It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.

As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.

Torah Portion Name and Readings-

Bo is the Hebrew word for “come” or “go”, this is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Exodus starting in chapter 10 verse 1 and going through chapter 13 and verse 16.

Prophets and New Testament-

It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Jeremiah in chapter 46 verse 13 through verse 28.

The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of John in chapter 19 with verses 31 through 37.

Torah Portion Overview-

In this torah portion we see the Egyptians begging that the Israelites be let go. It seems that the Egyptian empire has been broken and the people have had enough. But Pharoah would not listen. And so God sent the eighth judgement, the economic destruction that would lead to fear, abandonment, and starvation; He destroyed the crops of Egypt with swarms of locusts. Yet this was not enough, and He sent destruction against their mightiest god, the sun god ra, and caused complete darkness. For the Egyptians who worshipped the sun, this would have been a moment of complete terror and panic. It would be as if their god were totally defeated or destroyed. What can you do when your greatest god is dead? Yet this was not enough. Throughout these judgements Yahweh continued to harden the heart of Pharoah so that he would not repent. And so came the warning of the tenth and final judgement. God was going to go through the land of Egypt and strike down the firstborn. From the greatest to the least, status did not matter, nothing would save you except to humble yourself and put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of your house. With this coming judgement the people were to ask for gifts from the people in order to plunder the land of Egypt completely. This would be the final and last plundering of Egypt, so as to leave them in complete destruction. The portion then shifts and begins to recount the commands around Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread including the establishment of a new calendar. The people were to use this month as the start of their year, so as to mark their calendar by their freedom. After this God does come and strike the land, putting to death every firstborn in the land of Egypt. The only ones who were saved were those whom had followed His instructions and put the blood of the lamb over their thresholds. At last Pharoah is broken and sends for Moses and informs him that the people, all of them, with all of their animals and belongings were free to go. He has had enough, he is broken and has relented. And so the people leave, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the very same day that the sojourn had started over three hundred years earlier! From the death of the firstborn Yahweh then explains that the firstborn belongs to Him because they were purchased when they were not killed. Today I want to focus on the Passover and what it means to us.

The Passover changed throughout the years as we have previously discussed in other posts. The first Passover was a one-time event, where each man slaughtered their own lamb and then poured the blood into the basin of their doorpost. They then brushed the blood on the doorpost, creating a barrier all around their door. This was a marking, that showed their loyalty to Yahweh and that they were dependent on Him for salvation from this great plague. They then roasted the lamb, cooking it whole, without breaking any of it’s bones. They used bitter herbs as a seasoning with it, roasting it over fire. Eating all night, they were prepared to leave in haste, having their robes drawn up and their sandals on. They even ate with their walking staff close at hand. After the meal was consumed, they were commanded not to leave their house, and that they should burn whatever of the sacrifice remained in the morning. The exact time frame of this is not sure, but it seems that there was some time between the meal and their leaving. Whatever the case, they left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month! And so they found freedom!

The Passover meal was later memorialized and changed to harmonize with temple worship. It was this meal that we see Jesus and his disciples eating the night before his betrayal and crucifixion.

“When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Luke 22:14-20 (NRSVue)

Remember that the Passover was a meal of remembrance, a meal to remember the destruction of Egypt and the death of the firstborn and Israel’s deliverance from slavery. Yet here Christ is adjusting that, and adding to it an idea of remembering Him and His sacrifice. And this is what we often do when we keep Passover, we remember Christ and His crucifixion. Later the church would incorporate this into their Eucharist tradition which would also evolve into a Communion ceremony for Protestants.

However, there is more here! For Christ does not just focus on the memory, He also focuses on the future! He does not want us to just remember what He has done, He wants us to look forward to what He will do, that is, He will bring the Kingdom of God. Thus He explains that He will not eat of the Passover until the Passover is fulfilled in the Kingdom to come. As François Bovon explains in Hermeneia - A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 19:28–24:53:

“Verse 16 makes the meaning specific: today’s Passover has its value, but it has not yet reached its fullness.28 Even though it has been wanted by God since the time of the exodus, even though it is respected by Jesus, the Passover is no less a human ritual, a sign that looks forward to the hoped-for reality, an imperfect celebration awaiting fulfillment.”

