Good evening to everyone. Please turn your Bibles to Exodus chapter 12, please. Exodus chapter 12. We noted this morning when we were looking at the institution of our Lord's Supper, we noted that it was taking place within the context of the Passover meal.
We also noted that there was great significance in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover. And we noted that when he broke the bread, it was symbolic of his body broken for his people. We also noted that it did not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ's bones were broken. And that was something that was a fulfillment of Exodus chapter 12 and verse 46, that the bones of the Passover lamb were not to be broken in the carrying forth of that Old Testament ordinance.
Well, tonight I thought it a great idea to do a brief exercise in typology. So please don't everyone or anybody leave the church, but we'll do a brief exercise in typology. And I hope it will be, at least in some small measure, edifying and help us to maybe bring into greater vision on an evening, on a Sunday evening in Chilliwack, the chief object of our affection, the Lord Jesus Christ, because the typology does concern him. tonight. Now what is typology?
Typology is the study of types. Well, what are types? Types are signs or symbols or figures of something to come in the case of the Bible. And we have them throughout the Old Testament.
There are typical things and there are typical persons in the Old Testament. Some typical things that you may be well aware of, Egyptian bondage was a typical thing or a typical event. in the life of old covenant Israel. The anti-type, or the fulfillment of that type, was spiritual deliverance from sin affected by our Lord Jesus Christ. Also in Hebrews chapter 10 at verse 23, we have in the context of arguing for the necessity of a mediatorial death to affect or confirm a covenant, We read this, therefore it was necessary that the coffees of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these.
Of course, speaking of the blood of calves and goats as being typical, prefiguring the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which would ratify the New Covenant. Typical persons, Joseph, Joseph, in the Old Testament, is a typical person, the antitype being Christ Jesus, our Lord, Genesis 50, 20. You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people, Joseph speaking to his brothers, Acts 2, 23. Him, Christ, being delivered up by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. very similar Joseph being typical of Christ, and also David, another person that was typical, who is typical of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We only need to consider the fact that David delivered Israel from before the tyranny of the Philistine giant saved Israel on that great day. We only need to look a little bit further back in that discourse to see that the one who delivered them was one who was of no notable appearance, no notable physical stature, and he was one who was keeping sheep. So there are striking similarities in not only that, but typology in the Old Testament. Things, forms, symbols, figures that point forward to our Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is a case, of course, where we have both a thing and a person that are typical in the Old Testament. Not only one, but Moses and the bronze serpent. Moses, of course, in the wilderness raised up that serpent, both being typical of Christ, who not only was that one who was lifted up upon the cross for people to look upon and believe, but he was also the one who gave himself up to be lifted up upon the cross of Calvary. We're going to read Exodus chapter 12. 1-13 and consider Passover, the Passover in Christ and the typology related to that.
Exodus chapter 12 verse 1, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons.
According to each man's need, you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. shall kill it at twilight, and they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts, and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head, and 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 the belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.
So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.
I am the Lord. 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. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we Praise you and we thank you for the Holy Scripture, God. We thank you for this account in our Old Testaments.
We thank you for the reality of the event itself and the blessed fact, God, that you saved those people from temporal destruction, that you saved your covenant people from the destruction of the destroyer. We thank you that by the blood of a Passover lamb, they were saved from that trouble. And we thank you, Lord God, for what it points to. We thank you, Lord God, for the fact that this points to that full and final realization that the Lord Jesus Christ, our Passover sacrifice, saves us from spiritual destruction, saves his people from death and from hell.
And we pray, Lord God, that we would consider the weight of your Bible, your Holy Word, and that we would consider the glory of a topic, even a light typology, Lord God. These things in Holy Scripture that instruct, that guide, that edify, that build us up in our most holy faith. And we just pray that you'd send the aid of your Holy Spirit now as we consider your Holy Scriptures. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, here we have it, and the account does continue in Exodus chapter 12. We have the account of the institution of the Passover meal. We consider this morning the institution of the Lord's Supper. Many similarities there, of course, to the Passover meal, and it took place within the context of the Passover meal.
