dust from the earth. The second man [was] the lord from heaven.
48 As he was [of] dust, so also [are those of] dust. And as he who was from heaven, so also [are] the heavenly [ones].
49 And as we have worn the likeness of him who is from dust, so we will wear the likeness of him who is from heaven.
50 And I am saying this, my brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, nor [can] corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery. Not all of us will sleep, but all of us will be changed,
52 suddenly, as the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet sounding, and the dead will rise without corruption and we will be changed.
53 For this [one] that was going to be corrupted will put on incorruption. And this [one] that [was going to] die will put on immortality.
54 Now when this [one] that is corrupted puts on incorruption, and this [one] that dies, immortality, then the saying will happen that is written: Death is swallowed in victory.
55 Where is your sting, death? Or where is your victory, grave?
56 Now the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.
57 But blessed [be] God who gives us the victory by way of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When they chose the lamb on the 10th of Nissan, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey, and the people were waving palm branches. Palm branches symbolize victory. They were saying, “Hosanna,” meaning save now. During the Passover celebration, they read from Psalm 118, including:
Psalm 118:21–26 KJV:
21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
1 Corinthians 15:58 APNT:
58 Therefore, my brothers and my beloved [ones], be steadfast and do not be moved, but excel always in the work of the lord, knowing that your labor is not fruitless in the lord.
Scripture References
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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