JESUS: The Passover Lamb

  



 In reading about Jesus in the New Testament, we must always keep in mind that He came to "fulfill the law." First, He fulfilled it by adding the Spirit back to it which the religious leaders had removed by their "letter keeping." He said to them, "You have heard it said, 'Love your friends, but hate your enemies', but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." The religious leaders were concerned about getting caught in adultery, but Jesus told them if they had lust in their heart, they were guilty of adultery. Hate in the heart made one guilty of murder. Religious man always tries to look good on the outside, like going to church every Sunday, but our Father is interested in what goes on inside the heart.

 The next aspect of "fulfilling the law" dealt with eliminating laws added to Moses' law which had nothing to do with Moses. The Jews added thousands of laws which were impossible to remember or keep. Some of the laws added actually made it possible to break Moses law' for self gain. For example, when making an agreement, one had to face Jerusalem and say twice "Amen, Amen." If one said "Amen" only once, the agreement was not lawful and therefore could be broken. Knowing the "Law" at this point in Israel's history actually became profitable. Many foreign people were swindled by these kinds of acts. The modern church has copied those swindlers, and has actually exceeded many of the "lawful" schemes perpetrated in Jesus' day by "religious people." The widow, orphan, and poor were greatly oppressed by the religious leaders. Today, the use of the unlawful "tithe" is an example of the greed of religious men and women who use this money to build their own kingdoms.
The third way, I believe Jesus dealt with the Mosaic Law was to fulfil every type and shadow contained in all the sacrificial ceremonies. I believe many people were predestined to participate with Jesus in His fulfilment of these ceremonies. One of the leading participants in fulfilling these ceremonies and Scriptures was Judas. These laws can be seen on at least three levels. 1. The actual performance of them by Israel. 2. Seeing how Jesus would physically perform and fulfil them in the flesh. 3. Seeing the spiritual reality behind it all.

 Those who have studied the Bible for any length of time know that Jesus was the "lamb of God," the "lamb slain before the foundation of the world." Those who have participated in a Passover ceremony are familiar with the symbolism of the rite and its fulfilment on the tree of crucifixion. We know Jesus the Innocent Lamb's blood was shed for us that the Death Angel would "pass over" our house, that is, our life. But we have been very shallow in our studies and have not looked at how the Lamb was determined to be an "innocent lamb." We have looked to Pontius Pilate as the judge who determined whether Jesus was guilty of death or not, but Jesus had to fulfil the Laws of Moses, not the laws of Rome. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus guilty, not innocent. They would not declare the lamb innocent. So how was Jesus legally determined to be the "innocent" Lamb? The answer: Judas!

