Passover Preparation Part 3

We are coming up very quickly, again this year, on the Passover, as Mr. Firke mentioned in the first message. Very special, very important time of the year for us. It's just a few short days away. And if you've happened to take a peek at the Hebrew calendar recently, what you may have noticed is that today, the Sabbath, is the tenth day of the first month, according to the Hebrew calendar. It's the tenth day of the first month. This is the day that the Passover Lamb was set aside under the requirements governing the Old Covenant Passover. This is Lamb's Separation Day in terms of the counting on that calendar, and I'll talk a little bit more about that here shortly.

I just want to point out for us what this day is. And what's interesting about this year and how the Passover falls on our calendar, probably the calendar you have hanging on your wall, is the fact that the weekdays this year line up with the weekdays as they were in 31 A.D. And so, Christ, our Passover on 31 A.D. was sacrificed. He died on a Wednesday. It will be on a Wednesday this year. The Lamb's Separation Day, tenth day of the first month, was on Saturday, 31 A.D., just as it is here this year as well. And so, it's interesting as we consider these things, and for me it was interesting just to look at the calendar, acknowledge that, and realize we're walking on the same day-by-week schedule as what took place for Jesus Christ leading up to His sacrifice and even His resurrection to follow. You and I are going to be observing the Passover service at the beginning of that same day, the Passover day, but we're going to be observing it at the beginning after sundown, which begins the 14th. As you know, the day in the Bible is evening and morning was the first day. So, sunset to sunset. So, the nighttime portion of the day is actually at the front half of the day, as opposed to the back half, in which you would consider it by midnight to midnight. So, we understand we'll be keeping the Passover at the beginning of the 14th, Tuesday evening, after the sun sets. That's when Jesus Christ observed that service with His disciples in the upper room before His crucifixion. And it's when Israel observed that service, they kept that first Passover in their homes in Egypt, that night that they did not go out of their houses until morning. And so, the Passover service itself this year, it will be a bit different for us, because we can't assemble. We can't come together as we normally do. We're in our homes and we're doing things remotely from home. And for some of us, keeping the Passover service, we'll be doing it alone. Maybe we're the only baptized individual in our house. Others may have a few family members that they're able to keep that service with. But again, we're not going to be able to keep it together this year as usual. And for most of us, that will be different than what we're accustomed to in years gone by. We have had a few shut-ins who keep it that way and have for a period of time. But for most of us, this is a brand new experience. Now, the webcast will go out, okay? The foot washing will take place, the bread and the wine, and those symbols will be taken of, as we do every year at the Passover. But because we're not together, we each actually have an added responsibility that's been laid on us this year as we keep the Passover.

And, you know, that might be for some a little concerning, maybe almost a little stressful, maybe there's questions. But honestly, brethren, I think this is, given the circumstance, a good exercise that we're all walking through this year. You know, we're generally accustomed to showing up at the church hall with our foot washing basins, with our Bible.

We find the room already set up. We find the table there with the bread and the wine already in place. And basically, we show up, we sit down, and we wait for the tray to go by. And, you know, for me, as I used to sit in the audience as participating from that end, I remember my biggest concern of the service was just not dropping that tray as the wine went by. But we wait for those symbols, we take them, and we partake of the symbols of the sacrifice. But this year is going to be different, because each household will be required to prepare things for themselves. This year, you'll need to acquire or prepare a small amount of unleavened bread. You'll need to acquire the wine that will be needed for the service, and you'll need to set up the room. And, you know what? We're not used to doing that. Again, we're accustomed to having already prepared for us. First year I conducted the Passover service, I had questions. You know, I'd been through the service for years and years, but suddenly when you're conducting it, your mind starts racing on kind of exactly the procedure, exactly the order. And I had to go back and study into it again to bring it up to speed in my mind.

And you think about the details in a way that you never had before when you're actually hands-on bringing the service to pass. And so that's why I say it's good for us, I think, this year. Sincere questions have come up regarding the bread, the wine, you know, what type, what brand, is this okay to use? And I welcome those questions. I'm happy that we're concerned enough to be asking those questions. But again, it's sort of opened the door to maybe a deeper understanding, even though it may seem like simple things, but a deeper understanding into all that goes into a Passover service. And so if I was to give this year's Passover service a descriptor, I would have to call it a hands-on Passover.

This year, again, each of us in our home preparing the things that we will prepare. This is a hands-on Passover, and it's different for all of us, really in a way that many have never experienced before. You're going to prepare the room. You're going to be the one who breaks the bread. You're going to pour your own wine. And I would just recommend that it be, say, the baptized head of a household that would do those things on behalf of the family. But we're all going to be doing those things this year. You're going to be responsible for the disposal of what remains after the service of remaining bread and wine. And so, you know, this is something that is new for many.

