The Many Facets of the Passover Season

Brethren, often we talk about the four seasons of the year. This is springtime, and we're looking forward to more of it. Summer is a bit hot, winter is a bit cold, fall most of us like pretty well. We probably have our personal favorite season. I suppose many of us here in Ohio do like the spring season best. The flowers will be out soon. The daffodils are ready to bloom before long, so it's going to be beautiful outside soon.

The trees will start to flower. Now, the Bible also speaks of seasons. It speaks of assembling together during three different seasons of the year. We often read about these seasons when we take up an offering on the Holy Day, when we read Deuteronomy 16, where it talks about three seasons. We all greatly enjoy God's fall festivals, especially the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, we're already making plans for where we will observe the Feast in 2026. It's nice to get away for eight days and worship every day and draw near to God. So I know we all look forward very much to the fall Holy Days, and they are extremely important and meaningful, and they point to a future time when Christ will return, Satan will be bound, God's kingdom will be established, the new heavens and the new earth are coming.

But God's kingdom is not here yet, and we have to live in the here and now. So today I want to discuss, in some ways, a much more important, meaningful season. To me anyway, personally, of course, that's the season of the Passover. It is a very meaningful time and season of the year. And if we don't learn the lessons of the Passover season, and if we don't apply them in our lives, then the fulfillment of the fall Holy Days will not come to pass for us individually. It won't turn out the way we would hope.

So it is important that we learn the lessons of the spring Holy Days. In preparation for observing the Passover, once again, let's consider some of the many facets of the Passover season. So if you want a title, it's the many facets of the Passover season. Why is the Passover season so meaningful? Why is it so powerful and so essential for the spiritual well-being of all God's children? What can we learn from focusing on the many facets of the Passover season?

So I've got seven different conditions of the Passover season, things that we need to understand about it. And the first one is Passover season is a season of humility. We are to learn humility during the Passover season. It is very humbling to consider that the Son of God had to die because of your sins and my sins. We, all of us, caused Christ's death. And we all had a part in it because the wages of sin is death.

We've all sinned, and we need a Savior, and Jesus Christ is that Savior, that perfect sacrifice for us. So in a sense, we all caused Christ's death. And what a shame that we were all involved in killing Christ. Christ was innocent. He was pure. He was perfect. He was loving and compassionate, again without sin.

But He laid His life down for each and every one of us. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9, Paul writes, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes, for our sakes, He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. What does that mean? He became poor.

Well, it means that Jesus gave up His honor and glory as a God being to become flesh. He let go of His exalted position. He relinquished the many riches of heaven, being a spirit being, in order to become born of the flesh, in order to save us, all of us, from our sins. He gave up that glory in order to become a human baby. Of course, He was certainly still God. He was still the Son of God, but He became flesh.

So that's pretty humbling when we stopped and consider what God the Father and what Jesus Christ have done for us, to become a little baby, a little infant, a helpless child. So we should take heart from Christ's example. Everyone He came into contact with truly was His inferior.

However, He never grumbled. He never complained. He never rebelled against His parents. Instead, He humbled Himself and willingly yielded to their authority over Him. He respected their authority even though they were not perfect, as He was perfect. Christ was humble throughout His perfect life. His humility didn't end with His birth or His childhood. It continued throughout His physical life, His death, and also His resurrection. In 1 Peter chapter 2, it talks about what true humility is. Christ exemplifies true humility. 1 Peter chapter 2. We'll start in verse 18. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 18.

Instruction from Peter is, servants be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable if, because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. If you only get what's coming to you, then that's not such a great thing. But if you are able to take things patiently when you are, you know, having abuse and that sort of thing, that's really commendable before God.

For this you were called because Christ also suffered for us. So it's talking about his example now, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself, Christ, bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but you've now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. So Christ did suffer for us. He set the perfect example of humility, not reviling when people were ready to crucify him. He laid his life down willingly for us, and so that is very humbling, and it is something that we should consider and think about during the Passover season.

Just before Christ died on that last Passover, Christ also implemented a service that we still observe today. We will observe during the Passover service, and of course that's the foot-washing service. It is humbling to wash another's feet, at least I find it somewhat humbling, and to have someone else wash my feet, that's humbling, and Christ set that example for us.

