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Today, we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, which occurred around 1992 years ago. Last week, we covered the events that happened during "Holy Week," beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Jesus being arrested, scourged, and crucified on Friday, mostly because the religious elite were envious of Him (Matthew 27:17–18). Saturday, the body of Jesus rested in a tomb. Now, we continue with Sunday:

Resurrection Sunday (Easter): Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, dawn on Sunday, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the tomb, and sat on it. The hardened Roman legionnaires looked up at him, began shaking in fear, and fainted straight away. I just love reading that part:

(Matthew 28:1–4 NKJV) Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

The angel did this to let the disciples in, for Jesus had already left the grave. Later, the religious leaders bribed the guards to lie about what happened and say that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus during the night.

Some women, including Mary Magdalene, came to the tomb to bring spices they had prepared and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The angel told them that Jesus had risen and the tomb was empty. So the women ran to tell the Apostles, but they thought it sounded like a fairy tale. Peter and John came running to the tomb to check it and also found it empty. The Apostle John noted that he outran Peter. Yeah, so who's the greatest now? (John 20:4).

On that first Easter Sunday, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene and then to the "other" Mary. That same day, Jesus appeared to Cleophas and another disciple walking along the road to Emmaus and broke bread with them in the evening. On the evening of that first Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to ten of the Apostles in a locked room in Jerusalem, greeted them with "Peace be with You," and showed them His hands and side. Judas Iscariot had hanged himself, and Thomas was absent (John 20:19-23); (Luke 24:36-43).

Jesus appeared to seven disciples who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee and gave them a miraculous catch of 153 large fish and had breakfast with them. Jesus asked the Apostle Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" just as Peter had denied knowing Him three times (John 21:15–18) (Mark 14:72).

Then, Jesus appeared to the eleven Apostles on a mountain in Galilee with Thomas present. Paul mentioned that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred brethren at once.

(1 Corinthians 15:6), (Matthew 28:1-20), (Mark 16:1-20), (Luke 24:1-53), (John 20:1-21,25).

When Jesus was on the cross and said, "It is finished," the veil in the temple that separated humans from the presence of God was torn from top to bottom, making a way for us to come into the very presence of God, into the Holy of Holies. Jesus Christ was sinless, but He went to the cross because of our sins that had separated us from God.

Jesus Christ washed away our sins with His own blood, and when God looks at you now, He sees the work of Jesus. That is how you get in the right standing with God: by accepting what Jesus Christ has already done and allowing Him to change you from the inside out. Anything you can do now is trivial compared to what Christ has already done.

Yet, we can't understand the sacrifice of Jesus without an understanding of Passover, which began over 1,200 years before. During a famine, Jacob moved his family to Egypt, where his son Joseph was second in command to Pharaoh (Acts 7:11-14).

They prospered and multiplied in Egypt until a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. This Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks and labor on his building projects. He forced them to throw their newborn sons into the Nile River in an effort to control their population (Exodus 1:8-14) (Exodus 1:22).

After 430 years in Egypt, the Lord remembered His promise to Abraham and sent them a deliverer: Moses. Pharoah's daughter found baby Moses floating in the Nile and took him in as her son. He was raised in Pharoah's palace and educated as an Egyptian. He was God's inside man.

When the Lord had prepared Moses for eighty years, He sent him and Aaron to confront Pharaoh and tell him, "Let My people go." But Pharaoh had grown accustomed to the free Israelite labor, so he told Moses he did not know their "Lord" and to get back to work (Exodus 5:4).

So the Lord brought ten plagues on Egypt, each one a judgment on an Egyptian god Pharaoh did know:

1: Water turned to Blood (Exodus 7:14-24): Hapi (the god of the Nile).

2: Frogs (Exodus 8:1-15): Heqt (depicted with a frog's head), associated with fertility and childbirth.

3: Gnats or Lice (Exodus 8:16-19): Geb (the earth god), representing the dust of the earth being transformed into gnats.

4: Flies (Exodus 8:20-32): Uatchit, the fly god, who was a protector of the home.

5: Livestock Disease (Exodus 9:1-7): Hathor: the goddess of love and protection, often depicted as a cow, representing both cows and other livestock.

6: Boils (Exodus 9:8-12): Sekhmet: the goddess of war and healing, could have been seen as being insulted by this plague affecting skin and health.

7: Hail (Exodus 9:13-35): Nut: the sky goddess, who was thought to be responsible for the weather.

8: Locusts (Exodus 10:1-20): Seth: the storm god, who was associated with chaos and destruction.

9: Darkness (Exodus 10:21-29): Ra: the sun god, symbolizing the defeat of one of Egypt's most powerful gods.

10: Death of the Firstborn (Exodus 12:29-30): Pharaoh/Osiris: Pharaoh was considered a god, and the death of his firstborn was a direct judgment against his supposed divine status. Additionally, Osiris was linked with the afterlife.

The Passover is a sacred Jewish feast that commemorates the Lord protecting the Israelites from the 10th plague that struck Egypt—the death of all firstborns. Up until then, the plagues had directly targeted the Egyptians and spared the Israelites, but now it was based on their participation.

God instructed Moses on how the Israelites were to protect themselves from the coming destruction, and it was through the Passover lamb. Each family was to take a lamb without blemish or spot, kill it, and apply its blood to the doorposts and door headers of their house. Then, the angel of death would "pass over" that house and not harm the people living there. The blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the house was what protected the family inside.

