WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.320 Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to 2 Chronicles, chapter 35. 00:00:06.100 --> 00:00:14.580 ! That is page 360 in the Pew Bible. 2 Chronicles, chapter 35. As John mentioned, there are some 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:18.600 ! air-conditioned seats downstairs in our overflow room where we live-stream the service, so please 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.719 feel free to get up at any point during the sermon if you need to find a cooler seat. 00:00:25.560 --> 00:00:29.179 Let me pray for us as we come to God's Word, and then I will read. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:30.480 Amen. 00:00:34.980 --> 00:00:46.320 Holy are You, Lord. Thank You that in Your goodness and in Your sovereignty, You have spoken to us 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:54.400 words of life. Thank You that we have in Scripture the record of Your gracious dealings with us, 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:59.719 Your image bearers, and that You continue to speak through these words even today to point 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:06.019 us to Your incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus. So be with us now as we come to this Word. 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:12.200 Prepare our hearts to receive what You are saying to us through Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:20.180 All right, 2 Chronicles 35. Let's start with verses 1 through 19. Let me read. 00:01:20.180 --> 00:01:28.020 Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the 14th 00:01:28.020 --> 00:01:33.680 day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:39.640 of the house of the Lord. And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:45.780 put the holy ark in the house that Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:51.040 it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. Prepare yourselves according 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:55.620 to your father's houses by your divisions as prescribed in the writing of David, king of Israel, 00:01:55.659 --> 00:02:00.200 in the document of Solomon, his son. And stand in the holy place according to the groupings of the 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:05.000 fathers' houses of your brothers, the laypeople, and according to the division of the Levites by father's 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:12.180 household, and slaughter the Passover lamb, and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:20.680 to do according to the word of the Lord by Moses. Then Josiah contributed to the laypeople as Passover 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:26.860 offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000 and 3,000 00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:31.819 bulls. These were from the king's possessions. And his officials contributed willingly to the people, 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:36.620 to the priests and to the Levites, Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:42.519 house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:48.819 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah, and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, and Jael, and Josabad, 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:54.680 the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:59.939 and 500 bulls. When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, 00:02:59.939 --> 00:03:05.219 and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command, and they slaughtered the Passover 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:10.020 lamb. And the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:14.579 sacrifices. And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the 00:03:14.579 --> 00:03:19.620 groupings of the father's houses of the laypeople to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:25.539 of Moses. And so they did with the bulls, and they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:30.340 the rule. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots and cauldrons and in pans, and carried them 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:35.620 quickly to all the laypeople. And afterward, they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:39.139 the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night. 00:03:40.019 --> 00:03:43.060 So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:47.539 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:53.500 and Asaph, and Heman, and Jedethon, the king's seer. And the gatekeepers were at each gate. 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:58.939 They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them. 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:05.900 So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:12.460 on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. And the people of Israel who were 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:18.920 present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days. No Passover like it 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.420 had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:30.379 kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:39.180 who were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the 18th year of the reign of Josiah, this Passover 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:48.860 was kept. Well, I wonder if you have any annual traditions or annual celebrations. Maybe you have a 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:54.540 particular way of celebrating your birthday every year. Or maybe you have an annual family vacation that you look 00:04:54.540 --> 00:05:01.580 forward to. These sorts of traditions, they're important, aren't they? Not only are they enjoyable, but they mark the 00:05:01.580 --> 00:05:08.480 passage of time in meaningful ways. They give us a chance to reconnect with what's most important in our lives, and 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:17.439 they reset our perspective towards what matters most. Last week, Beth and I were away with our family in Delaware, 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:24.400 and on our drive home yesterday, Google Maps took us through the small town of Middletown, Delaware. