Behold the Lamb of God
The Theological Spine of This Series
The Mosaic law commanded Israel to select the Passover lamb on the 10th of Nisan, bring it into the household, and examine it for four days until the 14th of Nisan at twilight, when it was slaughtered (Exodus 12:3-6). This series teaches that Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as the true Passover Lamb on Nisan 10, was publicly examined without blemish for four days, and was crucified on Nisan 14 - Passover day - which in this chronology falls on Thursday.
Placing Passover on Thursday resolves Matthew 12:40 precisely: three nights (Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night) and three days (Friday, Saturday, and early Sunday) in the tomb, before resurrection on the first day of the week. The Jewish day runs from 6pm to 6pm; the Last Supper begins Wednesday evening as Nisan 14 opens.
Jesus arrives in Bethany "six days before the Passover" (John 12:1). Counting back from Passover day (Nisan 14 = Thursday), six full Jewish days places this arrival on Nisan 8, Thursday (6pm Wednesday to 6pm Thursday).
Bethany ("house of affliction" or "house of the poor") is where Lazarus had been raised. Jesus returns to the very place of His greatest public sign - a deliberate echo. The village sits on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, the final stopping point before the descent into Jerusalem.
"Jesus therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead."
John 12:1- The geography of Bethany: the Mount of Olives as the threshold between Galilee and Jerusalem's temple mount
- Why the raising of Lazarus (John 11) is the immediate catalyst that drives the Sanhedrin's decision (John 11:47-53)
- The dinner at Simon the Leper's house: Mary's anointing as prophetic preparation for burial (Matt. 26:6-13)
- Judas's objection (John 12:4-6) - the first movement toward betrayal
The Gospels record no events for this day. Jesus observes the Sabbath in Bethany. But this silence is theologically charged - it is the last Sabbath before the cross, observed by the one who declared Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8).
This session explores what the crowd in Jerusalem was doing: word had spread about the raising of Lazarus, and the Passover pilgrims were looking for Jesus, asking "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?" (John 11:56). The stage is set.
- What Sabbath observance looked like in a Jewish home near Jerusalem during Passover season
- The crowd's anticipation in Jerusalem: John 11:55-57 and the atmosphere of expectation
- The Sanhedrin's orders to report Jesus's whereabouts - the shadow of the cross already falls
- Theological richness of "Lord of the Sabbath" fulfilling the Sabbath by entering its final week
On Nisan 10, every Israelite household was commanded to select a Passover lamb and bring it in (Ex. 12:3). On exactly this day, the Son of God rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, to the cries of the crowd waving palm branches. The nation unwittingly fulfilled its own typology - bringing the true Lamb into the city.
Zechariah 9:9 had prophesied this arrival precisely: "Your king is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey." The fact that Jesus arranged the colt deliberately (Matt. 21:2-3) shows His intentional fulfillment of both Zechariah and Exodus 12. He came in on the day the lamb was brought in.
Pilate's later verdict - "I find no fault in him" (John 19:4) - is the official examination declaring the lamb without blemish, just as Exodus 12:5 required.
"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year... You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month."
Exodus 12:5-6- Exodus 12:3-6: the exact command that Nisan 10 be the day of selection - teach this in full before the entry narrative
- The two-stage approach: Jesus goes first to Bethphage/Mount of Olives, then descends into the city - the descent recapitulates Zechariah's vision
- Palm branches (John 12:13): Hallel Psalms (113-118) sung by the crowd - "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Ps. 118:26)
- "Hosanna" - a cry from Psalm 118:25 meaning "save now" - simultaneously praise and desperate plea
- The crowd's expectation: a political Messiah (John 6:15) versus the lamb who comes to die
- Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44) - the lamb mourns the sheep who will not be gathered
Jesus enters the temple and overturns the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those selling doves. His citation of Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 is a prophetic act of judgment - the Lamb enters the Father's house and finds it corrupt. The chief priests and scribes hear it and seek how to destroy Him (Mark 11:18).
Notice: this is the beginning of the formal examination period. The authorities who will condemn Him have now been directly confronted. The examination of the lamb has commenced - and those examining Him are already seeking its death, not its release.
The fig tree incident (Matt. 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14, 20-25) frames the Temple cleansing: Israel is a fig tree full of leaves (religious form) but no fruit. The cursing and withering bracket the Temple action as one unified prophetic statement.