As far as I can tell, it would have worked for the Egyptians if they would have applied it to their houses, and the Israelites would have died if they had not. It reads: "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." It was no longer who you were born as but depended on you faithfully applying the blood of the lamb to your house.

That night, a "Destroyer" angel passed through Egypt at midnight and killed all the firstborns in the land, from Pharoah's house to the dungeon and down to the livestock (Exodus 12:29). There was not a house of the Egyptians where there was not someone dead.

Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. By His Blood, we are saved and delivered from bondage (1 Corinthians 5:7) (1 Peter 1:18–19).

Everything in the Passover feast is a picture of Jesus Christ, and every element points to Him. God went to great lengths to connect the crucifixion of His Son with the Passover feast. Jesus could have died at any time during the year, but God arranged it to happen on the day of Passover, exactly as the law of Moses required. There are amazing similarities when you compare the Passover and the Passion of Christ. Here are a few:

** The Israelites in Egypt were to spread the blood on their doorposts with a hyssop branch.

-- While He was on the cross, a Roman soldier offered Jesus vinegar on a hyssop branch (John 19:28–29).

** By the time of Jesus, only lambs born in Bethlehem, the city of David, the city of shepherds, were considered eligible to be Passover lambs.

-- Jesus, like the other lambs, was born in a stable in Bethlehem—the perfect Lamb of God.

** The Passover lamb had to be chosen on a certain day, the 10th day of the first month. A lamb born in Bethlehem was chosen and brought into Jerusalem from the east, down the Mount of Olives. The lamb entered the city through the sheep gate.

-- On the 10th day of the first month, Jesus, the Lamb born in Bethlehem, came down the Mount of Olives and entered Jerusalem through the sheep gate. As He entered, the people waved palm branches and shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" The people chose Him on Palm Sunday.

** The chosen Passover lamb had to be carefully examined to be sure that it was without defect. Only a perfect one without blemish would do.

-- Jesus was closely examined and tested by the most educated teachers in Israel. The strictest religious leaders there tried to trap Jesus in His words, but they could find nothing wrong or anything that they could charge Him with. He was without blemish. Pontious Pilate, after examining Him, said: "I find no fault in this man" (Luke 23:4).

** On the morning of the fourteenth day of the first month, the Passover lamb was led out to the altar. At 9 AM that morning, it was bound to the altar and put on public display for all to see.

-- On the morning of the fourteenth day of the first month, when all prophecy had been fulfilled, Jesus was led out to Calvary, and at 9 AM that morning, just as the Passover lamb was being bound to the altar, Jesus was nailed to the cross and put on public display at Calvary, for all to see.

** At exactly 3 PM, the high priest ascended the altar and sacrificed the Passover lamb. Then he declared, "It is finished!"

-- At 3 PM on that day, at the same moment the Passover lamb was being killed, Jesus cried with a loud voice, "It is finished!" and gave up His spirit (John 19:30).

In Greek, the words translated "It is finished" are an accounting term that means, "The debt has been paid in full!" Jesus paid the debt of sin in full.

Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb, and all of heaven recognizes it. Some of the benefits for those who accept Him are these:

* Judgment passes over those who are under the protection of His blood.

* The power of the enemy is completely broken in their lives.

* We are released from bondage and oppression.

* Eternal life.

It is the Blood of the Lamb of God that sets us free from the power of the enemy. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much the enemy hates the Blood of Christ, even hearing it mentioned.

Sylvia and I once attended a Christian conference with Mahesh Chavda when he came to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. He observes 40-day water fasts as Jesus did. He led the congregation in reciting the Apostle's Creed. When he got to part about the "Blood of Jesus," a stately elderly lady sitting behind us and to our right let out a blood-curdling scream of "Noooooooooo!!!" and fell to the floor.

She began writhing like a snake in the aisle and screamed Noooo until she ran out of breath. Her voice trailed off eerily as if something was leaving and growing distant before some ushers helped her to the back for prayer. That evil spirit within her could sit in church all day, but it could not stand hearing or speaking about the Blood of Jesus Christ. It behaved like it was set on fire.

Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. The Passover feast and the events leading up to Jesus's crucifixion run parallel. His blood seals, protects, and sets us free from our enemy. The saints in Revelation have their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, for without blood, there is no remission of sins. Jesus provided all that we needed that day at Calvary (Hebrews 9:22).

The simple exchange that took place at the cross is that Jesus took on our sin, and we take on His righteousness. It is an intentional act, and it requires our active participation. The Israelites had to apply the blood of the lamb to their doorposts, or they would be visited by the destroyer. In order to be saved, their faith had to be strong enough that they took action. If they did not believe and take action, then they perished right along with the Egyptians.

Here we are today. Washing in the blood of Jesus involves letting Him change your life from the inside out. It still requires faith to work with Him on that day by day, and it is clear that not everyone will be saved. The hyssop branch today is your tongue. With it, you apply what Jesus did to your life. Paul wrote:

Romans 10:9–10 (NKJV) — that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I accept the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me. I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb out of the hand of the enemy! Wash me, cleanse me, and set me free from the things that bind me. Please help me get in tune with You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!