2021 Christmas Advent Day 18: The Passover Lamb visits His people

• Main Passage: Luke 2:8-20
  • And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
• Again, though more subtly, we see the meekness and humility of Jesus, and of God. The first people to hear about Jesus’ birth was not the religious leaders, it was not those of note in society, not those with influence or with money or with power. But God, according to what Paul wrote, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…that no flesh should glory in His presence,” [1 Corinthians 1:27; 29] saw fit to share the message first with shepherds, one of the lowest occupations you could have at the time. God doesn’t need the advertising and marketing tactics of the world, and He proves it marvelously here. Those who would listen to shepherds about a baby who is “Christ The Lord” are exactly the people The Lord wants.
• Another subtility is here which shows us the hand of God guiding this whole process. Notice that Luke specifies the shepherds were abiding in “the field.” He does not say “a” field but “the” field, meaning a very specific field is being identified, and it is important. The Holy Spirit does not use words lightly, and when He says “the field” we are to recognize the field is important, otherwise He would use an indefinite article like “a.” So what field could Luke be referring to? In the book of Ruth, we see a field mentioned. This field belonged to Boaz, the son of Rahab the harlot, who dwelt in Bethlehem. [Ruth 2:1-3] Remember the law of land in Leviticus: “the land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.” [Leviticus 25:23] The land which belonged to a certain family stayed in the family forever. Even if it was sold, there was always an option available to redeem it. Land was sold, not finally, but rather as a lease: the year of Jubilee being the year which determined cost, for at the year of Jubilee, which was every fifty years, all land returned to the original owners. So this field which belonged to Boaz, also belonged to King David; for “Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David the King.” [Matthew 1:5b-6a, Ruth 4:21-22] And by implication this field also legally belonged to Jesus, He being the firstborn of Joseph; although He hardly needed that credential for He created it in the first place. In practice His family may not have owned it, but legally it was theirs if they had the means of redemption.
  • The field which belonged to Boaz, a type of Jesus as our Kinsman Redeemer, where a love relationship between a Jewish ruler and a gentile woman began and that also produced the Messiah, is the very field where Jesus’ birth is announced. Tradition has it that this field was then being used to prepare lambs for the Passover feast. Those shepherds who saw Passover lamb after Passover lamb, that night, through a message from angels, would see The Final Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, The Lamb of God.
• Jesus is our Passover Lamb, and through His sacrifice, our sins are atoned for. It is through Jesus’ blood that we have peace with God. [Colossians 1:20] And where the blood of animals fell drastically short in taking away sins, Jesus completed once and for all by the offering up of Himself “to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” [Ephesians 5:2] Hebrews says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins…But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” [Hebrews 10:4; 12-14] And again, speaking of the greatness of Jesus’ blood versus that of animals, “…By His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve The Living God?” [Hebrews 9:12-14]
• Jesus’ sacrifice once-and-for all purchased for us forgiveness and atonement, so that God’ wrath which formerly abode upon our heads is now taken away and we have peace with God. Our very souls and consciences are cleansed by His blood and we are free to live for Him, free to have a relationship with God through Jesus. Because of our Passover Lamb we are set free, just as the Israelites were set free from Egypt by the death of a lamb.

Questions for Day 18

1. As Paul says, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;” [1 Corinthians 5:7] and as Abraham prophesied, “God will provide Himself a lamb.” [Genesis 22:8] “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” [Isaiah 9:6] A perfect sinless sacrifice, The Son of God Himself, was given to us. As the Passover lambs would be slaughtered in Jerusalem until the blood ran in rivers, Jesus’ blood gushed from His broken body upon that cross. Jesus gave His body for us as He said, “take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you.” [1 Corinthians 11:24] And He gave His blood; as He said, “this cup is the new testament in my blood.” [1 Corinthians 11:25] Jesus our Passover was slaughtered by The Father for our sins; The Father, “laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” and “for the transgression of my people was He stricken.” [Isaiah 53:6; 8] Upon the cross The Father “made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” and so that we might be redeemed from the curse of the Law, Jesus was “made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” [2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:13] Upon Jesus was poured out the fierceness of God’s wrath; every ounce of wrath of God’s anger was dumped upon Jesus’ head. Jesus tasted death for us [Hebrews 2:9] that we might not experience it; Jesus experienced the eternal wrath of God upon that cross. He was crushed to powder underneath the weight of God’s hand; He was drowned in a sea of judgment; He was separated infinitely from The Father for our sins. “Yet it pleased the LORD to crush Him, He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of The LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.” [Isaiah 53:10-11]  Seeing that Jesus is our Passover lamb and is sacrificed for us, what should we do?