One Story

One of my favourite things about Scripture is how it works together to tell one story. How it
gives a snapshot of something in one section that is later added on to or fulfilled to help us
better understand who God is, who we are, and what God has done for us – which is more than
I often remember or realize.

The story of Good Friday – Jesus being beaten and mocked and finally handed over to be
crucified and shedding his blood which offers forgiveness of sins to all who accept this death on their behalf – is central to our faith as believers. There is so much wrapped up in this that we have to be thankful for! But this wasn’t an idea that God just came up halfway through the
history of the world – no, it was something He had hinted at and pictured before. One of the
best pictures comes through in Exodus 12 at Passover.

Exodus 12 pictures Israel on the very cusp of being let go from Egypt. God had sent Moses
and Aaron to lead the Israelites out of Egypt where they were slaves. This would require
Pharaoh’s permission, and he was not interested in letting his slaves go. And so, after the
initial request to let Israel go was denied by Pharaoh, we see a cycle begin to emerge. God
would send a plague, Pharaoh would relent and say Israel could go, but when the plague let
up, Pharaoh would change his mind. This whole scene repeated itself, with a few details
changing here and there, nine times. After that, God promised a final plague – the death of the
firstborn. Pharaoh’s time was up.

But what about Israel? They had been spared many of the plagues to this point as God
prevented the area they lived in from suffering the same fate as their Egyptian masters, but this one would be different. If they were to be saved – from this plague, but also from slavery in Egypt, God had something they needed to do. Their faith would need to show itself in action.

Exodus 12 lays out what Israel needed to do. First, they needed to choose a lamb that would
be big enough to with feed just their family or theirs and their neighbours. This lamb needed to be a male lamb without any defects, a good one. The Israelites were then to keep this lamb for four days, and at that time they were to kill it. Before eating the lamb, the Israelites were
commanded to take blood from this lamb and wipe it on the door frame of their house so that it was visible. Then, they were to roast the lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. Whatever was left was to be burned – no leftovers were to be saved. God also
commanded that the people eat this meal in a hurry, dressed, and ready to leave Egypt when
God moved to deliver them. If they wanted to be spared from the last plague – the death of the
firstborn-, and if they were to be delivered from their bondage in Egypt, the people of Israel
needed to follow God’s instructions. Their salvation hinged on having faith that following God’s outline for salvation would indeed bring them salvation.

Can you see how this is a picture of Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday?

• The Passover lamb’s life was given in exchange for the life of the firstborn in the house.
  • Romans 5:8-9 reminds us that it’s because of Jesus’ sacrifice that we can be saved, He
    gave His life so that ours would be spared.
• Blood was shed and spread on the doorpost as a sign that the people in that house believed
  both God’s promise of punishment but also His promise of salvation based on the blood of
  the lamb.
  • Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that without blood being shed, sin cannot be forgiven, and
    Romans 5:8 tells us that Jesus gave His life for us, shedding His blood on our behalf.
• Salvation was to found nowhere else but in the blood of the lamb – all other attempts at
  guarding against this plague would fail.
  • Acts 4:12 reminds us that it’s only through faith in God’s name that salvation can be
    found.

As we head into Easter Weekend, as we anticipate remembering Jesus’ death on Good Friday
through communion and celebrating His resurrection on Easter Sunday, remember that the
whole of Scripture has been working to tell the same story. It’s a story of our sin and failure,
but also and even more importantly, it’s a story of God’s work to make a way for us to know
Him and come into His family, forgiven and justified through the sacrifice Jesus made on the
cross. The glimpses of God’s justice, grace, forgiveness, holiness and love that we see
throughout Scripture culminate at the cross. It’s a message of hope, a message of love, a
message that we don’t deserve but one we desperately need!

I hope you can find encouragement in the story of Easter, especially on a year where we will
celebrate and remember these things as families or individuals rather than together as a church
family. I’m excited for the day when we can come together again to worship and praise God
for all he’s done, but I’m thankful that we can still worship and praise Him, even separated as
we are.

I miss you church! Have a great Easter!