In our family Bible reading time which I regularly lead, we just completed reading Exodus 11-12, which is the fascinating story of God’s ”passover” where every first-born was killed in the land of Egypt during the time which the Hebrew people were in captivity thousands of years ago.

The only families that were spared of this tragedy were those whose dads took a young lamb without blemish, killed it on the specified day, and applied it’s blood to their doorposts and lintel (the long horizontal beam above the door.) They were to then roast the lamb over a fire and eat it that night, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Interestingly, they were told to keep this meal as a “feast to the LORD, a festival throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” (Exodus 12:14)

And so this meal became known as the “feast of unleavened bread” or ”passover feast” and it involved celebration, holy gatherings, and days without working (Exodus 12:14-19.)

And the very next day, they were given freedom to leave the Egyptian land of slavery and bondage which they had endured for centuries!

Now, I found it very interesting that Moses told the dads to observe this feast “for yourselves and your sons forever.” And he gave the men instructions on exactly what to say to their children when asked why their families observed this (Exodus 12:21-28.)

In spite of these instructions, I suspect most families today do not keep the passover feast.

Yet it was this very passover feast which Jesus Christ was observing with His disciples the evening of his betrayal, His illegal arrest and trial, and ultimately His crucifixion.

He was killed on the same day of the year which Hebrew families had for centuries  sacrificed an unblemished male lamb, applied it’s blood to the entrances of their homes, and consumed the lamb’s flesh internally as a memorial of God’s mercy, sparing them from judgment and death.

What a remarkable picture of the Christian/Messianic message of salvation!

Jesus Christ was the unblemished human “passover lamb,” dying a cruel, torturous death so that His blood might spare from eternal death and judgment those who apply His blood to their own lives, and exit a life of bondage and slavery to begin a new life of freedom.

Passover is a fantastic, historical story which we can use to communicate rich spiritual truths to our children!

I encourage you to read the passover story in Exodus 11-12 with your family this week, as the “feast of unleavened bread” begins at sunset on Wednesday, April 8th.

Then, relate this story to the New Testament Gospel accounts where Jesus observed passover with His disciples in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22, and Himself became the Passover Lamb.