He was the greatest, you might say, but he allowed himself, humbled himself, in humility and service toward others. So Christ set that example of humility and service for each and every one of us, a one that we should follow.

In 1 Peter chapter 5, just a couple pages over from where we are already, 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5, Peter's instruction is, Likewise, you younger people submit yourself to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. So that is a lesson that we should learn during the Passover season. We should think about it and contemplate on it, and try to understand the example of our Savior Jesus Christ, and try to follow it as best we can.

A second aspect to the Passover season, or another facet, is that it is a season of godly fear and respect toward God. Now Moses set the example for us during the very first Passover season, where they kept the Passover together as Israelites. He feared God in a proper way, but he was not really afraid of God, like most of the Israelites were very afraid of God.

He had a proper and godly fear of God. He respected God, but he also knew that God is love, and that God loved him and was there for him. Moses saw his power, he saw his might, he saw his majesty, and he honored God. He respected and reverented God.

He set a wonderful example for the children of Israel. He was even willing to lay his life down for the people. That's the example that Moses said. He was the meekest of all men, and he laid that he was willing to lay his life down, and he spoke up to God in a respectful way, but also in a very bold way as well, because he understood that God was love and that God would listen, and he would be able to reason with God.

In Exodus chapter 14, we see that the eternal did save the children of Israel, and they did learn to some degree, at least for a time, to fear him.

Unfortunately, it didn't last. It was certainly not lasting, and they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because they never really got it.

In Exodus chapter 14, verse 30, so the eternal saved Israel that day when he brought them out through the Red Sea, and he drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

The eternal saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the eternal had done in Egypt, so the people feared the eternal, and they believed the eternal and his servant Moses. So there was a time, at least for a while, where they really did fear the eternal in a proper way, and they believed the eternal, they believed Moses, but it unfortunately didn't last. We'll see that as we go along. In Matthew chapter 10.28, Jesus also taught this. He said, do not fear. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 28, Jesus said, and do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. In other words, he was talking about man.

You know, man was about to kill him, but he said, don't fear men who can kill the body, but rather fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

So we're talking about eternally. Man cannot destroy us eternally, but God certainly has that power, and he is the one that we should have that proper godly fear and reverence toward. In Hebrews chapter 12, verses 28 and 29, we also see that we are to serve God with a godly fear, with the right type of respect toward God. So it is good to contemplate on that during the Passover season. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28 and verse 29, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, there is an eternal kingdom that will not be shaken that will last eternally. He says, Let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. So we are to serve God with reverence and with godly fear. And notice verse 29, For our God is a consuming fire. Now he's not something that we should not someone we should take lightly by any means. He is a consuming fire, and those who rebel against him and continue to rebel without repentance, they will be consumed in the lake of fire. He is a consuming fire, so we should certainly humble ourselves before him with a godly fear, or we're not going to be able to move forward spiritually. We're not going to learn the lessons that we need to learn during the Passover season. And remember that Christ humbled himself on the on the stake as he was being crucified. He said, Not my will, but your will be done. He humbled himself. He showed proper godly fear and respect of his Heavenly Father, setting again a wonderful example for all of us. Not my will, but your will be done. A third facet of the Passover season is that it is a season of deliverance, and we should see God as the Great Deliverer. God is a God who delivers. Now, he delivered the Egyptians, or he delivered the Israelites from Egypt because they were in great bondage. They were enslaved by Egypt. We know all about it. We've read it many times. They were cruel taskmasters. They were in hard bondage to the Egyptians.

And the Egyptians had very little mercy, and they were actually afraid that the Israelites would become greater than they because God was blessing them. They were having children in spite of all that the Pharaoh was trying to do to them. In Exodus 2, it says that the children of Israel groaned and they cried out to God for deliverance from their harsh bondage, and God heard their cries.

And he sent Moses to deliver them. So that's in Exodus chapter 2, 23 through 25.

They groaned, they cried to God, and he delivered them out of it. And then Exodus chapter 3 verses 6 through 10. Let's read that together. It shows that God again was working through Moses to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Exodus chapter 3. And we know that Moses had been picked up out of the river, basically, by the Pharaoh's daughter. And he was in a position to have great riches and to be exalted in the land of Egypt. Instead, he chose God's way. Exodus chapter 3 verse 6.

