Jesus as the Passover Lamb

One of the main imageries that is used to describe Jesus in the New Testament is that of the Lamb of God, specifically the Passover lamb.  This is seen in the book of John, when it describes the crucifixion of Jesus.  When it mentions that his legs were not broken, this is meant to imply a fulfillment of an alleged Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah being like the Passover offering in that "none of his bones were broken."  In the New Testament, particularly in the book of Revelations, Jesus is referred to several times as the Lamb of God.  This Christian metaphor comes from a tremendous misunderstanding of the events in Jewish history in general, and the significance of the Passover lamb in particular. 

Christians basically view the events in an oversimplified manner, with: Passover lamb + blood + salvation from death = the story of Jesus.  They claim that just as the Jews were spared from the Angel of death in Egypt through the blood of the lamb, we should all come under the blood of Jesus to be spared from the Angel of Death as well.  All of this represents a major misunderstanding.

My first response to all of the above is that if a missionary tried to convince me that Jesus is like the Passover lamb, he should not try to push me too hard or else I'm going to agree that in fact he is like the Passover lamb.  Let me explain.

• All of the plagues that occurred in Egypt were, among other things, meant to undermine the various gods of the Egyptians.  For instance, they believed that the Nile River was a god, so G-d sent the plague of blood, where the River turned to blood.  They believe that the sun was a god, so He sent the plague of darkness.  They believed that Pharoah was a god, so we had the plague of the killing of the first born, which included killing the first born of Pharoahs’ house as well.  They also happen to have believed that animals were gods as well, included among these was the lamb.  Proof of this is seen in a couple of places.

• First of all, when Joseph's brothers came down to Egypt , he instructed them how to answer Pharaoh when he inquires about their profession.  Since Joseph wanted to have his brethren dwell separately from the Egyptians, he told his brothers to answer Pharaoh that they were shepherds, because in the Torah it says that shepherds were seen as an abomination to the Egyptians, treating the gods of the Egyptians as livestock for consumption.  Therefore the Egyptians wouldn’t want the shepherds to live among them.  (This is comparable to the status the cows have in India, even today, where they are allowed to roam freely even in certain cities, and are certainly not raised for slaughter.) 

• This is also dealt with when Pharaoh begins to give into Moses a little, by making the suggestion that he just go ahead and offer up sacrifices to G-d here in Egypt.  Moses said that he did not want to offer up the gods of the Egyptians in Egypt , because it would be upsetting to the Egyptians.

With the 10th plague, the Jewish people now had a part to play in it, unlike the others.  They were instructed to take a lamb and bring it into their home for four days.  During this time they were to live with the lamb, and would thereby see that this god of the Egyptians was nothing more than just a smelly animal.  Then all on the same day, they were to slaughter these gods of the Egyptians and roast them, prior to the evening.  We all know when our neighbor is barbecuing.  Just imagine when you have as many as 3 million people all roasting animals at the same time.  The air of Egypt was filled with the scent of their god being roasted.  This was a tremendous act of defiance by the Jewish people.  We say that not only did G-d want to bring the Jewish people out of Egypt, but He also wanted to get Egypt out of the Jewish people. 

The religious practices and beliefs of the Egyptians had to be abandoned by the Jewish people; and they had a part to play in it as well.  By taking the blood of the lamb, and smearing it over the lintel and door posts, they were demonstrating acts of allegiance to G-d.  G-d did not need to know where the children of Israel lived.  Since He knew enough to know who was the first born of the Egyptians, he certainly knew where his own children were at.  The blood was really more for the sake of the Jews, rather than for G-d.  It was a sign to G-d that, "See what I think of the gods of the Egyptians.  I want nothing to do with them.  I’m with you, G-d."

I like to use an analogy that is relevant for Georgia residents.  Considering the great rivalry between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, imagine that a Georgia Tech fan would be held captive by the University of Georgia.  As that fan is being liberated, one final act of defiance in the face of the University of Georgia is to take the Bulldog mascot of the University of Georgia , and openly slaughter it before 100,000 fans at Georgia Stadium.  It would be an act of defiance, and of what he thought of the University of Georgia and their mascot.

Therefore, if Christians want me to consider Jesus to be like the Passover lamb, which means viewing him as a non-god that I do not believe in, and that through his death I am demonstrating to G-d that I absolutely have nothing to do with him, and do not believe in him, then I might just oblige them.  Christians try to show that they do believe in the Lamb, whereas Jews assert to G-d that we don't. 

As I had mentioned before, the Gospel of John cites a verse from Exodus about the Passover lamb not having any bones broken.  Those same verses from the book of Exodus also speak about the Passover lamb being roasted and eaten on the night of Passover.  Was this in fact the fate of Jesus?

One other point to mention is that among the various types of sacrifices that were prescribed by the Torah, not all of them were sin offerings.  There were Thanksgiving offerings, offerings of first fruits, and peace offerings, as well as, sin offerings.  The Passover offering has never been considered among the sin offerings.  It is under the category of peace offerings.  So even if Jesus was a kosher Passover sacrifice, then he would have had absolutely nothing to do with atoning for our sins, since Passover offerings did not do this.