The OT passage for today is based upon God preparing the Israelites for departure from Egypt. God is entering into the final plague to unleash unto the Egyptians because of the hard hardheartedness of Pharaoh. God is going to slaughter the first born of the Egyptians if Pharaoh does not adhere to the things that have been spoken. This would cripple the power structure of Egypt for years to come if this maneuver is accomplished. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he refused to let the people go.

Once Pharaoh refuses, the Passover is set in motion and we begin to see the prototype for substitutionary atonement. The Israelites were first instructed to “tell all the congregation”(v.3) to get a lamb and share with their neighbor if needed.  The lamb should be without blemish and a male. The lamb will be killed at midnight after the 14^th day of the month. C.F. Keil writes,

“Freedom from blemish and injury not only befitted the sacredness of the purpose to which they were devoted, but was a symbol of the moral integrity of the person represented by the sacrifice. It was to be a male, as taking the place of the male first-born of Israel; and a year old, because it was not till then that it reached the full, fresh vigour of its life.”

This was also synonymous with the makeup of Jesus as being the Lamb of God (John 1:29). He was a man that “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21) but was pure and holy. The sacrificed lamb was a depiction of what Jesus would endure as the Lamb of God thousands of years later. After they had taken the lamb and inspected him for flaws, (Jesus before Pilate and the governmental presence) he is then sacrificed and the blood was to be put over the doorpost. They were to eat all of the lamb and leave none for later. They had to roast the lamb and none of his legs were to be broken. (1 Peter 1:18-19) It was customary for the legs of one being crucified to have his legs broken. But the legs of Jesus were not broken to reflect the perfection of the lamb. (John 19:33)

The doorpost that had the blood over it would be passed by God as he executed his promise to the Egyptians. This would serve as a memorial to the Jews many times over as they would encounter obstacles in their life. They had the opportunity to see God display his sovereignty and magisterial swagger on their behalf.

The NT (Matt. 18:21-35) shares parable of the Jesus explaining to Peter the importance of forgiveness, he uses the parable of a servant owing money to his master. The master forgives him of his debt and allows him to move forward as if he never owed anything in the first place. The servant then finds another man that owes him money and has him put in jail because he couldn’t repay the money owed. Once this is seen by others they report it back to the master and the master throws the servant in jail for not having compassion upon another as he had upon him.

As we view the passages, we find the art of sacrifice and forgiveness being the crux of what we as believers must operate in. Jesus is shown in the OT as the unsuspecting lamb going to the slaughter in order to atone for mankind. In the NT, we find Jesus being depicted as the forgiving master that sets the example for us to follow. The one thing that stands out within both passages is that the view of the bystanders. (Matt. 18:31) As they see what is happening they are “greatly distressed.” Whether they were believers or not is unknown but the impact that was made is visible.

Much of our personal walk has the same impact to others. Whether we display mission through sacrifice or forgiveness we must understand the people that are watching our lives and lifestyle. At the end of the day, we must be mindful of what has been done for us and what we can do for to others.

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