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:34.080 And unbeknownst to us, this was the day that Middletown, Delaware was celebrating their 32nd annual 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:44.240 Old Time Peach Festival. Old spelled with an E and time spelled with a Y. I guess that sort of gave the 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:51.599 festival an air of antiquity and importance to the local residents. You know, but all in all, it looked 00:05:51.599 --> 00:05:58.079 like everyone was having a good time. And yet, as an outsider, I was a bit confused. I had never been to 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:04.159 Middletown, Delaware before, but I didn't think that Northern Delaware was particularly known 00:06:04.719 --> 00:06:13.199 for peaches. Why were they having an oldie-time peach festival? Georgia? That would be understood. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:21.919 Delaware? Not so much. So I started searching the internet. And of course, I found a page all about the 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:28.160 Peach Festival, which I learned was organized by the Town Historical Society. Ah, surely I thought, 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:35.600 there must be some good history here, some interesting bit of Mid-Atlantic history. But alas, 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:43.439 after scrolling the festival website, and after looking through their 17-page PDF about the Peach 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:51.840 Festival, the only faint rationale I could find was a one-liner on page four, declaring, 00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:03.039 that life is peachy in Middletown. Every year, for 32 years, this town has held an old-time Peach 00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:09.359 Festival. They even crown a Little Miss Peach and a Little Sir Peach. And there was simply no 00:07:09.359 --> 00:07:18.239 indication as to why. Well, I did a little more digging. And apparently, on a page buried on the 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:23.840 Historical Society webpage, apparently in the mid-19th century, Delaware was known for peaches. Who knew? 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:30.319 And by 1850, Middletown, of all places, became the center of the peach industry in Delaware, 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.960 which supplied markets all across the Northeast, from Philadelphia to New York, all the way to Boston. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:45.759 Meh, who knew? Okay, now here's the point. Our passage today is about an annual festival, 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:52.319 an annual celebration that God commanded His people to perform in the Old Testament, the Passover. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:58.159 In fact, this is probably the most important annual celebration in the whole Old Testament. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:05.120 It's the first one that God commands Israel to keep, and it's meant not just to mark time in 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:11.920 meaningful ways, but it's meant to reset and renew God's people around what matters most in their 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:22.720 relationship to Him. But many of us today don't know what really lies at the heart of this most 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:31.600 important Old Testament festival and why it matters. Of course, you and I would be no worse off if we had 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:36.560 no idea why Middletown, Delaware had an old-time peach festival, just like you might not be no worse 00:08:36.560 --> 00:08:43.680 off if you have no idea why we light candles and baked goods to celebrate a birthday, or why we lower a 00:08:43.680 --> 00:08:49.519 giant glass sphere down a 135-foot pole to celebrate the passing of another year. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:09:03.600 But this festival, the Passover, is something that God, the Creator of all things, etched into the history of His people. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:14.319 This is the story that God wanted told and retold for over a thousand years as His people awaited the coming of Christ. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:23.680 Surely to miss this story, to miss this meaning, is to miss something absolutely critical to understanding who we are 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:32.400 and what it means to be humans in relationship with God, our Creator, and our highest good. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:41.440 So we're going to think about the Passover today. And in light of that, I'm going to do something a little different 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:49.280 as we approach this passage. If you're new to Trinity, typically on Sunday, we would walk kind of verse by verse 00:09:49.280 --> 00:09:54.880 or paragraph by paragraph through a passage and sort of unpack it as we go. But today, I want to do something 00:09:54.880 --> 00:10:00.240 a little different. I want to take a step back and take a look at the Passover itself across Scripture. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:06.800 I want to ask, what is at the heart of the Passover? Why was it so significant 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:14.319 that Josiah, like Hezekiah before him, is largely remembered as a good king because he dedicated 00:10:14.319 --> 00:10:20.879 himself and his people to celebrating the Passover like never before? What's the Passover all about? 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:28.639 And why, at the heart of the Passover celebration, why at the heart of this most important festival, 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:38.559 is there this strange ritual act of a lamb being slaughtered? 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:49.039 So let's dive in. Now, if we were to go back to Exodus, where the very first Passover is recorded, 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:55.200 and where God then institutes the annual celebration that commemorates that Exodus event, 00:10:55.200 --> 00:11:04.800 we would see clearly that the Passover festival was the annual celebration of the great saving act of God. 00:11:06.640 --> 00:11:12.560 The Passover was the celebration that reminded Israel year after year that the creator of all things, 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:20.720 the creator of stars and planets and galaxies, the creator of mountains and forests and oceans, 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:28.480 the almighty creator of the glory, the almighty creator of the glory, was also their redeemer. