Passover (Pesach)

A lamb without blemish. Blood on the doorposts. Death passing over. The night Israel was born as a nation - and the shadow of a greater Lamb who would come centuries later.

Observed on the fourteenth of Nisan, the Passover recalls how the blood of the lamb protected Israelite homes from judgment in Egypt's tenth plague, marking the start of their redemption from bondage. Known as Pesach, this spring feast serves as the Old Testament's foundational redemption event and points to Christ as our Passover Lamb whose sacrifice delivers from sin. Jesus connected it to the new covenant during the Last Supper, showing its ultimate meaning in his atoning death.

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Details

Category: Spring Feasts
Hebrew Name: Pesach
Timing: 14th of Nisan (March/April)
Calendar: Nisan (1st month), 14th
Season: Spring
Observance: Slaughter of a lamb, application of blood, eating roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, retelling the Exodus story.

Significance

The foundational redemption event of the Old Testament. The lamb's blood provided protection from judgment.

New Testament Fulfillment

Jesus was crucified on Passover as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Last Supper was a Passover meal.

Key Chapters

Exodus 12 The Passover and Exodus 9 min read This passage shows how God lovingly delivers His people through obedient trust i... 1 Corinthians 5 Immorality in the Church 2 min read Christ as our Passover reveals how His sacrifice delivers us from sin’s bondage ... Luke 22 The Last Supper and Arrest 8 min read This passage reveals Jesus fulfilling Passover by offering his own life as the u... John 1 The Word Became Flesh 6 min read This passage reveals Jesus as the ultimate Passover lamb, whose loving sacrifice...

Key Passages

First Passover

Exodus 12:1-14

This passage shows how God lovingly delivers His people through obedient trust in His appointed means of protection.

A¹nd the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

² This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: ⁴ And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶ And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ⁷ And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. ⁸ And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. ¹⁰ And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. ¹¹ And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover. ¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite 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. ¹³ And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Christ Our Passover

1 Corinthians 5:7

Christ as our Passover reveals how His sacrifice delivers us from sin’s bondage into the freedom of new life with God.

P⁷urge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

The Last Supper

Luke 22:14-20

This passage reveals Jesus fulfilling Passover by offering his own life as the ultimate sacrifice that brings forgiveness and new relationship with God.

A¹⁴nd when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

¹⁵ And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: ¹⁶ For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. ¹⁷ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: ¹⁸ For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. ¹⁹ And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. ²⁰ Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Lamb of God

John 1:29

This passage reveals Jesus as the ultimate Passover lamb, whose loving sacrifice delivers us from sin and death into new life with God.

T²⁹he next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Did You Know?

Passover has been observed continuously for over 3,400 years. The oldest religious festival still practiced.

Jesus was crucified on Passover. The Lamb of God died at the same hour the Passover lambs were slain.

The Last Supper was a Passover meal. Jesus reinterpreted its elements as his body and blood.

The blood on the doorposts formed the shape of a cross: top, two sides.