Acts 2:22-24
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death.”
Exodus 12:12-14
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.”
Commentary:
One of the most important truths to comprehend concerning Good Friday is that the cross of Christ was pre-ordained by the sovereign will of God. The book of Acts points to this reality.
Before God created the world He planned to send His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the world. 1 Peter 1:18-20 declares this truth:
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
In the Old Testament we begin to understand God’s sovereign plan to save the world by way of the Messiah through the annual Passover celebration.
Passover is an Old Testament shadow (Hebrews 10:1) that points to a New Testament reality — the cross. Hebrews 10:1 states, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.”
Our understanding of this concept is vital if we are to see the hand of God in the crucifixion of Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Every year the Israelites celebrated Passover in remembrance of the night God’s wrath passed over their homes which were protected by the blood of sacrificial lambs (Exodus 12). Every Hebrew family celebrated the time of their liberation from Egyptian bondage by shedding the blood of an innocent, perfect lamb and putting some of its blood on the top and sides of the doorframes of their homes. Exodus 12:21-27 states,
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood (of the lamb) in the basin and put some on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”
God desired that people would see the ‘good thing’ to which Passover pointed—the cross. How did Passover foreshadow Jesus’ death on the cross? Just as the blood on the doorframes protected God’s people from judgment, Jesus shed his blood on the cross so that all men might be saved. When God sees that a person is covered by the blood of Christ, by faith, His wrath passes over that person. In essence, God sees a true believer through the blood shed on the cross by His Son. Hebrews 9:22 states, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” All one has to do is run to the cross and Jesus’ blood will shield you from the coming wrath of God. 1 Thessalonian 1:10 states, “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath…”
When we come to the cross and confess our sins to God, we’re forgiven of our sins and cleansed from them by the blood of Jesus. Have you truly come to the cross? If not, why not do so now! There is no better place to hide than at the foot of the cross. And the week of Passover is no better time to come to Jesus by faith in order to be covered by the blood of THE Lamb.