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:37.759 The Passover festival was the annual celebration of the great saving act of God. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:45.279 And we can think of this saving act in three ways. We can think about what God saves us from, 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:52.879 and what God saves us for, and lastly, we can think about how God saves us, what God saves us by. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:03.919 So first, what is it God saves us from? Well, in the Passover, what God saves us from is slavery. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:11.759 Israel was enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years, and their cry of oppression was heard by God, 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:17.519 and God remembered his former promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God acted mightily in the 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:23.360 Passover to deliver his people from Egyptian cruelty and suffering and to bring them out of slavery. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.319 Every year, the Passover reminded the people of God that they were once enthralled to a cruel master. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:37.679 They were enslaved to toil and bitterness and death, that they were once helpless and lost, but now 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:46.799 now no more. God had overthrown their oppressor. God had cast down the cruel master who sought only to 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:54.239 use them and exploit them for what they could produce. God saved them from being mere things, 00:12:54.239 --> 00:12:59.120 mere objects. That dark past was gone, and they were slaves no more. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:07.519 God saved them from being mere. And there's a lesson for us here. Because in the full light of God's 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:16.560 revelation in Scripture, we see that the slavery of Israel and Egypt becomes a picture of something 00:13:16.560 --> 00:13:28.960 deeper. It becomes a picture of fallen humanity's slavery to sin. Sin is the ultimate cruel taskmaster. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:40.799 At first, sin may seem like a path of joy or flourishing, but in the end, it steals our agency 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:52.560 and it binds us to futile pursuits. Like the Israelites were soon cursed to make bricks without straw, 00:13:53.359 --> 00:13:58.479 and every year the required quota gets greater and greater. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:10.719 But the good news of the Passover is that God sees you. God sees you and I. He sees us in our slavery to sin. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:20.720 He sees the futile pursuits. He sees the empty paths. He sees how you have little regard or no regard for Him. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:32.720 And He has come to save you. You see, God did not create you to live as slave to your desires, to your 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:40.560 circumstances, to your addictions, to your faults, to your failures. God created you to live in freedom. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:49.519 And that brings us to our second point about the Passover, what God saves us for. And what God saves 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:57.519 us for is just that, His freedom. The Israelites were brought out of slavery in Egypt to become a people 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:04.720 who were free, and not just free from something, oppression and cruelty and slavery, but free for 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:13.519 something. Free for a life of purposeful image-bearing of their Creator. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:22.560 You see, in the slavery of sin, alienated from God, we're treated as things, and our work was futile. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.200 But in the freedom of God's salvation, 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:47.120 God sends us into the world to be makers in His image, to be sub-creators of cultures, of communities, 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:51.360 of families, of relationships that will resound with His joy and life. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:57.840 We are no longer living as slaves to our own desires or to the desires of another. We now live 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:04.000 to magnify the love and glory of God and to seek the flourishing of the created order, 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:10.800 and in particularly, to seek the flourishing of our fellow human beings, our fellow image-bearers. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:18.560 Now, what is, what is the sort of highest form of freedom? 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:26.239 I think if you were to ask many people today, they'd say that real freedom is to do what I want, 00:16:27.119 --> 00:16:32.959 to have no one stand in the way of my desires, to have no limitations, to have no impediments 00:16:32.959 --> 00:16:36.159 to fulfilling my wants. That's real freedom, we think. 00:16:38.479 --> 00:16:47.359 But let's apply that concept of freedom to a real-life example. What is real freedom for, say, an athlete? 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:58.480 Is freedom not to enter the game and perform at her highest level? Is that not? Is that not real freedom? 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:06.960 But how does that freedom come about? Does it come about through no limitations and no impediments to 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:16.799 her desires? Through no one standing in the way of her doing what she wants? Well, not really. In order for an 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:25.359 athlete to be really free, she has to follow a path of discipline, of training, of practice, hours in the gym, 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:30.639 hours on the field, and it will be challenging. There will be days when it feels like the training, 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:37.600 the practice, the practice, the path, actually goes against her desires and wants in the moment. It will impose limitations and impediments. 