Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Reflection
"Tell the whole congregation..." Yes, we are to tell the commands of the Lord. We can see the commands of God in our presence as well. We can see the commands of God in the Bible. We can see and hear the commands of God in the Sacraments as well. "Tell the whole congregation..."
As we hear and read the Word of God in the Bible this Word made flesh in the coming of God in Christ Jesus becomes active in ourselves as well. We hear what is being told to the whole congregation and the whole of God's creation. We hear in the Word and see in the Sacraments and see in the actions of disciples of Christ the love God has for all creation and all people.
Through the blood of the Lamb; through the giving and offering by God of the sacrifice of himself in flesh and in the blood of Jesus; God has promised to passover us and our sinfulness. When God comes with a command, God comes with a promise and this promise for this passage for the Israelites is salvation from persecution and freedom through the blood of the Lamb.
The blood of the Lamb to be fulfilled in completion at the time of God's coming in Jesus and the shedding of Jesus blood for all. Yes, that's the depth of God's love.
This passover for us as well as for the Israelites of the Scripture above was a time of change. A time of change from day to night. A time of change in the lamb upon the fire as God speaks to us like God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. A time to be prepared to leave something behind and go towards new life. A time of change in the eating of the Lamb along with the bitter herbs of slavery. Slavery to Egypt and for us slavery to sin. Yes, this passover is a time of change towards the face and commands of God, towards life and salvation eternal all through God's gracious, life-giving, promise of love for us and all people.
"Tell the whole congregation...." Even tell all those God gives to you each day. Perhaps tell all the world the love of God in Christ Jesus through the blood of the Lamb and the passover and salvation from sin, death and the devil.
Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WpQA9ybz8c
Prayer
Lord, I come to you sinful and need your passover. Turn me from my sin and as I face you to follow you, I seek your forgiveness and life saving blood. May I live my life with active love as you have shown all the world... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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