This year, I sent you the link for the paper, Keeping Passover at Home. You would have received this. It's on the United Church of God members' website as well. It's a three-page handout instructions on keeping the Passover at home. And then, then there's a webcast failure. You have the ability to carry forward and conduct that service yourself.

Again this year, I would call this a hands-on Passover. And so, brother, for the sermon today, I'd like to remind us that the Passover really has been a hands-on Passover from the beginning. And I'm not just talking New Covenant Passover. I'm talking about going all the way back to the first Passover that the people of God observed in Egypt. Right from the beginning, on through today, Passover has been and is meant to be, in many ways, a hands-on experience. And so, it's my hope that in light of what's going on this year, we will embrace that hands-on experience. That it will be a learning and a growing process for us. The title for the sermon today is Passover Preparation Part 3, Embracing a Hands-on Passover. Passover Preparation Part 3, Embracing a Hands-on Passover. And as we'll come to see, the Passover observance, brethren, is not merely a spectator event. It's not intended, I believe, to be something that you just sit back and don't give much preparation to until the moment the tray comes by. We're all in. We're all involved in this. And it is something we must embrace, this concept of a hands-on Passover. And so, in order to give us some insight into this concept, I'd like to begin today by looking at the first Passover that Israel took of in bondage in Egypt. And we'll see this hands-on application as it took place from the beginning. Let's go to Exodus 11, to dive into it today. Exodus 11, again, this is coming up now on the very first Passover of the people of God, Israel, in bondage here in Egypt. Exodus 11 and verse 1, it begins by stating, And the Lord said to Moses, He says, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt, and afterward He will let you go from here, and when He lets you go, He will surely drive you out of here altogether. Now, just as some run-up to this, as some background, you'll recall the setting that we're looking at. Pharaoh had enslaved the Israelites. He had made their life bitter with slavery, with hard bondage, and with servitude as a nation. And the people cried out to God. And God had a plan for their deliverance. God brought into being this man Moses. And I'm not talking in a miraculous way, but I'm saying God had a purpose for this man Moses. Moses was born an Israelite by birth. He was a set adrift on the Nile in order to preserve his life, and he was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, and he was raised in the royal house, in the royal family, as a member of the royal family of Egypt. Eventually, Moses fled to Midian after he killed an Egyptian that he saw abusing an Israelite. He intervened. He killed that Egyptian. It became known, and Moses fled for his life. And so for 40 years, Moses was in the wilderness of Midian. He attended his father-in-law, Jethphro's flocks. He had flocks of his own, no doubt. But after 40 years, God appeared to him. God spoke to him, and God sent him to be the deliverer of his people from bondage.

Moses returns to Egypt. As the story goes, Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go. God's command was repeated, Let my people go, that they may keep a feast to me in the wilderness. Pharaoh said, I don't know God, nor will I let Israel go. And so then God steps in, and nine plagues come upon Egypt, and they were plagues against the pride of Egypt, against the gods of Egypt, showing them to be nothing, showing that the Lord was the only true God, and it magnified the God of Israel in this process.

But Pharaoh still refused to submit and let Israel go. And so now, by this one final plague, God says, he will surely let you go. Scaring on, verse 2 of Exodus chapter 11, it says, Verse 4, then Moses said, God says, they're going to know who are my people, and who come under the care of my provision, and who is not. And so this last plague that we have, which is tied to the Passover, would be a curse to the Egyptians, but to the Israelites it would be a blessing. It would lead to their deliverance from bondage and slavery. Let's go now to Exodus chapter 12 and verse 1.

We now get into the instructions for Israel as to how they were to prepare for and to take this Passover. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 1, And so what we had was on the first day of the first month, Passover is on the 14th day of the first month, so you're backing up. The 10th day of the first month, it was Lamb Selection Day. They were to set apart this lamb for the Passover, and that again is today. Today is the 10th day of the first month.

And Israel, again, was to go select this lamb. And I want you to notice that there actually had to be some work involved in this process. There had to be some planning ahead, just as we this year are having to plan ahead. You're going to have to go out and get the bread. You're going to have to get the wine and be prepared for keeping that service that evening in your home. And the Israelites had to prepare as well. You know, they didn't just show up on the evening of the 14th to a nice lamb dinner, all prepared for them, ready to go.

No, they had to do their part. They had to follow these hands-on instructions that God had given them for observing this day. And that began with the 10th day of the first month, and the selection and separation of this lamb. Verse 5, it says, "...your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.

