140. The Intersection of Passover and Easter (with free Passover Chart), with Laurie Donahue
In this podcast, I am sharing 3 stories. The first story is the story of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. They were made to work hard, building bricks, and their masters were cruel. But God had a plan to rescue them. Moses was chosen to be their leader. When he repeatedly went to Pharaoh and asked for him to free the Israelites, Pharaoh repeatedly said “No.” So God gave the plagues of Egypt to the Egyptians to show Pharaoh that God was in control. Although they were all powerful, the last plague was the most dramatic. God sent an angel to kill all the firstborn babies and the firstborn animals of the Egyptians. But He spared the Israelites.
They were to sacrifice a lamb (Passover Lamb) and put its blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the angel came through to kill the firstborn children, he would “pass over” those houses that had the blood of the sacrificed Passover Lamb on the door posts, and spared the Israelites. Following that, God commanded the Israelites to celebrate Passover as a remembrance of God’s rescuing them. Don’t you just LOVE that theme of rescue throughout the Bible!
Now I have another story I want to remind you of. It happened the night before Jesus was crucified on the cross. Jesus was meeting in the Upper Room with his disciples for a very special meal together. It was a very intimate time of sharing for many of them, but for Judas, it was the night he betrayed Jesus with 30 pieces silver. This is the night that Jesus gave them the wine and the bread and said “This is my body which is given for you. This is my blood which was shed for you.” Jesus was telling them that soon He would be sacrificing His life for them, so they could live forever with Him. This was the first communion and it is packed with meaning.
Now, here is the reason for telling these two stories together. They are intimately connected. You see, when Jesus met with his disciples for the Last Supper, the night before His death on the cross, they were actually celebrating Passover. They were celebrating God’s rescue of His people by way of the Passover Lamb’s blood painted on the doorframes. So Jesus' death happened during the Passover celebration- resulting in our death being passed over because the Lamb of God shed His blood for us on the cross! All while they were celebrating the Jewish Passover. WOW! And the most intimate of all events, the Last Supper, is the vehicle for displaying God’s grace and mercy on us through the sacrifice of His Son. Again given on Passover.
Looking back on this, it’s clear to see that Passover foreshadowed our salvation. The gift I referred to above is a worksheet that your students can use to look up Scriptures that compare the Passover rescue to our rescue through Christ. It makes our rescue so much more memorable to see that God was working throughout history, preparing for our rescue. This chart is taken from The Lord's Supper… Let’s Get Ready! where this is explained on the kids' level in more detail in this workbook.
Here are the links to those things I mentioned in the podcast:
Free Passover Parallels Chart
The Lord's Supper… Let’s Get Ready!
Help Me Remember the Plagues of Egypt
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May you have a blessed and peaceful Easter 2025!
Laurie
Ireland