00:17:39.040 --> 00:17:43.600 But those limits are what make her most free 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:49.839 when it comes to really being an athlete. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.359 The same is true of nearly every other human pursuit, is it not? 00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:04.319 How does a musician become really free or a doctor or a teacher or a craftsman? You know, a craftsman can 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:09.599 frame a house or carve a piece of furniture with beautiful freedom only when they've apprenticed and 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.559 trained and worked hard for hours, for days, for weeks, for years. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:26.559 But friend, what if this same thing were true? Not just of certain human pursuits we might take up. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:33.119 What if the same thing were true of being human itself? 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:44.559 You see, the world that we live in is a created world, a created world with a created order. 00:18:45.439 --> 00:18:53.919 It has a shape, it has a grain, it has a reality to it, a shape and a grain that's fashioned by a good 00:18:53.919 --> 00:19:03.039 creator, by God. And what real freedom means for a human in this world is not ultimately 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:11.119 to live with no impediments to my desires, but to actually learn the grain of the world and to 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:21.119 live in line with it. That is, freedom really means knowing God and knowing God's intentions for 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:30.079 His creation and knowing God's purpose for us as image bearers. This is what God has saved us for. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:38.799 And this is what the Passover reminded Israel of year after year, that they were free people now, 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:46.960 free not just from slavery, but free for a life lived in productive engagement in the created order, 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:54.240 in glad obedience to God's Word to make all of life sing with joy to God our Creator. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:06.640 But third, we have to ask how. How does God save us from slavery and for this wonderful freedom? 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:14.319 And here we come to the heart of the Passover, and really to the heart of the whole biblical message 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:23.039 of redemption. And at the heart of the Passover is what? Well, we see it mentioned at least three times 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:29.919 in our passage, verse 1, verse 6, verse 11, where it says, they slaughtered the Passover lamb. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:38.879 At the heart of the Passover is a sacrifice. But what is this sacrifice meant to represent? 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:44.320 To understand that, we have to return again to the Exodus story, the first Passover. 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:50.400 And you remember there that God, at that point in the story, had sent nine plagues on Egypt, 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:56.800 and one more plague remained. And the tenth plague was going to bring death to every firstborn in the 00:20:56.800 --> 00:21:04.400 land of Egypt. The firstborn, of course, representing the whole family. So the death of the firstborn was a 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:12.880 sign of God's judgment upon human sin and guilt. But unlike some of the previous plagues, this last plague 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:21.759 will not just affect the Egyptians, it will come to everyone in the land, Israelites included. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:33.519 You see, everyone is accountable to God as their creator. And because none of us has loved God and 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:41.519 worshipped Him as He deserves, and because none of us have loved our neighbors as ourselves, we all stand 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:47.519 condemned. There's no one righteous, not one. God's judgment rightly falls on us all. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:55.440 And so when the destroyer of God's judgment in Exodus comes upon the land of Egypt, 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:02.960 no family will be spared. As God's perfect justice is enacted, the representative firstborn of every 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:09.599 family will die. God is not a respecter of persons, you see. God, unlike us, is perfectly good. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:16.639 So if judgment must come upon Egypt, then it must come upon all justly. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:28.000 And yet consider now, consider now the dilemma. In order for God to deliver His people from slavery 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:34.559 and into freedom, justice must be done. Wrongs must be righted. Evil must be accounted for. Guilt must be 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:42.319 punished. Because there's no entrance into real freedom without a real reckoning with evil and wrong. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:49.679 To simply just ignore or overlook the penalty of sin, to leave sin unpunished, would actually just 00:22:49.679 --> 00:22:56.559 produce a false freedom, a kind of illusion of freedom. How could we walk in freedom when sin, 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:04.720 the cruel master still roams about uncondemned? What sort of freedom would it be if the judge opened the 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:10.159 prison door, but we still remained handcuffed to the cell walls? 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:18.960 No, in order for real freedom to exist in the world, sin must be judged. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:32.320 But here is the dilemma. If sin must be judged, and if all have sinned, who will be left to enjoy the freedom? 