God’s Mission – The Greater Passover

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

Do you ever find yourself searching for something bigger than you? For a community to be a part of? A place founded on truth and love? A place to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God? Welcome to Founded in Truth, where we're more than just a fellowship. We're a family, so welcome home. So last week we discussed the story of the Bible. Was that edifying? Was it kind of neat? So from the decree to mankind to become God's image and truly be human in his good creation, to failing and being exiled from the garden, to Israel being given the vocation to be the priest to all nations, the image bearers of God ushering in God's reign back into his creation.

And did they succeed at that or did they fail as well? Kind of failed a little bit too. And they were exiled through Assyria and through Babylon, and then realizing that, wait, this isn't about simply going back to a plot of land, being exiled from a plot of land. If God brings us out of Babylon, what's keeping us from doing this again—this repeating pattern in the history of Israel, as well as all of mankind, of stepping forward and declaring righteousness but never quite succeeding in fulfilling that vocation? There must be something bigger, a bigger redemption coming, a bigger exodus, one that doesn't just change motives and actions but transforms the heart, cures the source.

This is the motivation behind the prophets such as Jeremiah and Hosea, such as Isaiah, Amos. When they're speaking about these things, these were the prophets of the exile. And they're speaking these prophecies to Israel to tell them something. They're trying to explain to them that something bigger is coming because this pattern that you keep jumping through of repenting and going back to sin, saying, yes, I want to live for God and I worship God, but in your heart you are a murderer, an adulterer, you are a sinner. God is going to do a new thing.

His laws and his Torah will no longer be something that's just written on a pad of paper that you read. It's going to be something that is imprinted on your heart. There is going to be a renewing that takes place and a healing that takes place, not simply in your mind, but overtakes your heart.

David: Israel's High Point

As we go through the story of Israel, we find a character by the name of King David. And he's kind of like the high point of Israel. And the prophecies begin to go forward from God himself speaking about a son of David that will come. And he will represent the kingdom of Israel. And he will come with the authority of God and he will bring the redemption of Israel with him. How is it that Israel kept their heads up during all this time? I want to invite you to become part of Israel's story. And you see the kings around you and you're living in this Israel that claims to be faithful but is really just secular, doing wicked things and oppressing the poor and it's just become a way of life.

And then you hear about your tribes of the north being taken away by the Assyrians, and they're exiled, and there's war, and it's right over the borders. And then Babylon comes in and takes your people out and slaughters them and transports them to Babylon. And you're sitting in Babylon with your people and with your tribes wondering, when is this going to change? Is God going to redeem us? Is God going to bring us back to the place where he said he would? And then the Persian king overtakes the Babylonians and he allows your people to go back to their land. And even though you're back in your land, the exile is still happening because you're still not truly in a place where reconciliation with God has been made.

You rebuild the temple and it's cheap. It's not even beautiful. It's rather ugly. You don't have any gold, so you build the menorah out of tin. What do we do with the Ark of the Covenant? We can't find it. Ah, we'll just leave the blank space there. Shut the curtain. It'll be okay. And then you hear about the Greeks coming. And okay, the Greeks are coming. They're making war with the Persians. And they overtake your area. And then the Greeks want you to convert. So they begin to slaughter you forcefully. Because no, you can't be this religion. You can't claim to worship this God. You must worship our gods.

And you fight back. And you use violence to try to take back your kingdom. And it works at first. But one generation later, you're worse off than you were before under the Greeks. And then the Romans come in and the Romans make sure they build an armory, this big fortress right beside your temple that's just a few feet higher so that every time you go to worship God, you're reminded Rome is your king now.

A Story to Hold On To

How does a people thrive through that? The constant, constant disappointment, the constant wondering, is God truly a keeper of his promises? How do you do that? You tell a story. You tell the legacy of what God has done for your people and the testimony of what God has done for your people. And it's the story of the Passover. And you tell them a story about a wicked tyrant. And you tell them that there was a chosen leader that comes. And you tell your children that there was a divine victory that took place. And there was a rescue made through a sacrifice. And a new vocation in life was given to this redeemed people.

And there was this divine presence that was with them. And there was this inheritance that was promised to them. And this story is told to the children year after year after year, as if to say, yes, have hope. Our God has not abandoned us. He is a keeper of his promises. And we know he's done it before. And the prophets say he's going to do this again. Passover is going to happen again. Exodus is going to happen again. But it's going to be bigger. It's going to be bigger than Israel. It's going to involve the whole world. It's going to be bigger than just taking us back to a piece of land. It's going to change our hearts so that we can be reconciled with God no matter where we are.

Zechariah talks about a new Jerusalem being built that has no walls. There are no borders. A new temple even. I once heard a professor make a profound statement. And he says, without the New Testament, the Old Testament or the Tanakh is just a book that contains a story about a God who doesn't keep his promises. And so we enter into the New Testament where the gospel writers are proclaiming with every word and sentence that every single promise that God has made to his people is being fulfilled. He is a keeper of his promises, and it's all coming together in the fulfillment through this one person, this person of Yeshua.

