The New Passover

I took a stand on the pulpit. I could see that the congregation that day was eager to hear the message I had for them from God.

Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ. I imagine everyone has had different experiences this week, some good some challenging. I’m sure we can all share them over a cup of coffee after the service.

No matter what experiences we face, we can still give thanks to God, knowing His providence for us and knowing that He is in control of all things.

As I was gleaning through the scriptures in preparation for today’s sermon, or sharing as I’d rather call them, there’s this particular story of a Judean king caught my attention. The story of King Hezekiah is an inspiring story that should, hopefully, motivate us to respond to Christ’s calling to us. More specifically, I am going to talk about Hezekiah’s efforts to re-enact the Passover celebration after the idolatrous ways of his forefathers. In the same way, I hope to draw your attention to the parallels between Hezekiah and Jesus, who calls us to celebrate the New Passover with Him.

I had prepared a Power Point presentation to accompany my sermon for the day. Grasping the remote control in my hands, I pressed a button. The blank screen before the congregation lighted up with streaks of blue and white. The first slide from my presentation was displayed and in it was the words “God’s Passover”.

First of all, let’s recap on the concept of the Passover. During Israel’s captivity in Egypt, God sent Moses to rescue the people of Israel out from Egypt, as recounted by the narration of the book of Exodus. As Moses tried to persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Pharaoh continuously hardened his heart against God. So what does God do? He demonstrates in the presence of Pharaoh ten wondrous signs, the Ten Plagues if you like. When Pharaoh refused to obey God after being shown the first nine, God decided to inflict upon Egypt the greatest plague of all, the death of all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh to the firstborn of the slave woman, to the firstborn of all the animals.

But, God commanded the Israelites to smear the blood of lambs on the doorframes, such that when He comes to inflict the plague upon Egypt, He will see the blood on the door and not harm any of the firstborn of the families inside the house. In other words, He “passes over” the house of the Israelites.

So, here we have the Israelites owing a debt of the lives of all their firstborn to God. That is why God calls the Israelites to set apart all their firstborn animals and children for Him. Of course, the place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites were substituted for by the Levites, who were set apart by God for service at His tabernacle up to the reign of King David and at His temple later in the days of Solomon.

God also commands the Israelites to celebrate the Passover as one of their major festivals, detailed in Leviticus. Called Pesach in Hebrew, it commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their liberation from slavery.

So here we have a picture of the Passover – people gathering together to celebrate their deliverance from slavery, giving thanks to God and remembering Him as their saviour.

When they entered the promise land, the Israelites observed God’s commandments with great reverence. Soon after that, however, when they became comfortable settling down in the land, the Israelites mingled with the neighbouring nations and soon indulged in their idolatrous practices. They did not remember the God who delivered them from Egypt, but chose to forsake His commands and laws.

When David was king, the whole nation of Israel followed God’s commandments closely. Solomon followed his father’s example in the early years of his reign. After Solomon, the nation became divided into two parts, Israel under the reign of Jeroboam, and Judah under the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. From there on, the Israelites followed the ways of their kings. Most of kings indulged in the wicked and ungodly acts of the nations around them. Some Judean kings, however, did follow the commandments of God. One such king was King Hezekiah. Hezekiah purified the temple which had been defiled by the wicked acts of previous kings of Judah and then proceeded to call upon the celebration of the greatest Passover since the time of Solomon.

This, then, leads us to the main topic I will address in today’s sermon. Let’s turn now to today’s scripture readings, taken from 2 Chronicles 30:1 – 9.

First, a bit of context of the passage. At that time, Israel had been taken into captivity to Assyria as a result of their sins but Judah still remained a free nation. As we read the following passages, Hezekiah is calling out to the people of Judah, and the remnant of Israel who had not been taken into captivity.

I began to read out the passage to the congregation.

¹ Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. ² The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month.

So, we have here Hezekiah sending the invitation to the Passover to all Israel and Judah, saying, “Hey, fellows. Come, let’s celebrate the Passover to the Lord!”

³ They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.

According to the law, the Passover is supposed to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month. But according to the Chronicler’s account, the Israelites had not been able to celebrate it at the appointed time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves. The reason for this is because of the defilement brought about by the idolatrous practices of Hezekiah’s forefathers, and therefore they needed to be cleansed and reconsecrated to the Lord.

⁴ The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. ⁵ They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.

Again, these verses depict the proclamation of the king to all who are in Israel and Judah, calling people to celebrate the Passover. From the mental picture painted by the Chronicler, this will turn out to be a really grand celebration, encompassing people from all over Israel, not only covering the single tribe of Judah, but ALL over Israel.

And we can draw parallels from that calling of King Hezekiah and apply it to our context today. Jesus, being the New Hezekiah, calls people from all the nations to celebrate the New Passover with Him. Not just a single nation, but all the nations.

Now, let’s review the purpose of the Passover. As I’ve mentioned earlier, the Passover is to commemorate Israel’s deliverance from slavery. In the same way, Jesus calls us out from slavery to sin into the freedom that has been given to us who are in Christ. We now have a reason to celebrate the New Passover, to celebrate our liberation from the slavery to sin.