You may take it from the sheep or from the goats." And so the symbolism in type was that this was to be a perfect sacrifice. A lamb, again, without blemish, without spot. And the point was, you didn't just go out into the field and grab the first lamb you came to. Because it might not have qualified, it might not have been good enough, you actually had to look these animals over. It was a selective process. And you know what?

In that process, you might have even grabbed that young male lamb that was the prize of your breeding stock. You know, this is what we're doing. We're breeding our horse... Excuse me, we have horses. We're breeding our sheep. We're simply seeking to produce this high quality for our business, for our flock. And you went out there, and you may have taken hold of the one. It was the best. It was the most perfect without spot.

But again, God had set the bar very high for this sacrifice, and it is what He had required. Verse 6, it says, Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. So again, this is hands-on. You kept it until the fourteenth day, and you know what? Some of these individuals of the household were going to get blood on their hands, weren't they?

They were going to go out at the appointed time with a sharp knife. They were going to slit the throat of the lamb. They were going to bleed its blood out. They were going to drain it of that blood. And those individuals very likely were going to get blood on their hands as they prepared this sacrifice. And, you know, again, this is very hands-on. And for us, we might almost become squeamish at the concept of doing such a thing, because this is more hands-on than you and I are generally accustomed to in our everyday life. In our American lifestyle, we've sort of gotten separated from the hands-on process of what takes place in order for the food to be produced that we consume. But this was just a normal part of life, that you took a lamb, you killed it, all right? And you consumed it. In Nigeria, when I'm there for the feast, and I'm thinking specifically about two years ago, I was there for the feast, and we met at a facility that the meeting hall was upstairs, and the kitchen was downstairs. And all the meals would be prepared in the kitchen downstairs. And so every day, as you came into the meeting hall, you walked up this walkway and tied to the trees on both sides of the walkway by a short rope were goats. Four, five, six goats. And they were out there every day, not the same ones. But the goats are out there, and they've got a bucket of water, and you walk by, and you go into church services, and some days you came out, and a few of the goats were missing, and you enjoyed a wonderful meal that evening. But the thing I noticed was this was just normal way of life for everybody. Me, I'm walking by those goats. I know what's happening, but, you know, they're cute. And so I stop, I scratch a goat on its head, I take its picture, and people kind of looking at me like, what's the fascination with the goats? And Tabitha loves goats, and I would send her a picture of these adorable goats, and then I would send her a picture of the delicious goat pepper soup, and, you know, that's life. But the one thing I noticed during all those days was I never noticed the children playing with the goats. And, you know, my conclusion was African children know not to play with their food. But this is a way of life, and it was what they were accustomed to. This is what Israel was accustomed to doing in their generation as well. They would slaughter it for the Passover. Now, question for us to consider, brethren, why keep this lamb on hand from the 10th day until the 14th day? You know, what was the purpose of that? What was the purpose of going out and, you know, selecting a goat in advance? Why couldn't you just walk out into the field, know which one you were going to grab in, and pick up that lamb, excuse me, that lamb, and you bring it back, and you're preparing now for the sacrifice? Why not do that on the afternoon just prior to the Passover? You know, what's the purpose of bringing that, selecting that goat on the 10th, as God had established? Well, the answer is this had to be a lamb without blemish. And so you would have now a period of time between the 10th day and the 14th day, and it was essentially an inspection period for that lamb. You know, you brought it close by, you watched it, you tended over it, and you made sure that it literally was, again, the perfect lamb for the sacrifice.

You took those four days, you examined it, you made sure that it wasn't deformed, that it wasn't lame in any way. You watched it to make sure that it wasn't sick, that it didn't have some deficiency. This was an examination period for this lamb, because again, it had to be spotless, and you had to make sure that it was so. Now, verse 7, carrying on, it says, and they shall take some of the blood, they shall put it on the doorposts, and on the lentil of the houses, where they were to eat it. And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire with unleavened bread, with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs, and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover. Verse 12, he says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night. I will strike the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute my judgment. Says the Lord. I am the Lord. Verse 13, now 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. As we're reading, brethren, I want us to take note of this term, of what God will do. He will pass over. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. And so from the very beginning, if you wanted to come under this blood of the protection of God, brethren, this was going to be a hands-on Passover. It's going to be a hands-on experience for the family. You selected the perfect lamb, you observed it, you watched it, you cared for it from the 10th day until the 14th day, then you killed it. Blood on your hands. Then you took that blood and you painted it on your door posts and on the lentil of your door. Then you built the fire, you roasted it, right? Then you ate it and you consumed it and you burned up the remains, whatever remained till morning, was burned up.

