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Matthew 26:17-19
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a feast commemorating the mass exodus of the Israelites from the captivity of the Egyptians as they left in haste and had no time to leaven the bread before they fled (Exodus 12:14-20). This is a prelude to the Feast of the Passover, which was the tenth plague that God sent on the Egyptians which killed the firstborn of every household that did not follow God’s instructions for this night (Exodus 11-12).
In Matthew 26:17-19 the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread has arrived and the disciples of Jesus are inquiring of Him as to where He would like to eat the Feast of the Passover. Jesus replies in Matthew 26:18 (NKJV), “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” In Matthew 26:19 we find words that I believe may be overlooked in this passage but are very important to understanding the relationship that Jesus’ disciples had with Him. Matthew 26:19 states, “So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.”
This is the preparation of the connection of the Old Testament to the New Testament in Christ Jesus.
The Passover is one of the most important connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament. On the night of the Passover Feast as described in Exodus 11-12, the tenth and final plague of the death of the firstborn for all households that did not have the blood of the lamb on the doorposts would take place. The blood of the lamb on the doorposts came from the lamb that was prepared for the Passover Feast. Exodus 11:4-5 declares, “Then Moses said, ‘Thus says the LORD: “about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.”’” On this same night was the Passover Feast with a lamb prepared as per the LORD’s instructions as we learn in Exodus 12:5-7, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.” An interesting point here is that the instructions for the lamb was that they keep it in their houses from the tenth of the month (Exodus 12:2) until the fourteenth day of the month (Exodus 12:6). A lamb less than a year old, in your house with you for a whole week. Do you think that you and especially your kids would grow attached to such a cute animal in that amount of time? I do, and I believe that God did this purposely so that when the lamb was slain for the Passover Feast, it would be personal – a personal heart-felt connection to this occasion that included the firstborn being slain as an introduction to freedom from captivity.
Why all this about the first Passover Feast as I have stated above in connection of the Old Testament to the New Testament? Because on this observance of the Passover Feast by Jesus and His disciples (Matthew 26), Jesus is preparing, as the Firstborn of God and the everlasting Passover Lamb, to be slain with His blood left in the same positioning on the cross as is on the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites at the first Passover Feast. His hands and feet pierced by the nails and His head dripping blood from the crown of thorns onto the ground below Him. In both situations, if you connect the dots of the placement of the blood, there you will find the outline of the cross, where Jesus shed His blood as the Lamb without blemish for the freedom from the captivity of sin. We will soon study the passage of Matthew 26:28 as Jesus states, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Dear LORD,
Jesus is the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. He is our way, our truth, and our life. There is no other way to heaven than through Him, as He declares in John 14:6. As the Firstborn given by You, it is declared in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Please let it be so in our own hearts, minds, and souls as Jesus declares in Matthew 22:37-38. In Jesus name I pray, amen.