The Passion of a Passionate God.

Excerpts from the Passion Reading
•Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”
•Pilate then said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.”
•A third time Pilate said to them, “What evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death.”
•The other criminal rebuked the first and said, “…we are getting what we deserve for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong.”
•When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

Jesus is your Paschal Lamb.

You all know that the term “Paschal lamb” refers to the Jewish Passover in Egypt where God instructed the Israelites to kill an unblemished lamb and put the blood of the lamb on the lintels of their doorposts. The angel of death would see the blood and ‘pass over’ that household. The Israelites were also instructed to make sure that every member of the household consumed at least a small portion of the roasted lamb. 

From the long Gospel reading of the Passion, I pulled out the above passages that speak of the innocence of Jesus because the unblemished lamb of the original Passover was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus, our paschal lamb, on the cross. Jesus went to the cross unblemished so his death could in no way be construed as just punishment. It was innocent blood that was spilled on our behalf. Because of our baptism where we die with Christ and because of our belief in Jesus, the blood of the lamb has marked our spiritual ‘lintels’. We are identified as God’s chosen, the ones who are saved from the power of sin and death. 

The above parallels between the first Passover and the death of Jesus astoundingly show us that God was always thinking of our salvation from the beginning. But there are other parallels not often emphasized. Here are a few:

• According to the law, the Jews were to select their sacrificial lamb on the tenth day of the first month, four days before the actual sacrifice. According to John, Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth day of the first month. The people then acclaimed him as their Messiah. He became the 'Chosen Lamb' on the exact day the Passover lambs were traditionally chosen.
 
• When Jesus and his disciples sat down for the Last Supper, (Seder) it was the beginning of the 14^th day of the first month. In Exodus (12:18) God instructs the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb at twilight on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, before the sun sets. Though the biblical day begins at sunset, they were having their Seder meal early because Jesus knew that when the rest of the Jews were having their Seder meal, he would be dead and buried. At the last supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist. “This is my body…this is my blood…” All those who were present at the last supper partook of a small portion of the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus, just as the Jewish people would be partaking in the sacrificial lamb at their own Seder meals.

• When Jesus was nailed to the cross it was the third hour, the hour when the first male sacrificial lamb (the Tamid) was slain in the temple and its blood collected to sprinkle on the altar. When Jesus died, it was the ninth hour – the hour the rest of the sacrificial lambs chosen by Jewish families and communities were ritually slain in the temple. 

• During the Passover, Jerusalem was filled with thousands upon thousands of Jews singing and reciting the traditional Hallel psalms (113-118).  Their voices would have been heard outside the city walls. While Jesus hung on the cross, those who were with him would have been able to hear phrases like, "The cords of death entangled me . . . I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’… I kept my faith, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted’… precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of his Righteous Ones . . . Open for me the Gates of Righteousness . . . The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone… Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

•A ritual instruction for the preparation of the Passover lamb was that no bones be broken. After Jesus had died, the soldiers came and broke the bones of the two men on either side of him but when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead and so they didn’t break his bones. Psalm 34:20 also states, “…taking care of every bone, the Lord will not let one be broken.”

In these modern times, we have difficulty relating to the idea of sacrifice. It seems so bloody and primitive. Surely all of us, at one time or another, secretly or out loud, have wondered how a loving God could demand his ‘pound of flesh’ and send his son to die. And right there is where the mistake is made. We envision God the Father in heaven sorrowfully watching from a distance his only son die on a cross. It was tough but it had to be done. “This hurts me more than it hurts you,” type of thing. We forget that Jesus kept emphasizing to his disciples, “The Father and I are one. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  Where was the Father when Jesus was on the cross? 

On the cross with him. 

The mystery of the oneness of the trinity means that because of his huge love for us God sent himself to die for us in order to become the ‘once and for all’ sacrifice. There was no “You go and I’ll stay here and watch.” It was, “Let’s go and bring our children home.”

Throughout the Old Testament, God kept telling his people that burnt offerings and sacrifices were not what pleased him. What pleased him were love, mercy, compassion and humble hearts. So, why would he have created laws requiring sacrifice if it wasn’t what pleased him? Because God always works with his people within the capacity of their understanding. 

Having lived in Egypt for over 400 years, the Israelites were totally used to the idea of sacrifice to appease the gods. It was culturally acceptable to them. After he took them out of Egypt, God instituted very tight laws that specified what could be sacrificed: animals, birds and produce, etc. But not people! These ancient Israelites had been exposed to cultures where babies and virgins were regularly sacrificed to keep the gods happy and that seemed normal to them. God was moving them out of that kind of despicable idea of sacrifice and away from the perception that he could be that kind of God. 

As a young nation the Israelites needed strict laws to teach them the way to live morally upright lives, just as young children need very clear rules and standards to teach them the right way to live. But the people as a whole just could not get their heads around the idea that their inner hearts and the actions that come from a willing and loving spirit were what blessed God, not the sacrifices. They kept falling, just as we do today, into following the letter of the law. The "good" Jews were impeccable in their observance of the law. They made all the proper sacrifices, said all the proper prayers and observed all the proper feast days. But God agonized over them because “their hearts are far from me.” 

The death of himself, the unblemished lamb, on a cross was the complete end of useless ritual sacrifice, sacrifice that did nothing to cleanse the heart. It was the beginning of a new relationship with God, a New Covenant based on outrageous passionate love, not on blind, dead law. Even the sacrifices of non-Christian Jews came to an end as the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed relatively shortly after the death of Jesus. To this day there are no bloody sacrifices being offered on behalf of the Jewish people. 

You belong to a God who never lets go and who will do whatever it takes to rescue you and get you home. 
Jesus came, for you, to be the second Adam, the second Moses, the New Covenant, your Way Out, the determined and stubborn Gardener of your fruitfulness, your Ocean of Living Water, your Temple of God’s holy presence, the illuminating Light in your heart, your Resurrection, your Life and your paschal Lamb.
 
Hold the Lamb. Feel that love.