So this is no small effort. This is no insignificant effort or just something that they showed up for for the passing of the sacrifice at that moment. This is something that took preparation, planning and execution through the process. And I think it makes producing for us, unleavened bread and wine, maybe seem rather simple by comparison. So we have preparations we need to do this year. Let us be about them in a timely fashion and let us be prepared as God would have us to be coming up to the Passover this year. Now verse 14 says, So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, you shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

And so it is what we do today, maybe in a different form and fashion, according to the New Covenant Passover. But we keep it as a memorial today. Jumping down to verse 21, it says, That is in the basin, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

For the Lord will pass through and strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the two-door posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and he will 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. Question, brethren, is why is this memorial called the Passover?

Why the name Passover? Why would it be called by that term the Passover? And why do we observe it at the beginning of the 14th at night?

It's not my intent to go deeply into this. I gave a sermon four or five years ago. It's on the archives, if you want to go back and look at it. Why we keep the Passover in the timing that we do. But let me just refresh a couple of highlights for our memory.

Again, we keep it when we do because God passed over the Israelites at midnight on the Passover, the 14th.

It is the reason that the Passover is called the Passover. God saw the blood, and he passed over that household and did not allow the destroyer to come in.

He did not pass over and strike the Egyptians on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Not the night that Israel was walking out of Egypt. If he had passed over on that night at midnight, it would have been the 15th. Passover is on the 14th. First day of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th.

The night which begins the first day of Unleavened Bread, again, is the night after the Passover. It's what we keep as the night to be much observed when the Israelites walk out of Egypt by night.

And again, they did not go out on the night of the Passover, the night when the firstborn was dying, because the instruction was, you're not to go out of your house until morning.

And Israel heeded the Word of God. It was the Lord's Passover.

We won't turn there, but Numbers chapter 28, verse 16 and 17 tells us that on the 14th day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord. And on the 15th day of this month is the feast of Unleavened Bread. Unleavened Bread shall be eaten for seven days.

And so we observe the Passover service at the beginning of the 14th as Israel did, as Jesus Christ did on the night of his crucifixion.

He was crucified the next day, but I'll just remind you we are Christians, brethren, and we do as Christ did. We are not Jews.

And we follow the example that we find here in the Scripture.

Now, it's interesting to note that just as Israel was under a stay-at-home order, they were under a shelter-in-place order essentially on the night of the Passover.

Don't go out of your houses until morning. You and I will be under a shelter-at-home order by the state as we keep the Passover this year.

So I think it's rather ironic and maybe even makes it a little more real for us as we observe things this year.

Continuing on in Exodus 12, now in verse 28, it says, And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

So Pharaoh rose at night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not one house where there was not one dead.

Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go and serve the Lord as you have said.

Also take your flocks, your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also.

And the Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We shall all be dead.

So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians, Articles of Silver, Articles of Gold, and Clothing, and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested.

And thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Then the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth about 600,000 men on foot besides children.

A mixed multitude went up with them also in flocks and herds, and a great deal of livestock.

And they baked on leavened cakes of dough, which they brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years, and it came to pass that at the end of the 430 years, on the very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. It is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

And so this is what we would call the night to be much observed. It is the night that God brought Israel out of Egypt, out of bondage, and Israel had to walk out.

And again, as we consider the process and the timing that this would have taken, Israel had to walk out. So they had to gather themselves together. They had to gather their families together, their possessions, their livestock, their flocks and herds. They had to assemble by tribes, and then they had to walk out of Egypt. And that took a little time, even doing so in haste. If it's 600,000 men on foot, the point was with women and children in the mixed multitude, it would have been 2.5 to 3 million people which walked out of Egypt.

Again, they did not leave on the night that the destroyer passed over at midnight. Again, they were not to go out of their houses until morning. That was the Passover. It was when the Lord passed over. Passover is on the 14th. Days on 11 bread begin on the 15th.

Carrying out now in verse 43, Exodus 12, Chapter 12, and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat it. But every man-servant who was bought for money when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. Circumcision was a sign of that Abrahamic covenant between God and his people. And so the Passover was only to be consumed by those who were his people. And the males who were under that covenant and that sign of circumcision could keep it.

And it's the same today. Physical circumcision is not the requirement, but circumcision of the heart. Conversion. Have you been baptized? Have you received the Holy Spirit of God? That is now the covenant relationship that we're with God. And circumcision of the heart by the Spirit of God is now the standard for those who would keep the Passover. Verse 45, a sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. In one house it shall be eaten, and you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. And again, this is spiritual significance as well, not breaking the bones, because Jesus Christ, in all the horrific brutality that he endured, not one bone was broken.

