The Passover

Devotional Reading: This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven. Matthew 26:28 CEV

To understand the significance of the meal Jesus shared with His disciples the night before His arrest and His ultimate sacrifice, we need to travel back to the Old Testament, to another spring night centuries earlier.

The night before God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave them a special ceremony to perform. This came at the end of God sending horrible plagues upon Egypt because their ruler Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to God to free the Israelites.

That night, every firstborn of the Egyptians were struck down, but not of the Hebrews. The Hebrews were to put a mark of blood on their doors so God would “pass over” their homes and not touch their firstborn. In honor of God passing over the Hebrews, they would celebrate this special meal every year.

Centuries later, when Jesus sat down with His disciples to share The Last Supper, He was once and for all offering the precious blood that would mark us as His. If we accept Him as our Lord, He puts the mark of His blood over our hearts so that we don’t receive the punishment for our sins.

Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we don’t have to cringe because of fear. We can approach His throne with confidence. The price has been paid.

Prayer and Confession
Thank you Jesus for your blood! Amen.

Further Reading – Exodus 12:21-30, Hebrews 4:16