Moreover, God said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. This is when he was first being exposed to the true God. And, of course, he would be naturally afraid in that sense. But he came to see God as a loving and merciful God. And he was willing even to speak boldly to God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and a large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to a promised land. And that's what God had in store for them. Verse 9, Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.

And so God was beginning to work through Moses. And Moses was responding, and he was willing, although he was somewhat reluctant, obviously, to begin with. But he came around, and what a wonderful example Moses set for us as he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. In Exodus 12, we read about the Passover, the institution of the Passover for the children of Israel here. Exodus 12, verse 23, For the Lord the Eternal will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, that's the blood of the Lamb, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as he promised that you shall keep this service. And it shall be when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service that you shall say it is the Passover sacrifice of the Eternal who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our households so the people bowed their heads and they worshipped. So the first Passover was a very humbling experience.

The children in Egypt, the firstborn, were dying, but God was protecting the firstborn of the Israelites. If we go to chapter 42 or verse 42, it speaks of the next evening when they came out of Egypt. The Passover was on the 14th and the next evening was a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. This was to be a night to be remembered or observed. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat it.

And then let's go down to verse 51. And it came to pass on that very same day that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. So God delivered them out of Egypt. He was taking care of them. He was blessing them all along the way. And we are told to remember that God delivered the children of Israel out of bondage, out of slavery.

In Exodus chapter 13 verse 3, and Moses said to the people, Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. And God instituted, obviously, the days of unleavened bread. Verse 6, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. So that's why we put the leaven out of our homes. We continue to do that even today. It is a wonderful reminder that we are to put spiritual leaven out of our homes, out of our lives, just like we are putting the physical leaven out. So it is a very powerful lesson that God wants us to to really understand. Verse 9 says, And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes that the Lord's law may be in your mouth for with a strong hand the eternal has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. So we continue to faithfully observe the Passover, the night to be much remembered or observed, and the days of unleavened bread as we honor God, as we show proper respect and fear of God in a right sense. God wants us to keep these days. And remember that this is a season of deliverance. If we go to verse 15, And it came to pass when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Then verse 21 of again Exodus chapter 13, verse 21, And the eternal went before them by day, and a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night, and a pillar of fire, to give them light so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night. He was always there with them to be their encouragement, and so they would know that He was there to deliver them out of the bondage that they had been facing in Egypt. We know that the entire land of Egypt was decimated by plague after plague before that tenth plague, that death of the firstborn. So God definitely had the Israelites' attention. They should have understood that He was going to keep every promise that He made, that He had all the power to do that, and yet they didn't have faith. And we'll get to that.

That's going to be the next season of the next aspect of the Passover season is a season of faith. But I did want to go to two other verses in the book of Revelation before we do that, because God is going to also deliver His people in the future. Just prior to Christ's return, God is going to be very active once again with God's people. In Revelation 7 and verse 14, and this comes after the 144,000 are mentioned in the first part of the chapter. It also mentions a great multitude in verse 9. And then in verse 13, then one of the elders answered, saying to me, to John, who are these arrayed in white robes? Where did they come from? And I said to Him, Sir, you know.

So that's always a good answer if you don't know and someone's putting you on the spot. Well, you know. So He said to me, These are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So it is through the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ that we're ultimately delivered. And in the book of Revelation, some will come out of Great Tribulation. They will be protected. Others will be martyred, it says, but they will ultimately die for God's way of life. And so they also will be delivered and will be in God's eternal kingdom. Revelation chapter 12 verse 11.

So this is talking about God's Church, it's talking about salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God in verse 10 and how the accuser of the brethren has been cast down. And then verse 11, and they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb. They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death. So some will lay their lives down. Some others will be protected by God. But God is going to be very, very active in delivering His people in the days ahead. So that brings us to the next aspect of the Passover season. It is a season of faith. It's certainly a season of deliverance. It's a season of faith and we have to have faith that God will deliver. Ancient Israel tended more toward a lack of faith. Generally, often complaining, but we are under the New Covenant and we are to be learning and developing faith now. Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, they showed that they had great faith under the Old Covenant, but they were New Covenant people, you might say. They stood up against the other spies who were truly frightened by those in the land of Canaan, the Canaanites, and the other Hittites and parasites and so on, so forth. But Joshua and Caleb said, let's go in and take the land right now because he who is with us is much greater than those who are against us. And God was with them and God would have delivered them right into the Promised Land if they had just continued to move forward, having faith, and trusting God. But they lacked faith and it was unbelief. That's what kept them out of the Promised Land and caused them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. God does want us to be faithful, to put our trust in Him. In Hebrews 11, we'll go to the faith chapter.