And this lamb of the old covenant Passover was a type that would be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Verse 47, in the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. You have to enter that covenant with God. And then let him come near, let him keep it, and he shall be as a native of the land, for no uncircumcised person shall eat it. It says, one law shall be for the native born and for the stranger who dwells among you. That's all the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 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. 430 years later, on the same day, God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. It's a remarkable story, brethren. It's incredible, really, for us to walk through every year and to consider these things. And as we do, I hope you can see the hands-on involvement of the children of Israel in this process.

The fact that the Passover, you did fully engage in this process. It wasn't you show up at a certain time and the tray passes by, and I'm not seeking to minimize what we do today. My point is, let us get our minds engaged. That Passover, even today, for us, should be an all-in process. An active, hands-on process for each and every one of us. And as we keep it this year, I do believe that if we allow it, it can help us to more deeply appreciate the sacrifice that has been made for us. So for today, again, the New Covenant Passover, for those of us who would be keeping it, those who are baptized, we need to see it as a hand-on involvement by the people of God.

I propose, brethren, that the New Covenant Passover, just as the old was active and involved, that the New Covenant Passover is active, involved, and hands-on, as it is from our participation. It should be a participatory event for us, as we would engage in the process. Again, not just showing up at sundown and consuming the symbol as the tray goes by, but we should look at it as something that we ourselves are fully engaged in. Because indeed, this sacrifice was made for you and me, personally and directly. Again, it may be a bit of a different of a Passover than we're accustomed to. And certainly, as we keep it today, it's different than how it was kept under the Old Covenant. But I do want to show you that the same principles that govern the Old Covenant Passover still exist under the New Covenant sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And we need to be careful not to just gloss over these events as we keep the Passover service this year and indeed, years going forward from here.

As I mentioned earlier, today is the tenth day of the first month. It's Lamb Selection Day. It was the day where the Lamb was set aside, where it then would be evaluated until it was slaughtered on the Passover. And I don't want us to miss the significance of this day. I don't want it to escape us unnoticed, brethren, because I do believe they're important principles for us to be considering.

Question. What happened on this very day, Lamb Selection Day, Saturday, 31 A.D.?

Go back in your mind and think about it. What do you think happened on this very day, 31 A.D.? The day of Jesus Christ. What important event was taking place as it pertained to the Lamb Selection of that Passover?

And I would say something that happened maybe under the noses of the people, but they didn't realize its significance. Looking back, brethren, we should be able to. What happened on that day? Tenth day of the first month. Let's go to John 12.

John 12 and verse 1. Let's begin to set the stage for this and bring this up now into the New Covenant application of the Passover.

John 12 and verse 1. It says, And so we're getting a general time frame here. Here it says it's six days before the Passover. And what we need to understand is the method of Jewish counting, because we tend to count things a little differently. The Jews counted things inclusively. Like, if I were to say, you know, in three days this is going to happen, you would say, okay, three days, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. But the Jews, when they counted, were inclusive of the day you were in at the time. And so you would count Saturday as the first day, then Sunday, then Monday. So what we need to understand was when it says this was six days before the Passover, that would have put it on Friday, yesterday, alright? In this inclusive form of counting. So Jesus here, he comes up to Jericho and Bethany, and it's the town where Lazarus, Mary and Martha live. This is on the Foothill area of the Mount of Olives. It's outside of Jerusalem. And it's where Jesus oftentimes would lodge when he came in through the region. They're in the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. So what we have here, Jesus, in verse 1, they serve him an evening meal. As you go into verse 2, they made him a supper. And as you read through the account, you'll recall Mary, she goes and anoints Christ's feet with the fragrant oil, begins to wipe his feet with her hair.

Let's jump down to verse 9 now. John 12 and verse 9. And it says, Now a great many of the Jews knew that he was there, and they came, and not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, who he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death, because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed.

So you're actually beginning to see some of the blind and deceived nature of the Jewish leadership, because they only did not dislike Jesus Christ. They disliked Lazarus, because he had resurrected him from the dead. And Lazarus was a walking, talking miracle and a sign of the messiahship of Jesus Christ, and the Jews wanted that stopped.

So now, not only is Jesus Christ their enemy, Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was as well. Verse 12 says, then the next day, alright, we were six days before, now we're five days before. It says, Now the next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, I want to stop there for just a moment.

Again, by the Jewish form of inclusive counting, the next day was today. Okay, it was the Sabbath, it was the tenth day of the first month. It was five days until Passover, inclusive of counting the Sabbath. So you had Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, five days to the Passover.