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:46.159 But on that night thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, God revealed the mystery of His redemptive plan. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:53.279 God's people would be saved by a substitute. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:24:03.119 In the place of the firstborn, families were instructed to sacrifice a lamb, without spot, without blemish. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:07.440 And they were to take the blood of the lamb and mark their doorposts on the sides and on the top. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:14.720 And so when God's judgment came that night, God's judgment would literally pass over. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:28.480 Why? Because the lamb was the substitute for the firstborn. God provided a way for sin's penalty 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:38.079 to be paid by another in the place of the firstborn. This substitutionary sacrifice 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:49.599 satisfied the demands of justice because sin was judged in full while also opening the door to real freedom 00:24:50.799 --> 00:25:03.119 for sinners. The Passover reminded the people every year that their freedom was won through God's provision 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:12.159 of a substitute. A substitute who would stand in the place of their judgment so that they could enter the place of real freedom. 00:25:16.639 --> 00:25:17.199 And yet, 00:25:20.479 --> 00:25:26.639 as God etched this story into the history of His people and as they told it and then failed to tell it and then 00:25:26.639 --> 00:25:31.279 renewed their efforts to tell it again, as we see throughout the story of 2 Chronicles, 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:32.000 as we see throughout the story of 2 Chronicles, 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:32.559 as we see throughout the story of 2 Chronicles, 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.559 as we see throughout the story of 2 Chronicles, 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:36.240 aren't there questions that remain? 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:44.079 Does this substitute really preserve God's justice and win our freedom? 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.359 Can a lamb really stand in the place of a human being? 00:25:52.480 --> 00:26:00.559 How can a lamb take responsibility for what a human, a divine image bearer has done or failed to do? 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:06.639 Is that not, in a very real sense, not just? 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:15.119 But the Passover lamb you see was not the final word. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:22.160 It was just the first brush strokes on the canvas of God's redemptive picture. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:27.600 God provides a substitute so sinful humans can be set free. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.160 That is the bold brush stroke of the Passover upon the canvas. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:37.840 And those strokes would remain true and bright and unmistakable for the rest of time. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:46.559 But the outline would need to be filled in. The depth, the color, the texture would need to be added to that redemptive canvas. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:53.279 The sacrificial lamb was not the final picture. It was not the climax of the story, but the beginning. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:58.480 It was just a whisper of something greater to come. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:05.360 A mam. After all, a lamb couldn't really stand in the place of a human being. 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:05.360 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:16.939 being. But could a human being stand in the place of the Lamb? Could one human take responsibility 00:27:16.939 --> 00:27:29.299 for another? But push it a little further. Could one human take responsibility for humanity? 00:27:29.299 --> 00:27:38.180 Just as Adam was responsible for humanity's fall, could there be a second Adam, 00:27:38.639 --> 00:27:44.559 a true Lamb of God, who would take responsibility for humanity's liberation? 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:54.279 And then with the history of Israel's kings, it might have seemed like such a promise was underway. 00:27:54.279 --> 00:28:00.680 The kings came to represent the people, and David was a shepherd after God's own heart, 00:28:01.139 --> 00:28:07.099 and Solomon was wiser than any before him. Surely, liberation would come through one of these great 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:19.099 kings. But no, each king, David, Solomon, and every Old Testament king that followed, 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:28.679 they were as much in need of rescue themselves. They too needed a substitute. 00:28:31.459 --> 00:28:37.259 But on through the Old Testament, God didn't stop painting the redemptive picture. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:45.319 The substitute would be a king, and that king would be the true Lamb. But this king to come 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:51.740 would be unlike any king before him. This king would be a servant. 00:28:54.599 --> 00:29:00.399 And Isaiah, with the most clarity, would prophesy about this servant, 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:08.960 that this servant would be strong and gentle. He would be a descendant of David. He would fulfill 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:16.940 Israel's vocation, but he would not have worldly glory or fame. He would be despised and rejected. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.799 He would be spotless. There would be no deceit in his mouth. 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:26.240 But he would bear the transgressions of the many. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:34.799 Isaiah would say, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:43.480 And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all, like a lamb to the slaughter. 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:49.779 You see what Isaiah is saying? What God is saying through Isaiah? 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:58.240 That God promised a true Passover lamb would come, a true substitute. 