And we'll look tonight at the Passover and our Lord Jesus Christ and the typology that we find in it. Augustus Toplady stated in his work, Christ Our Passover, a work that I am certainly taking much of this from, and I am indebted to Augustus Toplady for much of the content here of the sermon, but this is Augustus Toplady. The Jewish sacrament of the Passover, or the slaughtering of the Paschal Lamb, was exactly typical of the sufferings and death of the Son of God. Now, in other words, or maybe not in other words, but a comment on that, it is not simply coincidental things that we find in the passages of Holy Scripture with regards to an Old Covenant description or historical narrative and a New Testament language that some may just call similar.
No, there is a direct connection. There is a purposeful resemblance to Christ, our Passover sacrifice, and to the historical Passover instituted 1500 years, roughly, prior to Christ. So again, the Jewish Passover was exactly typical of the sufferings and death of the Son of God. Now, we don't need to struggle when we search our New Testaments to find explicit and implicit language that tie the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial work to the Passover Lamb of Exodus chapter 12.
Now, we certainly don't have to are aided by the apostles as they refer to Christ with peculiar language that touches upon the Passover lamb. Peter in 1 Peter 18 and 19, you were not redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Striking language, not just general language of a lamb, meek and patient and innocent, but peculiar language, exact language concerning the Passover land of Exodus chapter 12. Or explicitly connecting Christ does all do when he writes in 1 Corinthians 5 chapter 5 at verse 7, For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.
You can't get any clearer than that. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. And also John the Baptist. Behold, the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world.
Now many will debate over whether John the Baptist there is referring to the Lamb of God in Exodus chapter 12, or if he's referring to Isaiah 53, Jesus Christ being described there by the prophet as a lamb, or Christ as a lamb who was led to the slaughter as a sheep before its shearer is silent, so he opened not its mouth. But there is evidence, there is research, there are documents that would point to the fact that many of the fathers may have conjoined those two realities. And why not? It makes sense, because the Bible the Bible as Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, not only as the Lamb from Isaiah 53, or as a Lamb led to the slaughter, but also as the Passover Lamb, as we see clearly, set forth by Paul, by John also in his Gospel at the account of the crucifixion.
So that is just something of a brief introduction.
Eight Points of Typological Comparison
We're going to have eight points here. Eight points of comparison or resemblance, the Passover lamb to Christ, our Passover lamb. But first, a small secondary introduction and a qualification. There's some interesting information here in this second introduction before we get to those eight points.
It is noteworthy that they chose a lamb, or that God chose a lamb to be slaughtered in the first Passover meal, or in the Passover sacrifice. Why is it noteworthy? Well, because the Egyptians worshipped the lamb. The Egyptians worshipped the lamb.
The Jews, of course, were in bondage in Egypt. And so God, in His infinite wisdom, exercises something of a wholesome mockery. rather than the Creator, who is God-blessed forever. Amen. So it is striking and it is amazing that our great God, again, exercises a little bit of wholesome mockery to dispel, to rebuke the folly of our great God. of Egyptian idolatry.
The lamb that the Egyptians worshipped was slaughtered, was cooked, was eaten, and was wholly burned in the Passover sacrifice and in the Passover celebration. So not only is this a meal, an institution of a memorial celebration, but it is a divine declaration of mockery, it is a divine rebuke from on high that the Egyptians would sink to such a place to worship a lamb, to worship the creature rather than the creator. And it is striking too, the irony it is right and fully proper and wholesome to worship a Lamb, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world. Now, a qualification before we get to these great typological comparisons.
Unlike the Lamb, the New Covenant era is not a new era. Unlike the creature, the Lamb, who cannot help himself, who is innocent, meek and patient, characteristics of our Lord Jesus, but unlike that Lamb who cannot help himself, the Lord Jesus Christ surely could, certainly could help himself. In fact, His coming into the world to take on the office of the Lamb, if I can use that language, not a fourth office, the office of the Lamb. But Jesus Christ, in taking upon the life and ministry of the Lamb of God, did so out of divine volition.
In other words, he being the God-man, he being God, manifested in the flesh, took upon that role voluntarily. Behold, I have come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God. So Jesus Christ was not helpless wholly and completely like a lamb is. Jesus Christ, of course, was helpless by divine design and voluntarily before Pilate, before his persecutors, before those who would try him before the crucifixion.
But as we noticed this morning, or as our brother noticed, that Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who was meek and mild and patient and innocent, who did not revile in return when he was reviled, is also that Lamb of God whom people have to hide from, whom the wicked have to hide from. Remember, he read from that, that those who were wicked had to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb. That is something peculiar to the Lord Jesus Christ, as we don't necessarily, or I don't think anybody has ever hidden from the wrath of a furry, creaturely Lamb. Well, we'll move on now then to our eight points.