And so if you have your scriptures with me today, I hope you'll turn with me to Matthew chapter 1. It's one of my favorite books. And this is important because the greatest threat to the faith, at least for our youth that I see regarding Yeshua, is showing why Yeshua is important. I've seen too many people raised in church and raised in the movement, and they know all the Bible verses, and they know all the Hebrew blessings, and they walk away from the faith because someone decided to ask them one question one day that they couldn't answer, and that question was, why is Yeshua Messiah? Why is it important?

Why is he important? And people say, "I know all the scriptures, but I don't know." And people walk away from the faith.

Matthew's Message Through the Genealogy

So Matthew chapter 1, verse 1: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Everyone has that, right? So notice right off the bat, Matthew is doing the same thing Mark's doing. He's like, we gotta call him son of David, right off the bat. That way everybody knows what this whole book is about. It's about the coming king that was promised, whose kingdom is forever, and he's going to lead us in a new Passover, a new Exodus. Son of David, the son of Abraham. Now, in your Bibles, Matthew lists this huge genealogy, right? Does it look kind of overwhelming at first?

So-and-so begot so-and-so, so-and-so begot so-and-so. It's like little numbers there. And does the author break it up in your Bibles? Like, are there sections of the genealogy? How many sections do you have—three sections? Usually we have three sections. Three sections, and there's a space and three sections. And so the first section begins with who? Abraham, right? It's important. And who does it end with? The first section. It starts with Abraham and who does it end with? David. Okay, so that's good. So what did we learn about David last week? He was kind of the high point king of Israel. At least, if you read Chronicles, he was the high point of Israel.

This was like Israel, they were starting to flicker. They were starting to become this light of nations. They were securing the borders. Peace was abundant. Political treaties were being made at the end of David's life, and Solomon was picking up the pieces and running with it, and this was a great time for Israel. And where does the next section start? Who does that start with? The second section of genealogy. Solomon. Anybody have Solomon? Solomon. And then it ends with Josiah, the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile of Babylon. Everyone has that, right? It's important. Matthew does that on purpose.

Who took Israel from its high point? Who was the first step to the downward spiral of all of Israel after David? Solomon. And what was the lowest point? Babylon. You see, Matthew is trying to tell us something here.

The Third Section and Israel's Pattern

And then the third section. Where does the third section begin? Verse 12. What's the first words there? After the exile of Babylon. And who's it end with? Yeshua. See, Matthew, he's trying to show us a pattern here by breaking this up. He starts in verse 1 by calling Yeshua the son of David and then goes on to show the pattern of God's story and his mission. In verse 17 it says, not only is Matthew showing us the pattern of the story and focus of the Bible right here, he emphasizes 14.

So not only is Matthew saying, listen, Israel started out with Abraham and they were fulfilling the goal, although it was a struggle and they reached their high point in David, but then it was a downward spiral in Solomon and now they're in exile. Exile away from God because of Solomon's leadership and the downward spiral of kings. But after the exile, from exile, we are going to end up with Yeshua. And it's 14 and 14 and 14. Now, why 14? Well, Gematria is kind of like when you take letters of different languages and you give them numerical value and then you can figure out patterns, kind of like that Bible code stuff.

Gematria was a tactic or a way of study that was used in the first century. It wasn't standardized as an authoritative way to study Scripture, but we see it in Revelation. It's used to make further points. The name David has a numerical value, at least in Hebrew Gematria, of 14. Matthew is trying to show us the vicious cycle of Israel, up and down, up and down, up and down, and ending in Yeshua, being rescued from exile in Yeshua. But he's stamping David, David, David, David, David all over it. He's trying to tell us that the king is here. And the high point of Israel is going to be fulfilled here. This will be the highest point of Israel and all of mankind because of this king.

The Messianic Expectation

And this was an expectation in the first century. They were expecting a Messiah. And some people were expecting a political messianic figure based on the prophecies. Some people were expecting a violent messianic figure based on the prophecies. No one quite expected a messianic figure to come in and be a servant. And when the northern kingdom was exiled through the Assyrians and the southern kingdom was exiled through the Babylonians, the promise that God made concerning the land to the 12 tribes of Israel kind of seems like it was broken at that point. I mean, they're not in their land anymore. During this time, a hope rose of a new redemption.

This is what we talked about last week. A new Passover, a greater exodus was coming and a greater Redeemer. So if we have a greater Exodus, we have to have a what first? Greater Passover, right? And if we have to have a greater Passover, then who's going to lead the greater Passover? The greater Moses. And all of these symbols were merging up in the hope of all the prophets during this time period. This is actually discussed in the Torah. It's a prophecy rooted in the Torah itself in Deuteronomy 30 and Deuteronomy 4 that Israel would be redeemed and brought back. And Deuteronomy 18 has a prophecy that God's speaking to Moses, and it's a prophecy about a second Moses, a greater Moses even.

