Context of the Text | Holy Week

Read | Exodus 12:1–13

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn. Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the LORD’s Passover.

“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the LORD; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.

Focus

Watch this short three minute video about the Passover from the BibleProject.

Pray

“Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.”  1 Corinthians 11:28

The New Testament practice of communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Passover meal with himself at the center. We are meant to recognize and remember the sacrifice of our Savior as the Passover Lamb and humble ourselves before him, recognizing our sin and our need for his forgiveness.

Spend some time in prayerful confession. Consider where you have loved Jesus with words but not with obedience.

Going Deeper

If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.