Passover is a memorial in which the focus rests on Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, a sinless human sacrifice that pays for sin, not on our own sins. Citing I Corinthians 11:24-29, the bread and cup are taken in remembrance of Him, proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes, and the cup symbolizes the blood that seals God's agreement to justify us. Because the sacrifice is monumental, it must be remembered with understanding rather than as mere ritual, as the Corinthians' careless, selfish conduct shows. Paul's call to examine ourselves and discern the Lord's body means contrasting our failures with Christ's perfect life, much as golf spectators who have tried the shots appreciate the professionals. Self-examination must avoid two snares: comparing ourselves with others, which breeds self-righteousness, and despairing guilt, which denies God's ability to forgive. Awareness of sin should drive us to Passover, not away from it. I Peter 1:18-21 teaches that Christ's precious blood, foreordained before the world's foundation, calls for us to assess its personal value. Hebrews 10:26-29 shows the gravity of treating it as common by willful sin. Unlike animal sacrifices, the death of the sinless God-Man moves us to gratitude, worship, and obedience. The old Passover lamb, kept four days with the family, illustrates the cost of an innocent's death.

Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the 14th of Abib, and that night He set the pattern for remembering Him. He said to partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of Him, and He washed the disciples' feet as an example of humble service and forgiveness. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that He intended to eat the Passover, not merely prepare for it, and Luke records His fervent desire to eat it with them before He suffered. Paul, reflecting on that night, tells the Corinthians that by this observance they proclaim the Lord's death until He comes (I Corinthians 11:26). The Passover therefore keeps its place at the start of the 14th, just after sunset, as Exodus 12 commands. Basing the observance on the hour of His death, mid-afternoon the next day, moves it to the wrong time and leaves the bread, wine, and footwashing without meaning. His death did not match the letter of the Passover instructions. He was not killed between sunset and dark, His blood was not caught in a basin or put on doorposts, and He was crucified rather than roasted. Yet He fulfilled the Passover in its spiritual reality, and the Father was satisfied. The physical rites were types, and He met all their spiritual requirements by His one sacrifice. The timing of His death had a further purpose beyond being the Passover Lamb.

The New Testament Passover is a yearly memorial of the death of Christ, our Passover, who gave His life to become the peace offering (I Corinthians 5:7-8; 11:23-26). Jesus instituted it with His disciples by having them take unleavened bread and wine, which represent His body and blood, and He charged His followers to keep it for all time (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-20). His death completely fulfilled the Old Testament symbolism, so slaughtering a lamb is no longer necessary. The first step in observing it is footwashing, which Jesus performed during the Passover meal as an act of humility and service that He commands Christians in every age to follow (John 13:1-5, 14-15). Partaking is vital, for unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us (John 6:48, 51-54). The Passover emphasizes the peace, fellowship, and joy believers have with God through Christ, much like the peace offering, rather than the forgiveness of sins. His sacrifice as a true sin offering is commemorated on the Day of Atonement. Paul taught Gentile Christians to keep this memorial with bread and wine until Christ returns.

Passover serves as a profound memorial of Christ's death, marking the day when Jesus of Nazareth, our Savior, Redeemer, and Messiah, died on Nisan 14, 1,964 years ago. His crucifixion on this specific day fulfilled the Old Testament type of the Passover lamb, which was to be slain on the 14th day of the month at twilight. Just as the lamb was without blemish, a male of the first year, Jesus is portrayed as the perfect antitype, sinless and pure, whose bones were not broken during His crucifixion. The blood of the Passover lamb, smeared on the doorposts and lintel, saved the firstborn of Israel from the death angel during the tenth plague, redeeming them from death. Similarly, Jesus' blood, shed through His ghastly death and terrible scourging, redeems us, covering our sins and protecting us, the firstfruits of spiritual Israel, from the second death. His death on Passover day was essential to perfectly fulfill this type, as no other day could align with the symbolism of the lamb's sacrifice. Through accepting Him as our Savior, we are freed from the penalty of death, bought back by His sacrifice, just as the blood of the lamb redeemed the firstborn of Israel.