Now I'm sure we're all familiar with this prophecy, right? There's going to be a prophet likened unto Moses. He's going to be a greater Moses. And when he comes, you're to listen to him. You're to do what? Listen to him.

The Greater Moses and Midrash

In later Jewish tradition, the expectation grew of this greater Moses coming, and he became associated with the messianic figure. It's from the Midrash of Ecclesiastes 128, and it talks about Rabbi Barakia. It's from a fourth century rabbi, said in the name of Rabbi Isaac: as the first redeemer who is Moses was, so shall the latter redeemer who is the Messiah be. And what is stated of the former redeemer? So you guys want to hear what 3rd and 4th and 5th century Jewish Midrash sounds like? How they made connections? It was really neat. And when you hear this, that's how they made the connection between Moses and Messiah.

And you're going to think, that's kind of a stretch. But this is what they did. I don't disagree with it. I love it. So here's what they said. This is how he makes the connection. He says, And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass, in Exodus . Similarly it will be with the latter Messiah. When the latter Redeemer comes, it will be similar to that. As it is stated, so Moses sat in a donkey, and Messiah is going to sit in a donkey sometime in their life, and there has to be a connection. No one else is getting a kick out of that? I love it. I mean, that's biblical harmony in New York right there. That's good stuff.

Signs of the New Exodus

But this was the expectation: the messianic figure would be the greater Moses. And we're believers, so we're like, well, yeah, that's what Acts says. That's Yeshua, you know? But this is fascinating. Because if we transport back to the first century, we have our eyes opened. We're trying to look for this messianic redeemer. And why did they think it was coming sometime around then? Well, the Babylonian exile was only supposed to be 70 years, and then Daniel comes along and throws a wrench in that and says, no, it's 70 times 7. And so for the next hundreds of years, all the rabbis are sitting there. When is it going to be? Trying to calculate a date of when this messianic figure is coming. Everybody had their eyes open.

And the Messiah was expected to be this greater figure of Moses. And this greater figure of Moses was expected to usher in this greater Passover redemption. And this greater Passover redemption was going to lead to a greater exodus. And in the first century, Josephus, a Jewish historian, records multiple false messiahs that claim to be starting this new greater exodus. I got a kick out of this. This is in Antiquities of the Jews, chapter 20, section 5. Now it came to pass, Walthatus was procurator of Judea. So we have this guy who's saying, listen, follow me, and I'm going to make the water split in half, and you can walk over it.

In chapter 8, moreover there came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet and advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called, which lay across the city of Jerusalem. And at a distance of five furlongs, he said farther, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, that the walls of Jerusalem would fall down. And he promised them that he would be able to procure them an entrance into the city through those walls when they were falling down. So one guy's saying, I'm going to make the water split in half so you can walk through them. And another guy's saying, I'm going to make the walls fall down.

So first guy we think of is Moses. Second guy we think of is who? Joshua, right? Make the walls fall down. Both are key characters in the Exodus story. These were signs related to the first Exodus. And they understood that there was an expectation of a new Moses coming and a new Passover coming, and it was going to contain these types of elements.

Yeshua Enters the Scene

Both of these guys were killed. The guy from Egypt, I think, was beheaded, and the other guy, I think, was put in jail and then executed. But regardless, something big was expected to happen when this Messiah, greater Moses, came. And so this is when Yeshua enters the scene. The writers of the four gospel accounts intentionally give us clear road markers to guide us to the conclusion that Yeshua is the prophet, and that he not only claims all of these things about this greater exodus, greater Passover motive, but he actually does them. And before we go any further, I wanted to show you guys at least the sources that I used for this particular message.

Many of them are the same as last week. Ryan White, he's a good friend of mine at faithinmessiah.com, Tyler Rosenquist, John N.T. Wright, J.K. Beale. And then I added these two books earlier this morning, actually. Brent Pitchray is a Catholic scholar. His book, The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, is fantastic about the messianic significance of Passover. I don't agree with everything in it, but it's a solid resource. And Ricky E. Watts, Isaiah's New Exodus in Mark. I know, that was a bit much, but I need to show it.

Matthew's Gospel Structure

Matthew, in his gospel, puts forth so much effort to show this identity of Messiah. Not only does he divide Yeshua's dissertations up into five different sections. Do you ever realize that? Five different dissertations in the gospel of Matthew to show us, paralleling the five books of Torah, emphasizing the connections between Yeshua's childhood and birth and that of Moses. Matthew and all of the Gospels are hovering over this central theme. Do I have it? In the childhood of Moses, what happened? An evil king Pharaoh attempted to kill him through a mass slaughter of children, right? In Exodus . In the childhood of Yeshua, an evil king Herod attempted to kill him through the mass slaughter of children, Matthew .

