Passover

One

The First Passover

Despite the plagues, clear signs that Yahweh alone is God and the gods of Egypt are nothing, Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let Israel go. His stubbornness brought upon Egypt the final and terrible plague: the death of the firstborn. Yet even in judgment, God provided a way of mercy. He gave His people a means to be spared from death: they were to take a lamb without blemish and sacrifice it. They were to mark the doorposts and lintel of their homes with its blood. And they were to eat the lamb that night.

At midnight, the Lord passed through the land. From Pharaoh’s heir to the firstborn of prisoners, even to the livestock, death struck every house not marked by blood. The Book of Wisdom describes that night with solemn power, “When peaceful silence lay over all and night had run the half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all-powerful Word… he stood and filled the universe with death” (Wisdom 18:14–16).

But the homes sealed with the blood of the lamb were spared. Death passed over them. That is why it is called the Passover, death passed over those marked by the blood.

Two

The New Passover

The first Passover in Egypt established a pattern for salvation from death: a lamb must be sacrificed. Its blood must be applied to the doorposts. The lamb had to be eaten. This first Passover prefigured the true and final Passover, where Jesus, the Lamb of God, would save us from eternal death. In the New Passover, Jesus, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed. His blood is poured over us in Baptism, marking us as God’s people. We must eat the Lamb, receiving His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. By following the steps of the New Passover, we are saved not just from physical death but from eternal death, receiving the life of Heaven.

Three

Jesus is the Lamb of God

Just as the Israelites had to sacrifice a lamb to be saved from death, in the New Passover, Jesus, the true Lamb of God, is sacrificed to deliver us from eternal death. Why does the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, take away sin and save us from death? Because of the Fall, all humanity is born into a condition of sin. Through our personal sins, we turn away from God, the source of life. 

The consequence of sin is death, not only physical death, but spiritual death: separation from God. On our own, humanity could not repair this rupture or restore the life we had lost. How does the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, save us? 

Jesus is true God and true man. In becoming man, He united Himself to the human race in such a way that what He did as man could count for us all. As the Catechism teaches, “In His incarnate divine person, He has in some way united Himself to every man” (CCC 618). 

Because He shares our humanity, He can stand in our place. Because He is God, His obedience and His death possess infinite value. By freely offering Himself in love, He bore the full consequence of sin, death, and destroyed its power by rising from the dead, canceling the debt that stood against us (Colossians 2:13–14).

Four

The Blood of the Lamb and Baptism

In the first Passover, to be saved from death, one had to pour the blood of the lamb over the doorway. This was the first step in entering the Old Covenant, a relationship that would be sealed at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24). In the New Covenant, we also need the blood of the Lamb poured over us. In the book of Revelation 1:5, John sees Jesus and declares, “He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood.”

In Baptism, the blood of Christ is poured over our body under the sacred sign of water, washing away our sins and infusing divine life within us. Through Baptism, we are reborn as children of God and enter into His covenant family.

Five

We Must Eat the Lamb

In the first Passover, it was not enough to sacrifice the lamb. Only those who ate the lamb were saved. In the New Covenant, Christ, our Passover Lamb, gives us His own Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist.

In John chapter 6:53, Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.”

What does this mean for those who do not receive the Eucharist? Baptism cleanses from sin and makes one a child of God. The Catechism states, “Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments” (CCC 1213). Baptism brings one into God’s family, but the Eucharist is the divine food that sustains and perfects the soul.

While a baptized non-Catholic may be saved, the fullness of divine life is found only in the Catholic Church and in the Eucharist. My heart goes out to my family and friends who are not receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. What do I need to do? What is my resolution? Be more intentional about praying and accepting trials and sufferings for their conversion. And I need to continue to build a bridge of genuine friendship with them. All the while begging the Holy Spirit for an opportunity, and when that opportunity arises, for the courage to invite them to become Catholic or to return to the church through the sacrament of reconciliation.