According to Exodus 12 there were five basic requirements for celebrating Passover.
- Set aside a lamb on the 10th of Nisan- one without defect
- Slaughter the lamb on the 14th – but don’t break any bones
- Put some of the lamb’s blood on the sides and top of the doorframe
- Finish the Passover on the 14th – don’t let it spill over into the next day
- Celebrate the Passover perpetually
Jesus fulfilled all five of these requirements. To summarize…
- As the Passover lamb was set aside on the 10th of Nisan – so Jesus entered Jerusalem as our substitutionary sacrifice on the 10th of Nisan.
- As the Passover lamb was to be without defect – so Jesus was without fault.
- As the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan – so Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan.
- As none of the Passover lamb’s bones were to be broken as it was slaughtered – so none of Jesus’ bones were broken as he was crucified.
- As the blood of the lamb caused God’s judgment to pass over the Old Testament Israelite – so the blood of the lamb Jesus causes God’s judgment to pass over the New Testament believer.
- As the Passover lamb was finished and done away with by the day’s end – so Jesus’ sacrificed was finished and his body was put away in a tomb.
- As God commanded Passover to be celebrated perpetually, so Jesus commanded Communion to be celebrated perpetually.