An overview
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44
Jesus and scripture repeatedly affirm the validity and importance of all prophecy and scripture regarding Himself.
For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” John 5:46-47
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Rom 15:4
The importance of this is further confirmed by the fact that only twenty-seven percent of prophecy in the Bible has been fulfilled. That said, given that Jesus fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost, we can rest assured that He will fulfill, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles as well.
The Meaning of Passover
The ten plagues leading up to the first Passover are found in Exodus 7:14- 11-10. The instructions for insuring that the angel of death spared the households covered by the blood of the Passover lamb are found in Ex 12:1-14.
We need to pay careful attention to the established days and hours as the timing, preparation, and killing of the Passover lamb is a clear picture of the preparation and crucifixion of Jesus for which the Jewish people conducted a dress rehearsal for 1500 years.
- The first thing to note is the establishment of the Lord’s sacred calendar in Ex 12:2 It (Passover) shall be the first month of the year for you. This first month is called Nissan.
- Next, we have the instructions leading to preparation. “on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.” Verse 3 The Passover lamb was selected and set aside to be examined.
- The Passover lamb had to be without blemish verse 5
- …and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. Verse 6 The lamb was examined for any imperfections until the 14th day (Passover)
- …when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Verse 6 The lamb was killed at the Sunset of the 14th which marks the end of the day and the beginning of the high Sabbath. A high Sabbath occurs when a Feast Sabbath coincides with the regular weekly Sabbath. In this case it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The instructions for preparing the lamb included that none of its bones should be broken. Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12
- The entire lamb was consumed before morning. Lintels were covered by the blood of the lamb and the Jews were rescued from the plague of death. Verses 7-14 A lintel is a horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window.
Jesus Fulfills Passover
Keep in mind, that the word “fulfill” does not mean to “do away with” or “replace”. Rather it means to “give the correct and complete interpretation”.
John 12 describes the preparation of Jesus, whom John first identified as the Lamb of God John 1:36.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. John 12:1
Passover is on the 14th. Therefore we know that Jesus arrived in Bethany on the 9th.
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” John 12:12-14.
The next day was the 10th. Jesus was set aside and examined as the Jews were following the Exodus 12:3-6 instructions to set aside the Passover lamb. The examination and testing of Jesus, The Lamb of God began on 10th, and continued for the next five days. First, Jesus was arrested John 18:1-11 then brought before Annas, Caiaphas and an assembly of religious leaders called the Sanhedrin. Matthew 26:57-75. After this, He was taken before Pilate, the Roman Governor who then sent Him off to Herod for further examination. Herod returned Jesus to Pilate Luke 23:6-12 who washed His hands and turned Jesus over to the Jewish leaders. John 18:28-19:16 Having thoroughly examined Jesus The Lamb of God and found Him to be flawless, and blameless, without spot or blemish they nailed Him to the cross at the exact same time that the rest of Israel were afixing their Passover lambs to a spit to be roasted.
Jesus was crucified on the third hour (9 am) on the 14th Mark 15:25 Darkness covered the land at noon. He died in the 9th hour (3 pm). This was the same hour that Jews were killing their traditional Passover lambs.
Jesus suffered on the cross for six hours. Given that a high Sabbath was due to begin at the 12th hour (sundown), His body had to be taken down beforehand. Mat 27:45-54 To hasten death, a Roman Centurion would break the legs of the crucified victims thus preventing them from pushing themselves upward to take a breath. Their lungs would subsequently fill with fluid and they would drown in minutes. Jesus died before they could break His legs in fulfillment of scripture Psalm 34:20, John 19:31-36.
