Jesus Christ Our Passover Lamb
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Palm Sunday
1 Corinthians 5:7–8 KJV:
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover [lamb] is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
When you see the word “Passover,” it can mean the Passover Feast or the Passover Lamb.
For information about how leaven is not really talking about yeast like what we think of, refer to Jesus Christ Our Passover Part 3.
Here in 1 Corinthians, leaven is used to mean “sin.” A small amount permeates our entire lives. The context of Chapter 5 is that we need to become a new lump.
In Exodus, when the children of Israel were still in Egypt before the last plague came, they were to take the blood of the Passover lamb, sprinkle it on the doorpost, and remain in the house so that the angel of death would pass over that house and thus spare the firstborn in the house.
Exodus 12:11–13 KJV:
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
There is an idea of “covering.” The blood that was on the doorpost was a protection. For us today, when God looks at us, He sees the blood of Jesus Christ, our covering; He doesn’t see our sin.
Let’s look at some of the parallels between Jesus as our Passover Lamb and what was going on during Passover. The Passover feast was actually a type or a shadow, and Jesus Christ fulfilled it. It was a “shadow” because the people didn’t really know what it meant until Jesus fulfilled it.
The first parallel we’ll see between what was going on in Jesus’s life and in the community during the time of the feast is in Luke 19.
That Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Nisan, which in that year was a Wednesday. So counting backwards to the 10th brings us to Saturday, the Sabbath. You must remember that at that time, the days went from sunset to sunset (not midnight to midnight like it does for us). Therefore, Saturday for them meant sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. In other words, Friday evening was part of Saturday. The 10th of Nisan was the day that they chose the lamb that would be killed on the 14th.
The day they chose the lamb, there would be a celebration and a parade, which started at the Mount of Olives and paraded through the city to the temple where they would put the lamb on display. That’s what the procession was that they refer to today as Palm Sunday.
Luke 19:28–38 KJV:
28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. 29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. 31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. 32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. 33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? 34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him. 35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. 36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. 37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; 38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
That was part of the tradition. They sang that Psalm every year on the 10th of Nisan after choosing the lamb. As they were singing this, they saw Jesus riding on the colt, and their attention was drawn to him.
Psalm 118:19– KJV:
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: 20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 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 [Hosanna], 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.
There were certain criteria for the lamb that was chosen.
- It had to be without spot or blemish.
- It had to be a lamb of the first year.
- It had to be set apart from the 10th to the 14th of Nisan so that it could be examined by any person who came into the temple.
- It had to be chosen by the father of the family. The household might include up to 20 people, and the lamb would be chosen by the father or the oldest of the family.
We’ll see that from the 10th to the 14th was when Jesus was “examined.”
There were several times when a voice came from heaven to acknowledge that Jesus was God’s son. This was the third time, and it occurred during the time when the father would be choosing the lamb.
John 12:27–30 KJV:
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. 30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
This is to show that God, the Father, chose Jesus.
Part of the celebration of the Passover involved the people cleaning out the leaven from their houses.
Luke 19:45–46 KJV:
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer [intercession]: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
This parallels when people were going through their houses and cleaning out leaven (representing sin). Jesus’s Father’s house was the temple. So he went into the temple and cleansed it from the things that were wrong.
Jesus was cleansing his Father’s house, the temple, at the same time the people where cleansing their own houses.
Hebrews 12:1–2 KJV:
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Remember, from the 10th to the 14th of Nisan, anyone could examine the Passover lamb. During this time, Jesus allowed anyone—pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, elders—to examine and question him in the temple. Here’s one of those questions that they put to him:
Luke 20:1–8 KJV:
1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
As it got toward the end of the 14th of Nisan, late Tuesday afternoon, it says no man asked him any more questions (Luke 20:40). They couldn’t find any spot or blemish in him.
That evening, he taught the disciples about the bread and the wine at the last supper. That event had no parallel in the Passover feast.
The last supper was not the Passover meal because Jesus would be the Passover lamb. In fact, later, while they were killing the lamb, is exactly when Jesus died on the cross.
That evening, each head of a house would examine their house for any vestiges of leaven left in the house. They did it with silence and with candles. When Jesus goes before the Sanhedrin early in his “trial,” he answers not a word. He had complete silence. He did that because it was part of fulfilling the type, the shadow. Everything about his final actions and statements is about him fulfilling the type of the Passover lamb.
Throughout the night was the trial, the beatings. The next morning, at the third hour (about 9:00 AM), the Passover lamb would have been taken from outside the temple to the altar where it was tied. It was tied to the altar from about 9:00 AM until just before 3:00 PM, when it was killed. That was the exact time period that Jesus Christ hung on the cross! The time the Passover lamb was killed is the exact time that Jesus Christ died!
The things that Jesus went through on the cross are described in Psalm 22.
John 19:28–30 KJV:
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst [Psalm 69:21]. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
That was the very moment that the high priest slit the lamb’s throat, the blood spilled out over the altar, and the high priest who was officiating the Passover would say, “It is finished.” It means paid in full.
Simon of Cyrene had two sons, Alexander and Rufus, whom he brought with him to the Passover celebration. Later on, you can read in the epistles about Alexander and Rufus, who became wonderful believers and took a stand for God.
Watch the Lamb by Ray Boltz:
Romans 3:23– KJV:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation [mercy seat, a place of payment] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission [passing over] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Romans 3:25–26 NASB:
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation bin His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
What was happening to Jesus on the cross was simultaneously happening to the lamb. Jesus truly was our Passover lamb.
See Also
Jesus Christ Our Passover Series
Scripture References
Scripture marked (NASB) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
This teaching is also available on the Acts Now Fellowship website.
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