Exodus 12 · The Lantern

The First Passover

And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt:

“This month shall be for you the head of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.

In Matthew it is not written: "he was beginning"; but here, because he was about to ascend from baptism, "he was beginning" is read, Scripture relating: "and this same Jesus was beginning".

This, I say, is the first month of the year. This brings joy to every creature. It clothes the naked trees. It opens the earth. This produces joy in all animals. It brings mirth to all. This is for Christians Xanthicus, the first month, the time of the resurrection in which their bodies will be glorified by means of the light which even now is in them hidden.

Consequently our elders decided that one full month must be observed for the birthday of the world and that Easter should be observed in whatever part of it both the day and the moon coincided.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel: On the tenth of this month, each man shall take for himself a lamb for his fathers’ house, a lamb for the household.

But let us now proceed to what follows in the pericope: "Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel: On the tenth day of this month let each one take a lamb for every family, let each one take a lamb per house." He does not say, "Let them sacrifice a lamb on the tenth of the month," but "Let them take a lamb." They are commanded to sacrifice this lamb on the fourteen…

The bridegroom, who was to call good and bad to his marriage, was pleased to assimilate himself to his guests, in being born of good and bad. He thus confirms as typical of himself the symbol of the Passover, in which it was commanded that the lamb to be eaten should be taken from the sheep or from the goats—that is, from the righteous or the wicked.

It was commanded that the paschal lamb, by whose immolation the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt, should be selected five days before the [feast of] Passover, that is, on the tenth [day of the lunar] month, and immolated on the fourteenth [day of the lunar] month at sundown.

And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest his house shall take one according to the count of the souls; you shall count out the lamb according to what each one eats.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings.

"You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. The whole assembly of the children of Israel shall slaughter it at sunset, and they shall take some of its blood and place it upon the two doorposts and upon the lintel of every dwelling in which they shall eat of the lambs, among them" […].

We read in Exodus that on the fourteenth day a lamb is sacrificed; on the fourteenth day when the moon is a full moon, when its light is at its brightest. You see Christ is not immolated except in perfect and full light.

But now then, can there be anybody who is not curious to know what the meaning can be of the fact that the Jews answered from Scripture the inquiry of the magi about where the Christ would be born and yet did not go with them to worship him themselves?

And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Moses caused the doorposts of the Israelites to be signed with the blood of a lamb; but you have given us a sign, the blood itself of a Lamb without blemish, slain for the sin of the world. Ezekiel says that a sign was given on the foreheads of the persons.

For why would the Lord instruct them to kill a sheep on this very feast day except that it was he about whom it was prophesied: "As a sheep is led to the slaughter." The doorposts of the Jews were marked with the blood of a slaughtered animal. Our foreheads are marked with the blood of Christ.

For Moses says: "They shall take of the blood of the lamb and put it on both doorposts and on the lintels of the houses in which they shall eat it." All of which things indeed bring forth great edification for us, if they are examined through mystical interpretation. For who the blood of the lamb is, you have learned not now by hearing, but by drinking.

And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted over fire; with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

And we must eat the meat roasted with fire with unleavened bread. For the Word of God is not only flesh. He says, indeed, "I am the bread of life," and "This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

Yet they were also completely ignorant of the commands of Moses himself, who ordered them specially to eat this bitterness when he established the paschal sacraments for them to observe and said, "You will eat it with bitterness, for it is the pasch of the Lord." For he did not order, as they think, the consuming of the very bitter juices of insignificant herbs with the roasted…

Concerning this lamb it is added further: "And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted with fire." Indeed we eat the lamb at night, because we now receive the Lord's body in the sacrament when we do not yet see one another's consciences.

Do not eat any of it raw, or boiled at all in water — but roasted over fire, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

Once we have been anointed — that is, once we have believed in Christ — then we are given the command to approach the food of Christ, as the words that follow clearly show: "They eat the flesh roasted with fire this night, and they feed upon the unleavened bread set on bitter herbs.

"You shall eat it with its head and shanks and inner organs." To me, the head seems to be that of the Lamb, written of in St. John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God." The shanks represent the human nature that he deigned to assume for our salvation.

Where it is also added: "You shall not eat any of it raw, nor cooked in water." Behold, now the very words of the history drive us from a historical understanding. Surely, dearest brothers, that Israelite people established in Egypt had not been accustomed to eat raw lamb, that the law should say to them: "You shall not eat any of it raw"?

And you shall let none of it remain until morning; what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.

And this is how you shall eat it: your waists belted, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste — it is the LORD’s Passover.

Observe that he has named a certain power of the soul feet, with which we as it were make our way, walking toward him who said "I am the way", and which must be shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. And I think that the symbols of these sandals are the "sandals" recorded in Exodus, which those who ate the Passover and were ready for the journey were required to have.

And let us know that the law also of the most wise Moses is found to have commanded something of this kind to the Israelites. For a lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month, as a type of Christ. For our Passover, Christ is sacrificed, according to the testimony of most sacred Paul.

Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may…

And I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the LORD.

And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you; and no plague shall be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

And this day shall be a remembrance for you, and you shall keep it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it.

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses — for whoever eats what is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day to the seventh day.

And on the first day there shall be a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly for you. No work shall be done on them; only what every soul must eat — that alone may be prepared by you.

And you shall keep the unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; and you shall keep this day throughout your generations, as a statute forever.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread — until the twenty-first day of the month, in the evening.

Seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel — sojourner or native of the land alike.

You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

And Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw out and take for yourselves sheep for your families, and slaughter the Passover.

And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

Be it so, some will say, in the case of those who ask for baptism; what have you to say about those who are still children and conscious neither of the loss nor of the grace? Are we to baptize them too? Certainly, if any danger presses.

For he who is baptized is seen to be purified both according to the law and according to the gospel. According to the law, because Moses sprinkled the blood of the lamb with a bunch of hyssop. According to the gospel, because Christ's garments were white as snow, when in the gospel he showed forth the glory of his resurrection.

They are to bear in mind that those who celebrated the Passover at the time through figures and shadows, when they were commanded to mark their doorpost with the blood of the lamb, marked them with hyssop. This is a mild and humble plant, but it has very strong and penetrating roots.

And the LORD will pass through to strike Egypt, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts; and the LORD will pass over the door, and he will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

And who else could be the destroyer in Exodus, which Moses wrote, except the one who is the cause of destruction to those who obey him and who do not resist and struggle against his wickedness?

[The Son of God's] cross is our victory, and his gibbet is our triumph. With joy let us take this sign on our shoulders, let us bear the banners of victory. Let us bear such an imperial banner, indeed, on our foreheads! When the devil sees this sign on our doorposts, he trembles.

This [cross] we have been given as a sign on our forehead, just as Israel was given the circumcision. For by it we faithful are set apart from the infidels and recognized. It is a shield and armor and a trophy against the devil. It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us, as Scripture says.

And you shall keep this word as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

And it shall be, when you come into the land that the LORD will give you, as he has spoken, that you shall keep this service.

And it shall be, when your sons say to you, ‘What is this service to you?’

that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when he struck Egypt — but our houses he delivered.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

And the sons of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

And it happened at midnight that the LORD struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the beasts.

And Pharaoh rose in the night, he and all his servants and all Egypt; and there was a great cry in Egypt — for there was not a house where there was not someone dead.

The Exodus Begins

And he called for Moses and for Aaron by night and said, “Rise, go out from the midst of my people — both you and the sons of Israel — and go, serve the LORD, as you have spoken.

Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go — and bless me also.”

And Egypt pressed hard on the people, to hurry to send them out of the land — for they said, “We are all dead men.”

And the people took up their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs bound up in their garments on their shoulders.

And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses: they asked of Egypt articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments.

And the LORD gave the people favor in the eyes of Egypt, so that they let them have what they asked — and they plundered Egypt.

And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses toward Succoth — about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the little ones.

"Raising themselves up," it says, "the children of Israel came from Rameses to Succoth, and departing from Succoth they came to Othon." If there is anyone who is preparing to depart from Egypt, if there is anyone who desires to leave behind the dark deeds of this world and the darkness of errors, first of all he must depart "from Rameses." Now "Rameses" is interpreted the commo…

Joseph came into Egypt alone, and soon thereafter six hundred thousand depart from Egypt. What is more marvelous than this? What greater proof of the generosity of God, when from persons without means he wills to supply the means for public affairs?

From their single ancestor, in not much more than four hundred years, the Hebrew people became so numerous that at the time of the exodus from Egypt there were, we are told, six hundred thousand men of military age.

And a great mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds — very heavy livestock.

And they baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into round loaves of unleavened bread — for it had not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, and they had not even prepared provisions for themselves.

Now the dwelling of the sons of Israel, during which they dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

And it happened, at the end of four hundred and thirty years — it happened on this very day — that all the hosts of the LORD went out of the land of Egypt.

It was a night of watching for the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; this same night belongs to the LORD — a watching for all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

Instructions for the Passover

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner’s son shall eat of it.

But every man’s slave bought with silver — when you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

A resident stranger and a hired worker shall not eat of it.

In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house — and you shall not break a bone of it.

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

And that prophecy also is fulfilled, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." (Ex. xii. 46; Num. ix. 12.) For even if this was said with reference to the lamb of the Jews, still it was for the sake of the reality that the type preceded, and in Him the prophecy was more fully accomplished. On this account the Evangelist brought forward the Prophet.

Now next, that the legs of those two were broken, while his [Christ's] were not. He was already dead. Why this happened was stated in the Gospel itself.

All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

And when a sojourner sojourns with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let every male of his be circumcised — and then he may come near to keep it, and he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man shall eat of it.

One instruction shall there be for the native and for the sojourner who sojourns in your midst.”

And all the sons of Israel did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

And it happened on this very day that the LORD brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.