- The Temple as the dwelling place of God: why defilement of the Temple is an offense against the holiness of God Himself
- The money-changers and dove-sellers: the exploitation of the poor in the name of worship (especially the court of the Gentiles)
- Isa. 56:7 and Jer. 7:11: Jesus as the prophetic voice joining Isaiah and Jeremiah in temple judgment
- The fig tree as national Israel: fruitlessness and the coming judgment of Jerusalem (Luke 21)
- The chief priests and scribes as the first formal examiners - Day 2 of examination, no fault found, but murder planned
Nisan 12 is the most theologically dense day of examination. Every major faction of Jewish leadership comes to the Temple courts to challenge Jesus with a question designed to trap Him. Each attempt fails. The cumulative verdict of the day is the verdict of the examining priests over the Passover lamb: no fault found.
This day contains some of the richest theological content in all the Gospels - the question about authority, Caesar, the resurrection, the greatest commandment, and Jesus's own counter-question about the Son of David.
The chief priests and elders demand Jesus's credentials. He answers with a counter-question about John's baptism they dare not answer. The examiner is examined. Then follow the two parables of the two sons and the wicked tenants - devastating indictments of Israel's leaders.
The Pharisees and Herodians attempt a political trap. Jesus's answer - "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" - transcends the trap entirely and silences them. This is the examination of the Lamb by political/religious alliance. No fault found.
The Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, present an elaborate scenario. Jesus answers from Exodus - "I am the God of Abraham... He is not the God of the dead" - demonstrating a resurrection doctrine embedded in the Torah itself. The crowd marvels. No fault found.
A lawyer asks the greatest commandment. Jesus answers with Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 joined together. Then Jesus turns the examination on its examiners: "If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" - the question of the Messiah's divine nature that no one could answer. Examination complete. No fault found.
Jesus leaves the Temple (Matt. 23's woes against the scribes and Pharisees), and from the Mount of Olives delivers His great eschatological discourse. The destruction of the Temple, the signs of the end, the ten virgins, the talents, the sheep and goats - all flow from this final Tuesday of public teaching.
- Matt. 23: Seven woes as the final prophetic indictment of the leadership - closing with "your house is left to you desolate"
- The Temple's destruction as the consequence of Israel's rejection of the Lamb
- The Olivet Discourse and the two horizons: 70 AD and the final coming
- The call to watchfulness - the virgins, the servants, the nations - as the Passover Lamb's own urgent pastoral call before the cross
The Gospels record no public ministry on this day. Jesus withdraws. But behind the scenes, Judas Iscariot goes to the chief priests and agrees to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:14-16, Luke 22:3-6). Luke notes that "Satan entered Judas" - the betrayal is both a human act of greed and a supernatural event in the cosmic drama of redemption.
The irony is profound: on the day the Passover lamb's examination period concludes - the final day before slaughter - the arrangements for the Lamb's death are being formalized. Thirty pieces of silver: the price of a slave (Ex. 21:32), the exact sum Zechariah prophesied would be thrown into the treasury (Zech. 11:12-13).
- The silence of Jesus on Nisan 13: the lamb rests before the sacrifice - no record of public activity
- Judas's motivation: John 12:6 (the money bag); Luke 22:3 (Satan's role); Acts 1:16-20 (fulfillment of Ps. 41 and 69)
- Thirty pieces of silver: Zechariah 11:12-13 as prophetic anticipation - fulfilled in Matt. 27:3-10
- The Preparation Day for Passover: Jewish households removing leaven (chametz) from their homes - Jesus as the one who removes the leaven of sin
At sunset Wednesday, Nisan 14 begins. The disciples prepare the Passover meal (Matt. 26:17-19). Jesus reclines with His twelve, knowing "that his hour had come" (John 13:1). Every element of the Passover seder He now interprets through Himself: the bread is His body; the cup is His blood of the new covenant.
This is the moment the entire Passover institution has been pointing toward for over a thousand years. Moses's lamb prefigured Christ; now Christ institutes a memorial meal to replace it. The unleavened bread speaks of His sinlessness; the cup speaks of His blood shed for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28).
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you."
Luke 22:20John 13-17 contains the most extended teaching of Jesus in any single evening - the washing of feet, the promise of the Paraclete, the vine and branches, the high priestly prayer. This is the Lamb's final pastoral instruction to His sheep before the slaughter. It deserves its own session.
- The foot washing (John 13:1-17): humility, cleansing, servant leadership - "I have given you an example"
- The promise of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-26; 15:26; 16:7-15): the Paraclete who will come because the Lamb departs
- The vine and branches (John 15:1-17): abiding in Christ as the post-resurrection life of the disciples
- The High Priestly Prayer (John 17): Jesus prays for Himself, His disciples, and all who will believe - the Lamb intercedes before the sacrifice
After the supper, Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane (John 18:1). Three times He prays, "not as I will, but as you will." The agony in the garden is not a display of weakness but of perfect obedience - the second Adam does what the first Adam refused to do: He yields His will entirely to the Father. Here is the Lamb that opens not His mouth (Isa. 53:7) - not in silence, but in total surrender.
