Announce to the
whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each
family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal
for each household. Exodus 12:3
Today is the 10th day of Nisan,
the day on which the Passover Lamb was to be set apart from the flock
in order to be offered as an unblemished sacrifice to the Lord. Special
care was to be taken of this lamb until the 14th of the month, the
Passover, when the lamb would be slaughtered at twilight. On the
original Passover, the blood of the lamb was smeared on the doorposts of
every Hebrew home to distinguish them from the Egyptians and to protect
them from the destroyer. The whole community of Israel professed their
allegiance to God, but it would be this purposeful and individual act
of obedience to God’s instructions which would set true believers apart
to be delivered from bondage and spared from death. And when they were
delivered, they would truly be God’s people, and God would be their God.
On this exact day in history, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in the ,,Triumphal Entry”,
presenting Himself as the unblemished eternal Passover Lamb of God. In
the days that followed, He taught in the Temple, challenging and
infuriating the religious leaders of His day with questions that they
could not answer, until the 14th of the month when He would be betrayed
and handed over to be killed. On this day as He entered the gates of
Jerusalem, the people shouted for joy, declaring the fulfillment of the
Psalms and the words of the Prophets Isaiah
and Zechariah, affirming their faith in Jesus as the Son of David, the
Son of God, their Messiah, and the King of Israel. Their words declared
their faith that Jesus would deliver them from their oppression and
that they would be called “The Holy People” and “The People Redeemed by
the Lord.”
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem,
He wept. He knew that, despite their professions of faith, in only a
few days the people would all abandon and reject Him. He, too,
remembered the words of the Prophet Isaiah, who said, ”These
people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made
rules learned by rote.” Although the people professed their
faith with their lips, it turned out that it was all talk and no action.
They had abandoned true faith in God’s Word and trusted instead in
their own traditions, rules, and regulations. These same people, only a
few days later, would be the ones who stood in agreement with His
crucifixion. He did not weep over His coming suffering and death, for
this was His God-given purpose on earth. He wept over the hypocrisy of
their proclamations of faith.
During His ministry on earth,
Jesus taught about the difference between those who would profess faith
and those who would put their faith into action through obedience to His
teachings. He taught that everyone who hears His words and puts them
into practice will be blessed. To them, He will be Savior and Messiah,
their Prince of Peace, their Teacher, Counselor, and even their friend. But,
anyone who professes their faith but does not put His teachings into
practice, or places more faith in the tradition or philosophy of man,
will be unstable in all their ways and cut off from God. These
hypocrites, whose deeds do not match their words, will meet Jesus one
day, and He will weep and say to them, “I never knew you.”
God still weeps over hypocrisy.
What was true about genuine faith back then is still true for us
today. If we genuinely believe the things that we say in faith, then we
will put them into practice. Our purposeful acts of obedience are the
distinguishing mark of what we truly believe. It is these acts of
obedience, our putting into practice the teachings of our Lord Jesus
which mark us for redemption, deliverance, and salvation and which smear
the blood of the eternal Passover Lamb on the doorposts of our hearts. Put
another way, faith without works is dead. We are saved by grace
through faith, but our actions of obedience prove our faith to be
genuine. If the Hebrews had not marked their doorposts in the
original Passover, they should not have expected to be delivered from
Egypt or spared from the destroyer. In the same way if we do not
demonstrate our faith through our acts of obedience, then we should not
expect to be delivered from our oppressors or spared from death, eternal
separation from God, by the blood of our Passover Lamb, Jesus.
Talk
is cheap. Obedience is costly. If you truly believe that Jesus is
your Savior, then you will walk in the obedience of faith. Today,
with renewed commitment, willingness and passion, declare again your
faith in Jesus as your Savior and King, and your eternal Passover Lamb.
Smear your heart with the blood of Jesus by putting into practice the
things that He teaches. Then, you will be set free from oppression, and
you will be marked for salvation and redemption. God will be your God,
and you will be His child.
Scripture References:
Exodus 12, Triumphal Entry: Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19; Psalm
118:25-26, Isaiah 62:11-12, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 29:13, James 2:17,
Mark 7:8, Ephesians 2:8, Matthew 7:21-23
*Note: This is the day that is currently commemorated as Palm Sunday, which will be observed on March 24, 2013.
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Let us all pray for peace – we need it now more than we have for many, many years. YHWH will hear the earnest prayer of the faithful.