By our counting, we would say four days before, because it's Saturday, we would say Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, four days till the Passover. So we just need to understand how this process takes place. This is the Lamb separation day. I want you to keep your finger here in John 12. We're going to come back, but for a little more of a detailed run-up, let's go to Mark 11.

Let's see what takes place here on Lamb separation day and see why it is significant to the messiahship of Jesus Christ and the qualification and the proof that he is indeed the Passover. Mark 11 and verse 1. It says, And if anyone says to you, why are you doing this, say the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it here. And so they went their way. They found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, what are you doing? Why are you loosening the colt?

And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded, and so they let them go. Verse 7, This is coming up to what we call the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It's the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ. Go back now to John chapter 12, please.

John chapter 12 and verse 12.

Then it says, A great multitude that had come out to the feast when they heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and they went out to meet him, and they cried out.

And they cried out, saying, This phrase, brethren, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It's a quote from Psalm chapter 118 verse 26. And the people used it as a prophecy of the Messiah whom God would send.

Jesus Christ was the Messiah who came in the name of the Lord, in his Father's name he had sent him. And the people's recognition now is declaring his Messiahship in this way.

Verse 14, Verse 16, They bore witness. And for this reason the people also met him because they heard that he had done this sign.

Again, what day is this? Well, it's the Sabbath. It's the tenth day of the first month. It is Lamb Selection Day and the day where the people pick out the perfect lamb to be sacrificed. And what is Jesus Christ doing on this day?

What is he doing? Well, he's riding a donkey's colt into Jerusalem four days before he's to be killed as the Passover Sacrifice. And what are the people doing? What are they shouting? Well, they're shouting, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. If you put all the Gospel accounts together, they're crying out, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. And they're declaring Jesus Christ as their Messiah, as their King, on the tenth day of the first month, not even fully realizing here that he is the perfect Lamb, the one given to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. In that sense, Jesus Christ was set aside on this day.

God had intended from the beginning that he would be the sacrifice, but in terms of a public show of declaration, Jesus Christ was set aside on this day until his death on the Passover, and during that period of time, from the tenth day until the fourteenth day, he would be under intensive scrutiny. The people wanted to crown him king. The Jewish leadership wanted to kill him. Nevertheless, the scrutiny on Jesus Christ as he came now into Jerusalem on these days between the tenth and the fourteenth would be intense. The Lamb is set aside. He's being evaluated. Let's jump to the conclusion of the matter, Mark chapter 14.

I'll leave it to you to study through the Gospel of Counts of the parables that Christ gave during that time, his actions on the days between the tenth and the fourteenth. It would be a good study to go into, but let's jump to the conclusion of this evaluation process. Mark chapter 14. We're going to begin in verse 53. You recall that on the Passover, Jesus kept the service with his disciples. He instituted the symbols of the New Covenant, went out to pray. Then he was arrested. He was arrested by the Jews. He was brought before the chief priests. And what we're going to find is that they examined him. They could find no fault with him. Mark chapter 14 and verse 53. Here it says, And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. But Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest, and he sat with the servants and warmed himself by the fire. Verse 55. Now the chief priests and the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. This is the Lamb examination period. Christ has been arrested now. This is the Passover day. They're examining him. They're seeking to accuse him and those who would accuse him, and they found none. Verse 56. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree. Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple, made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But not even did their testimonies agree. And the high priest stood in the midst and asked Jesus, Do you answer nothing? Why is it that these men testify against you? But he kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, saying to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, and he said, What further need do we have of witnesses? You have blasphemy. You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. And then some began to spit on him, and they blindfolded him, and they beat him, saying to him, Prophesai. You know, they put this blindfold on his face, and people are smacking him upside the head and beating him, and they're saying, Who was that? Tell us who was that? Who was that? You know, Prophesai. And Jesus Christ here, again, still remained silent. And the officials struck him with the palm of their hands. Again, they could find no fault with Jesus, except that they claimed blasphemy over his statements, which were, in fact, true. Christ's statements were true. It was not a mode of blasphemy. Indeed, he is and was the Son of God. Now, ultimately, the Jews bring Jesus to Pilate, who is the Roman governor of Judea. And the evaluation, the examination of the Lamb, continues. John chapter 18 and verse 29. John chapter 18 and verse 29.

Verse 33.

