Years of study have shown that a useful way to understand God’s Plan of salvation for mankind is through His commanded holy days. The initial step in that plan can be seen in the Passover. Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, human beings have lived in a world apart from God. The way back to the Tree of Life has been cut off, causing a great gulf between God and mankind. By themselves, human beings cannot bridge that gap.

However, God can. He has taken the prerogative to call certain people into His fellowship, redeeming them from the grip of this world. Such people He calls to Himself (John 6:44), makes peace with them by covenant, and teaches them His way of life. Passover symbolizes the first steps God took to lead His people toward ever-closer communion with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. Keeping the Passover each year should remind us of God’s gracious initiative in bringing us into a relationship with Him.

1. Is Passover a commanded festival? Leviticus 23:4-5.

Comment: The Passover is a festival of God, not a feast of Israel or the Jews! He instituted it millennia ago, and it continues as a perpetual command for His people.

2. How were the Israelites to observe the Passover? Exodus 12:3-11.

Comment: God told each Israelite family to choose an unblemished lamb on the tenth day of the first month, Abib, also known as Nisan. On the fourteenth day at twilight (shortly after sundown as the fourteenth began), they killed the lamb and put its blood on the doorpost and lintel of their homes. They then roasted and ate the lamb.

3. Why did they put blood on their doorposts and lintels? Exodus 12:12-13.

Comment: The blood was a sign to the Death Angel to “pass over” their homes when it went through Egypt to kill the firstborn. Because of it, God kept Israel’s firstborn alive, while all the firstborn of the Egyptians died.

4. What did killing the lamb and eating it that night represent? Exodus 12:3-4, 7-13.

Comment: The Passover lamb did much more than just provide blood. It was also intended as a distinctive meal, which sets it apart from a sin offering. In fact, Scripture is conspicuously silent about forgiveness or atonement in the context of the Old Testament Passover. Instead, it speaks frequently in terms of purchasing or redeeming the children of Israel. The Israelites were not forgiven of their sins at Passover but purchased from Pharaoh (see Exodus 6:6; 15:13, 16; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; II Samuel 7:23-24; Isaiah 43:3; Micah 6:4; etc.). The blood on the doorposts, then, represents not the covering for sin but the life of the lamb given to redeem or buy back those within the house.

In many details, the instructions for the Passover sacrifice do not harmonize with those for a sin offering (compare Exodus 12 with Leviticus 4 and 6). Of all the offerings, the Passover sacrifice most closely resembles the peace offering in Leviticus 7, which pictures an individual and the priest in peaceful, secure fellowship with God over a shared meal because He has bestowed His favor. Jesus’ Passover meal with His disciples follows these themes: He speaks of being one with the Father, of love and fellowship with Him and each other, of peace, and of joy—but never of their sins (see John 13-17; see also Luke 22:14-18; I Corinthians 10:16-17)!

Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin at the end of Passover day (John 18:39; 19:13-18)—a true sin offering—is commemorated specifically on the Day of Atonement. He is indeed the Lamb of God who gave His life and shed His blood so that we may be saved from eternal death by paying the penalty for our sins (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; Acts 8:32; Revelation 7:14; I Peter 1:18-19). But at the beginning of the annual holy day season, God wants us to focus on the ongoing fellowship He initiates with His called-out people. Thus, the Passover becomes a solemn yet joyful celebration of the peace and well-being we have in Christ.

5. Did Jesus observe the Passover during His life on earth? Luke 2:40-42; John 2:13, 23.

Comment: Jesus kept the Passover as a human being because God had commanded it as a festival. In so doing, He set us a perfect example, showing us that we, too, should observe this festival.

6. Are New Testament Christians commanded to keep the Passover? I Corinthians 5:7-8.

Comment: The apostle Paul instructed the Corinthian Christians to observe the Passover as a memorial of the death of Christ, our Passover, who gave His life to become the peace offering (see I Corinthians 11:23-26).

7. What did Jesus teach is the first step in observing the New Testament Passover? John 13:1-5, 14-15.

Comment: While His disciples ate the Passover meal, Jesus rose and washed His disciples’ feet. Considered a very lowly responsibility in that culture, footwashing was performed by servants when visitors entered a house. By performing this act of humility, Jesus showed us how we should serve each other. He commands Christians everywhere and throughout all ages to follow His example.

8. What else did Jesus teach His disciples to do in observing the Passover? Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-20.

Comment: Jesus told His disciples to partake of unleavened bread and wine, representing His body and blood. Through this command, He charges His followers to observe the New Testament Passover as a memorial of His death for all time. Since Christ’s death completely fulfilled the Old Testament symbolism pertaining to this festival, it is no longer necessary to slaughter a lamb to keep Passover.

9. Must all converted Christians observe the New Testament Passover every year? John 6:48, 51-54.

Comment: Jesus plainly says that, unless we eat His flesh (represented by the unleavened bread) and drink His blood (represented by the wine), we have no life in us and will not inherit eternal life! His statement shows how vitally important it is to observe the Passover every year.

10. Did the New Testament church of God continue to keep the Passover yearly? Acts 12:4.

Comment: Some translations, like the King James Version, grossly mistranslate the Greek word pascha in Acts 12:4 as “Easter.” This word always means “Passover.”

11. Did the apostles teach the Gentiles to observe the Passover? I Corinthians 11:23-26.

Comment: The apostle Paul carefully taught Gentile Corinthians to keep the Passover using the symbols of bread and wine that Jesus had instituted. These scriptures teach us to keep the Passover “till He comes,” and the true church of God will still be observing the Passover as He commanded. All those who have accepted His redemption eagerly anticipate His return to share the eternal life He makes possible for us!