John 23 Farewll John 13.1

FAREWELL

#23

So Many Feasts

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of the world to the Father ..." (John 13:1).

Jesus' "hour" has finally come, and Passover is the major indication. In fact, Passover has repeatedly been a major factor in the progression of the Gospel of John. In fact, just about everything in the Gospel of John has been paced and focused on various feast days and Jewish celebrations.

Let's just walk through John together to bring us to John 13, the final Passover.

John 2 begins at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus turns water into wine. In John 2:13, we are introduced to the first Passover in John. This required a trip to Jerusalem, where Jesus flipped the tables and cleansed the temple.

While in Jerusalem, he met Nicodemus at night and began teaching and baptizing many in Judea (John 3:22; 4:1-3).

Upon returning to Galilee, Jesus passes through Samaria and meets the woman at the well before finally making it back to Cana of Galilee to heal a nobleman's son (John 4:46-54). He doesn't appear to stay long, though, because "a feast of the Jews" began to take place in Jerusalem, so Jesus traveled back.

He heals a man at the pool of Bethesda and gets into a lengthy argument with the leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus makes a quick trip back up to Galilee (John 6:1) when it is about time for the second Passover (John 6:4).

Jesus feeds the 5,000, walks on water, gets into another argument that leads to chapter seven, which begins with "the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near" (John 7:1-2).

Notice that chapters 2-4 are about Jesus' travels to and from the first Passover, and the next three chapters begin with a series of feast days!

In chapter seven, Jesus, after arguing with his unbelieving brothers, travels to Jerusalem again, which has become an exceedingly dangerous area for Him (John 7:1), and gets into another argument. This argument leads to an attempt on His life (John 8:58). So Jesus escapes the stoning and runs into a blind man, heals him, and again gets into an argument (John 9-10:21).

John 10:22, right in the heart of Jesus' discussion about the Good Shepherd, John tells the reader, "At that time, the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem." For this feast, Jesus is again in Jerusalem at the temple, again gets into an argument, and they again try to kill Him (John 10:31). Jesus leaves Judea to go beyond the Jordan, and many there come to believe in Him (John 10:40-42).

The sickness and death of His dear friend Lazarus brings Him back to Judea, to Bethany near Jerusalem, where He raises Lazarus, and more people want to kill Him (John 11:53), and the third Passover is approaching (John 11:55; 12:1).

Jesus makes His final, triumphant entrance into Jerusalem in John 12:12-26). It is this final trip to Jerusalem, this third Passover, where Jesus knows His hour has come (John 12:23, 27; 13:1). The Passover and the Crucifixion are at hand.

Jesus as the Passover Lamb

For Jesus' death to coincide with Passover should not come as a surprise. Remember all the way back to one of the first testimonies we have about Jesus: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) and "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36).

John the Baptist, the first character witness to testify to the identity of Jesus, calls Him the Lamb of God. The reader, by this point, knows Jesus is the embodiment of God Himself, but we never abandoned the idea Jesus is also, in some way, God's Lamb.

Jews bring their lambs to the priest to be offered for forgiveness. If God is going to make an offering for forgiveness, what does He use? He uses Himself. No one else needs to die for God to forgive the world; He will take on the role of the Lamb for Himself.

This image of Jesus as Lamb of God sacrificed for the forgiveness of the whole world is maintained throughout the Gospel of John. Even on the cross, it is vividly portrayed.

Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for the Sabbath was a high day), they asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away (John 19:31).

As the Passover lamb is being killed in preparation for the Passover, so the Lamb of God is being prepared as well.

This connection is made vividly clear by what happens to the legs of Jesus. Breaking the legs of a criminal on the cross is a way of speeding up the crucifixion. Their legs can no longer lift them up to draw in air. They slump down low, their lungs deflate, and they suffocate in their own misery.

They break the legs of the two criminals on either side of Jesus, but when they get to Jesus, "He was already dead, they did not break His legs ... For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, 'Not a bone of Him shall be broken'" (John 19:33, 36).

Now, we challenge you to read the Old Testament and find a prediction that the Messiah would never break a bone. It's not in there. So what passage does John quote? What Scripture does this fulfill? Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 give you your answer.

These are not predictions about the Messiah but prescriptions on how to prepare the Passover lamb. You are to do so without breaking any bones. How on earth does Jesus' death on the cross fulfill a 1,400-year-old Jewish recipe for cooking lamb? Because Jesus is what that lamb had been pointing to the entire time. Jesus is truly God's Passover Lamb.

Why Passover?

A final thought that strikes me as I reflect upon this passage is: why Passover? Especially if this Lamb "takes away the sins of the world," why did Jesus die on Passover? Why not Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement? The day when the sins of Israel were atoned for by the blood of the goat?

Remember, there are two goats; one symbolizes the removal of sin from the land, while the other sheds its blood for the purification of the people. Doesn't that look a little bit like Jesus and Barabbas put before the people? (John 18:39-40). Granted, they make the wrong choice, but still, that definitely has Day of Atonement vibes. It seems like the sin-cleansing blood of Jesus, who died for our forgiveness, would fit well with the Day of Atonement. Why Passover?

I think the answer is seen in what Passover is all about the overthrow of the wicked, oppressive, and dark powers that have enslaved God's people. Jesus has been hinting at this: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free ... everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:32, 34). Sin is the new Egypt. Jesus is the new Moses. And the cross is the new Passover.

The powers of darkness, the chains of sin, and the authority of the spiritual rulers who hold this world captive, Satan, the new Pharaoh, called three times "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), will be overthrown. When Jesus is "lifted up from the earth," He will draw "all men" to Himself.

In that moment, God is glorified, and the "ruler of this world" is overthrown (John 12:28, 31-33). Jesus comes to save His people as the Lamb, the new Moses, and the God of Israel. He leads the greatest Exodus the world has ever seen, the only Exodus in which the rest of the world has hope. Jesus is the New Passover.