00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:07.240 And it would be over 500 years until that promise was fulfilled, and yet God was faithful. 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:14.079 Because nearly 500 years later, on the banks of the Jordan River in the early part of the first century, 00:30:14.140 --> 00:30:15.480 another prophet would be preaching. 00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:23.079 And one day, this prophet named John the Baptizer would lift his eyes as the crowds gathered, 00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:25.039 and he would see Jesus of Nazareth. 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:29.839 And the Holy Spirit, through John the Baptist, John would proclaim, 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:35.139 behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:43.379 Jesus, who according to Matthew's gospel is a descendant of David's kingly line, came as a servant. 00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:47.939 Is this not how Jesus understood his own vocation? 00:30:48.939 --> 00:30:50.980 Listen to what he says in Mark 10, 45. 00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:59.019 The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:05.740 You see, Jesus' own self-understanding is that he would be this substitute. 00:31:06.639 --> 00:31:09.899 He would give his life for the many as a ransom. 00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:12.099 And what is a ransom? 00:31:14.139 --> 00:31:17.500 It's the price that would purchase another's freedom. 00:31:19.919 --> 00:31:23.199 Jesus is the true king, the true Passover lamb. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:24.319 He is the new Adam. 00:31:25.179 --> 00:31:29.359 You see, through the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, Jesus, 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:35.279 takes full responsibility for humanity by assuming a fully human nature. 00:31:37.159 --> 00:31:41.819 He is the one human who can stand for all of humanity. 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:52.740 And so God provides the substitute we need by becoming the substitute we need. 00:31:52.740 --> 00:32:07.779 You see, the story of the Passover was all along a story about God himself and the lengths that God would go for our freedom. 00:32:10.819 --> 00:32:12.839 Consider with me the character of Jesus. 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:20.639 By contrasting Jesus' final days with the final days of Josiah, this good king in 2 Chronicles 35. 00:32:21.459 --> 00:32:24.419 Why don't we read the rest of 2 Chronicles 35? 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:24.700 The Chronicles 35. 00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:26.960 The Chronicles says, 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:28.880 After this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:32.400 Necho, king of Egypt, went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:33.700 and Josiah went out to meet him. 00:32:34.800 --> 00:32:36.200 But he sent envoys to him, saying, 00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:37.980 What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? 00:32:37.980 --> 00:32:41.140 I'm not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. 00:32:41.580 --> 00:32:42.840 And God's commanded me to hurry. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:45.360 See, supposing God who is with me, lest he destroy you. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:48.960 Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:51.600 but disguised himself in order to fight with him. 00:32:52.459 --> 00:32:56.539 He did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, 00:32:56.779 --> 00:32:59.299 but came to fight on the plain of Megiddo. 00:33:00.199 --> 00:33:02.119 And the archer shot king Josiah. 00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:04.259 And the king said to his servants, 00:33:04.399 --> 00:33:05.959 Take me away, for I am badly wounded. 00:33:06.059 --> 00:33:09.659 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot 00:33:09.659 --> 00:33:10.659 and brought him to Jerusalem. 00:33:10.939 --> 00:33:13.419 And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. 00:33:13.699 --> 00:33:16.359 All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 00:33:17.179 --> 00:33:19.519 Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:24.519 And all the singing men and singing women had spoken of Josiah and their laments to this day. 00:33:25.059 --> 00:33:26.519 They made these a rule in Israel. 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:28.720 Behold, they are written in the laments. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:33.839 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his good deeds according to what is written in the law of the Lord 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:38.460 and his acts first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 00:33:41.420 --> 00:33:42.559 Josiah was a good king. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:46.799 But consider how much greater Jesus was. 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:52.039 Josiah goes out to battle against God's will. 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:57.379 Jesus goes out to battle according to God's will. 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:03.539 Josiah goes out against the political powers of his day, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon. 00:34:03.539 --> 00:34:10.940 But Jesus goes out against the deeper spiritual powers of our world, sin, death, and hell. 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:15.940 Josiah dies and is lamented. 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:18.920 Jesus dies. 00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:25.920 But consider, there is no lament written for him. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:28.559 Why? 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:34.659 Why is it that history passes down to us not a single lament of Jesus' death from his followers? 00:34:36.720 --> 00:34:40.380 Surely, if such a great teacher died, would there not be an outpouring of laments? 00:34:41.619 --> 00:34:42.500 But there are none. 00:34:44.579 --> 00:34:44.940 Why? 00:34:44.940 --> 00:34:54.059 Because on the third day after Jesus' crucifixion, God demonstrated that Jesus' death was no tragedy. 