So those other spies were plagued with a lack of faith, whereas Joshua and Caleb did have faith and did encourage them to go ahead.

Moses also the same. In Hebrews 11, we read about the faith of Moses.

Hebrews 11 verse 23, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents. So they had faith. They trusted that God would protect him and that God had a reason for Moses. They seemed to understand that. They knew what was happening. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents. They saw that he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the King's command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He could have been exalted in the land of Egypt, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. So that's an example for all of us. We should always choose God and his way of life over the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And that was the most rich of all lands. It was the most powerful of all the countries. But he looked to the reward. He looked to the eternal reward.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Now we can't see God, but we can have faith in God. We can trust in Him. We have God's Word, too, that's been preserved for us. So we have much to go on. We have a lot of history that we can go back to and understand God and His ways by studying the Bible. So by faith he kept the Passover, Moses did, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. It was very clear who God was with. It wasn't the Egyptians. He was with the Israelites. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. After they were encircled for seven days, we could go on and read more about faith. But Moses was certainly a faithful person who set the example for us. And then in Hebrews chapter 12, we'll read a few verses beginning in verse 1. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. So the writer of Hebrews is telling us to consider what Christ has done for us. So he was perfect without sin. The sinners were about to crucify him, and did crucify him. He says, consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Eternal, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. So God does allow us to be tested. He does allow Satan to tempt us so that we can learn faithfulness and obedience. But he has promised to never leave us, to never forsake us, that he'll always be with us, and that he does chase in those he loves. So we should understand that as we are tested in various ways and remain faithful. The Passover season is a season of faith, that it's a time for us to learn to really trust in God and put our faith in him. Another aspect of the Passover season, a fifth aspect or facet, is this is a season of the many R's. Now the R's are words that start with R. So I'm going to go through quite a few of these. I only wanted seven points, so I couldn't, you know, I couldn't just make these like, you know, 15 points. So, but I am going to go through a number of R's, starting with repentance. The Passover season is all about repentance. We are to repent and be baptized, every one of us, for the forgiveness of our sins. Christ is our Passover Lamb, and he died so that our sins may be forgiven. So we are to repent of our sins. That's the first question we ask someone when we baptize them. Have you repented of your sin? And certainly as we observe another Passover, if we're not yet baptized, we should ask ourselves, should we consider baptism? Should we step out in faith? This is a time of faith. Should we step out in faith, trusting God, and be baptized? And if we are baptized, are we staying faithful to that commitment? Have we repented of our sins? Repentance is being genuinely sorrow. Sorry. It's having a godly sorrow for committing sin. Whatever sin that may be, repentance is admitting that you have sinned and that you are a sinner who needs the gift of repentance from God the Father. So your sins may be forgiven. You know, it is God who grants repentance, and God does so by looking at our hearts. He can tell whether we really want to obey Him and please Him. If that is our goal in life, to become like Him, to become holy as He is holy, when He sees that, He grants us repentance. And of course, we have to admit that we've sinned. We have to be able to see our sins and admit that we have sinned. And then God certainly will grant repentance for us. So repentance is growing. It's overcoming. It's changing.

It's becoming a better, more godly person. Repentance is displaying the fruits of repentance by a changed life, by producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in how we treat one another and how we look at life. Repentance is a gift from God that ensures that your sins are forgiven and you are cleansed from sin.

A couple more R's. Removal and remission of sin. Removal and remission of sin.

Passover season is a time of removal, a time to remove any lingering sins that may plague us. It's a time to remove physical leaven from our homes, our quarters, our cars, our offices. We must take action to remove the physical leaven, but we more importantly must take action to remove the spiritual leaven.