The midwives in Egypt tricked Pharaoh to help save lives, right? The wise men in Jerusalem tricked Herod. Moses was hidden from the evil king when he was a child. The angel told Joseph to hide Yeshua from the evil king in Matthew . Moses was hidden in Egypt to save him in Exodus 2:3. Yeshua was hidden within Egypt to save him in Matthew -15. The list goes on. In Luke chapter 11, verse 19, it states Yeshua has this confrontation with the Pharisees, and Yeshua is doing what he does best. He's ushering in the kingdom of God in a very visible, real manner. In the kingdom of God, when heaven fully overtakes earth, there will be no more sick and weak.

There will be no more blind. There will be no more deaf. And so what does he do to show that, yes, he is the walking intersection of heaven and earth right now? Open your eyes. Walk. You're not dead. Wake up. Be healed. Casting out demons, showing he has authority over demons. And as soon as he casts this demon out, the Pharisees are like, you're using the power of devils to do this. The power of Beelzebub, right? And Yeshua responds, and he says this in Luke's account. Now, if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. So what Yeshua is saying is he's saying, listen, if I'm using the power and authority of God to drive out demons, that's how you know the kingdom of God has been birthed into this world right here and now.

The Finger of God

Now when we see the finger of God there, that is a verse that appears twice in the Torah. The first time it appears is when Moses is casting the plagues down and the magicians, the false ones, are attempting to manipulate whether using magic or tricks or whatnot. And they're talking to Pharaoh and they're saying, hey, Pharaoh, we can't do anything about these gnats. They're everywhere. This is truly the finger of God. This is what Luke's trying to take us back to. He could have said spirit of God. I think Mark says spirit of God. Luke specifically says a finger, not hand, not spirit. Finger of God.

It's a very specific text. This is truly the finger of God. Take this back to the Exodus account when Moses was overpowering the pagan forces at work. And here's Yeshua using the finger of God to overpower the pagan forces at work. The second time the finger of God is used is in Exodus 31 when it's giving us an account of God carving out the Ten Commandments with his finger. The authority that takes place there. Luke's attempting to show us something. He's attempting to show us that just like the incidents with Moses, the power and the authority that were given to Moses, that were given in producing the Ten Commandments, these things combine or meet in Yeshua.

What was Yeshua's first miracle, according to John? Turn water into wine. What was Moses' first plague that he was a part of? Turning water into blood. In Luke chapter 7, John has an uncertainty. I'm skipping ahead. Guys, this topic is so vast. And the struggle of putting this together was trying to pick and choose what I could fit into a little message here at Fit. This is everywhere. And that's why over the course of the series, you'll notice that we're not going in a chronological series in part two and part three. They're all kind of overlapping with one another because the content is amazing and it's all there.

This is what Paul's letter, specifically Romans and Galatians, focuses around. Around the new Passover coming to fruition. Around the new exodus bringing redemption to mankind. Peter, all of them revolve around this. In Luke 7, verse 20, John the Baptist sends some messengers. And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And in that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits. And on many who were blind, he bestowed sight. And he answered them, go and tell John this.

Uncertainty and the Greater Moses

I'm focused on John as the center of this story. He's uncertain at this point. He's in jail. He's grown up with Yeshua. Yeah, I'm not even going to choose. I don't need to baptize you. What are you talking about? You should be there. No, now he's in jail. Are you really the one? Or should we look for another? In a time when there are constant messiahs that come up and fail and come up and fail, are you really the one? And I love it because it seems uncertainty is not a ruler to measure one's calling by God, righteous pursuit, or one's faith here. The ruler that's measured is or that's used to measure is what you do in the face of uncertainty.

Has anyone ever been uncertain about God's love for them, or about God's calling for their life, or just uncertain? It's okay. Moses, Noah, David. Should we keep Elijah? Uncertain. And it never once diminished God's power to use them, and it never once diminished their righteous calling, because they made the effort for the pursuit of trust. And I love that because in a way, sometimes uncertainty brings us closer to God than certainty does. But that's not the point of me putting this in this slide. John's asking a question. He's like, are you the greater Moses that's going to bring this greater Passover, that's going to bring this greater Exodus?

Are you the one or should we look to another? And how does Yeshua respond? Yeshua responds with quoting Isaiah 35. Can we read a little bit of Isaiah 35 real quick? Because this is Yeshua's response to John. Look at everything. If you turn with me to Isaiah 35. And let me know when you get there. Because I want to see if your Bible is like a study Bible, it'll have subtitles about what the chapter is about. And I want to know what the subtitle on top of Isaiah 35 is in your Bibles? What did the translators name this chapter? The future glory of Zion. Love that. Hope for restoration. Anyone else? Zion's happy future on Isaiah 35.

