Monday, September 03, 2007

Why Passover instead of Yom Kippur?

“By choosing Passover instead of Yom Kippur to explain his death, Jesus chooses the images of divine protection and liberation. He offers himself—in death—to absorb the judgment of God on behalf of his followers so he can save his people from their sins. His is the blood of the lamb that will secure his followers for the kingdom of God.

“No one would argue that this is all there is to the death of Jesus, but one must begin right here: Jesus’ act at the Last Supper declares that his death is atoning, that his blood is like the Passover blood, that his blood absorbs the judgment of God against sin and systemic violence, that his death will save and liberate his followers from their own sins, and that his death will create the new covenant community around him.”—A Community Called Atonement, p. 86

4 comments:

mendy said...

RUBBISH !!!

jps said...

Care to elaborate on that comment?

James

Anonymous said...

This is a good explanation as to why the Passover is a fitting time for the atonement, but I'm hoping to find something more definitive that explains why the Passover is a better event than Yom Kippur. Paul argues that Christ's atonement was equivalent to the Day of Atonement, as His sacrifice as the Great High Priest was in the heavenly holy of holies, but if it fits so well, why not on the Day of Atonement, rather than Passover? Your thoughts?

Ariellah said...

Passover is picture of accepting God's covering of protection against death....in short, Passover is about salvation and salvation is the act of being rescued from[spiritual]death. Yom Kippur is about removel of all sin a person has committed-both intentional and unintentional. In short, Yom Kippur is a picture of the removal of all sin. Yeshua accomplished both these things with His sacrifice. These two feasts bookend all the other Feasts of the LORD, which teach us how to live a righteous life that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.