Well, good evening. It's really great to be here with you.
My name's Dave. I'm a student at Union School of Theology in Wales
! And it's really good to be able to visit and open up God's Word together.
Let's pray before we do that.
Father God, it's an amazing thing, an awesome thing,
that you speak to us as we gather together as your people.
And we want to be those who tremble at your Word.
And so we pray that you would give us ears to hear,
give us soft hearts to listen and hear and understand
what you are saying to us this evening.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
New Year is a funny time, isn't it?
I think it provokes different reactions in different people.
For some of us, the fresh start of a new year makes us think,
right, I need to get my life together.
I need to be better this year.
And it's not just about joining the gym or getting fit.
If we're Christians, we want to glorify God more.
We want to serve Him more.
We want to love Him more.
To grow and to develop to maturity in Christ.
Maybe we've got New Year's resolutions and things like that.
But for some of us, the start of a year just makes us feel tired.
Here we go again.
You know, trying to summon enough energy to just keep going,
let alone making resolutions and making changes.
And after the year that we've had, I'm sure many of us are feeling a little bit like that.
Weary and flat, rather than raring to go.
But what is it that we need at the start of a new year?
What do we need as Christians?
Do we need a pep talk?
Someone to give us a motivational, rousing speech to rouse us to be better this year?
Well, God said that there's one thing that His people need every year.
He commanded them to do it without fail in the first month, every new year.
And you can summarize it in one word.
Remember.
Chapter 12, verse 14 says,
This day shall be for you a memorial day.
In other words, take a day to remember.
They were required every new year to remember one thing.
And it wasn't a to-do list.
It wasn't a list of resolutions and things to do to improve this upcoming year.
God wanted them to remember their redemption.
Chapter 13, verse 3 says,
Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt,
out of the house of slavery,
for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.
He's saying,
Start the year looking back to that monumental event when God rescued you from slavery.
In fact, this was so important that God actually changed the calendar.
Did you see that in verse 2 of chapter 12?
This month shall be for you the beginning of months.
It shall be the first month of the year for you.
In other words, New Year for Israel used to be in September,
but God changed it to March,
because that's when he brought them out of Egypt.
You need to start your year remembering that event, God says.
Remember that I saved you.
So every year they did this special ritual of Passover
to reenact the redemption from Egypt.
And at the start of this year, 2022,
God's people need the same thing.
We need to remember our redemption.
Instead of looking forward to this new year,
we first need to look back.
Instead of what we're going to do for God,
we need to remember what he's done for us.
And this is so helpful.
It's so wise of God that he gives his people sacraments.
That he gave the Passover in the old administration.
And he gives the Lord's Supper in the new.
Because one of the things that he's doing is
he's calling us to remembrance.
To do this in remembrance of him.
And we need this.
Whether we tend to activism or cynicism.
Whether we think,
I'm going to go and do all these great things for God this year.
Or whether we're just thinking,
how am I going to keep going this year?
This reminds us that salvation is all of God.
We may be desperate weaklings,
but God is strong.
He has done it all.
And he will complete his redemptive work in us.
And that's what's going to keep us going
whatever we might face this year.
That's what we're thinking about this evening.
Remember your redemption.
But before we dive into exactly what Passover commemorates,
a quick refresher of where we are in Exodus.
If you know the plot of Exodus,
it's on the edge of your seat kind of stuff.
God's people are slaves in Egypt,
and they're having a really bad time.
They've gone through an attempted genocide
where Jewish babies were being thrown into the Nile.
They're ruthlessly worked.
They're beaten and treated like animals.
But God hears their cries.
He remembers his covenant with Abraham.
And so he sends Moses to bring his people out of Egypt.
But God knows that Pharaoh is a stubborn guy.
His heart is rock hard towards Yahweh, the God of Israel.
So God sends horrible plagues on Egypt.
Plague after plague,
but Pharaoh won't give in.
And now God says to Moses,
I'm going to send one final plague,
and this time Pharaoh will let you go.
This plague is the worst of them all,
the final judgment on Egypt, basically.