We are to be doers of God's Word and laws, not hearers only.

One thing we are to do is to remove sin and to put it away from us.

So this is a time to rid ourselves of the sin that does easily beset us.

It is a time to fight back against Satan and against sin. It is not a time to take sin lightly. In Luke chapter 24, Luke chapter 24, we'll read just two verses here.

Luke chapter 24 verse 46 and 47.

Then he Christ said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. So we do preach a message of repentance, a message of remission of our sins.

It is important that during this Passover season that we consider putting that sin out of our lives, removing it, and having our sins remitted.

Another R in regard to the Passover season is a it is a time of remembrance. It's a time to look back and remember things.

We observe the night to be much remembered when Israel came out of Egypt. We'll all get together that evening. It is a very beautiful evening when we all consider how God has delivered us.

It was the 15th of Nisan, or Nisan, and the Passover lamb had been slain on the 14th that evening. The curse upon the firstborn of Egypt was carried out that night, and the Israelites, who were faithful and put the blood of the sacrificed lamb on their lentils, they were passed over.

Their firstborn were spared. Now, how awesome would that be to have your firstborn spared while all the others in the land were dying? I mean, think about that for a moment.

Your firstborn that you love so much, you love all your children, and to be spared because you have a God who is looking after you, taking care of you, that's something to remember. That's something to think about. So, this is a time of remembrance.

We should consider the first Passover when they were set free by the blood of the lamb and how God continues to set His people free. Pharaoh finally did let Israel go.

Another R is restoration. The Passover season is all about being restored and renovated, you might say. A better person.

At Passover, when our sins are forgiven, we are restored to a right relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ and with God the Father.

Sin separates us from God and forgiveness of sin restores our relationship with God. It's a very meaningful time, meaningful time when we are restored. So, every year, it's significant that we have this season. It's such a meaningful time, and if we didn't have it, I dare say that we would not be as faithful, we would not be as true, we would not be as dedicated, we would not be as committed. This is an important season for us to be led spiritually by God Himself. To be restored, to be renovated.

Another R word is reconciliation. Reconciliation. The Passover is all about being reconciled to God and to one another. At Passover, we are reconciled to God. Our relationship with God is restored as our sins are forgiven and our acceptance of the blood of the Lamb on our behalf.

And, of course, we are also reconciled to one another as we mend our differences at times. You know, we...

It's a humbling time, so it is a good time for us to ask people to forgive us. If we've hurt them in some way, it's a good time to forgive others. So, it's a time to really forgive one another and learn to reconcile with one another.

It's also a time to rededicate ourselves and recommit ourselves, all starting with R. Rededicate, recommit. The Passover season is so important that we do rededicate ourselves each year. It's a little like the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a reminder, and thankfully we have the Sabbath every seven days, to remind us who we are. We come here. It makes a difference in our lives. We're better people because we keep the Sabbath.

We observe these days. We honor God and show our respect to Him when we come to services on His Sabbath day. And when we keep His Sabbath, the same thing is true when we observe the Passover. Every year, it is a annual reminder that we are to rededicate and recommit ourselves.

Another R word is righteousness. The Passover season is a season of righteousness. We are to become righteous, more righteous. We are to put sin out of our lives. We are to overcome and grow, choosing to do what is right and learning to reject evil. Of course, leaven again is symbolic of sin and putting leaven out and putting Christ in the unleavened bread.

You know, Christ is our unleavened bread who came down from heaven and died for us. And we accept Him. We let Him live in us and we're better people for it. So it is a time of righteousness.

It's a commitment to living righteous lives when we keep the Passover every year. Passover season is also a time of revelation. It's a time when God reveals to us as we examine ourselves what we need to work upon.

What we need to do to be more pleasing to Him.

Passover season is a time when God reveals truth to us.

Truth about ourselves, truth about our carnal natures, truth about Satan's influence in our lives, and the world's influence in our lives. So ask yourself, what is God revealing to you this Passover season? Will you be a better person because you took seriously this Passover season and you drew closer to God because of it?

The Passover season is also a season of reliance.

It's a time to rely on God.

And upon Christ, we should learn to rely on God for everything.

He supplies our every need. He gives us our every breath.