And the first point that we have, and you can keep your eyes on your text here as we move between these points.
Point 1: A Lamb Without Blemish
First off, from verse five, the lamb was to be a lamb without blemish. Notice the text, verse five, your lamb shall be without blemish. Well, those of us within these four walls ought not to have to struggle to find the connection to our Lord Jesus Christ. We read that passage, or I alluded to that passage, 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19.
Jesus Christ redeemed us by his precious blood, not by corruptible things, but by his precious blood, the blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Our Lord Jesus Christ was innocent, he was sinless. Unlike those of us whom he calls brethren, he took upon our form, our likenesses, he took upon himself human flesh. But unlike us, he had no sin.
He did not transgress the righteous precepts of our holy and our covenant Lord. He did not, as we noted this morning, fracture upon fracture, do violence to the precepts, to the statutes. of our great God. No, our Lord Jesus Christ was sinless. Again, the people in this particular, or the Jews, who were to engage in this ordinance, who were to partake of the Passover meal, would take a lamb, not one that was defective, not one that was blind, not one that was lame, but a lamb free of malady, free of spots, free of blemishes, and that is certainly, of course, a picture, a prefiguring of our blessed Christ. a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Point 2: A Male of the First Year
Now secondly, notice right after that, your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. A male of the first year. Well, what does that mean? Well, unlike humans with many animals, when they reach a year old, they're not a baby still. still struggling to walk or still struggling to learn or do whatever human babies do.
Unlike humans, many animals are of an adult age at the age of one year. We have here in the account a male of the first year was to be taken. It was to be slaughtered in its prime, not as an infant lamb and not as an elderly lamb. We don't see here that they were to take a lamb that's without blemish, a male of its 13th year.
I'm not sure how long lambs live. But it was not an infant lamb that was to be taken, and it was not an elderly lamb. Well, how does this prefigure our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, our Lord Jesus Christ was in his prime of manhood when he was crucified upon the cross of Calvary as our Passover sacrifice.
He was not delivered up. He was not given up as an infant. He was not delivered up. He was not given up as an elderly man.
He was in his prime at roughly 33 years of age is when our Lord Jesus Christ was fixed by Roman nails to that tree and crucified on behalf of guilty sinners. A male of the first year, sacrificed in its prime for the Passover celebration, prefigured our Lord Jesus Christ cut off in his prime for the sins of his people. Now notice also the discourse continues, you may take it from the sheep or from the goats, now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
Point 3: Slain Publicly by the Congregation
This is point number three. a regulation or instruction by the Lord God to Moses, from Moses to the people, that the whole assembly, or was that the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill the Lamb at twilight. Now, in the back of your minds, hopefully the wheels are turning here. Who is it that was wholly complicit in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ? Who was it that murdered the Lord of Glory, but the nation of Israel?
It was they themselves that cried out, His blood be upon us and our children. would get up with great boldness before the house of Israel, and he would say to the house of Israel, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that this Jesus, whom you crucified, has been made both Lord and Christ. It was the nation of Israel that slaughtered the Lamb of God, that slaughtered our Lord Jesus Christ, that murdered him, that slaughtered the Lamb of God, with wicked hands. Related to this fact, or related to this fact, that it was the congregation of Israel that was to kill the Passover lamb, is the fact, excuse me, is that they were to do so publicly. The slaughtering of the Passover lamb was to take place not in private, not in seclusion, but openly and in public.
Well, so too was our Passover sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ's slaughter. He was not slaughtered in private. He was not taken into some mountain seclusion. He was put up upon an open mountain.
He was put up and raised up upon that tree on an open mountain, on Calvary's Mount, on the place of the stall, also called Golgotha. And many people could see him. How many people? Well, he was crucified right within view, of course, of the major city in that area, Jerusalem, the holy city.
What else was going on at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, we noted it this morning, the Passover meal. Jews would come from far and wide to gather in Jerusalem for the Passover meal. So our Lord Jesus Christ was killed by the congregation of Israel and they only and he was killed openly and in public just like the Passover lamb.
He was put on display on a mountain to be viewed from the city to be viewed from all those who were gathered together. And also note verse 21, Note verse 21, sort of included in point number three here. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. What did the elders of Israel do?
