“Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” – 1 Corinthians 5:7b 

Scripture reading: Exodus 12:1-7, 12-13, 21-30

It would be another 1,400 years before Jesus was born. But God kept placing the promise of Christ’s coming before His people by giving them pictures of Jesus. Not full-color photos of the man named Jesus, but simple pictures called shadows (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). A shadow might not seem like much of a picture. But it is a picture of sorts. It shows the general shape of something. The first picture of Jesus that God gives appears in the last supper the Israelites ate prior to leaving Egypt.

The first nine plagues were directed only against Egypt. But the tenth plague would affect Egyptians and Israelites alike. The destroying angel would kill the firstborn in every single home because this plague symbolized God’s universal judgment upon sin, and Egyptians and Israelites alike were sinners.

Thank God, there was a way to escape this deadly judgment. By sacrificing a Passover lamb and painting its blood on the door frame of a home, people were ensured that the angel of death would pass over their home.

The Passover lamb was God’s gift. It was a substitute that died instead of the sinner. More importantly, the Passover lamb was a simple, shadow-like picture of Jesus. Consider the shadow’s shape: the lamb had to be a male; in its prime (one-year-old); without defect (Exodus 12:5). That’s the same shape as Jesus! He was a man, without sin, and in His prime of life, He sacrificed Himself on the cross as our Passover Lamb.

Suggestions for prayer

Thank God for sending Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Brian Zegers has been serving the Lord by working with Word of Life Ministry as home missionary to the Muslim community in Toronto, Ontario since 2015.