Mine says the ransom returned. Joy of the redeemed. So we have something new that's going to take place, a redemption where people are going to be reconciled with God, back to Zion or the place of God's presence. We have the redeemed, the ransomed, the glory revealed. Starting in verse 1, the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus flower. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. Strengthen the weak hands and stay firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance.

With the recompense of God, he will come and save you. Verse 10. Verse 10.

So when does this take place? What are the signs that God is coming to save you in verse 4? Verse 5? Are you the one that is to come? Or should we go and tell John what you've seen here? He's quoting a chapter about the greater Exodus and about the greater Passover. And the ransomed of the Lord will be returned. The exiles shall come home. Yes, John, I am he. Yes, I will redeem you. Yes, the ransomed will return. Yes, I love you. Yes, I called you. Yes, I hear you. Yes, I am here, John. Don't be uncertain. It's okay.

The Transfiguration

And you guys remember the Transfiguration? That really kind of strange story where Yeshua walks up this mountain with three other guys, and then Elijah appears and Moses appears, and all the guys can do it. They're scared. One of them's like, can we build them some houses or something? Like maybe we can put up an easy up for them, have a barbecue. I don't know. Like what are we supposed to do? And it's a very odd story to have, but it's in there. And so the transfiguration is Matthew 17, and it states, So after how many days? Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you wish, I'll put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them. So now we have a cloud coming over the mountain. And a voice in the cloud speaks, this is my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. Where did we hear that phrase earlier? Deuteronomy 18. The prophet shall arise. Listen to him. So Yeshua goes up this high mountain with how many people? Three. James, Peter, John. And Exodus chapter 24 starts out by telling us the commandment of Moses to ascend a mountain, a high mountain. And Moses brings along with him Aaron and his two sons with the elders in tow.

But you have three. Both Mount Sinai that Moses was on had a big cloud that came down and covered it, as well as the mountain that Yeshua was on. Exodus 24, 16 states, In both stories, someone goes up a mountain and comes back shiny. Moses goes up the mountain and comes back down, and his face is like, yeah, throw a sheet over it. This is too much. And Yeshua comes back down. His face is shining just like Moses, and his clothes are shining. Everything's shiny. Everything. The most fascinating thing about this incident, though, is actually in Luke's account. In Luke 9, verse 30, it says, "...the two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus, and they spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem."

Now, I left my little footnote thing there from my Bible study software. And if you guys look in your Bibles, you'll most likely have a footnote specifically for this word because it's not a word that appears very often in the New Testament. And it's the Greek word exodus, exodus. And they spoke about his exodus, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Yeah, Yeshua is about the greater Moses because the greater Moses is bringing a better exodus, the greater exodus. And Moses was not the only one involved in the original Exodus story, was he? You had God and you had Moses. And who else did you have that the story tends to revolve around a lot?

Israel and the King

Israel. Israel. They're a pretty big player in the story, right? Did Israel fail their vocation to be a redeemed people, fully human, the priests of the nations? And we see the gospel writings not only portray Yeshua as Moses, but also as Israel. Why is that important? Because the New Testament presents this Jesus, this Yeshua, as not only Israel's king, but as their representative. And this is where God and Israel meet in the person of Yeshua. I have a quote here from Nicholas Wright from his book, The Day the Revolution Began. Speaking about Yeshua, he embodies Israel as the king who sums up his people in himself and whose faithfulness stands in for their faithlessness. He embodies Israel's God himself come to rescue his people. The divine rescuing purposes and Israel's vocation come rushing together in the same human being, the very same event.

Out of Egypt I Called My Son

In Matthew chapter 2, it states, So he got up, Joseph, and he took the child and his mother during the night, and they left for Egypt. Speaking about after Yeshua was born. Herod's going to kill them, so we need to take them to Egypt. And then Matthew throws in this verse, Matthew chapter 2, verse 15. Where he stayed until the death of Herod, and so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, Out of Egypt I called my son. Anyone ever heard that prophecy before? It's a messianic prophecy, right? And we get all excited and we're like, yeah, I wonder where that's in the Tanakh. Let's go look this up because this is about the Messiah coming out of Egypt. And this is a quote from Hosea chapter 11, verse 1. That's a little disappointing because we were expecting this suffering servant type of prophecy and the prophecy is not even speaking about the Messiah. This is a verse that anti-missionaries will throw at you, by the way, just so you know.

The Greater Exodus

It's speaking about Israel. And the entire chapter of Hosea 11 is about Israel turning their backs on God. And even though he raised them, God's lamenting here, saying: I taught them how to walk and I carried Israel on my shoulders when I raised them. You can hear the tears flowing from the eyes of the father as he's lamenting over his child, Israel. And the chapter speaks about how Israel will go into exile because of their sins. And the chapter ends with God speaking about his fierce compassion towards Israel and how it will be aroused in him and he will roar like a lion. And when he roars like a lion, his people will follow him out of Egypt. It's a chapter about the greater exodus, the second exodus and the second redemption that's coming. And what does Matthew have the audacity to do? Yeah, that is happening in this child that's going to Egypt. Thus the prophet said, and thus was the fulfillment. Out of Egypt I called my son. Because through Yeshua, his son Israel will be coming out of Egypt.