The plague of the firstborn.
And this is what we're going to see.
Here's the thing,
the first thing that Passover helps us to remember.
God's people are spared from God's strike.
That's the first point.
God's people are spared from God's strike.
Flick back a page to chapter 11 and verse 4.
So Moses said,
Thus says the Lord,
About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,
and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.
From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on the throne,
even to the firstborn of the slave girl who's behind the hand mill,
and all the firstborn of the cattle.
There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt,
such as there has never been,
nor ever will be again.
This is a serious plague.
Every single firstborn son in the whole of Egypt is going to die.
They'll wake up the next morning,
and there'll be bodies of loved ones.
It's a scary, terrible thing.
But, verse 7,
Not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel,
either man or beast,
that you may know,
that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
So when Israel sees this plague unfold,
what is the thing that God wants them to learn?
Did you hear it?
Yahweh makes a distinction between his people and Egypt.
They'll be weeping all over Egypt,
but you, my people,
you will be safe.
This comes out really clearly in chapter 12, verse 27.
Moses says,
When you've done this strange Passover ritual on New Year's,
your kids are going to ask you,
What is this all about?
What does it mean?
And here's what you should tell them.
Verse 27,
That's the summary of what Passover means.
It says there,
Tell your kids God struck the Egyptians,
but spared us.
He made a distinction.
God's people were spared from his strike.
You know,
if you read on a bit further,
this distinction is the reason
why only God's people
were allowed to celebrate
and join in the Passover festival.
It says in verse 43,
No foreigner shall eat of it,
but, verse 47,
all the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
You see how clear the distinction is
that God makes between his people
and the other nations.
In fact,
the only way that strangers
could participate in the Passover
was to become one of God's covenant people.
Verse 48,
it says,
Let all his males be circumcised,
then he may come near and keep it.
He shall be as a native of the land.
God makes a distinction
between his people
and the other nations,
between Egypt
and between his people.
Imagine being one of those Israelites
who'd been redeemed,
whose family had been spared
on that first Passover.
A few years later,
you're gathered around the table
celebrating this Passover meal
like you do every year.
And you can't help
looking at your older brother,
the firstborn son,
thinking,
the only reason that he's alive right now
is because God stayed his hand.
He spared us.
It was literally a destroying angel
slaughtering the firstborn sons
all over the country,
in the palace,
in the servants' quarters,
even in the fields.
Even the cows didn't escape.
But we escaped.
You remember the wailing in Egypt
when all the firstborn died.
And you remember the relief
when your family,
when your people were spared.
It could have been us.
It should have been us.
But God spared us.
So remembering God's redemption
involved remembering
that they were spared
from God's strike.
That's the first point.
But if God makes a distinction,
what is it?
What is it that marks God's people out?
What makes us any different
from the world?
What made Israel any different
from Egypt?
You might say that
Egypt were the oppressors
and Israel were the victims.
Or you might think
Israel were just better
than Egypt.
They followed God's commands
whereas Egypt were rebels.
But even if you don't know
the story of Israel
and how completely awful
they were most of the time,
this chapter really shows us
that it's got nothing
to do with that.
The only difference
was blood.
Israel was ransomed
by the blood.
That's our second point.
Ransomed
by blood.
What do you think
was at the center
of the Passover ritual?
There are lots of
little details involved
but the main thing
was slaughter.
A lamb was slaughtered
and its blood was painted
on your doorpost.
It's strange, isn't it?
It's unpleasant.
But if you're a Christian
this bloody ritual
strikes to the very core
of who we are
and where we come from.
Look down with me
to chapter 12 verse 3.
God said to Moses,
Tell all the congregation
of Israel
that on the tenth day
of this month
every man shall take a lamb
according to their
father's houses.
A lamb for a household.
Then verse 6,
You shall keep it
until the fourteenth day
of this month
when the whole assembly
of the congregation
of Israel
shall kill their lamb
at twilight.
Then they shall take
some of the blood
and put it on the two doorposts
and the lintel of the houses
in which they eat it.
