The Prophecy of Passover

The Prophecy of Passover

Pastor John Hagee

Jesus fulfilled the meaning of the Passover ritual. The moment John the Baptist saw Jesus, he exclaimed, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Jesus was God's male Lamb, without spot of blemish. He was examined by the chief priests and elders, Pilate, Herod, the high priest, and even repent thief on the cross. All who examined Him found Him blameless.
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Pilate, the Roman procurator, cried out, "I find no fault in Him." (John 19:6 NKJV) And just as the Passover lamb was put on public display for four days, Jesus stood before Israel in the Temple for the four days prior to Passover and was examined for the Pharisees. He was God's final, perfect offering to end the reign of sin and death over humanity.
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Passover was the first prophetic sign of what was to come. Its meaning was fufilled at Calvary.
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The Jewish scholar Hayyim Schauss, writing in the The Jewish Festivals, says that Passover, or Pesach, had reached a pinnacle of importance during the time of Christ. Jerusalem lay under the heavy hand of Romans at that time, and, according to Schauss, "During this period the Messianic hope flamed up, and in the minds of the Jews the deliverance of the future became bound up with the first redemption in Jewish history; the deliverance from Egypt...This belief gained added strength in this period of Roman occupation and oppression. Jews began to believe that the Messiah would be a second Moses and would free the Jews the self-same eve, the eve of Pesach.
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The four days in which God commanded the Israelites to put the Lamb on display also have eschatological significance. The Jews believed that the Messiah would come four thousand years after the creation of Adam as part of God's seven thousand-year-plan to redeem fallen man and restore the world to the condition of Eden's innocence.
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Israel was looking for a redeemer on a white horse as a mighty conqueror to crush Roman oppression. God sent Jesus, as a baby in a manager. The past the guide to the future. The Passover forever declared that God saves His people through the shedding of blood.
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As the hands of God's prophetic stopwatch sweep past each hour of every passing day, His people know they can look to the future without fear or apprehension. We have the assurance of what cannot yet be measured. Jesus our Passover Lamb, will yet appear a second time.
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In his vision of the end times chronicled in Revelation 5, John the Revelator looked upon heaven's throne room. God held a scroll sealed with seven seals, and a strong angel proclaimed, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals?"
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No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even look at it, and John wept. But then one of the elders said to him, "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." (v.5)
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And John looked, and in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders stood a Lamb as though it had been slained. And He came and took the scroll. And when he had taken it, the heavenly attendants fell down before the Lamb, and they sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slained, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." (vv 9-10)
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Their song grew as others joined in, ten thousand times ten thousands, and thousands and thousands saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" (v.12)
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Ah, my friends. We talk about the fact that one day every knee will bow before Jesus, but I wonder if we have any conception of how powerful that moment will be. Every creature, mortal and immortal, weak and powerful, godly and ungodly, will bow down before the Passover Lamb.
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He is the seed of the woman who crushed the head of the serpant! (Gen. 3:15)
He is worthy of our love and devotion and worship.
He is worthy of power, and glory, and honor.


Father, I have so little to give, for all I hold dear comes from You. But Your Son, Your Passover Lamb, deserves my highest praise and adoration.
Worthy is the Lamb!
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His Glory Revealed, A Devotional by Pastor John Hagee, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7852-6965-7