 Inspecting the Lamb
 As early as the Book of Genesis, there are references to proper sacrifices. All of these Old Testament sacrifices obviously pointed to the reality of Jesus Christ. I believe every sacrificial type and shadow will find it's reality wrapped up in Jesus Christ and His Body. This article will not deal with all of the types. We are concerned with the role Judas played and so we will have to stay focused as much as possible on Judas' role in prophesy being fulfilled.
 Jesus was crucified in the Passover season. The King James, in some places, incorrectly calls it "Easter," a name which is derived from "Ishtar," a Babylonian fertility goddess. The Passover Feast is a very complicated subject to get into. Thousands of books have been written on the subject. Having been in congregations which keep the feasts and also having studied the history of the Passover throughout Hebrew history, I am convinced most of our understanding on the subject is gross darkness. It is like many people still picturing an apple tree in the garden of Eden. Our understanding of the Passover is just as simplistic.
 For example, did you know that a young goat was just as acceptable as a lamb? (2 Chron. 35:7, Lev. 22:19, Ex. 12:5) Somehow, due to our false teachings of the separation of the sheep and goats, we have pictures the goat as an unclean animal. This is not so, at least according to Scripture. Many of our perceptions of the Creator and His Plan come from our religious traditions and not from the Scriptures.
 In the original Passover, the lamb (or goat) was selected on the 10th day of the month of Abib. This month was to be their first month since that was the month they were delivered from Pharaoh. This lamb or goat was kept for 4 days and inspected to make sure it was spotless and without blemish. In subsequent Passovers, the Priest had to inspect the lamb or kid to make sure it was without blemish.
 Most of you know all the ceremonies of Israel were types and shadows which were to point to realities which would come later on. While most Christians are very unskilled in dealing with the Old Testament, they have received enough to know that Jesus Christ was the true Passover Lamb pointed to by the first Passover in Egypt and its commemorative Passovers which were to be kept each year by Israel. The fact of the matter is that many years the Passover was not kept. Neither were most of the other ordinances required by Moses.
 Nevertheless, the Passover lamb or goat pointed to the true Sacrificial Goat, Jesus Christ. Did you just get a little flustered? Yes, the goat represents Jesus just as much as the cute little dumb lamb. Remember, on the Day of Atonement, two goats were selected; one to be killed and the other to be set free. These also pointed to the work of Christ. This animal had to be inspected by the Priests. Jesus had to be inspected by the Priests! The problem was that the Priests of the temple declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy which was punishable by death! How could Jesus be the innocent lamb or goats if they declared Him blemished with sin?
 Orthodox Christianity puts it in the hands of the true secular authority of Israel which was Pontius Pilate. He asked Jesus a number of questions and after doing so found that Jesus was not guilty of anything worthy of the death penalty. (Matt. 27) He washed his hands of the whole affair and said he found no fault with Jesus and wanted to set him free. The people, prodded on by the priests, wanted Him to be crucified. Pontius Pilate made another attempt to free Jesus by using a tradition Romans used on special occasions. On certain important days they would release a prisoner as a sign of mercy or good will. Pontius Pilate gave Israel a choice of freeing Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of Yahweh, or Barabbas. Some ancient manuscripts called him Jesus Barabbas. Barabbas in Greek means Son of the Lord or Master. Abba in Aramaic means father. So the choice presented to Israel was a very interesting choice. Which do you want freed...Jesus (Yashua which means Yah saves or Yah's deliverance) or Barabbas (son the the Lord or Master or Father).
  The people picked Jesus to be sacrificed and Barabbas to escape into the wilderness of humanity. At this point Pilate ceremoniously washed his hands of the whole thing and turned the whole thing over to the Jews. He said "You see to it." (Matt. 27:24).
there is much more to the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ than we have been taught. There are great mysteries here. 

 God created us and He will restore, correct, balance, make good, reconcile, redeem, etc., etc., until every tear that has ever been shed in this world of sin is wiped away and every person who has been hurt, marred, or killed will be restored until the glory of the latter house be much greater than the glory of the former house.

One day, the true story of Adam will be told and we will see that our Father wasn't as stupid, or calloused, or powerless as the modern church makes Him out to be in the "Great Fall of Adam Story." No, our Father allowed Adam to "fall" for very good reasons, much better reasons than we have been taught in the past.  

 The following Sciptures may not seem to fit this article, but they are very important. I cannot go into full explanation of all of this because it would take too much space. I hope the gaps will cause you to study this out for yourselves. 

(EX 21:28-32) "And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.
[29] "If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.
[30] "If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.
[31] "Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
[32] "If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

(Zech. 11:12,13)"If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.
[13] Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

(MT 27:3-10) Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
[4] saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!"
[5] And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
[6] And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood."
[7] And they counseled together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers.
[8] For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
[9] Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, "AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel;
[10] AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME."

 The Creator of the Universe must abide by His own Laws. He created Adam, placed him in a place where he could be deceived by a Serpent which the Creator also created. Adam and all his offspring fell into a pit and all died. In Adam all died, including you. According to the Mosaic Law, the Creator was responsible for Adam's death and must make restitution. Satan has deceived mankind time and time again. According to the Law, the owner of a beast that has been known to gore in the past, must die along with the beast. However, if a ransom price has been placed upon that man, he may be redeemed. The value the Priest of Israel placed upon Jesus was 30 pieces of silver, which Judas put into the temple. Lawfully, Jesus, who the Father gave all things to, and who all things are of, to, and through (Rom.11:36), must die because of allowing Satan to kill Adam and his offspring, but Jesus was redeemed with the 30 pieces of silver. Not only that, but the 30 pieces of silver purchased the Potter's field, which became the "Field of Blood," which became a proper burial place in the land of Israel for foreigner, gentiles, that is non-Israelites. This "field of blood" was located in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, known as "Gehenna" to the Greeks and better known as "hell" in many misleading Bible translations including the King James Bible. For those of you who want to translate Gehenna as "hell," you should know that Judas purchased that field called "hell" which the Potter's field is in. I tell you now that the Great Potter of the Universe is taking those broken pieces thrown into that pit as called worthless by most of the church, and He is remaking them, all of them, just like He is remaking you. He is also remaking those miriads of vessels buried in the "dump of humanity" and they will come forth glorious.

  
 

Credits: Gainsay