Perry Como was right. There is no place like home for the holidays. Christmas. New Year’s Day. Thanksgiving. Easter. These special days bring back a flood of memories of family and friends. When you spend one of the holidays far away, it’s just not the same. The food just doesn’t taste right.
Just ask the Israelites. Ezra tells the story of their first Passover at the temple in Jerusalem in a long, long time (Ez 6:19-22). They’ve spent the past 70 years almost 1,000 miles away from under the thumb of the Babylonians and then the Persians. Seventy years away from the Promised Land. Seventy years since they celebrated the Passover at the temple. Now God has brought them back home to Jerusalem. The people have rebuilt the temple where they can celebrate the holy days once again.
Just ask the Israelites. Ezra tells the story of their first Passover at the temple in Jerusalem in a long, long time (Ez 6:19-22). They’ve spent the past 70 years almost 1,000 miles away from under the thumb of the Babylonians and then the Persians. Seventy years away from the Promised Land. Seventy years since they celebrated the Passover at the temple. Now God has brought them back home to Jerusalem. The people have rebuilt the temple where they can celebrate the holy days once again.
There is no place like home for the holidays.
Ezra sets the calendar for us. It’s “the fourteenth day of the first month” (v19). One check the Hebrew calendar tells a couple of things. It’s the month of Nissan, which falls during our March and April. It’s the first month of the year 516 BC. It’s almost 70 years from the day the Babylonians bulldozed and burned the first temple (586 BC). But Zerubbabel and the boys have just finished the massive rebuilding project just a few weeks ago (Ez 6:15). Don’t touch anything. The paint’s still wet.
The reconstruction of the house of God wasn’t without it’s complications. Sixteen years ago, there was the notorious Samaritan sabotage (Ez 4:1-5). God’s people had just hit town after their captivity when a bunch of local yokels threw a monkey wrench into their plans to rebuild the temple.
The LORD uses a pair of prophets to light a fire under the Israelites and get the work cranking again (Ez 5:1-2). And there was the time some local bureaucrats stopped by to see if this project had all the proper paperwork (Ez 5:3-12). Once the home office clears all that up (Ez 6:1-12), things really rolling. Eventually, the Hebrew people cut the ribbon at the grand reopening of the new temple with a huge cookout (Ez 13-18). Think of getting your home ready just in time for the holidays.
The LORD uses a pair of prophets to light a fire under the Israelites and get the work cranking again (Ez 5:1-2). And there was the time some local bureaucrats stopped by to see if this project had all the proper paperwork (Ez 5:3-12). Once the home office clears all that up (Ez 6:1-12), things really rolling. Eventually, the Hebrew people cut the ribbon at the grand reopening of the new temple with a huge cookout (Ez 13-18). Think of getting your home ready just in time for the holidays.
Just a few weeks after this massive shindig, it was time for one of the biggest days on the Jewish calendar. “The returned exiles kept the Passover” (v19). That’s the ceremony that remembers God’s deliverance of His people after more than 400 years in Egypt. Moses wrote all about it in Exodus 12. In the days before they hit the road, Yahweh tells the Hebrews to observe a rather gruesome yet important moment of worship. Each family is to find a male lamb that has absolutely no flaws.
Here’s where it gets more than a little gory. They are to kill the little lamb and then use its blood to paint their front doors. Later that night, God would “pass over” those homes while the angel of death kills the firstborn males. The LORD tells Moses that His people are to celebrate this Passover every year on the anniversary of that wild night in Egypt (Lev 23:4-8). Before we freak out over all the blood and death, we need to remember that this is a picture of what God does later for us on a cross outside of Jerusalem. More on that later. Hang with me.
Here’s where it gets more than a little gory. They are to kill the little lamb and then use its blood to paint their front doors. Later that night, God would “pass over” those homes while the angel of death kills the firstborn males. The LORD tells Moses that His people are to celebrate this Passover every year on the anniversary of that wild night in Egypt (Lev 23:4-8). Before we freak out over all the blood and death, we need to remember that this is a picture of what God does later for us on a cross outside of Jerusalem. More on that later. Hang with me.
