The Zone Gathering

This week, Christians around the world are celebrating the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, remembering His suffering and sacrifice and preparing to rejoice in His resurrection.  As Pastor Mark said this weekend, no death in history has been more noble, more courageous, more influential than Jesus’.  Through His blood, we became heirs to the covenant with God.  He has forever bridged the gap between God and men, providing for our redemption and reconciliation.

The Old Testament Survey small group has been studying God’s covenant relationship with His people, and two pictures of Jesus emerge in the Old Testament which really resonate during the Lenten/Easter season.  Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb, the once-and-for-all sacrifice to bring us into right relationship with God.  He also is our Kinsman-Redeemer, the one who secures our inheritance as God’s children.  As we reflect this week on Jesus’ life and sacrifice, let’s examine how He fulfills these roles for us today.

Jesus Christ, Our Passover Lamb

As you may recall from your study of the Bible or your Sunday School classes as a child, the Passover was instituted by God to commemorate the deliverance of His chosen people, the Israelites, from bondage in Egypt and His sparing their children from the plague of death on the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus 12-13).  The Passover is celebrated on the tenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar.

Exodus 12-13 outlines the requirements for celebrating the Passover.  In general, one lamb per household was slaughtered, its blood put on the sides and tops of the doorframes to signal that the “angel of death” should “pass over” the house and not slay the firstborn within.  The meat of the lamb was roasted over the fire and eaten along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast (unleavened bread).  The Passover meal was to be eaten in haste, with cloaks tucked in, sandals on feet, and staff in hand, signifying God’s imminent deliverance. 

Passover was commanded as a “lasting ordinance” and is still celebrated by the Jews today.  In fact, it is being commemorated this week, just as it was during that week in Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ was crucified. 

“The Passover was not only commemorative but also typical.  The deliverance which it commemorated was a type of the great salvation it foretold.  No other shadow of things to come contained in the law can vie with the festival of the Passover in expressiveness and completeness.  The paschal lamb must of course be regarded as the leading feature in the ceremonial of the festival.  The lamb slain typified Christ the ‘Lamb of God’ slain for the sins of the world.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, emphases added).

Several verses in the New Testament confirm Jesus as the Passover Lamb:

1 Corinthians 5:7 - For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Peter 1:18-19 - For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

John 1:29, 35-36 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”…The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

Revelation 5:11-12 - Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.  They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

It is interesting to note that one of the instructions given to the Israelites in sacrificing the paschal lamb was “do not break any of the bones” (Ex. 12:46).  The lamb was a symbol of unity - unity of the family, of the nation, of God with His people.  As our Passover Lamb, Jesus’ bones were not broken when He was crucified (see John 19:31-36; Psalm 34:20).

“The Passover is a type of deliverance from the slavery of sin.  It is the passing over of the doom we deserve for our sins, because the blood of Christ has been applied to us by faith.  The sprinkling of the blood upon the door-posts was a symbol of open confession of allegiance and love.  The Passover was useless unless eaten; so we live upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was eaten with bitter herbs, as we must eat our Passover with the bitter herbs of repentance and confession, which yet, like the bitter herbs of the Passover, are a fitting and natural accompaniment.  As the Israelites ate the Passover all prepared for the journey, so do we with a readiness and desire to enter the active service of Christ, and to go on the journey toward heaven.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

Jesus Christ, Our Kinsman-Redeemer

Another Old Testament picture of Christ can be found in one of His early ancestors, Boaz.  As you may recall, Boaz was a “kinsman-redeemer” who took Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi (both widows) under his wing and provided for their needs and protection.  As beautiful as the story of Ruth and Boaz is in and of itself, understanding the role of the kinsman-redeemer is necessary to fully appreciate how this ancient practice is reflected in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer (goel) is used 13 times in Ruth and basically means “one who redeems.”  It comes from the verb ga’al, “to redeem, deliver, avenge, act as a kinsman.”  The basic use of ga’al had to do with the deliverance of persons or property that had been sold for debt (see Lev. 25:23-34, 47-55).  The responsibility to “redeem” belonged to the nearest relative - brother, uncle, uncle’s son, or a blood relative from his family (Lev. 25:25, 48-49).  The person (kinsman) who “redeemed” the one in financial difficulties was known as a kinsman-redeemer (Ruth 2:20).

The role of the kinsman-redeemer is best described in Ruth 4:5: “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”  In essence, the kinsman-redeemer was responsible for preserving the integrity, life, property, and family name of his close relative.

Jesus Christ is our Kinsman-Redeemer.  He redeemes us and brings us closer to our Father, securing our inheritance as His children.  Galatians 3:13-14 tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law…He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”  Titus 2:14 says that Christ gave Himself that “He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.“  We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

Much like Boaz spread his covering over Ruth, Jesus Christ spread His covering — His own blood — over us that we might be saved.  He protects us and provides for us.  He defends us (Jer. 50:34) and forgives our sins (Eph. 1:7).  He longs to be the Kinsman-Redeemer who brings us closer to God and secures our eternal inheritance.  Rejoice in the words of Job — “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25). 

Praise be to Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb and our Kinsman-Redeemer!  Happy Easter!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 9:22 am and is filed under Bible Drills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.