Jesus: The True Passover Lamb
If you wonder how an animal could substitute for a human, the answer is that ultimately it couldn’t (Heb. 10:4). How God could pass over human sin because an animal died was a problem still demanding resolution (Rom. 3:25).
Good Friday is when God finally resolved it.
The reason Jesus came to Jerusalem that final time wasn’t just to celebrate Passover, but to become our Passover.
Just as even Israel stood exposed to God’s wrath in that 10th plague for their idolatry, so we all stand exposed to God’s righteous wrath for our idolatry. All of us have sinned and fallen short of his glory. And apart from some provision, every last one of us was going to perish eternally under God’s wrath in the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. Because God is holy and just.
But in his infinite love, God devised a way to be just and merciful at the same time. Salvation through substitution. The Passover was meant to paint a picture of that, but it wasn’t the real thing. But when we get to the Gospels, the true substitute is here. In the words of John the Baptist, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
As with all typology, Jesus is greater than the Old Testament type. This time God didn’t ask us to provide the lamb—he provided the Lamb himself. And this Lamb was no beast—he was fully God and fully man—like us in every way except sin (Heb. 2:17; 4:15).
This Lamb was no beast—he was fully God and fully man—like us in every way except sin.
And yet as with all typology, Jesus corresponded to the Old Testament type in many ways. Like the Passover lamb, he was a mature male (Luke 3:23), none of his bones was broken (Ex. 12:46; John 19:36), he was thoroughly examined and found spotless (1 Pet. 2:22), and he was slain for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; Rev. 1:5). We boast that we’ve been redeemed, “not with perishable things like silver and gold—but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19).
That’s what Paul means when he says that “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” Our salvation comes through his substitution. That’s why God can say to us, “When I see his blood, I will pass over you.”
Which leaves one question.
Is His Blood Applied to You?
Are you covered by the blood?
Recall what Exodus 12 says. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t enough for the Passover Lamb to be slain. In order for God to pass over them, its blood had to be applied to their door. If they’d omitted that, the