Passover, the resurrection, and our glorious future
By Harlan Brown
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
On the Hebrew calendar today is Nisan 14, which began at sunset yesterday evening. Nisan, aka Abib, is the first month on the Hebrew sacred calendar. (The civil new year begins in the autumn.) Nisan 14 is labeled "Passover" in Exodus 12 and Lev. 23:5. According to the rules of the Hebrew calendar, Nisan 14 can fall on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday, never on Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday.
Passover
In the scriptures the term Passover sometimes refers to the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, Nisan 15-21. (Compare Ex. 23:14 and Deut. 16:16 with Ezek. 45:21.) Jesus and his disciples observed the Passover, aka the Last Supper, on the evening of Nisan 14. Most Jews observed the Passover the following evening, at the beginning of Nisan 15. (See John 18:28.) To this day, most Jews observe Passover on the eve of Nisan 15, the First Day of Unleavened Bread, an annual sabbath (Lev. 23:7). In 2020 that is tonight, Wednesday evening.
In the Bible, Passover is associated with sacrificing a lamb without blemish (Ex. 12:5). For the Christian, Christ is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). The Apostle Paul wrote, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep." (1 Cor. 15:3-6)
Resurrection
The Apostle Peter wrote about how Christ's resurrection gives a living hope: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Paul gives more details about that hope: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ." (1 Cor. 15:20-23)
Conclusion
Paul concludes: "I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Cor. 15:50-58)
What a glorious future! I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and receiving a resurrection body.