Don't passover the meaning of Passover
Once again we used the idea of a Passover meal this year to help engage us all in the significance of the Passion. Putting the crucifixion in the context of the Old Testament story of the Exodus, is to place Jesus as the pascal lamb. It is to help us also understand the significance of Jesus being called the Lamb of God. The pascal lamb was to save the nation of Israel and bring them out of slavery.I believe we have a responsibility today to try and explain the significance of the cross to people today. Those who are in the church and those outside. For many it is something that is a complete mystery, indeed for many it is a complete absurdity. Hence the need to not simply pass over the Passover but use he Passover to explain the context and meaning of the death of Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus was a much more inclusive and universal idea. It had to have a significance for his time and the people who he moved among, but it also has a significance for the whole of history. His death was to save the world and bring us all out of slavery to a new freedom. What happened at Calvary all those years ago still impacts the way people live and has a significance influence on millions of lives . As I'm writing this I'm watching on BBC the latest version of the Passion. Crucifixion is such a dreadful experience. All this calls us to reflect on the meaning and the purpose of the death of Jesus. Here we are two thousand years on and still his death is talked about and made into film material.The challenge for the Christian church today is to explain the death of Jesus so that it makes sense to 21st century people, who know nothing of the Jewish background or theology surrounding sacrifice and forgiveness. One thing I'm certain of is that forgiveness is still very much part of the agenda in the lives of 21st century people.