It’s appropriate that the first holiday the Israelites celebrate at the rebuilt temple is Passover. Just as God brought the Jews out of Egypt to the Promised Land, He’s now brought them out of captivity like their ancestors. It’s the Exodus 2.0. At the Temple 2.0. Just as Moses instructed them, “they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves” (v20). They were together again. At the temple again. Celebrating the Passover again.
There is no place like home for the holidays.
But Ezra drops a bit of knowledge about this particular Passover. “It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel” (v21). It’s one thing for Jews to keep the Passover. I mean, God commanded them to do it.
But we see another group of people who’ve come to celebrate the holiday. Gentiles. God has moved in their hearts to turn from their sin and toward Him for salvation. They’ve ditched the filth of their former lives in order respond in worship to the God of Israel.
All throughout Scripture, we see God continually reaching out beyond His chosen people and graciously inviting and including non-Jews. We see little glimpses of it here and there throughout the Old Testament. But once Jesus heads back home to heaven, He throws the doors of the party wide open to whole world.
But we see another group of people who’ve come to celebrate the holiday. Gentiles. God has moved in their hearts to turn from their sin and toward Him for salvation. They’ve ditched the filth of their former lives in order respond in worship to the God of Israel.
All throughout Scripture, we see God continually reaching out beyond His chosen people and graciously inviting and including non-Jews. We see little glimpses of it here and there throughout the Old Testament. But once Jesus heads back home to heaven, He throws the doors of the party wide open to whole world.
Passover is followed by another high holy day. “They kept the Feast of the Unleavened Bread seven days with joy” (v22). Again, make sure you check out all the details back in Exodus 12. These consecutive holidays are kind of like Christmas and New Year’s are for us today. This is a week long celebration God’s goodness and provision to His people. There ain’t no party like a God’s people party, ‘cause a God’s people party don’t stop!
This wasn’t some grim ritual. It was a PAR-TAY! Twice, Ezra talks about the joy that filled the joint. And he makes it clear Who brought the joy. It was God! “For the LORD had made them joyful” (v22). They remembered who He was. They remembered what He’s done. When we think back on all He’s done, it’s time to PAR-TAY!
This wasn’t some grim ritual. It was a PAR-TAY! Twice, Ezra talks about the joy that filled the joint. And he makes it clear Who brought the joy. It was God! “For the LORD had made them joyful” (v22). They remembered who He was. They remembered what He’s done. When we think back on all He’s done, it’s time to PAR-TAY!
So what’s the deal with all the blood and guts at Passover? Just why does it have to be so gross? God uses this remembrance to point to the day when the Lamb of God would come to take away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). Just like the spotless and flawless little male lambs that would give their lives, Jesus would live the sinless life that we fail to live. Just like the blood covered the front doors of the Jews so that God’s wrath would pass over their homes, Jesus’ blood covers us so that God’s wrath passes over you and me.
Passover is bloody because Jesus’ death in our place is bloody. Jesus is the ultimate Passover. It’s just another fantastic example of how the entire Bible points to THE Hero of THE Story. Jesus doesn’t just show up unannounced in the Gospels. God has been dropping major clues for thousands of years beforehand.
Passover is bloody because Jesus’ death in our place is bloody. Jesus is the ultimate Passover. It’s just another fantastic example of how the entire Bible points to THE Hero of THE Story. Jesus doesn’t just show up unannounced in the Gospels. God has been dropping major clues for thousands of years beforehand.
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a very similar way to the way the Hebrews celebrated Passover. At the Passover, the Jewish people remembered what God did to free them from slavery in Egypt and pointed to the day when Messiah would come. At the Lord’s Supper, we remember what God did to free us from slavery to sin and point to the day when Messiah will return. And one day, we’ll all be home together with Him.
You see, there’s no place like home for the holidays.
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