These are the raw sermon notes from my message on April 13, 2014.  Palm Sunday.    You can get more clarity by listening to the podcast.

Exodus 12:1While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2 “From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. 4 If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat. 5 The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.  6 “Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb at twilight.  7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal.  8 That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast.  9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire. 10 Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning. 11 “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the lord’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the lord! 13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Passover demonstrates the uniqueness. For Jews and Christians – the Passovers defines and gives identity.  At the center of Judaism and Christianity is the bloody death of a helpless victim.  Why? What does it mean?

There is a Bible long story of the Lamb.

The Offering of the Lamb

The Pharoh won’t let the people go. God says he will strike down every first born.

v.23 Moses says- the Lord will not let the destroyer into your house to strike you down.

There is a simple fact/law: when you violate God’s laws you unleash forces of destruction, disintegration, and chaos.

Examples:

• If you overwork- career as an idol leads to breakdown of all sorts of life
• Holding a grudge- there is breakdown and disintegration of all sorts.

When God says the destroyer will come, I have scrolled ahead and in one night and in one place, eternal/divine judgment day justice (consequence) will be focused at one point in one place. There will be a preliminary, temporary but devastating judgment day. Not just the forces of destruction, disintegration, and chaos that are out there in general, but for one night there will be a release of destruction.

I’m about to unleash the most irresistible, unstoppable, irreversible force in the universe. The destroyer. It will go through the most powerful military and dynasty that the world has ever seen (Egypt). It will go right through it like a knife going through hot butter.

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