Arrested in Gethsemane late Thursday morning (early morning hours of Nisan 14), Jesus is taken through six distinct hearings: Annas, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, Pilate (first), Herod Antipas, Pilate (second), and Pilate's final sentencing. Each hearing is another examination. The unanimous verdict across secular and religious authority: no legitimate charge can be sustained.
Pilate's three-repeated declaration - "I find no fault in him" (John 18:38; 19:4; 19:6) - is the formal priestly inspection of the Passover lamb fulfilled in a Roman court. The lamb is without blemish. Yet it is delivered to be slain.
Jesus is crucified at the third hour (9am, Mark 15:25) on Passover day. Darkness covers the land from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon-3pm). At approximately 3pm - the very time the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple - Jesus cries "It is finished" and gives up His spirit. The timing is not incidental. It is the theological climax of all Exodus typology.
- "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34) - intercession even from the cross; cf. Isa. 53:12
- "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43) - the immediate reality of salvation for the dying thief
- "Woman, behold your son" (John 19:26-27) - the care of His mother entrusted to John
- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46; Ps. 22:1) - the cry of dereliction; the wrath of God absorbed
- "I thirst" (John 19:28; Ps. 69:21) - fulfillment of Scripture to the last detail
- "It is finished" (John 19:30) - tetelestai: paid in full; the Passover sacrifice complete
- "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46; Ps. 31:5) - death as an act of trust and surrender
"It is finished." And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
John 19:30The veil of the Temple torn top to bottom, the earth shaking, the tombs opening, the centurion's confession - each sign is theologically loaded. The torn veil (Matt. 27:51) signals the end of the old covenant sacrificial system: access to God is now open through the Lamb. The bones of Jesus are not broken (John 19:36; Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12) - a specific Passover requirement fulfilled in His death.
Nisan 17 falls on the day after the Sabbath following Passover - precisely the day Leviticus 23:10-11 appointed for the Feast of Firstfruits: "he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it."
Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 is grounded in exactly this: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." The resurrection did not merely happen to coincide with Firstfruits - it fulfilled it. Jesus rose as the firstfruits sheaf on the appointed day, guaranteeing the full harvest of the resurrection of all who are His.
Three nights and three days have elapsed precisely as Matthew 12:40 required. The sign of Jonah is fulfilled.
"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
1 Corinthians 15:20- Leviticus 23:10-11: the Feast of Firstfruits in full - teach the entire festival calendar and how Christ fulfills each feast
- The empty tomb narratives: the stone rolled away not to let Jesus out but to let the witnesses in
- Mary Magdalene's encounter (John 20:11-18): the first resurrection witness; "Do not cling to me" - the ascension changes the mode of His presence
- The road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35): Jesus opens the Scriptures - "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself"
- 1 Cor. 15:20-28: the full theological freight of "firstfruits" - Christ, then those who are His at His coming, then the end
- The Nisan calendar complete: Passover (14), Unleavened Bread (15-21), Firstfruits (17) - all fulfilled in one continuous event: the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
| Nisan | Day / Time | Event | Lamb Typology |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Thursday | Arrive in Bethany (John 12:1) | Pre-selection |
| 9 | Fri 6pm - Sat 6pm | Sabbath rest in Bethany | Sabbath before selection |
| 10 | Sunday | Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem | Lamb selected & brought in (Ex. 12:3) |
| 11 | Monday | Temple cleansed; fig tree cursed | Examination Day 1 |
| 12 | Tuesday | Temple debates; Olivet Discourse | Examination Day 2 - no fault found |
| 13 | Wednesday | Quiet day; Judas to the priests | Examination Day 3 / Preparation Day |
| 14 | Wed 6pm - Thu 6am | Last Supper; Gethsemane; Arrest | Passover night opens |
| 14 | Thursday daytime | Trials, Crucifixion, Death, Burial | Lamb slain (Ex. 12:6); no bone broken (Ex. 12:46) |
| 15-16 | Thu 6pm - Sat 6pm | In the tomb - Unleavened Bread | Feast of Unleavened Bread; 3 nights / 3 days |
| 17 | Sunday pre-dawn | Resurrection | Feast of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:10-11; 1 Cor. 15:20) |