The Bible readings set for Holy Week lead us on a journey through the theme “from darkness to light”. We begin in the land of Egypt, where there is deep darkness. It is a darkness much deeper than the literal darkness of night.
There is a deep spiritual darkness throughout the land. The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a watery mass of dark chaos. Among the gods of that time were Kek and Kauket, the frog-headed god and serpent headed goddess of the darkness.
Ra, the sun god, was the bringer of light, and thus the upholder of order, balance and justice. The Egyptians saw the night; the time without the light of the sun, as a likeness of this chaos. It was believed that Ra was in a daily struggle to bring good order and peace. Apep, the ‘Lord of Chaos’ was the greatest enemy of Ra. For half the day Ra was victor, triumphant, high in the sky, and in the other half of the day he descended into the underworld. Pharaoh (who was thought to be partly divine himself) and the priests performed magic spells that were thought to ward off Apep, and help Ra continue his journey across the sky. When the gates of the underworld were opened before morning, Ra could escape victorious, and again rise triumphantly.
This spiritual worldview is more than a harmless mythology seeking to explain the meaning and origin to life. The minds of the Egyptians were spiritually dark and they did not know their Creator, and had created gods for themselves. Their idolatry was seen not only in the religious spirituality in which they were actively opposed to God, but the human flesh curved in on itself which thought it okay to treat other human beings as chattels to enslave and possess. God’s people were cruelly exploited under harsh labour in slavery in Egypt. They were trapped in a land whose dark spiritual worldview assembled a myriad of gods which were all rivals to the one true God.
But in our text from Exodus we hear God’s promise to bring his people freedom through the night. God vows “On that night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
God brings judgment on the first born so that there will be no heir to the throne of Pharoah. This extends to the animals sacred to the gods that would perish as well, which showed the powerlessness of these gods. That this would happen at night when Ra was in the underworld makes a public spectacle of Egypt’s gods by showing their inability to bring saving help and order in chaos. Ra’s victory is denied by God, and the Egyptian god and goddess of chaos, Ket and Kauket, was no match for the God of Israel’s authority and power.
God has heard the cries of his people. He gave instruction to Moses and Aaron of how to prepare the people for his coming judgment and salvation. Each man was to take a lamb—a year- old male without defect. Not their injured or ill leftovers, but their best animal. It would take their place as a sacrifice in exchange for their sin. You see, it wasn’t just Egypt that had turned aside from God. God’s own people also consistently struggled with that.
And so after all the community of Israel slaughtered their lambs at twilight, they were to paint the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses, by dipping a bunch of hyssop in a basin of blood. By trusting in what God promised to do they would be saved. God says in verse 13 that the blood would be a sign for them. It would remind them of the promise God had made to them: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” It’s not a sign for God—he already knows what he’s going to do. It’s a sign for them, that they can have certainty God will do what he promises. It’s a sign of God’s peace for his people; a sign that he will graciously pass over them.
That same night the people were to eat the meat of the sacrificed lamb roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs (probably to remind them that the Egyptians made their life bitter under slavery) and bread made without yeast (so that they can eat it quickly and don’t have to wait around for it to rise). They were not to leave any until morning (so as to avoid the temptation to hang around and eat more) but they were eat it in haste, dressed ready to go—with their cloak tucked into their belt, their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand. Waiting on word from God, ready to follow his call and leading immediately, without hesitation. He would fight for them in the darkness. He would free them. Then they would see their salvation.
Can you imagine this? It must have been a frightening time, as God’s people waited in the darkness, hearing the panic and alarm all around them.
But God was truly present for his people that night and showed them his grace, mercy and favour as he said he would. Just as he promised, he passed over all the households with the blood of the lambs they had sacrificed on their doorposts.
After the people encamped by the sea, and saw Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing them, they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:10-12).
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. But throughout the night God was present in a pillar of cloud that brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long (verses 19-20).
God’s divine light lead the way for his people in the darkness, as he parted the Red Sea and led them through to victory. He had freed them from the spiritual darkness. This was the mighty salvation act in Israel’s early history. And it wasn’t only a mighty victory, it was one that was completely gracious and underserved. This deliverance was a new start given by God to his people. And so they were to commemorate the Passover for the generations to come.
This was the meal that, Jesus, as a faithful Jew, observed with his disciples 2000 years ago. That night was also a dark one – not just literally dark, but spiritually dark too. Again, the hard hearts of men were curved in on themselves, like Pharaoh and the Egyptians of old. On this night Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples. He was denied three times by another. Those whom he asked to stay, and watch and pray with him slept in the garden of Gethsemane. They were weak when they needed to be strong. In the dark of night, and in the darkness of sinful hearts, a detachment of soldiers came bearing lanterns and torches in the night, led there by the one who had betrayed him with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested.
As we conclude the service tonight by stripping the altar, the lights are progressively extinguished, preparing us for our plunging into the darkest depths of tomorrow. Although it will be in the day time, the darkest evil is seen as the crowds scream for the blood of Jesus, and the light of the world is nailed to a cross.
Jesus was the firstborn that was struck down by God. This is the new way God passes over his people in judgment. Jesus is the Passover Lamb without defect, the perfect, sinless, son of God, who bore the sin of the world, who was offered up for all people, even those who reject him. That is God’s heart for the world.
God has done this not because you or I have deserved it. Nobody deserves it. Like Egypt, and Israel of old, we are not worthy.
But God had planned this from before time, and has done this because he loves all people, and he loves you. Like Israel of old, who went through the Red Sea, God has also chosen you before the world was created. He claimed you as his own as he led you through the waters of baptism.
And God has given his church the new Passover meal, by which the precious blood of his Son, the Lamb of God, covers the doorposts of your heart, making them holy, filling them with his light and life. In this precious meal, the Father shows his heart for the world, and for all in the house of God; the family of God through faith.
Through this meal your Heavenly Father shows his heart for you too. Through this meal he proclaims that he has claimed you as his own, alone. Through the body and blood of his Son, he delivers to you his divine grace, mercy, favour and peace. He has passed over you in judgment, forgiving you all your sins.
By the shedding of his holy and precious blood, Jesus has freed you from the Kingdom of darkness for life with him. As you await your final salvation in a dark and seemingly chaotic world, the Lord is your light and salvation, so that you can confidently join with Luther in confessing:
At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil—not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. All this he has done that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. Amen.