What did the people of Israel do before Pilate but pick the lamb of God from two criminals? They picked Jesus, the Lamb of God, instead of, or they picked Barabbas, yes, but in essence they picked the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified. They said, release to us Barabbas, we choose Christ to be crucified. Crucify Him.
Crucify Him, they cry. And so we have, again, clear with regards to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, with regards to his death in public, with regards to his being picked by the elders and the people of Israel, we have the fulfillment of that picture of the Passover lamb which was picked and chosen and killed likewise.
Point 4: Blood Caught in a Basin
Point number four. Point number four, and for this you can turn to verse 22 or look at verse 22, and you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lentil and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. The blood spilled in the slaying of the Passover lamb was to be caught in a basin. Now this one may be a little harder and maybe not as much of a point A to point B drawing of a line, but again, the blood spilled in the slaying of the Passover lamb was to be caught in a basin.
Now what is this then? How do we now compare this, or how does this resemble the Lord Jesus Christ, but by the value, the inestimable value, the incalculable value, if that is a word, the high and sovereign and holy and righteous value of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ spilled by His veins on the cross of Calvary. the blood of the Passover lamb was not to be spilled, it was to be caught in a basin so that it could then, as the verse continues, be wiped on the lintels and the two doorposts in order for the destroyer to pass over the firstborn of Israel. Well, that is a picture. That is a type of the anti-type, which is the inestimable value of the blood of our precious Christ.
We noted this morning the importance of properly understanding sin. Sin just isn't generically bad stuff. Sin is a transgression of, or lack of conformity unto, the law of God, something that the lawgiver takes seriously. A transgression of his law isn't a small thing, it is a large thing, and the penalty to do it is death and hell.
Well, the Lord Jesus Christ comes, he comes in the fullness of time to give himself up upon the cross of Calvary to spill his precious blood. And it need not be caught by a basin, because in and of itself, Christ's blood is fully efficacious. In and of itself, Christ's blood is fully powerful, fully able to do the job with which it was intended to do, the job that it was intended to do, and that is to perfectly save a multitude that no man can number. Not a drop spilled of the Savior's blood was spilled in vain.
We don't hold to a hypothetical atonement. We do not hold to a maybe or a perhaps or a, if all goes well, atonement. We hold to full and definite and particular and limited atonement. The fact that our Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross of Calvary in order to perfectly save all those whom God had given to him.
And so that is a picture of the value, the very high value of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he cried, it is finished, from that cross, having spilled his precious blood, it was not, again, so that evangelical preachers could preach a half atonement, a half a gospel, a maybe atonement, and if you believe, then the blood will be powerful for you. Certainly that is true. If you do believe Jesus Christ's blood is powerful for you, but it is not to preach a free will atonement of Jesus Christ died for all and it is now up to us to make that particular atonement efficacious, or Christ has done his 75%, you have to do the other 25%. That's hogwash.
The Lord Jesus Christ died perfectly to save A multitude that no man can number By his fill and his precious blood. Now with that blood also, going back to verse 12 and 13, the blood of the Passover lambs sprinkled on the doorposts delivered the Jews from temporal destruction. Verse 12, For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord.
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 and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." So by the blood of a Passover lamb, the people of God were saved in like manner in the new covenant. and not a temporal deliverance, but a spiritual and an everlasting deliverance, in life manner, in the new covenant, the blood of a Passover lamb, in this case, the fully realized divine Passover lamb. The blood of that Passover lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, saves us from the destroyer and from judgment. And that should be a blessed reality if we're ever in our devotions or if we're ever reading through our Old Testaments and we come to Exodus chapter 12 at verse 13 and we read this, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
That's glorious. When Jesus Christ or when our God sees the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we can use that language in that picture, he passes over us. We're not included in the judgments of the great God. We're not included in this horrific judgment. of our destroying God, who will destroy the firstborn of Egypt, who will destroy it from both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt will He execute judgment.
We don't have to fall into the hands of a terrifying and a horrible God to use the language of wrath and judgment, because we have been covered by the blood of the Passover Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is striking, as a side note, that Unlike the notions of many in Christianity that the judgment or the wrath of God or the visitation of divine wrath is something that is passive on God's part directed towards people. We'll notice here that the active element here isn't the saving of the people necessarily, but it is the judgment that God visits upon the wicked in Egypt. It is not the people who are wicked, the sinners in Egypt, or the wicked in Egypt, that are passed over and left, and then God actively seeking the nation of Israel.