Thus we can see a threefold element to Passover. We are to remember Israel, their enslavement and their freedom. We are to rejoice in their freedom as if it were ours! Even more so, we are to remember the sacrifice of our Messiah, all that He did, and rejoice in our freedom from slavery to sin! Whereas they put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost we put the blood of the Lamb of God on our hearts! Whereas they ate of the lamb, we “eat of His flesh” (John 6:51). Whereas they were saved from the death of a plague, we are saved from sin and eternal damnation. Whereas a simple lamb died, our great Messiah offered His life and died on a cross in our place. This is further explained by James R. Edwards in The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Gospel according to Luke:

“The Lukan Last Supper was a Jewish Passover meal (vv. 1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14).It is not Jesus’ last Passover, however, for he will again celebrate Passover when “it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (v. 16). The Greek word for “finds fulfillment,” an aorist passive subjunctive, is a “divine passive” that refers to the perfect Passover that Jesus will celebrate in the eschatological kingdom of God.52 V. 16, along with v. 18 and Paul’s reminder that the Last Supper anticipates Jesus’ return (1 Cor 11:26), exhorts believers to “look both ways” in the Last Supper. They are to look to the past in “remembrance” (v. 19) and to the future in anticipation (vv. 16, 18). The atoning death of Jesus Christ is a saving past event that anticipates the future hope of the return of Jesus as the Son of Man (21:27). When believers share the Lord’s Supper, they stand in the interim between past and future, in the “already” and “not yet,” receiving by faith the self-sacrifice of Jesus for them on the cross, and awaiting by faith the self-return of Jesus for them in the cloud of glory.”

But even more than that, we see that there is a future fulfillment in the Kingdom to come. How will the Passover be fulfilled? It appears to be the marriage supper of the lamb! As L. McFall explains in “Sacred Meals,” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology:

“This feast, at the end of the age, will be an occasion of great rejoicing when ‘many will come from the east and west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 8:11; cf. Matt. 22:1–14; Luke 14:15–24). Indeed, such will be the intimacy of the fellowship enjoyed between Christ and all believers that the feast is described as a marriage banquet (Matt. 22:1–14; Rev. 19:9; cf. Eph. 5:25–27).”

Thus we rejoice in this feast not just for our freedom, but in the coming consummation of the covenant, when we live with Jesus here on earth in His kingdom! Passover is not just about the past, it’s not just about the present, it’s also about our future with Him!

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Exodus 10:1 The Egyptians wanted the Israelites to be let go but Pharoah would not let them all go.

• Exodus 10:12 The eighth judgement, locusts.

• Exodus 10:21 The ninth judgement, darkness.

• Exodus 11:1 Warning of the tenth judgement coming, the death of the firstborn, and Israel was to ask the people for gifts.

• Exodus 12:1 The calendar was established.

• Exodus 12:3 The Passover instructions explained.

• Exodus 12:15 The Feast of Unleavened Bread instructions explained.

• Exodus 12:21 The Passover sacrifice instructions explained.

• Exodus 12:29 The tenth judgement, the death of the firstborn.

• Exodus 12:31 Israel leaves Egypt in the Exodus.

• Exodus 12:43 More Passover instructions explained.

• Exodus 13:1 The firstborn belongs to the Lord.

• Exodus 13:3 More Feast of Unleavened Bread instructions explained.

• Exodus 13:13 The command to redeem the firstborn and explain the reason is because of the death of the firstborn.

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• Jeremiah 46:13 Jeremiah prophesied against Egypt, judgement is coming from Nebuchadnezzar.

• Jeremiah 46:27 Israel will return from captivity.

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• John 19:31 Jesus is buried.

Bibliography

• François Bovon, Luke 3: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 19:28–24:53, ed. Helmut Koester, trans. James Crouch, Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 157.

• James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2015), 626–627.

• L. McFall, “Sacred Meals,” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 753.

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