00:34:54.920 --> 00:35:01.720 God the Father raised Jesus from the dead in demonstration that Jesus was the sinless Son of God 00:35:01.720 --> 00:35:05.500 and his death was the substitutionary sacrifice that God promised to send. 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:08.639 Jesus was the servant Isaiah foretold. 00:35:09.260 --> 00:35:11.840 Jesus was the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world. 00:35:11.840 --> 00:35:18.559 And so when the church remembers his death, it's not with songs of lament for a dead teacher, 00:35:18.680 --> 00:35:23.019 but with songs of praise for a risen and victorious King. 00:35:24.260 --> 00:35:28.079 Because in the sorrow of the cross, every sorrow was swallowed up. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:31.180 And joy became ours. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:37.460 Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood. 00:35:38.460 --> 00:35:40.600 Sealed my pardon with his blood. 00:35:41.140 --> 00:35:41.539 Hallelujah. 00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:42.700 What a Savior. 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:46.480 Or as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, 00:35:46.620 --> 00:35:49.400 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. 00:35:50.019 --> 00:35:53.039 God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 00:35:53.059 --> 00:35:55.760 so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:35:56.539 --> 00:35:58.360 What, after all, is the nature of sin? 00:35:58.760 --> 00:36:01.100 It's when humans put themselves in the place of God. 00:36:02.620 --> 00:36:04.340 And what is the nature of our salvation? 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:09.200 It's when God puts himself in the place of sinful human beings for our redemption. 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:16.659 And so now that Christ has come and has lived, died, and rose again and has ascended to the Father's right hand, 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:20.779 in light of the full light of the New Testament, the message of the Passover is this. 00:36:20.780 --> 00:36:27.220 God has become the substitute in Jesus so that sinful humans can be set free. 00:36:27.219 --> 00:36:33.099 And the question now is twofold. 00:36:34.819 --> 00:36:37.699 Will you receive this substitute for yourself? 00:36:37.699 --> 00:36:40.859 And will you keep the feast? 00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:45.179 Christ identified with us as our substitute. 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:51.000 The only right response in light of what he's done is to now identify with him. 00:36:51.799 --> 00:36:55.079 To put yourself, as it were, under his death and resurrection, 00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:59.679 just like the Old Testament Israelites put themselves under the blood of the Passover lamb in Egypt. 00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:01.899 And how does one do that? 00:37:01.940 --> 00:37:03.739 How does one identify with Jesus? 00:37:05.099 --> 00:37:07.259 Well, it is through repentance and faith. 00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:11.639 It's through agreeing with God that your sins deserve death 00:37:11.639 --> 00:37:15.559 and through entrusting yourself to Jesus as your substitute. 00:37:16.619 --> 00:37:20.859 And once you've come to receive and believe in Jesus, 00:37:21.359 --> 00:37:25.779 the next step is to make that internal act public through baptism. 00:37:25.780 --> 00:37:30.160 Baptism means publicly identifying with the risen Jesus 00:37:30.160 --> 00:37:33.200 as your and the only substitute and Lord. 00:37:35.660 --> 00:37:39.680 But the question isn't just will you receive this substitute for yourself, 00:37:40.140 --> 00:37:43.920 but also will you keep the feast? 00:37:44.100 --> 00:37:45.880 Notice in verse 17 of our passage, 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:50.900 the people keep the feast of unleavened bread for seven days after the Passover celebration. 00:37:51.700 --> 00:37:55.420 This feast of unleavened bread for seven days was a symbolic time 00:37:55.420 --> 00:37:58.440 when the people cleaned out all of the leaven in their homes 00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:00.800 to remember their hurried flight from Egypt 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:02.579 when they didn't have time for their bread to leaven. 00:38:02.680 --> 00:38:05.260 So they left and they only ate unleavened bread. 00:38:06.260 --> 00:38:08.320 And the Apostle Paul picks up on this pattern 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:11.260 in 1 Corinthians 5 and he writes, 00:38:11.800 --> 00:38:15.940 Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:19.059 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, 00:38:19.539 --> 00:38:22.240 not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:27.039 but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 00:38:28.759 --> 00:38:34.319 What the Old Testament celebrated symbolically for seven days 00:38:34.319 --> 00:38:38.039 becomes for the New Testament church 00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:40.739 an entire way of life. 00:38:42.759 --> 00:38:46.399 All of life now is the feast of unleavened bread, 00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:48.359 but it's not about the sort of bread that we eat, 00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:50.920 but about the sort of lives that we lead. 00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:53.579 As people who've been set free, 00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:57.019 we now live as free people. 00:38:58.200 --> 00:39:00.680 Here, Paul mentions specifically 00:39:00.680 --> 00:39:03.780 in the freedom of sincerity and truth. 00:39:05.860 --> 00:39:08.180 Think, if Christ really is our Passover lamb, 00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:10.559 if that truth really hits home for us, 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:14.519 then we will become more truthful people, 00:39:14.579 --> 00:39:15.079 will we not? 00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:16.559 How? 00:39:18.340 --> 00:39:20.900 How does the Passover lamb of Christ 00:39:20.900 --> 00:39:22.880 make us more sincere and truthful? 00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:27.719 Well, because in Christ's substitutionary death, 00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:31.119 the ultimate truth has been spoken about our lives. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.179 And on the one hand, it's a truth that's more revealing 00:39:34.179 --> 00:39:37.059 and more unmasking than any other truth about us. 00:39:38.219 --> 00:39:39.940 The truth of Christ as our substitute 00:39:39.940 --> 00:39:42.119 says that we are sinners who deserve judgment. 00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:45.759 That truth has already been publicly proclaimed 00:39:45.759 --> 00:39:47.400 in Christ's substitutionary sacrifice. 00:39:47.759 --> 00:39:49.259 He didn't die for his sins. 00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:50.539 He died for ours. 00:39:51.659 --> 00:39:53.900 And we've already agreed with that truth 00:39:53.900 --> 00:39:54.980 when we become Christians. 00:39:56.719 --> 00:39:57.880 And so now, 00:39:58.619 --> 00:40:00.799 there is really now 00:40:00.799 --> 00:40:02.339 no truth 00:40:02.339 --> 00:40:05.159 that we cannot speak 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:07.859 for fear of embarrassment or shame. 00:40:07.860 --> 00:40:09.660 You see, 00:40:09.700 --> 00:40:10.800 the ugliest thing 00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:11.640 about us 00:40:11.640 --> 00:40:13.059 has already come to the fore. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:15.559 Our truth is already known. 00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:19.880 And so we can be sincere people, 00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:22.559 admitting when we're wrong, 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:24.940 confessing our sins 00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:26.440 to trusted friends and mentors, 00:40:27.640 --> 00:40:28.579 taking responsibility 00:40:28.579 --> 00:40:29.820 for our mistakes. 00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:33.360 We become people of truth and sincerity 00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:35.240 because of the substitute. 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:38.779 But there's another side to it as well. 00:40:40.019 --> 00:40:41.679 The substitutionary death of Christ 00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:43.479 doesn't just speak the truth about our sin. 00:40:44.679 --> 00:40:47.179 It also speaks the truth about our acceptance. 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:50.139 What's true about us 00:40:50.139 --> 00:40:51.219 isn't just that we're sinners, 00:40:51.939 --> 00:40:54.319 but what's more true 00:40:54.319 --> 00:40:58.439 is that we are loved and embraced by God. 00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:02.940 Jesus Christ took your place. 00:41:03.579 --> 00:41:03.980 Why? 00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:07.880 Because He chose to. 00:41:09.099 --> 00:41:10.260 He chose to. 00:41:10.380 --> 00:41:11.679 Nothing compelled Him. 00:41:12.099 --> 00:41:14.460 He was not forced to take your place. 00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:16.720 He did it because He loved you. 00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:20.260 And He wanted to set you free in His love. 00:41:21.539 --> 00:41:23.460 And if you know the freedom of that love, 00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:25.700 you won't just be a loving and compassionate person, 00:41:25.780 --> 00:41:26.480 you will be that, 00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:28.340 but you'll also be a truthful person. 00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:31.039 You'll be able to speak the truth 00:41:31.039 --> 00:41:33.099 no matter how costly it is 00:41:33.099 --> 00:41:35.179 because no matter what it costs, 00:41:35.460 --> 00:41:38.119 you can't lose now the most important thing, 00:41:38.420 --> 00:41:41.079 which is the love of God. 00:41:46.019 --> 00:41:47.300 And friend, I submit to you 00:41:47.300 --> 00:41:48.320 that if you don't see 00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:50.719 the substitutionary nature of the gospel, 00:41:50.719 --> 00:41:53.419 then you haven't yet begun to see 00:41:53.419 --> 00:41:56.019 the real power of the gospel in your life. 00:41:57.939 --> 00:41:59.399 When you can say, 00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:02.059 in my place condemned He stood, 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:04.480 when you can sing, 00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:05.980 for me He died, 00:42:06.399 --> 00:42:07.819 for me He lives, 00:42:08.339 --> 00:42:11.259 and everlasting life and light He freely gives, 00:42:11.260 --> 00:42:13.740 when you can say that 00:42:13.740 --> 00:42:15.640 and know that, 00:42:15.640 --> 00:42:18.960 you will become a person 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:22.980 who is sincere and truthful 00:42:22.980 --> 00:42:25.480 when everyone else around you 00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:26.520 is afraid to speak. 00:42:27.180 --> 00:42:28.780 You will be bold, 00:42:29.540 --> 00:42:32.680 but you will also be patient and wise 00:42:32.680 --> 00:42:35.880 because you don't need to prove yourself either. 00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:38.300 You don't need to win arguments 00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:39.420 or best your opponents. 00:42:39.559 --> 00:42:41.360 What more could that give you 00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:43.420 than you already have in Him? 00:42:46.200 --> 00:42:47.200 Behold Him there, 00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:48.820 the risen Lamb, 00:42:49.559 --> 00:42:53.039 my perfect, spotless righteousness, 00:42:54.039 --> 00:42:56.280 the great, unchangeable I am, 00:42:56.360 --> 00:42:58.079 the King of glory and of grace, 00:42:58.599 --> 00:42:59.700 one with Himself, 00:43:00.340 --> 00:43:01.360 I cannot die. 00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:04.599 My soul is purchased by His blood. 00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:08.239 My life is hid with Christ on high, 00:43:08.639 --> 00:43:12.380 with Christ my Savior and my God. 00:43:13.299 --> 00:43:14.339 Let's pray. 00:43:16.500 --> 00:43:19.539 Father, by Your Spirit, 00:43:20.420 --> 00:43:24.179 help us to see in Christ 00:43:24.179 --> 00:43:27.440 the wonderful and glorious provision 00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:29.440 of His substitute, 00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:33.559 our great Lamb who has set us free. 00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:35.619 We pray this in His mighty name. 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:36.119 Amen.