No, notice the language. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. And then at verse 13, And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. No, God is not passive, leaving sinners to their judgment, leaving them to exercise their own judgment and send themselves to hell.
No, our God is actively seeking out and pursuing the sinner, the wicked, and actively destroying them and bringing his wrath to bear upon their heads. But it is a glorious thing. The blood of the Passover lamb delivered the Jews from temporal destruction. In like manner, the blood of the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, delivers his people from spiritual and everlasting destruction.
One New Testament note before we move on to the next point that you can refer to. as a fulfillment of or as a tied, connected text to this particular reality, Romans 5 and verse 9. Romans 5 and verse 9, I'll begin reading in verse 6, for when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Strikingly relevant to what we just read in Exodus chapter 12. much more than, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
It's very interesting. We have that language justified by his blood. We also have the language in the Bible justified by faith. We also have the language in the Bible justified by his grace.
Are these contradictions? No, there is blessed unity. There is blessed aggregate between those terms justified by blood, justified by faith. justified by grace. But note the language again with regards to the Passover and the Exodus, by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Also you can just jot down, you won't read from it, Revelation chapter 5 and verse 9, another R book chapter 5, verse 9, also speaks of those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, those who have been made kings and priests to their God by the redemption wrought by the Lamb of God.
Point 6: Thoroughly Roasted in Fire
Point number 6. Note also the thoroughness by which the Lamb was to be roasted. the thoroughness by which the lamb was to be roasted. You can go to verse 8 and we'll read verses 8, 9, and 10. This is in Exodus chapter 12.
Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roast it 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." The thoroughness by which the lamb was roasted, how does this connect with the Passover lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, the extensiveness, the thoroughness by which the Lord Jesus Christ received the wrath of God on our behalf. Fire in ancient times, fire in antiquity was a symbol of wrath, was a symbol of the consuming activity of a judging deity.
And it's used, of course, in our Bibles. not that we're borrowing from pagan religion, but it is a biblical reality that fire is often used as a symbol of the wrath of God. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ, what did he do? When we read this language, or when we consider this lead-up to the anti-type, of the roasted lamb, when we read the thoroughness by which the lamb was to be roasted, it ought to conjure up thoughts of the extensive suffering of our Lord, and as we just noted that it's the wrath of God being brought to bear upon an individual, we ought to think of that scene in Gethsemane. Remember what was going on there, or the language that the Lord Jesus Christ used.
The language that he used was that he was pleading with the father for the cup to pass from him. And we've noted before from the pulpit Pastor Butler more than I that that cup is what the wrath of God or the cup of the wrath of God that Jesus Christ was about to drink to the last drop on behalf of sinners. So it is the case that like the ram was roasted to extensively like the ram was was roasted thoroughly our Lord Jesus Christ thoroughly and to the last drop on our behalf. It was not half of a roasting.
It was not half of a taking upon himself wrath. It was not a small thing. It wasn't a simple death. It was not that the Lord Jesus Christ simply was put to death, but he suffered.
There was travail outwardly upon his body, torture. The receiving, again, of breach upon breach of his flesh. He was spit upon, mocked, and beaten. pierced with Roman nails, he was pierced in his side, albeit after death, but nevertheless the Lord Jesus Christ received upon his body many an external trial, but also the travail of the inner man as he took upon himself the wrath of God. He cried from the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Not a cry because he had received physical bruising, beatings, and woundings, but because the wrath of his father had been poured out upon him to the uttermost. But he, of course, took it willingly in obedience, or in the place, and in the stead of his people.
Point 7: Not One Bone Broken
Point number seven, notice at verse 46. One more point after this one. Notice at verse 46. and we looked at this this morning, we'll just turn there again to see the blessed connectivity of Holy Scripture. One of the attributes of Holy Scripture, just before I read this, that our Confession speaks of in arguing for its infallibility and its God-breathedness, is the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, in parenthesis, which is to bring all glory to God.
