The Cross and Passover (John 19:17-36)
At the beginning of John's Gospel, John
the Baptist introduced Jesus by calling him the "Lamb of God" (1
:29, 36). This odd phrase might refer to the
sacrificial lamb that was killed daily in the Temple (Exod 29:38-46) or to the sacrificial lamb of Isaiah 53:7 (cp. Acts 8:32-35; Rev 5:5-14). Both rituals of sacrifice spoke of
rescue and forgiveness from sin.
However, this was not all that John had in mind. John
presented Jesus as the Passover lamb
whose death marks the central event of the Passover season (see Exod 12:46; Luke
22:7; I 1 Cor 5:7). In the first century, Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
each spring to celebrate the Passover and to reread the story of the Exodus
(see Exod 12-15). When Israel was being rescued from Egypt, the blood of a lamb
was sprinkled on the doorposts of each Jewish home in Egypt and saved those
inside from death (Exod 12). Jews who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover needed to supply a perfect young lamb for the sacrifice. The animal could not
be diseased or have broken bones.
Jesus used his final Passover meal to show that His
sacrificial death would give new meaning to the festival (Mark :14:17-31). In John,
the cross became an altar where Christ, the Passover lamb, was slain. Jesus'
legs were not broken (19:33), fulfilling a Passover rule (19:36; Exod 12:46). Blood
ran freely from his wound (19:34), showing that his life was being exchanged
for others. Just as a lamb died to save the lives of Jewish families at the
Passover in Egypt, so, too, this one death of the Son of God on the cross
serves to bring salvation to the world.
Prayer Points
›We are thanking God for His salvation work through
Jesus Christ
› We are asking God to forgive our unbelieve and our
harden of heart, for not upholding the salvation work of Jesus
›We are bleeding for the blood of Jesus to cover every
area of our lives
›We are asking God that as we remember the salvation
work of Jesus today, He should save the lost and also save us all from any
troubles in this world.
›We are asking God to bring His salvation upon us by
using His people just as He used Jesus. He should use the church, people He has
call in the health service and all other avenues
We ask this all
in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Ghost
This content was made possible by NLT Study Bible and
Pastor Amankwah Richmond’ Archives
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