ON THE VANGUARD

SHABBAT HAGADOL
“Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.”
Exodus 12:3

Today on the Hebrew calendar is the 10th of Nisan. This day is a landmark day in Christian history. While many major events have happened on the 10th of Nisan, today I would like to focus on two specifically. According to the Talmud, the flight from Egypt took place on the 15th of Nisan, making the 14th the day the Passover lamb was sacrificed. As we will see, the lamb was to be cared for a total of four days, placing the selection of the Passover lamb, the Korban Pesach, on the 10th of Nisan. It was on this day that not only were the events set in motion for the Israelites’ freedom, but were also set in place for ours.
First, I would like us to focus on a passage found in Exodus 12. According to this chapter, it was on the tenth day of this month that each man was to take a lamb for the Passover feast. There were restrictions for the selection of this lamb. “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats” (Ex 12:5). I want us to take a moment to look at the word ‘defect’. In Hebrew the word is TAMIYM, referring to the lamb as having to be entire, complete, whole, healthful, or innocent. Not only were these words to be the description of the physical lamb chosen, but as we will later see, they were descriptions of the Lord Himself, our Passover Lamb.
Exodus 12:6 continues on in the description of the lamb. “Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.” It is here that we read that the lamb had to stay with the family for a short period of time. The reason for this was so that the lamb would no longer be simply a ‘lamb’, but rather their lamb. By feeding it, caring for it, and being sure to keep it pure, they were investing themselves into this lamb. On the twilight of the 14th of Nisan the lambs were then publicly sacrificed by the assembly and the blood of that person’s lamb was then applied to the doorpost as a sign of the family’s faith.
Now then, let us skip ahead a few hundred years to the time of Christ. Jesus’ last Passover week began as He entered Jerusalem. On the 10th of Nisan, He rode into town and a donkey to announce His Messiahship. But look at the words of the people’s shouting in John 12:13, which were first recorded in Psalm 118:25-26. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” Hosanna is actually the phrase HOSHIAH NA, meaning please save or save now. The people’s shouts were a plea for salvation. Knowing the sacrifice of the lamb would only save them till the next Passover, they were now pleading for the salvation of their lives. For if only but a moment, the proper praise was given to Christ, their Mashiach, Messiah.
This same date of when Jesus entered the city was the same date in which the lamb was selected. It was also four days from the entry till Jesus became our sacrifice. As He stood before His accusers, they could find no wrong in Him (Luke 23:13-14), proving He was spotless. Jesus was falsely accused, beaten, and sentenced to die. If He had failed even once while on earth, He would not have been worthy to be our Lamb. But He did not. He was tempted in every way, yet never fell. It is because of today in history that we are and can be saved. The lamb, the perfect Lamb, has been inspected and found blameless, and His sacrifice has brought our salvation.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!