As participants in the New Covenant relationship with our heavenly Father, we recognize the central role that His Son and our Savior and coming King plays in each of the seven festivals. The symbolism of the Passover lamb slaughtered by the heads of household in ancient Israel is one of the most clearly understood and expounded ceremonies in the New Testament Scriptures.

Symbolism of Passover Lamb

The apostle Paul affirms the ongoing celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread for Christians and recites the understanding of the symbolism of the Passover lamb in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."

The killing and shedding of the blood of the Passover lamb foreshadowed the death and shed blood of the Man prophesied to be born in Bethlehem and known as Jesus of Nazareth. Through His death and shed blood, human beings can receive redemption and forgiveness of sin (1 Peter 1:18-19; John 1:29). This powerful gift and accomplishment of Christ was possible because of who He was and how He lived His human life. The enormous price He paid was not for His sins, but for the sins of you and me and all mankind.

We in the Church of God do not celebrate as such the birth of Jesus, but we recognize the event as an intrinsic part of the process by which the Eternal, the Word of God, became a human being for the purpose of living a sinless life and then dying to become the Lamb of God and our Passover. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14). "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29). The Word surrendered His God-level position and eternal spirit existence and was killed and remained dead for three days and three nights to pay the eternal death penalty for our sins.

Christ Is a Sinless Passover and a Merciful High Priest for Sinners

Just as the Passover lamb killed in ancient Israel had to be without blemish (Exodus 12:5), so Christ was without the blemish of sin (1 Peter 1:19; 2:22). The book of Hebrews reminds us of the sinless character of the Jesus, the Word made human. We are also given encouragement concerning His present position as our High Priest and Advocate. "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17).

Christ resisted sin and suffered as He struggled to keep in subjection the human side of His nature. Through this experience He was prepared to aid and help us who are struggling to do the same. "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).

Humble Repentance and Overcoming Sin Continues Yearlong and Lifelong

We humbly accept His gift of forgiveness and mercy with thankfulness and repentance. We value our cleansed condition by endeavoring to stay clean. We follow His example by dying to sins through repentance and baptism (1 Peter 2:21, 24; Romans 6:3) and then rising from the dead figuratively to live in newness of life to practice righteousness (Romans 6:4-13) and love God and live His commandments (1 John 5:3).

When we realize why Christ died and how we are personally pardoned by His sacrifice, we need to have a humble and thankful response toward God and a merciful and forgiving response toward others. This attitude and approach is not one we have only at the Passover season but all year long and in fact all of our lives as imperfect human beings. The apostle Paul, as spiritually strong as he was, still acknowledged that he fell short in doing as he should (Romans 7:14-23). He then had to trust in Christ to deliver him from sin and its consequences (Romans 7:24-25).

We all fall short of God's perfect standards as we encounter temptations and challenges. We must be honest with ourselves throughout the year and admit and confess these lapses and sins. We don't wait until the Passover season to practice repentance and seek God's forgiveness and cleansing. We should deal with our sins and shortcomings in a timely manner—as we see them. Christ warns the churches in Revelation 2:5, 16 that He will come quickly if they don't repent. This implies that they need to quickly turn from error and sin when they are confronted by it.

The apostle John gives us both a warning and great encouragement in dealing with our sins and mistakes. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9).

Individual Repentance and Overcoming Unifies Body of Christ

With an attitude of humility and thankfulness and appreciation of God's mercy, we are expected to extend that to other members of Christ's Body, the Church. By walking in the light of God's Word, we set an example for others to encourage them. We all are brought closer to God and to one another. "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). We walk in the light by living by God's commandments and also by repenting and changing when we fail to.

Jesus expounded on this principle in His model prayer. Following His instruction to pray for our "daily" bread, He also instructed us to ask God to "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:11-12). Jesus reinforced this point in His next comments. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).

The apostle Paul also instructed us in this important lesson that is a part of preparing for Passover. "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

Paul addressed the serious mistake of observing Passover "in an unworthy manner." He encouraged the Corinthians and all of us to examine ourselves before we partake of the Passover symbols. We should review the importance of Christ's sacrifice just before the Passover season and also throughout the year. We both discern the pain that Christ suffered in His human body and also discern our relationship to His Body, the Church (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

The preparation before the Passover season, when accompanied by a yearlong practice of humble repentance, is then a positive, unifying and encouraging experience that reminds us of God's mercy and His desire to prepare us as a body of believers for His Kingdom. We then partake of the Passover with joyful thanksgiving and love for one another. UN