Passover centers on Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world, embodying a human sacrifice of the most sublime quality. At Passover, the focus is on the payment for sin through His sacrifice, highlighting the monumental cost of salvation. The cup symbolizes the blood He spilled in sacrificing His life, sealing God's agreement of salvation with us, certifying His promise to justify us for salvation. Such a sacrifice must be fittingly remembered, ensuring it does not become a mere ritual or pious habit, which would diminish its significance if Christ is not truly honored with understanding and appreciation. Understanding Christ's sacrifice properly determines the quality of our observance of Passover. To prevent taking it in a careless and unappreciative manner, we are charged to examine ourselves, discerning the Lord's body. This self-examination involves seriously reviewing our spiritual and moral failures in contrast to the perfect glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lived without committing even one sin. Despite this awareness of sin, the focus at Passover remains on the payment for our sins and the means by which we are forgiven, concentrating on the elementary precepts of our salvation and the part He plays in it. Passover forces us to focus on our weakness and Christ's strength, our need and His abundance, our sinfulness and His perfection, our sentence of death and His offer of life. The theme of Passover is the awesome cost of salvation, manifested in the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who was sinless even while encumbered with human frailties. His name is Savior, Redeemer, and Lamb of God, and His sacrifice, with the approval of the Father and His selfless participation as the unique God-Man, was enough for all time.

The observance of Passover as a memorial of Christ's death holds profound significance. Jesus Christ, recognized as our Passover Lamb, ate the Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the 14th day of Abib, just after sunset, emphasizing the bread and wine as symbols to remember Him. Through washing His disciples' feet, He exemplified humble service and forgiveness. Although His sinless blood was shed on Passover day, His death occurred in the afternoon of the 14th, not at the time the Passover lambs were traditionally slain at the day's beginning. This timing, deliberate and planned from the foundation of the world, underscores that His one sacrifice fulfilled all sacrificial requirements, not only for Passover but for all holy days and offerings. The Father was fully satisfied with how Jesus met these spiritual requirements, even though the physical fulfillment did not align precisely with the instructions given to Israel. Paul instructs us to proclaim the Lord's death until He returns, highlighting the importance of reflecting on that night when Jesus set the example of how to keep Passover.

The annual observance of the Passover serves as a vital reminder of the initial step in God's plan of salvation for mankind. It memorializes the death of Jesus Christ, who, as the Lamb of God, gave His life and shed His blood to save us from eternal death by paying the penalty for our sins. Through faith in His sacrifice, we receive forgiveness and are brought into a right relationship with God. His life, worth more than all human life combined, paid the price for all sin, redeeming us from the penalty of breaking God's law and freeing us to live righteously. Our Savior was crucified on the day of the Passover, fulfilling the symbolism of the unblemished lamb to the very day. As a man, Jesus observed the Passover, setting a perfect example for us to follow in keeping this festival. The apostle Paul instructed New Testament Christians to observe the Passover as a memorial of Christ's death, who was sacrificed for us. Jesus taught His disciples to partake of unleavened bread and wine during the New Testament Passover service, charging His followers to observe it as a memorial of His death for all time. Since Christ's death fulfilled the symbolism of killing a lamb, we no longer need to slaughter a lamb in keeping the Passover. Jesus also demonstrated humility by washing His disciples' feet during the Passover meal, showing us how we should serve each other and commanding Christians everywhere to follow His example. All converted Christians must observe the New Testament Passover every year, for unless we eat His flesh, represented by the unleavened bread, and drink His blood, symbolized by the wine, we have no life in us and will not inherit eternal life. The New Testament church of God continued to keep the Passover yearly, and the apostle Paul taught the Gentile Corinthians to observe it using the symbols of bread and wine that Jesus instituted, instructing us to keep the Passover until He comes.

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.