Yeshua Embodying Israel

Why is Matthew so intent on this? I'm hoping I'm giving you guys some lenses about the whole exile motive and Passover and Exodus because this will mess the way you read the New Testament up if you never knew this before. It'll mess everything up because you'll see it everywhere because it's a central theme. And Yeshua is taking all of this onto himself. And he's representing Israel in a new way, a way of righteousness and justice, of pursuing God's reign, showing what a perfect image-bearer looks like when they walk out the reign of God and are ambassadors of the kingdom and are truly walking out the kingdom of heaven.

Tested Like Israel in the Wilderness

And after Yeshua is baptized, where does he go? He just wanders out in the wilderness. The Spirit calls him out into the wilderness. What happens in the wilderness? He's tempted and tested. And how many times is he tempted? Three times. This is great. This is encouraging. This is good. For how many days? 40 days. Okay. Geez, why does that sound funny? Didn't Israel go into the wilderness right after they were baptized through the Red Sea? Because Paul calls the Red Sea crossing the baptism of Moses. It was a baptism of Israel, when they changed status into a nation, no longer slaves. They went into the wilderness. How many years were they in the wilderness? Oh, so we got some numbers that are matching up. We may have something here, right?

Temptation number one is in Matthew chapter 4, verse 4. If you don't know the story, Satan comes to Yeshua in the desert and begins to tempt him. And what's the first temptation? I get hungry after like 40 minutes. Okay? So Yeshua's 40 days, and the assumption by Satan is that maybe he's hungry. And so he says, hey, why don't you just turn some rocks into bread? And Yeshua answered him and said, "It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." And we're always like, that's a great way to answer Satan. That's an awesome job, and we never look further. But what is he quoting? He's quoting the Torah. Where in the Torah is this from? Well, he starts off by quoting Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3. He's doing that, but He's speaking as if the event happened in the past in Deuteronomy, right? So let's go back to the original event in Exodus 16. This is what Satan was trying to tempt Yeshua with. Did Yeshua fall for it? Did he overcome it?

Every Temptation Overcome

What was the second temptation? Kingdoms? That was the third one. What was the second one? Jump! Satan brings them up to a very high place, the pinnacle, the temple, and he says, why don't you jump off? Jump off, and the legion of angels will come before your foot hits the ground, and they'll rescue you, and they'll sweep you up. Put God to the test. You know he'll come through. Well, that's also found in Torah. Yeshua responds by saying, "On the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test," which is a great response. But where is that found in the Torah? What's it speaking about?

Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 16, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him in Massa. Okay, so we found the source, but what happened in Massa? Do you remember? What happened in Massa? Exodus chapter 17, verse 7, and he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, Is this the Lord among us or not? After everything they'd been through with Egypt, they come to a place where they're just like, obviously, is the Lord with us or not? And obviously, we don't see how he's been with us this whole time.

Is he with us or not? This is the same failure of Israel that Satan attempts to place on Yeshua. Does he fall for it or does he overcome? The third temptation, bow down to me, right? Bow down to me and I'll give you all of the kingdoms of the world. They'll be yours. And Yeshua responds in Matthew chapter 4, verse 10, "Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only." It's a quote from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 13, You shall fear only the Lord your God and shall worship him and swear by his name. Why is he having to repeat that? Worship only the Lord your God, because not too far earlier at the end of Exodus, we have this incident when they received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool into a golden calf.

And after Israel built this golden calf, they said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Worship these gods, Israel. Did Israel fail? Did Yeshua fail this temptation? He overcame. Yeshua is representing who? Israel. And Yeshua overcame every temptation that Israel failed in the wilderness.

A New Exodus, A New Passover

Yeshua is reconstituting who and what Israel is in him. And that's a key concept throughout all the Gospels, specifically in Paul's letters. And in him is the nation that will be the priests of God. And in him will be the image bearers. And in him will be Abraham's seed. And you can find all kinds of cool nuggets throughout the New Testament. New creation through a greater exodus, prompted by a greater Passover, led by the greater Moses. That's what it's trying to portray in its entirety. The entire New Testament has a goal of reclaiming that God does fulfill his promises that he makes. And with a new Exodus, there must be a new Passover. And Passover is a festival of freedom. And Passover is not really about the redemption of sins, is it? Typically, traditionally. Not really. It's about the release of slavery. And it's about ending the exile. That's the theme behind Passover.