The consent of the parts, we'll note here as we look, well we've noted it much already, we'll note here as we read from this and then as we read from John chapter 19 verse 46 of Exodus 12 in one house it shall be eaten you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house nor shall you break one of its bones John chapter 19 as the Lord Jesus Christ has died upon the cross of Calvary, and as the Roman soldiers are asked to expedite the procedure on behalf of the Jews, we read at verse 31, Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs." Now, without the support or without the Old Testament, without our knowledge of Exodus chapter 12 and the Passover celebration, specifically verse 46, this wouldn't mean as much to us when we read this particular passage. And it reads more, or it ought to mean more, rather, as we read on.
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, not one of his bones shall be broken." Glorious, glorious fulfillment of Holy Scripture. It's amazing that just everything, the weight of all of the data that we have in our New Testaments with regards to the ministry, the life, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, how much crosses over, how much resembles, and how much by divine design is connected to the Old Testament.
And it is deliberate. It is not just, oh, it's the Bible and it's similar language. No, our Bible's interpreted for us that the scripture should be fulfilled, not one of his bones shall be broken. And again, that's language that we just read, not of a person, not of a male individual human, but of the Passover lamb that was to be slaughtered and its blood used to decorate the lentils in the doorposts in order that God would pass over the firstborn of Israel, saving them from the judgment being brought upon Egypt.
Point 8: The Lamb Was to Be Eaten
While eighthly, our eighth and final point, we have this fact, the Passover lamb was not only sacrificed, but was to be eaten. Now, of course I'll issue a qualification, and hopefully for those who are here this morning, I already have, that the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, is not physically eaten, Such a statement or such a doctrine is an abomination, is a blasphemy, does violence to holy writ and to the atoning work of our Christ, and to the doctrine of his humanity and his deity, to be sure. But what do we mean then when we say that the Passover lamb was not only sacrificed, but was to be eaten? While we have at verse 8, again, the fact that the Passover lamb was to be eaten, then they shall eat the flesh on that night roasted in fire, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 8.
And we have in John chapter 6, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, our Passover sacrifice, using the language of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Now we'll issue a qualification of course, but John chapter 6 at verse 53, Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is food indeed. and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." Now, this is a saying that caused problems for the audience to which Jesus was speaking to.
Well, what do you mean, Jesus? And I think we have a vindication of the Protestant doctrine at verse 52. not only there, but at verse 52, the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? It's the same sort of question that Nicodemus asked when Jesus was speaking about the new birth. When he said, you must be born again, and Nicodemus said, well, I have to enter once again a second time into my mother's womb to be born again.
And Jesus says, well, Jesus doesn't really answer him explicitly. He just repeats it. You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. and then he indicts him for not knowing what the prophets had spoken about in the Old Testament concerning spiritual rebirth or being born from above. Well, it's the same thing here.
Jesus is not saying that they were to literally eat his flesh and literally drink his blood. We can back up to verse 32 for a clearer understanding of what's going on here and what it means. Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me The eating of the flesh of the Son of God, the drinking of the blood of the Son of God is not literal, but it is figurative for coming to Him and believing in Him. Those actions that do, by God's grace, unite us to Christ in that glorious saving relationship.
When we say the Passover lamb was not only sacrificed but was to be eaten, and when we tie that to the fact that we are to feed upon Christ Jesus and Him crucified as our confession uses that language, it means that we are to believe. We are to come to Christ, we are to believe in Him, we are to cling to the Son of God, the Lamb of God, for everlasting life and all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. And so that is just a brief discussion of typology as we find it in the Passover lamb of Exodus 12 and in Christ our Passover of the New Covenant.
Application
But I just want to close now with four points that hopefully we can glean from this short time. And then we'll close.
Do Not Neglect the Old Testament
The first is don't neglect the Old Testament. Don't neglect the Old Testament. Unfortunately, there are many Christians out there that say and even teach that Christ is not in the Old Testament. And I don't want to—we should not, in pride or somehow puffed up in our Reformed theology, thumb our noses at Christians who would ever think such a thing.
But it ought to grieve us that Christians would actually instruct and teach and believe such a thing, because clearly, Christ is through and throughout the Old Testament. We only consider Exodus chapter 12 when we consider Christ Jesus our Passover lamb. And we have clear scriptural God-breathed affirmation that the Old Testament speaks of Christ in John 19, that the scripture might be fulfilled, not one of his bones shall be broken. But ever neglect the Old Testament because it is rich with Christ.
