Christ Our Passover

And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.

Alma 34:14

After enduring nine plagues of increasing intensity, Pharaoh was still unwilling to let the children of Israel go. God told Moses that there would be one more plague—a devastating one. The firstborn from every family would die. “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more” (Exodus 11:6).

The children of Israel had been spared some of the previous plagues, but this one was different. They had to do something to avoid it. During this plague, the Lord would “pass over” homes which had followed His instructions, sparing the firstborn of those families (see Exodus 12:13, 23). What’s striking about these instructions is that they not only teach the children of Israel how to avoid the plague but also how to commemorate the event:

And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.

Exodus 12:26-27

The deliverance hadn’t happened yet, but the Lord was already explaining how to memorialize it.

The Passover vividly taught a fundamental gospel principle: deliverance comes through sacrifice. The blood of the unblemished lamb (Exodus 12:5) not only preserved the house from the plague but also prepared the way for the liberation of Israel from bondage.

Tonight, Jewish families throughout the world will celebrate the first evening of Passover with a Seder service. In those services, they will quote the following passage from Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 116b: “In each and every generation a person must view himself as though he personally left Egypt.” The Passover is not only an important historical event in Judaism but a forward-looking event with modern relevance.

As Jesus celebrated the Passover with His apostles on the evening before His crucifixion, He mirrored the pattern from Exodus by teaching them how to commemorate the event which was about to take place. Breaking bread and handing it to them, He said, “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). And after blessing wine, He said, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). Thus, He taught us how to remember His atoning sacrifice before completing that sacrifice.

Jesus fulfilled the Passover principle. As an unblemished Lamb, He suffered and died so that we could be delivered from destruction and freed from bondage. His blood, like the blood of the lamb, saves us. Just as Jewish people keep the Passover feast with joy, seeing themselves in the story, Christians can find personal joy in their remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Today, I will ponder how the Savior has rescued me and my loved ones. I will remember that, like the Passover lamb, He has opened the door for all of God’s children to be set free.