Forgiveness as the Key to Ending Exile

But Matt, why did Yeshua preach forgiveness of sins then? Because if anything, it would be Yom Kippur, right? If anything, even though that's really just for cleansing the temple. I have a question. Sin. What holds people in exile? What held Israel in exile? You go to jail because of what? You did something. You sinned. Sin is what holds you in exile. Sin with a capital S. If sins are forgiven... If your trespasses and charges the police officer wrote about you are pardoned by the judge, do you stay in jail? If your sins are forgiven, do you stay in exile apart from God? Forgiveness of sins is a prerequisite for ending the exile. It has to happen. This is why Yeshua constantly repeats forgiveness of sins, forgiveness of sins, forgiveness of sins. It becomes synonymous with ending the exile throughout the New Testament. You are forgiven. Go and sin no more. Israel was saved from Egypt through the blood of the Lamb, right? What's the word there?

Salvation Starts Now

Saved. Salvation. We're saved through the blood of Yeshua. Redeemed, forgiven. Reconciled to God. Just like 2 Corinthians 5 says. Is the phrase that we heard growing up, are you saved, coming in your mind now? No. Saved from what? What are we saved from? What was the idea in the first century? Guys, I would dare say that in the first century, if someone spoke about being saved, the idea was not formulated yet about, yay, now when I die, I know I'll go to heaven. No, it was a very in-the-moment reality. It was a reality that would start now, and it had a promise of surpassing death. Salvation starts now. Eternal life starts now, and it surpasses death. It's not something that you just have a scratch-off ticket for and you have to wait until the lottery store opens to redeem it. You have to wait until you die in order to get it. It's available now. New creation is available now. Restoration is available now. Reconciliation with God is available now. And the power of God's mercy and grace is so potent that it will surpass death.

The Last Passover

During the time of Passover, Yeshua comes to Jerusalem. And he knows he's going to die. And he's explained this so many times to his disciples, and it just goes in one ear and falls out the other. Every single time. They're shocked when it happens. And in the Synoptic Gospels, we learn that Yeshua yearns to have a Passover meal with his disciples. The Last Supper is what it's called. And at this Last Supper meal, or this Last Passover, that the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record, Yeshua gathers his disciples into one room, and he lays out the meal for them. And they have all the elements.

They have the bread, and they have the wine, and they're even reclining, which is part of the tradition. And there are five basic commands of Passover listed in Torah that implement the story. One in Exodus 12.5 is that you must choose an unblemished lamb, right? Two is Exodus 2.6, that you must sacrifice the lamb. Three, in Exodus 2.7, the blood must be spread. That was part of the story that was told. Four, you must eat the flesh of the lamb along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, just like Exodus 2.8 says. And five, which is very important, we forget about this one a lot, but it's very important.

Every year, you keep the Passover as a day of remembrance. You remember this day, Exodus 2.14. This is a day of remembering. Each year from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. It's a day of memorial. Every time it comes around, we're supposed to remember something. We're supposed to remember that God did something big through the power of his right hand.

A Different Passover Story

And Yeshua is leading this meal with his disciples, the Last Supper, and his final Passover before he dies. And instead of speaking traditionally about the past exodus from Egypt, about the Lamb, and about Pharaoh, and about the plagues, Yeshua talks about his future suffering and death. He's telling a different Passover story. On that night, instead of explaining the meaning of the flesh of the Passover lamb, he does something that was probably very strange to his disciples. He identifies the bread and the wine as his flesh and his blood. Then he tells his disciples to eat it. And some of you just made that face.

Eat it. I don't get that. I don't get it. Not many people got it then either. But why did he command this? You guys realize that the Passover sacrifice wasn't completed until it was eaten, until it was consumed? That's part of it. If a greater exodus is coming, just as the prophets foretold, there must also be a greater Passover event. And Yeshua is transforming the Passover, and it was a new Passover. Instead of Yeshua telling his disciples to remember the day the lamb died in Egypt, what does he say? And he took the bread and he gave thanks and broke it. The lamb has to be consumed. And from now on, Passover is going to be about me, is what he's saying.

Not a lamb in Egypt, but me. Yeshua is taking Passover, he's evolving it, he's cultivating it, transforming it into a day that reflects what God is doing through him and is going to do through his death, burial, and resurrection at the Last Supper. Yeshua just can't change the meaning of Passover. That's supposed to be eternal. Yeshua can't do that because the prophets kind of said that someone would.

The Righteous Branch from David

And Jeremiah 23, this is one of my favorite chapters of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is speaking, if you can read that, I'll read it for you, starting in verse 3. And this is a chapter that I want you to highlight. There's a lot of debate over how it's interpreted, but let's just read it for what it is. Chapter 23, verse 3. God speaking, he says, Kind of sounds like a parable that Yeshua said one time, but that's another study. So what's this about? God redeeming his people, ending the exile. This is exactly what the chapter is about. Verse 5. So who do you think that's talking about? It's talking about this righteous branch from David, this son of David.

