Focal Passage: Exodus 12:1-13
A familiar scene plays out on the not-so-silver screen. Perhaps the man hangs perilously from a cliff or building. Maybe the young lady is trapped inside a malfunctioning elevator. Fingers slip. Hinges jolt. The music rises, and tension mounts.
Suddenly, a hand appears, and a hero emerges. The audience gives a sigh of relief, but it is almost always short-lived. The hand may be extended, but inevitably fear’s hostage must trust the one extending it.
I wonder if the Israelites felt apprehensive about God’s promise of deliverance in Exodus 12. What He was asking them to do would require great faith.
A lamb unblemished, one year old? Sacrifice at twilight? Roasted, not boiled? The details were so specific, the sense of urgency, so palpable.
Yet, the outcome for doing otherwise was too awful to contemplate – the death of a child. Then again, wasn’t it He that had struck Egypt with all of His wonders? Surely, now, if they would but trust Him, they would be delivered still, maybe for good.
That was His promise, that through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, they would see the hand of God finally liberate them from the Egyptians. Every year, that same lamb would serve as a memorial to all that God had done for them and as an impetus to continue trusting in Him for guidance and protection. Of course, all of this was to foreshadow the coming of the Christ, the true Passover lamb. By the blood of Jesus, judgment has passed over all who trust in Him. He was sacrificed in our place, for our sin. For this, we owe Him our humble praise.
Yet, many still reside as children of wrath in need of liberation. God’s Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are “ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us.”
We are the extended hand of the emerging hero sent to save. Fingers slip. Hinges jolt. The music rises, and tension mounts. Then a voice calls out above the fear, “we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” And He saves.