What was the point of this?
Why did they need
their doorposts dripping
with blood?
This is a strange thing
to do, isn't it?
Can you imagine
doing this every new year?
Squirting a load
of sheep's blood
on your front door?
Why?
Well, verse 12
tells us the reason.
God says,
I will pass through
the land of Egypt
that night
and I will strike
all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt,
both man and beast,
and on all the gods
of Egypt
I will execute judgments.
I am the Lord.
The blood
shall be a sign for you
on the houses
where you are
and when I see the blood
I will pass over you.
and no plague
will before you
to destroy you
when I strike
the land of Egypt.
The only difference
between an Israelite
and an Egyptian
was the blood
on their doorposts.
The difference
between God
striking you
and God sparing you
is the blood.
It was the sign,
it was the thing
that marked you out
as one of God's people.
And this is so important,
it's repeated again.
Verse 23,
For the Lord
will pass through
to strike the Egyptians
and when he sees the blood
the Lord will pass over the door
and will not allow
the destroyer
to enter your houses
to strike you.
When the destroyer came,
was he looking for
how righteous
they'd been?
How well they were doing
spiritually?
No.
He was looking for one thing.
The blood.
Is the blood
on the doorpost?
It's all about the blood.
God's people were spared
because they were
under the blood
of the lamb.
Isn't that surprising?
The mark of God's people
is the blood
of a baby sheep.
What does it mean?
And it's all about
ransom.
What comes to mind
when you hear
the word ransom?
I tend to think of
a hostage situation.
A bit like in films,
somebody's being kidnapped
and the kidnapper
sets a ransom.
Pay me
a million pounds
and they'll live.
And so that person
is ransomed
with that price
of a million pounds.
And it's a similar
idea here
except this time
imagine the kidnapper
sets the ransom price
as a swap.
A life
for a life.
The hostage
will live
if you come
and die
in their place.
And that's the kind
of thing that's going
on here
with the lamb.
Israel has sinned
and rebelled
against God.
They deserve judgment
just like Egypt.
Someone has to die.
It's not that
God said
it's okay
I'll let you guys
off because
we've got history.
No, judgment
still fell.
It just fell
on someone else.
How many lambs
do you think
were slaughtered
on that day?
A lot.
A lot of blood
on a lot of doorposts
to ransom
sinful Israel.
They were ransomed
by the blood.
This is
at the center
of who we are
and of our story.
These ancient
historical events
this ancient ritual
is for us today.
It was never
intended to be
purely about rescue
from Egypt.
It was always
about the Lord
Jesus Christ
and his great
redemptive work
for his people.
Do you remember
what Jesus did
when he celebrated
the Passover
with his disciples?
They were doing
exactly what
Exodus 12
says to do.
Remembering the
redemption from Egypt
through this ritual.
And Jesus
breaks the unleavened
bread and he says
take this.
This is my body
which is given
for you.
Do this
in remembrance
of what?
Of me.
You see that
Jesus is
telling them
celebrate the Passover
not just in memory
of Egypt
but in memory
of me.
It's about me.
He takes the wine
and says
drink it all of you
for this is my blood
of the covenant
which is poured out
for many
for the forgiveness
of sins.
In other words
I am the lamb.
I am your Passover
lamb
whose blood
ransoms you
whose flesh
you eat
in remembrance
of me.
In a few hours
his blood
will be spilled
not on the doorpost
but on a wooden cross
the ransom price
for our freedom.
Did it ever
impact you
how high
our ransom price
was?
When we were
hostages
to sin
and death
what was the ransom
price
over our heads?
What was the
father willing
to pay
for our redemption?
One Peter says
it wasn't
perishable things
like silver
and gold
there would never
be enough gold
in all the universe
to pay our ransom.