Jesus answered, saying, Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus said, You have answered rightly. You have said rightly, that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said to him, What is truth? And then, And when he had said this, He went out again to the Jews, and he said to them, Notice, I find no fault in him at all. This isn't coincidental, brother. It isn't a mistake. Jesus Christ, under examination, under evaluation, was found to be of no fault. He was the Lamb of God. He was without spot and blemish. And perfect at that. Carrying on in verse 39, it says, He said, I have found no fault in him at all, but you have a custom, that I should release someone to you at the Passover. He says, Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews? Then they all cried again, saying, Not this man but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. I won't go into detail of that, but it was a horrific and brutal act, which oftentimes killed many people. It greatly disfigured Jesus Christ. It abused him and brutalized him tremendously. They scourged him. Verse 2, When the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. Then when they said, they brought him out, and they said, Hail the King of the Jews! And they struck him with their hands. Then Pilate went out again, and he said to them, Behold, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Verse 5, Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, Behold the man. Therefore, when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! And Pilate said to them, You take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. And the Jews answered him, saying, We have a law. According to our law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. As it goes on, brethren, we know the story. Ultimately, the Romans crucified Jesus Christ, even though he was found to be without fault. After days of examination of evaluation from the 10th day till the 14th day, after this intensive final examination, Jesus Christ was found to be the faultless Lamb of God, who would die for the sins of the world. Again, a question for us to consider, what does this examination period have to do with us? What does it have to do with us? How do we participate in, say, a hands-on way in the evaluation under the New Covenant Passover? I think it's an interesting question to consider. Do we sit back and do nothing, or is there a way that we can engage in this evaluation process? Well, brethren, I would submit to you that prior to your baptism, as you studied, as you prayed, and you came up to this point, we all engaged in the form of this examination process. We considered Jesus Christ. We saw that his life was perfect, along with his sacrifice, and we accepted him into our lives. We committed into the covenant with God the Father through the Mediator Jesus Christ, and we came under that sacrifice in baptism. And at our baptism, we confirmed that we had repented of our sins, that we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, and upon repentance, we willingly came under the blood of the sacrifice, again, for the remission of our sins.

So there was an examination, there was an evaluation period at that time, as we came up to the Passover. And, brethren, each year, excuse me, as we came up to our baptism, and each year, brethren, now, as we come up to the Passover, is the time that we reaffirm our covenant with God. And I would say it is a time that we reaffirm the Passover commitment, and a big part of that is, again, studying into and evaluating the perfection of Jesus Christ, of the perfect spotless nature of the sacrifice, of the fact that one without sin laid down his life so that you and I could live.

When we come up to Passover, this should be part of the evaluation period every year. And it's not a, should I say, a biblical command to do so under the New Covenant, but I would say it is a good exercise for us to conduct every year. Again, this is the tenth day of the first month. This is the Lamb Separation Day. Let us get hands-on, again, this year at the Passover. Let us get hands-on with this evaluation period.

Take the time between now and the Passover to re-examine closely the Lamb that was set apart for you and me. Study His life, study His words, study His actions, how He conducted Himself. Reaffirm to yourself once again this year that, yes, this is indeed the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

This is the tenth day of the first month. We line up day by day just as we did in 31 A.D. at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let's consider these things. And again, let's get hands-on with the examination process, looking into the life of the One that we will take part of and type at the Passover. Let's use the time between now and the Passover to study into these things so that when we take the bread and the wine, we'll be reminded of who it was who laid down His life so that you and I might live. Again, brother, make this a hands-on time. Indeed, this entire Passover season for us must be hands-on.

Additional elements of the hands-on Passover experience is the acknowledgment of who killed Jesus Christ. Under the Old Covenant Passover, the lamb was slaughtered for a household. And so you had the head of household go out, or you had an individual go out, and they took that lamb in their hands, and they slaughtered it. And they got the blood on their hands of that sacrifice.

Who killed Jesus Christ? Well, we might say, okay, the Romans did, or the Jews did. But, no, who is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ? Who did He die for? Because when we answer that, we know who has the blood on their hands in this all-in process. Remember, Jesus Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. I want to remind us of just a few scriptures. We're not going to turn to these. You can study them out later, but I'll just read them to you for time.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. This is who killed Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. For He made Him, God the Father made Jesus Christ, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.

For us. Okay? He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And so the perfect Lamb of God took upon Himself the penalty of our sin, and He bore that in our place, and He died that we might live. Galatians 3, verse 13. Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.

