So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses. – Numbers 9:4-5

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 20, 2015): Numbers 9

In 1878, Elisha Hoffman published his hymn “Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?” The hymn is based on the exchange between John and one of the elders in Revelation 7. John is asked if he knows who the ones are who are wearing the white robes. But then the elder answers his own question - “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). Many mourn that the contemporary church seems to be losing this language of being “washed white by the blood of the Lamb.” But in defense of the contemporary church, the words by themselves make no sense. I know that they are biblical, but they are part of a story – an important story. I believe strongly that we need to be singing songs like Hoffman’s “Are You Washed by the Blood of the Lamb?” But we need to do more than just sing the songs – we have to be willing to tell the story that lies behind the song.

That was exactly what the celebration of the Passover was intended to do – it was designed to tell “the story.” This was the first anniversary of the night of the Passover, and there is almost a sense in the telling of this story that the people weren’t really sure that they needed the celebration. After all, the real event hadn’t happened all that long ago. But God knew they needed to get into the habit of telling the story of how a lamb was killed and the blood of the lamb was placed on the doors of the houses. And then, when they angel came killing the first born of Egypt, the angel passed over the homes of Israel. Israel needed to get in the habit of re-enacting that moment.

For the Christian, the imagery of the Passover is alive and well. In fact, it is the Christian Passover to which Revelation 7:14 is referring. In that version, Jesus death just prior to the Passover celebration becomes our Paschal Lamb. It is his blood that marks us – and that washes us clean. We are washed white by the blood of our Lamb. The concept is important – but only if we know the story. If the contemporary church loses the language of the Blood of the Lamb, it won’t be because we stopped singing the songs, it will be because we stopped telling the story that allows the songs to make sense.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 10