Exodus 12:43-13:2

⁴³ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the permanent rule of the Passover: no outsider is to eat of it, ⁴⁴ but after you have circumcised him, any slave that a man has purchased with silver may eat of it. ⁴⁵ A temporary resident or hired servant is not to eat of it. ⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you will not take any of the meat outside the house, and you will not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel will keep it. ⁴⁸ If a stranger sojourns with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, make sure all his males are circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he will be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person is allowed to eat of it. ⁴⁹ There will be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” ⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. 13:1 The LORD said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

a consecrated community

The rules concerning who gets to celebrate Passover, and who must be redeemed for a price both share this common theme: consecration. The community of Israel was not just a family, held together by history and DNA. It was something different. It was a community of faith. The rite of circumcision was the sign of that faith. To be an Israelite, you did not have to be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. An outsider could become an insider by faith. Circumcision was the sign of consecration and commitment to that faith.

The firstborn regulations all pointed back to the first Passover, the night God spared all the firstborn children of Israel whose parents – by faith – put the blood of the lamb on their doorframes. Redemption of the firstborn became a lasting rule, which pointed back to the ownership of everyone in the community by the LORD. God could have required that all people and animals be redeemed by a purchase, but then the regulation would have quickly been disassociated with Passover, and that association is crucial. It was the firstborn who had to die on Passover, so was rescued by the substitutionary death of the lamb. God’s firstborn, Jesus the Passover Lamb, took the place of those who were condemned to die. The community of faith celebrated that redemption by redeeming their firstborn.

LORD, thank you for the reminder that we are part of a community of faith. Thank you for the Lamb of God in whom we place that faith.