Passover. My favorite holiday of the year. It is the time we remember how we were pulled from slavery; how will are eternally rescued from the curse of sin and death. And oh! How we need to remember; that there is a Law greater than the curse. That there is a Love greater than sin. That there is a Hope greater than the vaporous shadows and dim dimensions of this life. How easy it can be for our minds to be set on that which is directly before us; to forget eternity.
The Almighty knew this; our frail human nature. And so he prescribed annual remembrance. The “Feasts of the Lord” are encoded within the pages of Life. Evident cycles of redemption throughout every story; every Feast from Shabbat, to Pesach, to Sukkot. Each ready for our participation; our consumption – our slow and thoughtful chewing upon and digestion of. That Word which is a lamp to our feet, and the same Word; Who was, is, and forever shall be. His provision of reminders later provided even more avenues to recall Truth. “As often as you eat of this [unleavened] bread, and drink of this [third Passover Cup of Redemption], do this in remembrance of me…” Remember I am the Chosen One (from before the foundations of the world were spoken into being) and in my love and mercy, I planned to come to buy back your life from the law of sin and death.To cover your blood guilt with my abundant life which extends past the edges of this “time realm.” “The LORD appeared to him long ago, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
Pesach, is the time we remember how Blood is our only safe passage into life. But not just any blood; the blood of the only pure One. The Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Our lives are a doorway; a passage of time within eternity. Our distracted and unfocused minds can quickly forget our place within a great universe of space and time – easily smudged from memory is our fitting. Our cares are significant yet they don’t exist in the same pressing way within heavenly realms – and so we must take time to remember. To cast our cares, and in that lighter space, to remember. Only in applying the life and way of Messiah to the lintel of our minds and the doorposts of our deeds, can we be rescued from the curse of death. Do you remember the story? How the death angel roamed through Goshen? There was only one way to live despite the curse.
We are made in the image of God; we are imbued with his character attributes. Did you know that your left side represents judgment and justice? Your right side represents the Love and Mercy of God. The strength of our arms reminds us of our daily deeds; whether from a place of kind intention, or selfish gain. The path to life requires regular application of Jesus’s practices to our deeds. In our desire for justice, the greater deeds of mercy & love must be enacted by His principles. Yes, He gave clear instructions and these are actions, not solely emotions.
Our continual struggle, is to let our emotions align with the deeds of love and mercy we display. This is true intention. In Hebrew, the word is Kavanah, and it is our highest form of worship. To align our being in deed and heart. To “love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
This Pesach, I am remembering that the Lamb of God, was silent before accusation, was forgiving in the face of betrayal, and was willing in the space of deep pain. The Great High Priest subjected Himself to this shadowland in order to become one of His created beings; to feel as we feel. Isaiah 53 explains His method and His motives.
“He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth... Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”
There is more in that passage. Take some time to chew on it this weekend if you haven’t already. You’ll find deep beauty there within the thorns. The thorns He wore.
Passover has become one of our favorite family traditions. We have our favorite foods and our favorite ways to remember the plagues. But the diamond of meaning, is in the golden thread of redemption that wove its way from Goshen, through the sands of Arabia, and into the etching of words on stone. It has lit up every story of our faith with its glimmer, and is transcendent beyond the measure of time. Wound its way around a skull mounted cross in threads of flowing crimson and it culminated in tongues of fire; illuminating and teaching each one who follows the way.
By the leaving of our Messiah, we have been given a great counselor, to teach us what it means to enact good deeds of mercy and love; to let them triumph over our need for justice (John 16:5-15). To apply Beatitudes to our thinking, and wash our minds in the water of the Word. That Word is the One who became flesh and dwelt among us; who was begotten before the foundations of time. To let Him wash our thinking and redeem the very processes by which we understand the world and life around us. To learn the meaning of abundant life and forego the slavery of this fallen realm.
Passover for me, is the thread of His great Love which reaches beyond all space and time into my now. Passover is exactly what Job said: “‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.’ (Job 33:28)”
Wishing you and yours the remembrance of being Passed Over yet again.
© Jena Rutan 2022.
All rights reserved.
Scripture references are from the NASB.
For continued study and personal reflection
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
Leviticus 17:11
“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.”
Exodus 6:6
“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.”
Exodus 12:13-14
“The next day [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”
John 1:29
“…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
1 Corinthians 5:7
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:26
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”
Ephesians 1:5-8
“[Messiah entered] not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. … how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Hebrews 9:12-14
“you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
1 Peter 1:18-19
