So we see that Jesus was freely offering Himself up of His own free will as the Lamb of God slain for sin. In order that He might redeem us from the bondage of sin which held us captive, seperated from God.

Again looking at the laws of sacrifice, we see that the lamb was held until the 14th day of Abib (April) and on that day it was prepaired for the passover, than eaten on the same day in the evening.

Ex 12:5-8

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

And so we clearly see that on the 14th day of Abib (April) was the preparation of the passover, the actual sacrifice was later that day, in the evening. These facts are important in order for us to understand exactly when Christ was crucified. He was brought before Pilate on the 14th day, which was the preparation for His sacrifice as the Lamb slain for sin offering. Now, lets tie it all together.

John 19:14-20

14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.

16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

But the Lord gets even more specific in describing the actual event of Christ's death. He not only wanted us to know what month and what day Christ died, but he wanted us to know even the very hour of that day when the price of our sin was payed and we were redeemed from the bondage of sin which held us captive, seperated from our true Heavenly Father.

Matt 27:45-46

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

It is my personal belief, that the reason Jesus cried out asking God why He had forsaken Him, is due to the "probability" that during this 3 hour period, from the 6th hour to the 9th hour,when all the earth was darkened, the Spirit was lifted from Him and he, as a man, the son of God (the near kinsman, the lamb of sacrifice) not as God, fealt the full force of the weight of sin placed upon him, and he fealt for the first time ever, the absense of his Father's presence with him, as God looked away and allowed His son to die for you and me. What excruciating pain it must have been for Jesus the man to suffer the absense of his father and the weight of our sin placed upon him, now seperating him from the Father, as we are from our mother's womb. No wonder he cried out as he did ... my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Let us completely understand that as Jesus suffered all that He did for you and me, He left nothing undone which was required of Him by the law of God for our redemtion while He hung upon that cross all alone, for notice the last statement He made while hanging on Calvary;

John 19:30

30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Matt 27:50

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

What great joy, Jesus must have fealt as He realised that He had completed His task and could once more be rejoined with His Father, I say this, first of all because I notice He said "it is finished" (that means it's done, completed, there was nothing more He had to do in order to purchase us from sin). The second thing I notice is that Mathew tells us that it was not just a whispered wording Jesus made, but that He cried with a loud voice, just as He cried with a loud voice, asking why He had been forsaken, He cried loudly again, undoughtedly realizing that He was finished and no longer had to feel the agony of seperation from His Father. I see His crying out the first time with great agony still fealing the awful sting of death, but then I see His crying out with great joy as He realised He completed His task and knew that you and I could now freely be unchained from the prison of sin and joined with Him as one.

There it is, Christ was clearly crucified on passover, which is the 14th day of Abib (April), from the sixth hour until the 9th hour, He hung there, now let's look at where Paul in his writings to the Corinthian church, refers to Jesus as our passover and tells us as the church to keep the feast of passover.

1 Cor 5:7-8

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:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

When Paul refers to us as being unleavened, he is telling us that we are to be seperated from the sins of the world, (clean, in preperation to partake of the passover). How do we seperate ourselves from the sins of the world? Through repentence, repentence being the moment when we choose for ourself to turn away from the ways of sin and fallow the ways of righteousness in Christ, the moment when God forgives us for our sins. Repentence prepares us for the covering blood of the sacrifice of the Lamb to be applied to our lives by water baptism through faith in Jesus Name. Just as the children of Israel had to first believe and forsake the ways of the Egyptians, than apply the blood to their door posts, we must first believe and forsake the sin of our old way of living (which is repentence) and then apply the blood of Jesus to our life, which is done through baptism (a form of works by faith, which James talked about) than are we the new lump which is unleavened. Prepared and ready for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which when He comes into our life makes us one with God.

So coming again to the actual celebration of the passover and whether or not we are to keep the pass over today, we look at the verse of scripture we just read. 1Cor. 5:8 clearly tells us to keep the passover feast, not with old leaven, (which simply means not in an unsaved state of life) neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, (not having even a little hate or sin in our life) but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (examine our life and be certain we have the Spirit of truth and sincerity, which is the Holy Spirit of God, dwelling within us).

Yes, my brothers and sisters, we as the born again church of Jesus Christ are still called to celebrate this most wonderful day of redemption. It is so important to Father that we know and celebrate this day, that He went to great lengths to show us exactly what month, what day, and even what hour we were purchased from sin and allowed to be restored as one with Him through faith by grace of God's Holy Spirit into our lives, as well, as telling us clearly in Corinthians 5:8 to keep the feast.

Lastly let us understand that the book of Corinthians is one of the apistles writen to the church in order that we might know what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. This is a commandment to the church, not to the Jewish Nation. It is for all who will believe.

Final note of recap = In the month of Abib (April) on the 14th day, at the 9th hour, Christ died on Calvary that we might have eternal life!

-- May God bless us all and keep us as one til He comes --