Passover serves as a profound memorial of Christ's death, embodying a deep sense of obligation for those who partake in it. Christ's death stands as the supreme example of unselfish, sacrificial service and love, demonstrating the Father's and Son's freely given beneficent goodwill for our well-being. When we properly evaluate ourselves against what was sacrificed for our forgiveness and eventual eternal life, we can truly begin to partake of God's favor. Christ instructs us to partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of Him, ensuring that His sacrifice does not slip far from our minds. This remembrance helps retain a right sense of obligation, filling us with wonder that He would pay so much for something so utterly defiled. We are admonished to remember not only Christ's personality and sinlessness but also His role as our Creator, His connection to the Old Testament Passover, His violent death for the remission of mankind's sins, and His sacrifice's link to the New Covenant. This selfless act becomes the foundation of all loving relationships, giving us reason to hope and motivating us to love as we failed to do before, which placed us in debt. Paul warns that to eat or drink in an unworthy manner during Passover is to treat His sacrifice with irreverence or without due appreciation, as reflected in the conduct of our lives. Passover is a communion, an act of fellowship with Christ, where He is the focus and symbolically the feast itself. God intends Passover to teach us these truths, so each year begins with realignment and a renewed attitude and direction. As the Passover season approaches, we should seek a better understanding of what we are and what Christ was, did, and is, to be filled with an awe-inspiring sense of our indebtedness.

The Passover holds a central place in God's purpose, marking the foundation of the New Covenant relationship between God and His people. In the Old Covenant, God initiated His covenant with Israel on the Passover, and in the New Testament, Jesus Christ established the New Covenant for Christians on the last Passover night before His crucifixion by introducing new symbols to commemorate His sacrifice as the true Passover Lamb. This sacrifice is pivotal, capable of covering the sins of all mankind for all time, purging the infection of sin from those who accept it in faith and repent. Jesus Christ, as the true Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for the entire world, enabling God to pass over the sins of humanity. His death, planned by God before the foundation of the world, provides the only means for remission of sins, without which there is no forgiveness and no eternal life. His perfect, sinless sacrifice, offered voluntarily, is sufficient for all time and for all of mankind's sins, setting apart those who accept it for a holy purpose in God's plan. On the last night of His life, during His final Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus Christ instituted new symbols representing His body and blood. He commanded His followers, who have repented and accepted His sacrifice by faith, to partake of these symbols as a solemn memorial of His death. Each observance of this memorial serves as a renewal of the New Covenant believer's relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Memorials are occasions dedicated to remembering events of great importance on the date of that event, underscoring the significance of annually reaffirming this covenant. The proper keeping of Passover is a matter of life and death, just as it was in the Old Testament when God passed over the homes of the Israelites. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our Passover, we would die in our sins. The annual reaffirmation of the covenant through Passover is at the heart of an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father, initiating the process that leads to salvation and requiring continual renewal to sustain that life-giving connection. Israel would not have escaped Egypt if God had not passed over their sins, marking the start of their journey to their inheritance. Similarly, for those heading toward God's Promised Land in the Kingdom of God, the Passover is spiritually vital, a matter of life and death. The action of Jesus Christ in instituting the New Testament Passover, including footwashing, partaking of the bread, and partaking of the wine, is so essential that one cannot have eternal life without it.

Passover holds profound significance as a memorial of Christ's death, emphasizing the vital connection to eternal life. Jesus declared in John 6:48 that He is the bread of life, contrasting the manna eaten by the fathers in the wilderness, who died, with Himself as the living bread from heaven that grants life to those who partake of it. He further stated in John 6:51 that the bread He gives is His flesh, offered for the life of the world, symbolically pointing to His death, burial, and resurrection. These symbols are integral to the way of life He established, through which we renew our commitment to Him and to His Father. Without properly observing Passover, eternal life is unattainable, underscoring its critical importance. The emphasis in Passover is not merely on the killing of the lamb but on the eating of it, reflecting a deeper focus on sustaining a relationship with Christ. Jesus Himself was concerned with the eating of Him, as seen in John 6, highlighting the continuance of this bond over the act of His death. Eating the Passover signifies abiding in Him, developing a relationship that culminates in becoming one with Him, far beyond just recognizing Him as the payment for sins. This ongoing relationship, emphasized through eating, is the more challenging and crucial aspect, leading to ultimate unity with Him. Scriptures clearly show that Jesus and His disciples understood keeping the Passover as eating it, reinforcing that eating is a central component. Symbolically, killing the Passover lamb acknowledges responsibility for the Savior's death and recognition of sin, but eating it represents the vital continuance of dwelling in Christ and His Father. This act of eating, as Jesus related to the daily manna, signifies receiving strength to live each day in Him, underscoring its importance in the observance of Passover as a memorial of His sacrifice.