Paul, in Romans 6:17 – 18, has this to say: “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

With a mighty hand and an awesome display of power, God parted the Red Sea and set the Israelites free from their Egyptian captivity. Jesus, through His death and His glorious resurrection, parted the sea of death and set us free from the captivity of sin and death. Jesus is the Passover Lamb, who has atoned for our sins. That is to say, the penalty of death that we deserve for our sins, has now been taken up by Christ unto Himself. Therefore, we are now released from sin and death.

And now, sitting on the throne of the New Israel, he calls us, just like Hezekiah did to celebrate with Him and commemorate the New Passover. He is calling us to celebrate the newness of life that we have in God.

But how do we respond to that calling? What do we do?

We read on to the proclamation, which gives us some insights on what Hezekiah called the people of Israel to do, and hence we can draw parallels to what Jesus calls His people to do.

⁶ At the king's command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:

“People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. ⁸ Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the LORD. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. ⁹ If you return to the LORD, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”

The first thing Hezekiah calls the people to do is to return to the Lord. This is to say that people now turn their minds and thoughts away from all the wickedness and disobedience of their fathers, but now turn their attention, their focus and their worship back to the Lord. In the same way, Jesus calls us to attention to worship the one true God. He calls us to turn our eyes away from all the distractions, the sinful pleasures and all the fleeting temptations that turn our attention away from worshipping the One True God.

What are all these things that lure us away from the Creator? Paul would call these the things of the flesh.

The things of the flesh can be divided into several aspects to encompass our heart, mind, soul, body and neighbourhood.

When we are in the flesh, our heart wants to be in control. We want our ways to be the way that is followed by everyone. We want to rule over other people’s lives and control their every movement to satisfy our desires and our needs. Our desire for power and our hunger for control consume our hearts.

Our mind conjures up all the thoughts and ideas that we think should be common sense to everybody. We think just because we think something is right, everyone should think the same way. In other words, it should be common sense! So, we want to impose our thoughts and our ideas upon other people and this stems from our inward desire to control people.

Thirdly, is our soul or our sea of emotions. When we are in the flesh, deep within our soul, we desire comfort. We want to be admired by everyone else. We need respect, adoration and adulation of others. When other people praise us, we think “Yea, I feel good now!”

The next thing is the cravings of our bodies. This may include our sexual appetites, our hunger for fine cuisine, material wealth or perhaps the need to look good, or any other physical cravings that we have. After obtaining our cravings, we soon find ourselves desiring more. Soon after, we set out in search of new ways to satisfy our increasing hunger for physical satisfaction.

Finally, all these culminate to the stage of our neighbourhood. When we are controlled by our flesh, we seek only the things that are most convenient to us. Convenience matters more than helping a friend in need. It matters more than lending a hand to the poor. We will soon perceive our community as a way through which we derive pleasures, personal gains and satisfaction at our convenience. This inevitably blinds us to what God wants to do through us in the community.

We have seen the ways of the flesh, giving us fleeting pleasures and momentary satisfactions but ultimately distract us from giving our lives to the things which truly matter. If we continue to live in the flesh, we miss out on all the Creator’s plans for us as mankind. And you know what friends, at the end of the day, nothing matters more than the Creator’s will for us.

So, now Jesus calls us to return to the Lord. He calls us to leave behind all our control, common sense, comfort, cravings and convenience, all the things that bring death to us, and return to worshipping the Creator and the one true God. But how do we do that? How do we set our focus again on worshipping the Lord?

The answer is this – by the leading of the Spirit. We must allow the Spirit to lead us on this journey back to worshipping the One who created us, the One who deserves all the praise and the glory, the One who truly matters. By dwelling in the Spirit, we call upon God’s purposes, promises and presence into our lives and allow them to change us from the inside out.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.

By the renewing power of the Spirit, the desire for control in our hearts turns to purity of heart, where our desire is not to control or manipulate others but to be controlled by God for His glory. The common sense that our minds conjure up to impose upon others becomes clarity of the purposes, promises and the presence of the Creator in the created realm since the beginning of creation. The comfort that we try so hard to find from the praises of others turns to rest in His presence. Our bodies which are weakened by all our cravings become strengthened to carry out the purposes for which He has created us. And all this culminates to favour not only among the people in our neighbourhood, but from God.

By rejecting the ways of the flesh and by allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit, we will discover that the way back to adoration of the Creator, worshipping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords becomes a lot easier. By clearing out all the distractions that dissuade us from stepping forward to the throne, we can return to worshipping our Maker and Liberator.

The second thing Hezekiah calls the people to do is not to continue in their stubbornness and disobedience. He is calling the people not to reject God’s commands and laws, not to reject God’s ways but to obey them with all their hearts.

