Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. – Exodus 12:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 22, 2018): Exodus 12

My first introduction to hunting was probably the sterling example of Elmer Fudd. Of course, Fudd was the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. The battles of Bugs and Elmer reinforced the early childhood idea that hunting was evil. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I tried my own hand at Elmer Fudd’s favorite pastime. And, while I enjoyed using guns for target practice and was a faithful member of rifle clubs in my mid-teenage years, hunting has never held much of a fascination for me. Today, if I go hunting, my preferred weapon is a camera. 

This is not to say that I am a vegan. I love my meat. But I have found it advisable not to build a relationship with supper. And it is easy, in our contemporary society, to divorce the idea of our McDonald’s hamburger from the cute farmer’s cow that had to give its life so that we can eat. I am pretty sure our young children don’t get it, and would likely be appalled to know the truth about their supper. But in our culture, we have made it an easy proposition. Cows and chickens live in the field and on farms. Our meat comes from the grocery store. (Maybe omit the fact that we call the person that we get our supper from a “butcher.”) And most of us can live our lives without really examining the step between the farmer’s field and the grocery store shelves. And maybe we need to understand that our food, all food, comes with a cost. (After all, according to the Arrogant Worms, “carrot juice is murder.”)

With this thought firmly implanted in our heads, it has always amazed me that, according to God’s instructions, the Passover lamb that was to be chosen on the tenth of the month, cared for by the family, and then slaughtered at twilight on the fourteenth of the month. It may not have been a long-term relationship with the animal, but there would be a bit of a relationship. It would seem to be an easier proposition to select the lamb and kill it within moments of its selection. But instead, God seems to have a demented version of “Mary had a little lamb” in mind. For four days, the Lamb would live with the family, go with family, be fed by the family, and then, finally, be slaughtered by the family.

I have no idea why God thought this might be a good idea, but I do have a suggestion. Maybe this drama played out as a reminder that life, all life, comes with a cost. The Passover would save the lives of the firstborn of Israel. But that salvation was not free. The lamb that the family built a four-day relationship with would pay the price.

Of course, for God, the cost would be even deeper. While the firstborn sons of Israel, as they lived in Pharaoh’s Egypt, would be spared by the lambs that would give their lives, God actually stood in camaraderie with the Pharaoh and all of Egypt. He would give his firstborn son so that we could live, as the Lamb died one more time in the grand Passover drama.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 13