A Simple Outline for Passover
TELL THE STORY
· Israel, God’s chosen people, had lived in Egypt for 430 years. What had begun as a place of refuge became the land of slavery. Israel lived as slaves to the Egyptians. The children of Israel cried out to the Most High God; He heard and sent Moses to set them free.
· God chose to release 10 plagues on the land of Egypt.
1. Nile turned to Blood
2. Frogs everywhere
3. Gnats everywhere
4. Flies everywhere
5. Sickness
6. Boils on the people
7. Large hailstones wrecking everything
8. Locusts eating everything
9. Darkness during the day
10. The plagues got worse and worse, until the last one - the death of the all the Egyptians’ first born. This plague struck Pharaoh’s first-born son.
· This process caused great upheaval in all of Egypt. After every plague, Moses went to Pharaoh to say “let My people go.” but Pharaoh refused.
· After the first few plagues, the Israelites were protected from the plagues in their land of Goshen. God made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians.
· Before releasing the 10th plague, God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to take a perfect lamb from their flocks, prepare it, kill and eat it. They were to take the blood of the sacrificed lamb and paint it on the door frame of their homes. When the angel of death came at midnight to destroy Egypt’s firstborns, he would pass over every home that had the blood of the lamb on their door frames. The terrible plague would not touch them.
· It is the Lord’s Passover. ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike 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. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:11b-13)
· So, this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Which they have done for centuries. (Exodus 12:14)
· Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, became the Passover Lamb. He died on Passover. It has always been all about Jesus! Communion, the Lord’s Supper, fulfilled and carried on Passover.
· With all this in mind, let’s look at Luke 22:7-20.
· Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
So, they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
· God had this moment in mind from the very beginning. Jesus would fulfill the Passover Feast at this time.
· 14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
· 17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [Let’s all drink the cup of salvation together.]
· And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” [Let’s all eat the bread together.]
· Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” [Take this at the end of your meal, we will call it the cup of blessing.]
· As we celebrate the Passover this evening, we are declaring the blood of Jesus, Who died on the cross for us. His blood saves us from our sins and from the pandemic plague spreading throughout the earth. We declare this over our families, friends, and spheres of influence.
Prayer
· Gracious God, we declare with faith that the blood of the Passover Lamb, Jesus, protects us from our sin. We declare the blood of Jesus protects us from the coronavirus and every other sickness.
· Thank you for providing salvation for us through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus.
· Help us to make Jesus first in our lives and draw us closer to Him.
Amen.