The messianic figure is going to rise up. And he's going to, through his leadership and through his victory, the people, the redeemed people from Egypt or Israel are going to come home. Their exile will end and they will be returned to God. Verse 7. So then the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, As surely as the Lord lives who brought us Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but they will say, As surely as the Lord lives who brought the descendants of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them, then they will live in their own land.

This is Jeremiah speaking to an exile people, banished from their land as it is. So what is this prophecy talking about? End of an exodus through this greater Passover. See, a people that are no longer banished from God but reconciled to God.

The Focus of the Prophecy

And we see where it says they will live in their own land, and some would assert that this hasn't happened yet. The focus of this prophecy is not that they will go back to their own land. The focus of the prophecy is that this will be a result. The ending of the exile will be a result of this righteous branch from David that comes and rules and brings God's domain and heaven to earth. We get caught up on going back to their own land. You know, after the Babylonian exile... A lot of Judeans went back to their own land. And you know what they had to say when they got there? Nehemia 9.36. But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the lands you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and other good things it produces.

Ezra 9.9 declares the same thing. We're back in our own land. Yes! We're still slaves. We're still in exile. The presence of God is not among us. His reign is not here. This land means nothing if God is not here. It's not about the land. It's about the place where God's presence dwells. 80% of Israel today is secular, and they host the International Gay Parade every year in downtown Jerusalem. This is not a prophecy about simply walking into a plot of land. It's a prophecy about a king that's coming to restore the reign of God and to end this greater exile in parallels to all of the other prophets that are speaking alongside Jeremiah.

It's not about a geographical location. It's about a people that will be included in the reign of a promised king.

Freed from Slavery to Sin

And after this greater Passover event, God will gather together his people. Now Yeshua says that this people is not based on bloodline. It's based on the hearts that do the will of their father, according to Matthew 12, 50. Yeshua is sitting in the upper room, gathering together Israel for their true exodus, the greatest Passover, the Passover that's in him. This was so radical, what Yeshua did. Guys, I believe that he fulfilled the Jeremiah 23 prophecy. I don't proclaim that the greatest thing that God's ever done with me is pulling my ancestors out of this foreign land. The greatest thing that God's ever done with me is pulling me out of the slavery to sin and the oppression of death and the oppression of this present evil age and the dominions of power on this earth.

This is what Paul talks about all throughout his letters. Yeshua seems to claim that through him slavery has ended. Not slavery in Egypt or the oppressive powers of Pharaoh, but through him we're freed from this slavery to sin and we have freedom from the oppressive power of death. This is why in John 12, 31, Yeshua says that the ruler of the world is about to be judged and cast out when he's lifted up. Notice the transition from the temptation of the wilderness when Satan is saying, hey, why don't you bow down to me and I will give you all the domains of the earth. Yeshua is saying in John 12 that, yeah, once I'm lifted up, you're going to lose everything because I'm going to be given the power and authority over heaven and earth.

More Than Conquerors

In 1 John 3, 8, it says, "...whoever makes practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. But the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." Colossians 1, 13 states, "...he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son." Exodus. Exodus. Colossians 2.15, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. And Romans 8.37-39 states, Now know, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height or depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are verses that are representing the result of a greater redemption that has happened. For believers, Passover is about something more than being rescued from Egypt and the oppressive powers of Pharaoh. In him we have an inheritance, and it's the power to overcome sin. It is the promise of a resurrection. It is a front row seat to the birth of new creation, and it's the promise of a final, final, final, final glorious return of God's fullness in creation.

The Greater Passover Has Come

And the story of the greater Passover has come to fruition. There was a wicked tyrant. There was a chosen leader. There was a divine victory. There was a rescue by sacrifice and a new vocation in life given. And there was a divine presence and there was a promised inheritance. 1 Peter 2, 9 states, but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Why does Peter call us, call you, the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession? Because that's what God called the redeemed people after the exodus of Egypt in Exodus 19.6 in the book of Exodus.

Chosen People, Royal Priesthood

We are the redeemed people and we are the witnesses of a greater Passover and a greater exodus through Yeshua and a greater redemption. You are free and you have access to this salvation now. You have a promised inheritance of resurrection, and you're part of a kingdom, and you're His. This is the primary focus of the New Testament. Romans, you'll never read it the same. Galatians, my goodness. No longer slaves, but sons and daughters.

No Longer Slaves, But Sons and Daughters

And so as we enter into our time of preparing for Passover this week and Unleavened Bread, we need to take time to recognize what this event is about. And I don't know if you are uncertain about God's mercy or forgiveness today. I don't know if you're going through a time where you feel like you are so far from God, but have you been truly leaning on him? Because he is constant and his patience and forgiveness are constant. And a new Passover lamb was sacrificed and a new exodus was birthed. And you can be a part of that. You can be a part of that despite the wilderness that you find yourself in. Shalom, I'm Matthew Vandrells and I hope you enjoyed this message.

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Shalom. For more on this and other teachings,