From Genesis 3.15 through through Deuteronomy 18, 18, through, you know, we've got 2 Samuel 7, through to the Psalms 2, 16, 22, to name only three of the multitude of Psalms, Isaiah 7, 14, Daniel 7, 14, Daniel or Isaiah 9, we could go on and on. The Old Testament is rich with Christ, our Passover Lamb.
Do Not Despise Theology
Secondly, don't thumb your nose at theology. I know just, just, I could just, Imagine, you know, from pulpits elsewhere, someone was to walk up to a pulpit and say, oh, tonight we're going to learn about typology. Great. You know, get me a pillow.
But no, typology is rich, and it ought to be exciting, and it ought to be a glorious thing, and hopefully this exercise, however feebly carried out by this preacher, ought to have been edified. Because it is so amazing that we have this Passover, this Old Testament Passover sacrifice, no mention of Christ, albeit, but rich with Christ. Theology is a wonderful thing, and just on that note, just a couple more minutes, I promise, but on that note, It is argued well, and I think argued soundly, that Moses preached Christ in his time and in his era. How do we know that?
Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24, By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. It's not that Moses was just in the dark, was carrying out these Passover celebrations completely devoid of knowledge that it pointed forward to something greater. It wasn't that Moses partook of the ordinance and instituted the ordinance of the Passover, and that's only for our benefit. No, that was also for their benefit.
At their particular time in redemptive history, the revelation of Christ, yes, was like that chamber dimly lit or dimly lighted. It had all of the elements of Christ and Christology in that Old Covenant chamber, but the New Covenant flicks the switch. New Covenant revelation turns on the lights, and the richness of those decorations and ornaments are all the more clearer. Well, Moses had the knowledge of Christ.
Not only did he esteem the reproach of Christ as great riches, greater than the treasures in Egypt, but he looked forward to the reward of Christ. And so in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, not to thumb our nose at it or its theology, because it is Christ-rich.
Behold the Lamb of God
And thirdly, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If you're a sinner in this place, we plead with you to behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Adult or child, Your only saving refuge from the wrath of the destroyer who visited Egypt with destruction, your only saving refuge is the blood of the Lamb, is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You must plead to Him. You must, in a symbolic way, you must sprinkle the doorposts. You must sprinkle the lentils with the blood of Christ. in order to be saved. You must believe on Him, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.
And let that always be something that is said in the church, that is said in the home, that is said wherever opportunity brings forth the opportunity to say those things to your children or to anyone. The only saving refuge is in Christ Jesus, our Passover Lamb.
Rejoice in New-Covenant Redemption
And finally, before we close with a prayer, rejoice in the redemption that the Passover lamb brings. The first Passover celebrated the redemption, affected the redemption, the temporal removal of the firstborn from the destruction of the destroyer. It also, as redemptive history progressed, was something that looked back to the release or the removal of Israel from bondage in Egypt, the exodus. We have the wonderful words in Exodus 14 verse 30 to Exodus 15 verse 2.
And these ought to be the similar. These ought to be words that we could sing similarly, considering our new covenant redemption by the Passover lamb. So the Lord 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 Lord had done in Egypt.
So the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him. My Father's God, and I will exalt Him. Amen. We ought to sing as New Covenant believers, saved by the blood of our Passover sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We ought to sing like praises. We always do so. Whenever we might have those seasons where we're away from the word for whatever reason, we might have those seasons where we're down in the dumps, maybe just try and remember, have a spark of memory to strike up a doxology in your own hearts. That you speak to your own hearts like the psalmist David.
That you would speak to your own heart and cause it to arise with praise to the one who redeemed us from such a destruction and saved us from such a death. and from such a hell. Let's praise Christ.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we just thank you so much for your revelation. We thank you for your scriptures. We thank you, Lord God, for the theology that we find page after page. And we thank you, Lord God, for the connectivity, Old Testament to New Testament, and the fact, again, that it points to the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross giving His life for sinners.
And we ask, God, that each and every day we would raise our heads off of our pillows Rejoicing in nothing, save Christ and your blessed salvation, the glorious gospel. And we pray as we rest our heads this evening, and as we rest our heads every night, we would rest knowing that we are safe in that refuge. We are safe, we are covered by the blood of the Lamb, we are covered by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him, no one can touch us, Father. We thank you so much for that salvation, might we live in light of it, God.
May we go therefore now and order our lives, live our lives, conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.