We should thank God for all things and be truly grateful for all things.

So we rely on God for everything. That doesn't mean we don't do our part because God tells us what our part is. But we rely on Him to be with us and to see us through life. It is difficult. It is hard.

I agree. It is kind of like that marathon that Mr. Rangel talked about.

And the longer we're in God's church, the more it seems like a marathon.

It goes on and on, which is great. I'd rather go on and on than be cut short. But it is a time to really rely upon God and to let God live in us and work in us. We're to walk in the spirit of the Most High and His Son, Jesus Christ, as we learn to rely more on Him. Passover season is also about being renewed. It's about spiritual renewal, about refreshing, about being refreshed spiritually.

So God is in the process of refreshing us, rejuvenating us, helping us keep going in that marathon of life.

The Passover season is also about redemption.

We are redeemed. We are bought back by the shed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our kinsman, Redeemer.

He is our elder brother, and through His sacrifice, we have been purchased, redeemed, bought by the shed blood of our Savior.

And we are once again a child of God on the way to the Kingdom of God.

We have been redeemed because we have a great Savior.

Passover is also a season to reflect upon our Savior's resurrection and our resurrection to come.

If we apply ourselves each year at Passover and we're truly committed to pleasing God, then we need not worry about being resurrected to eternal life at Christ's return.

Christ was resurrected during the days of Unleavened Bread.

We should reflect on His resurrection. He's now at the right hand of the Father.

He intercedes on our behalf. He's our elder brother. He loves us.

He's always going to be there for us, and it is God's Spirit in us that ensures that we are sealed for the day of our resurrection to eternal life. So lots of R's. If you think of any more, let me know.

There's probably undoubtedly more R's out there, but that's enough for one sermon. All right. In fact, I need to hurry up here.

Passover season is a season of godly love. This is the sixth facet. It's a season of godly love, and I'll just quote one verse. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. For God set not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved. So God is in the process of saving this world, and it is a season now. This passover season is a season of godly love and one that we should certainly reflect upon during this season. And lastly, passover season is a season of joy and a season of gratitude. It's a season of rejoicing. Now, yesterday I taught a class, a doctor's class, to the ABC students, and we talked about the sacrifice of Christ. It was a very timely class, and we also talked about the passover and how it's a solemn occasion, but also a joyous one.

And United Church of God has really tried to have the right balance.

Now, we come here rejoicing because we have a Savior. Yes, it's humbling and it's sobering, but it's so joyous to know that we have a Savior and that we can come here and that we recommit ourselves each passover season. The song of Moses was a joyful song about God's deliverance from bondage and slavery. That's in Exodus 15.

God wants us to truly rejoice in the meaning of the passover.

Christ died for us, and now He lives in us, and that's super encouraging.

It's super encouraging to know that we have a Savior.

I'm not going to take the time to go to Ezra 6, but if you do, in verses 19 through 22, it talks about Ezra and the returning captives who observed the passover with great joy.

We are to observe the passover with great joy.

Now, we come here filled with joy and gratitude, but it's not like every Sabbath where we talk and we laugh and we carry on, really enjoying the fellowship with each other.

It is also the memorial of the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

So it is a sobering time. It is a time of reflection, and that's why we are more somber on that day. We're striving to have the right balance, but believe me, it is a season of joy and a season of gratitude, a season of rejoicing.

We'll conclude the sermon in Matthew 28. This is the last reference, Matthew 28, Christ's words. Matthew chapter 28, and the commission is also given in chapter 28, but we're going to start in verse 5.

This was after Christ had been resurrected.

Verse 5, chapter 28, but the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who is crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.

As he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you in the Galilee. There you will see him, Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy. Notice that they had great joy, and they ran to bring his disciples word, and as they went to tell his disciples, Behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. We are to rejoice. Our Savior has been resurrected.

He's at the right hand of God. He's our high priest, and we need not be afraid, and we should cry out from the mountaintops that we have a wonderful, glorious Savior. We should be filled with joy and gratitude each Passover season as we contemplate what Jesus Christ has done for us, and that he now lives in us by the power of his Holy Spirit. So the Passover season is a very, very meaningful time of year. It is a time to remember the many facets of the Passover season.