We all know well that on the day of Preparation for the Passover, around 30 AD, our Lord Jesus of Nazareth, the holy and perfect Lamb of God, was sacrificed on a cruel Roman cross, paying the blood price to redeem us from our sins. His death fulfilled perfectly the picture of the unblemished sacrificial lamb slaughtered on the first Passover, whose blood daubed the lintels of Jewish houses to save God’s people from the dreadful plague of the firstborn: allowing the angel of death to ‘pass over’, and heralding their escape from slavery.

But as we sync in with God’s calendar, it’s good to remember that Passover is a week-long feast: and though its beginning is of paramount importance, its end (which has just passed yesterday and today) is also significant.

On the 7^th day of Passover, Jews remember the miraculous deliverance that God wrought when He parted the Red Sea, seven days after their escape from Egypt, allowing the Children of Israel to escape the pursuit of the Egyptian army - who were all drowned, horses and riders.

As Christians, this wonderful picture of deliverance is rich with symbolism. It is a sign of our passing from death to life through the rescuing work of Christ, of our identifying with his death and resurrection symbolically by passing through the waters of baptism, and of the miraculous and total destruction of the enemy of sin, whose claim on our lives is utterly drowned.

Let’s dwell on this today, and take some time to rejoice and thank the Lord for His goodness, as Miriam did when she led the Jewish women in singing and dancing on the other side of the Sea. You can find Miriam’s song in Exodus 15.

As we do, it is interesting to note that the rabbinical traditions have added an 8^th day to the 7 Passover days instituted in the Bible. On this 8^th day, Jews look forward to the coming of the Messiah. Passages about redemption are read from the Prophets and a special meal is eaten not unlike the Passover seder, with unleavened bread (matzah) and wine.

In one respect, this is a sorrowful reminder of the many Jews who do not yet recognise Jesus as their Messiah. But in another respect, it is a reminder to every believer to rejoice in the glad knowledge that the Messiah has already come, and will come again! As Passover 2018/5778 draws to a close, may it remind us of our blessed hope in His sure and certain return.

Author: Frances Rabbitts