Last updated on November 5, 2024
Jesus and his disciples were now in Jerusalem. It was a Sunday. So many people were there because it was almost Passover. As I mentioned in an earlier reflection, Passover was one of the three primary feasts in which Jews from all over would come to Jerusalem.
During Passover the Jewish people remembered the time when God freed his people from Egypt. They had been slaves there for almost 400 years before God raised up Moses to lead his people.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve heard this story, let me give a quick summary.
Moses went to Pharaoh and told him to “let my people go.” When Pharaoh refused, God sent a plague. Each time Pharaoh would agree to let them go, but then he would change his mind. And thus God would send another plague. The final plague was that God sent an angel of death throughout Egypt to kill every firstborn son. But God’s people were told to sacrifice a lamb, and take the blood and spread it on their front doors. The angel passed over those homes that had the blood on the doors.
Yes, I know, it’s a very graphic story. But it was, and still is today, a truly important story for the Jewish people.
Jesus purposefully chose this time of Passover as the time when he would be handed over to the religious leaders and be killed. He was the true lamb of God, and his death would provide true rescue and true freedom for not simply the Jewish people but for all people.