Similarly, Jesus calls us out of our stubbornness and disbelief in the promise of life that is given to those who belief. He calls us to celebrate and worship the God who has set us free to have life to the fullest. Yet, some of us continue to disbelieve God’s act of liberating us from the bondage of sin. There are many reasons for that:

1. Our ignorance and forgetfulness of God’s grace in sending His son as a sacrifice to die for our sins to set us free once and for all. Either we lack the knowledge and the clarity of God’s purposes, promises and presence or we continue to hold on to our past doubts and fears but forget about God’s grace and love that empowers us.
2. The disbelief that we have as a result of the common sense or rational that we hold on to. We think, “What? Set me free from my sins? No way, man. That’s impossible. You don’t understand man. I’ve been through this, this and this. No one can fix it, science says it’s impossible, the judicial law says it’s impossible, my reasoning tells me it’s impossible.”
3. Intentional rebellion against God. Some of us do not lack knowledge but although we have the knowledge of God’s will for earth, we refuse to submit to Him or to worship Him as Creator. In other words, we’re outwardly rebelling against God.

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that ignorance and forgetfulness if not an excuse when you’re standing before God’s judgement throne one day. The proclamation to the entire world to celebrate the New Passover with Him has already been made clear. He has already sent messengers to call people to gather together with Him and feast with Him. The call to worship Him has already resounded throughout all the nations. Therefore, ignorance to this invitation is no excuse. This is similar to a king inviting people to his feast which he has prepared. When he asked a subject, “Why did you not respond to my invitation?” Now if the subject answered, “Well, sire, I did not know about the invitation.” Now how do you think the king would respond? The king would say to the subject, “You did not know? I’ve sent messengers throughout all the lands, inviting people from all the nations, and yet you did not know about it? Very well, you shall have no part in this feast I am preparing!”

Our disbelief as a result of our common sense and rational thinking is also no excuse to be absent from God’s Passover. Paul has made it clear even in the first chapter of Romans that “Since the beginning of creation, all the invisible qualities of God has been seen…so that men are without excuse.” Paul contends that all creation shouts of God’s glory. God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, made every single thing on this earth out of nothingness. Even modern science concedes that there is no way that the universe can come to being without the creative work of an Intelligent Designer. Clearly, all evidence points to the existence of the Creator. Now, if God can create everything that we see around us out of nothingness, how trivial it is for Him to make things new again. If it is possible for Him to bring us into existence out of nothingness, how more it is possible for Him to renew us by His Spirit. We only need to catch a glimpse of all of creation around us to realise the infinite possibilities that God is capable of. Knowing this now, we need to do what Jesus told Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe!”

For those of us on the rebellious side, we should be aware of God’s wrath pouring down upon us. God has every desire to renew mankind by liberating them from sin and death, and he calls them to participate with Him in His purposes. Now what happens if we stand in opposition to what God wants to do on this earth? Evidently, He would have to rid the earth of rebels in order to pave way for it to be inhabited by His sons and daughters. No one wants to keep cancer cells growing in his body. The cells are destroyed so that a healthy body can be formed. Similarly, it we refuse to obey God or submit to His ways, we’ll soon find that God’s judgement will be upon us.

Alright, seeing that we are almost out of time, I shall go through the last two points quickly.

The next thing Hezekiah called the people to do was to come to the sanctuary. Similarly, Jesus calls us to come into the sanctuary, before God’s throne. We are called to step boldly before the throne of God, knowing that our sins have been forgiven and our guilt has been taken away. We are to come with a humble and contrite heart, acknowledging the sacrifice of the Lamb. We are to come in adoration of our Maker and our Liberator. We are to come with a heart of celebration of the Spirit’s purposes, promises and presence. We are called to come to the sanctuary to celebrate the New Passover of God.

And lastly, Hezekiah calls the people to serve God. Jesus calls us into His service. With all the celebrations of living a new life in Him, we are called to live as citizens of heaven or citizens of light. What this means is that we are called to serve our duty as those who will inherit God’s Kingdom. How do we do that? By walking in the ways that demonstrate that we are a new creation. We are called to serve God in extending His Kingdom, bringing His love, grace, faith, hope and love to those around us. We are called to be part of His plans to renew this earth and to reign with Him as kings and priests.

Just as verse 26 says that nothing like the Passover that Hezekiah celebrated has been observed since the days of Solomon, it is also true for the New Passover. Jesus calls us to a New Passover that has never been celebrated before in such a magnificent scale. Nor will there ever be any other Passover celebration that will eclipse it. And the best part of it is that we are called to be part of it. Jesus has sent an invitation to us as the people of the New Israel to come together with Him to celebrate the New Passover to remember our liberation from our slavery to sin and to honour the newness of life to the full that has been granted to us by the grace of God.

With the click of a button, I came to my last slide. On it were the words, “What will your response be?”

Therefore, brothers and sisters, the word has been proclaimed, the invitation has been sent, the calling has been heard. So how would you respond to that invitation? Will you come into the sanctuary of God and say, “Yes! This is what I’ve been waiting for! Come on, Jesus, let’s celebrate it together!” or will you look on indifferently and say, “What’s with all this celebrations? I’ve got my own life to manage. No thanks!”

Jesus is calling you to celebrate your liberation from sin with him. Let the Spirit guide you to the right response to His calling today.

With that, I proceeded to the altar call, stretching out my hands to symbolically invite people to come and celebrate the New Passover.

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Note: This "sermon" was inspired by Pastor Tim Goh.

Picture taken from http://hbrodsly.deviantart.com/art/Passover-52257456

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