Law of Love

Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 13:8-14

In the Exodus passage God is telling Moses and Aaron how to prepare for the first and essential Passover.  God does tell them that this is a day to be remembered as a festival of the Lord.  Even today Jews celebrate the Passover, and they remember the events as if they were there.  Not unlike when we remember Jesus at His Table, for we remember what He did for us at the cross, and we remember His presence throughout our entire lives.  Jesus’ Table was set while He was celebrating a Passover Meal, remembering what God did on the first Passover.

The first Passover was a life and death observance.  God heard the cries of the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, through Jacob.  The Hebrews did not have the Ten Commandments, they did not have the law yet.  They did not have anything that made them Jewish except for their family relations.  They were not Egyptians.  Pharaoh used the Hebrews as slaves and as scapegoats.  They were oppressed but Pharaoh was also worried about their numbers and thus took actions against them.  Actions that united the Egyptians as well.  We do this to this day.

Why were the Hebrews in Egypt?  Did God not give the land of Canaan to Abraham and Sarah?  Jacob came back to this promised land with his family, and after wrestling with God receives the name Israel.  And then we have the story of Joseph.  The eleven other sons of Israel was jealous of Jacob’s love of Joseph.  They were angered by Joseph’s dreams.  They banded together and scapegoated Joseph.  They were going to kill him but decided to profit from this awful violence upon the out casted brother, and sold him into slavery. 

Joseph ended up in an Egyptian prison, and eventually demonstrates his capability to interpret dreams.  Not only does he find himself in Pharaoh's court, Joseph saves Egypt from the horrific famine.  Joseph becomes Pharaoh's right-hand man.  The famine was felt back in the promised land as well.  Eventually Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt looking for assistance.  They do not recognize their brother, but he knows them.  Joseph finally reveals himself when the entire family is in Egypt.  And Joseph believes that God used his horrific experience to be able to save the entire family.  This is repeated with the Passover as God uses a people that were violently oppressed and scapegoated to establish God’s Law, starting with this ordinance that did save them that night.

What is clear is that the one true God can and will use our own systems of violence to save us.  With the Passover it was salvation from slavery, with Joseph it was salvation from famine.  Now Jesus enters as the lamb.  No longer is the blood to show God who is to be saved, but that we see His blood on our system of justice.  We understand that God brings us salvation from sin.  From this system of violence and scapegoating for everyone.  “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9)  Through this the laws still stand, yet they are fulfilled by the love Jesus showed us.  God used our own violence so we could see that the only law is Love.  We all can follow Jesus to our salvation by following that law.