Christian Review Magazine Issue 4 - April 2015 | Page 27
the Messiah. In the old testament
Book of Isaiah the prophet
predicted the Messiah would be
the final paschal sacrifice. The
lamb that is sacrificed at Passover
for the atonement of sin.
Isaiah 53:7 E.S.V - He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth; like a
lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its
shearers is silent, so he opened not
his mouth.
There were two streams of
messianic expectation. One was
that He would be suffering servant
and the other the He would be a
conquering King like David. At the
time of Jesus His compatriots
were looking for a conquering
King to deliver them from the
oppression of Roman Rule. John
The Baptist recognised who Jesus
was when he introduced Jesus as
the sacrificial lamb.
John 1:29 E.S.V - The next day he
saw Jesus coming toward him, and
said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the
world!”
MESSIANIC
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
PASSOVER
At the time of Jesus, Passover had
developed into a very large
festival. The nation of Israel and
Jews on pilgrimage from all over
the known world would be in
Jerusalem. The historian Joachim
Jeremias estimated that there
would have been about 150
thousand people in Jerusalem at
Passover. Jesus and his disciples
came to Jerusalem to take part in
the Passover. When Jesus made
his triumphal entry into Jerusalem
on a donkey (Palm Sunday), He
was presenting himself as the
Passover lamb. On that day a
member of each household would
choose a one year old
unblemished male lamb for the
Passover. It was known as the
selection day.
Later that week Jesus reclined at
the table with his disciples for the
Passover meal. Traditionally the
order of the meal would have
symbolically pointed back to the
Israelites freedom from slavery in
Egypt. That night, Jesus revealed
the significance of the bread and
wine.
Matthew 26:26 E.S.V - Now as
they were eating, Jesus took bread,
and after blessing it broke it and
gave it to the disciples, and said,
“Take, eat; this is my body".
By breaking the bread, Jesus was
symbolically saying his body was a
holy sacrifice for the salvation of
mankind.
And he took a cup, and when he
had given thanks he gave it to
them, saying, Drink of it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins." - Matthew
26:27-28 E.S.V
Jesus declared that this new
covenant would be poured from
the cup of salvation in His blood.
Judgment and salvation, are
brought together in the mystery
of one cup. Jesus was not just
speaking of the cup in a symbolic
way, He was describing the events
that were about to take place His
crucifixion and resurrection.
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