For us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

Romans 5 and verse 8. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For us. Brethren, this is a personal sacrifice. It is direct. We own it. We must never forget that. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, died for us. And we have His blood on our hands. Isaiah 53, verse 5 and 6. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

Brethren, who is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ? Who killed Him? Who did He die for? Well, clearly, it's you and me personally. This is a personal and direct sacrifice. The blood of Jesus Christ is on our hands, and I don't mean to say that to discourage you. I don't say it to disappoint you. Indeed, brethren, we should all be encouraged by what the Passover represents, because it represents the time of our victory over sin and death by the blood of the Lamb and the mercy of God. So this should be an uplifting and an encouraging time period, but we should go through this examination process and remember that that Lamb was perfect. And who killed that Lamb? Whose blood? You know, His blood is on whose hands? It is ours. Remember the fact that this, indeed, is a hands-on Passover for all of us. We own it, and we played part in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we need that blood. So again, this year, let's make this Passover a hands-on personal and direct experience. Brethren, it's approaching quickly. Just around the corner, this is the tenth day of the first month. It is Lamb's Separation Day. Let us use this time well.

Let's consider the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's not show away from the hands-on Passover that is set before us this year. In fact, let's embrace it. Let's be all in. Let's engage in the process because God sent His only begotten Son for us. And we are the recipients of that blessing. Let's show God our joy and our acceptance of that sacrifice. Let us examine Christ's perfect life and death. And let us examine ourselves to see how we can better measure up to the stature of the fullness of the example that Jesus Himself set.

I want to conclude, brethren, here by just briefly giving us an overview of the, again, the administrative policy statement on keeping the Passover at home. This is in your email, and it's on the Church's website. And if you need me to mail you a copy, hard copy, tell me as soon as possible. I will get one in the mail to you. But again, we're keeping this at home this year.

The webcast will go out. The Passover statement begins by saying, If you are eligible to take the Passover but unable to meet together with other brethren at the prescribed time, you may observe it in your own home on the first month of the sacred year. If necessary, at the second Passover, thirty days later, and the justification for that is given in Numbers 9, verse 11. The following directions are to aid you in partaking of such a service. In advance, purchase or prepare a small amount of unleavened bread.

Be sure that the bread you use has no leavening in it whatsoever. Rye crisp. Make sure to check the ingredients because just because it's flat does not mean it's unleavened. Read the ingredients, please. But rye crisp or juicematsos, preferably plain varieties, should do just fine. You should also obtain a small amount of natural red wine. Be sure you have a natural, unfortified wine. The alcoholic content will be between 10% and 13%. Wines containing 19-20% are fortified with brandy and should not be used. So I would just say as a rule of thumb, your general cabernet or molao should do fine.

Check and make sure it's not been fortified. Since the Passover ordinance, it should be observed in the early evening, soon after sunset. Prepare the room in advance. There should be enough unleavened bread and glasses of wine on the table to correspond to the number who will be participating. A tablespoon of wine in each glass should be sufficient for the service. The bread and wine should be covered with clean white napkins.

Again, this is something we do in advance, and it's hands-on, and we need to make the preparations for these things. Last year, I kept the Passover in Winnebuh, Ghana, and it was a unique experience. I'm standing there giving the service, and here's the bread, here's the wine, and the wine's covered, and it's wicking. It's wicking up into the cloth that's covering it. And it was rather dramatic, because the aromas of the wine was wafting up. We're in the village, okay? There's flies flying around, the cover is red, the cloth over it is red, and it was literally like there was a body under there.

And in type, there was. And to me, it was rather dramatic and insignificant. But again, let us make these preparations. Since the Passover is the most solemn evening of the year, all those participating should gather quietly in the room where the service will be held. Only baptized members should be participating in the actual service. The handout goes on to give you scriptures that would be read for the foot washing, the bread and the wine, in the event that the webcast goes down, please have that on hand, or know where to find it on your computer.

Dropping down, it says, after the service has ended and people are left the room, then the one in charge should collect any leftover bread and wine that was blessed during the service, and they should be disposed of privately and respectfully. The question has come up, no, you do not have to dump out the rest of the bottle in the kitchen. This is what has been set aside, what has been prayed over right there. If you have a room left, you need to dispose of it and do it in a way remembering that we're honoring this is Christ's body in type.

So we handle this very respectfully. The bread should be burned, the wine poured down the drain or on the ground outside, out of the view of others. If it is not possible to burn the bread, it should be disposed of in a way that will not allow it to be used for any purpose or consumed as food. So if you can't burn it, the bread that's left, I would say, wrap it up in newspaper, tape it up, maybe stick it in a Ziploc bag and throw it in the garbage.

You don't want to be throwing it out on the compost pile where the birds are going to come eat it. Again, this is the type of the body of Jesus Christ. These instructions are to help you in observing God's sacred ordinance of Passover. Brethren, we're all in this year, and we're all making preparations.

And I do pray that God grants you His peace of mind as we come up to this Passover service. And I do pray, brethren, that you have a spiritually fulfilling hands-on Passover this year.