1 Corinthians 5:7 - "Christ Our Passover"

1 Corinthians 5:7

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"

Christ our Passover stands as the one great title that gathers up all the types, pictures, and prophecies. The old leaven must be purged out, yet not to make us accepted by anything found in ourselves. If all we did was clean out the leaven and never offer the Lamb, we would remain under condemnation. Everything contrary to holiness fills the old lump, and it cannot be reformed. The new must be made in Him, for Righteousness, Holiness, and Justice are found only in the Passover Lamb sacrificed for His particular people.

This Lamb comes set forth by many witnesses. One declares, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth… he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). Another stands by Jordan and cries, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), not "sins" as many misquote it, but that one great mass of sin belonging to Jews and Gentiles He came to redeem. Another speaks of “the precious blood of Christ… as of a lamb without blemish and without spot… who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:19–20). And in glory, the redeemed cry, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). Every witness points to One Truth: Salvation is not in ceremonies, traditions, or a supposed purity in ourselves, but in Christ alone. Not one sinner believes by himself, for faith must be given—“who by him do believe in God” (1 Peter 1:21). He is both the Giver of Faith and the Object of Faith. Hope rests entirely on Him, for He is the Passover Lamb.

To understand the foundation of this title, the Scriptures lead us back to that night in Egypt. The plague of death would pass through the land, but wherever the blood was found on the lintel and doorposts, wrath would pass over. Passover does not mean that God looked the other way, but that judgment fell on the lamb instead of the sinner. This is Substitution; this is Satisfaction—one of the clearest types in all the Old Testament. The lamb had to be without blemish. Every detail matters. Only a perfect, sinless Substitute could bear sin without becoming defiled by it. Only One Who fulfilled the law in life and suffered its penalty in death could stand as righteousness before God. The lamb was taken from among the flock, a picture of Christ coming from among men, the Seed of the woman, the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of David, according to the flesh. He came in a real body prepared for Him, yet without sin. The lamb was young, strong, in the prime of life, for Christ did not die of old age or frailty but laid down His life in full strength. His death was not random, nor general, but specific—one lamb for one house, every soul accounted for.

Roasted with fire, not raw or sodden, the lamb pictured the fire of Divine Justice falling upon the LORD Jesus Christ. Men did nothing more or less than what God determined (Acts 4:28). On that cross He endured wrath—not hatred from the Father, but the righteous judgment demanded by the law. Not a bone was to be broken, for He was the whole Offering. The blood outside spoke of acceptance before God; the feeding inside spoke of communion. They were to eat in haste, for judgment was near, teaching the urgency of fleeing to Christ, believing on Him, resting in Him. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to partake of Him by Faith, for “my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (John 6:55–56). The whole Christ must be embraced—His Person, His Nature, His Offices, His Work.

None for whom the Lamb was slain remained behind in Egypt. When God sees the blood, He passes over. The typical blood pointed forward to the True Sacrifice offered to the Father, that one death that actually saves and delivers. “When I see the blood” finds its ultimate fulfillment in the sacrificial death of Christ, the true Passover Lamb. In Exodus, the blood on the doorposts turned away God’s righteous judgment, but it could not put away the sin; therefore, it was repeated every year. That event pointed forward to Calvary, where Christ shed His own blood as a perfect, once-for-all Sacrifice, and God, seeing that blood, put away the sin of His elect forever because His blood was the actual Satisfaction of which the Old Testament lamb was a type. God now looks—not at our works, merits, or worthiness—but at the blood of His Son, and He passes over all who are in Him. Christ’s blood fully satisfied divine justice, obtained our redemption, and guaranteed our deliverance from wrath as His elect people. In Him, the shadow becomes Substance, and Passover finds its everlasting completion.

Oh, thank God for Christ our Passover—sacrificed, sufficient, victorious, and worthy of all blessing forever!