No, we had to be
ransomed
at the highest
cost imaginable
something of
infinite value
the precious
blood of Christ
like that of a lamb
without blemish
or spots.
he gave up
his own son
for us
his only son
God the father
gave his beloved
beautiful son
to be slaughtered
like an animal
for our ransom
it's actually
impossible isn't it
for us to
really take that in
but as the
Holy Spirit
applies that
to our hearts
it changes everything
we've been
ransomed
by the precious
blood of Christ
and that is
an awesome
fact.
you know
one day
Christ will
come again
and God
has appointed
him to judge
the world
this time
it won't just
be Egypt
but everyone
multitudes
billions
of people
before the throne
of judgment
how will he
know
who to spare?
Revelation
tells us
that God
has a book
of life
where the names
of all his
elect
all his chosen
people
are written
every single
one who's
been redeemed
everyone
who's been
ransomed
none of them
are missing
this one
is under
the blood
this one
and that one
are under
the blood
we are spared
the strike of
God
because we're
ransomed
by the blood
we've seen
that Passover
calls us
to remember
our redemption
we've seen
that's not a
vague kind of
thing
we're remembering
specifically
that we're
spared from
God's strike
his strike
of judgment
because we've
been ransomed
by Christ's
blood
so finally
we're going to
circle back
around to that
main point
of remembering
our redemption
what does that
actually look like?
how should we
apply this to
ourselves
as God's
people?
well for the
original readers
the main application
was pretty simple
keep the Passover
chapter 12
verse 14
says this day
shall be for you
a memorial day
and you shall
keep it
as a feast
to the Lord
throughout your
generations
as a statute
forever
you shall keep
it as a feast
or verse 17
you shall observe
this day
throughout your
generations
as a statute
forever
again verse 24
you shall observe
this rite
as a statute
for you
and for your
sons
forever
it was obvious
what Israel
was supposed
to do
keep it
observe it
do it
we're under
the same
covenant of
grace
but it's
administered
differently
isn't it?
we don't
celebrate the
Passover
in our
churches
we saw
earlier
that Jesus
transitioned
really naturally
from the
Passover
to the
Lord's
Supper
Passover
was always
about Christ
and now
in the
Lord's
Supper
we celebrate
him
as our
Passover
lamb
we participate
in his
body
and in his
blood
shed for us
so a very
simple application
is let's
continue
celebrating
the Lord's
Supper
together
as his
people
and we're
going to
do that
I believe
in a moment
I think
it's
particularly
helpful
at the
beginning
of the
year
to let
this
root
and ground
us
in grace
as we
share
in this
sign and
seal
of our
redemption
we remember
that we
are the
redeemed
people of
God
ransomed
by blood
so we
enjoy
we celebrate
the fact
that we've
done
absolutely
nothing
to earn
our
salvation
if nothing
else is
clear in
the Lord's
Supper
that is
we were
ransomed
by someone
else
we participate
in him
in his
body
and in
his
blood
it's a
bit like
that hostage
who's been
ransomed
he was
sitting there
tied to a
chair with a
blindfold on
in bondage
to his
kidnapper
but someone's
paid the
ransom price
for his
freedom
he walks
out the
door blinking
in the
sunlight
he's
free
but can
you imagine
if he goes
around
congratulating
himself
on his
daring
escape
boasting
about how
he managed
to survive
that would
be ridiculous
delusional
someone else
paid for
him to be
free
do you know
what's even
more ridiculous
if the
freed hostage
went around
moping
saying I
don't deserve
to be free
I'm too much
of a bad
person
it's my fault
I ended up
a hostage
in the first
place
I don't
deserve
to be free
and he
continues to
live as if
he was still
a captive
even though
the ransom
has been
paid
that would
be crazy
too
wouldn't it
we've been
ransomed
by God
and we did
nothing
to contribute
and God
won't let us
forget that
he commands
us in his
grace to
remember
our redemption
he's given
us this
gracious
sacrament
of the
Lord's
supper
saying do
this
continually
remembrance
of me
what a
gracious
God
you have
so let's
start this
year
resting
in his
redemption
enjoying
our freedom
celebrating
his finished
work
on our
behalf
let's
cheerfully
press on
in full
dependence
on Christ
our Passover
land
Amen