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From: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
The Institution of the Passover
[14] “This day shalt be for you a memorial day, and you shalt keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for ever.”
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Commentary:
12:1-14 This discourse of the Lord contains a number of rules for celebrating the Passover and the events commemorated in it; it is a kind of catechetical-liturgical text which admirably summarizes the profound meaning of that feast.
The Passover probably originated as a shepherds’ feast held in springtime, when lambs are born and the migration to summer pastures was beginning; a new-born lamb was sacrificed and its blood used to perform a special rite in petition for the protection and fertility of the flocks. But once this feast became connected with the history of the Exodus it acquired a much deeper meaning, as did the rites attaching to it.
Thus, the “congregation” (v. 3) comprises all the Israelites organized as a religious community to commemorate the most important event in their history, deliverance from bondage.
The victim will be a lamb, without blemish (v. 5) because it is to be offered to God. Smearing the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the victim (vv 7, 13), an essential part of the rite, signifies protection from dangers. The Passover is essentially sacrificial from the very start. The meal (v. 11) is also a necessary part, and the manner in which it is held is a very appropriate way of showing the urgency imposed by circumstances: there is no time to season it (v. 9); no other food is eaten with it, except for the bread and desert herbs (a sign of indigence); the dress and posture of those taking part (standing, wearing sandals and holding a staff) show that they are on a journey. In the later liturgical commemoration of the Passover, these things indicate that the Lord is passing among his people.
The rules laid down for the Passover are evocative of very ancient nomadic desert rites, where there was no priest or temple or altar. When the Israelites had settled in Palestine, the Passover continued to be celebrated at home, always retaining the features of a sacrifice, a family meal and, very especially, a memorial of the deliverance the Lord brought about on that night.
Our Lord chose the context of the Passover Supper to institute the Eucharist: “By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus’ passing over to his Father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 1340).
12:2. This event is so important that it is going to mark the starting point in the reckoning of time. In the history of Israel there are two types of calendar, both based on the moon—one which begins the year in the autumn, after the feast of Weeks (cf. 23:16; 34:22), and the other beginning it in spring, between March and April. This second calendar probably held sway for quite a long time, for we know that the first month, known, as Abib (spring)—cf. 13:4: 23:18; 34:18 — was called, in the post-exilic period (from the 6th century BC onwards) by the Babylonian name of Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esther 3:7). Be that as it may, the fact that this month is called the first month is a way of highlighting the importance of the event which is going to be commemorated (the Passover).
12:11. Even now it is difficult to work out the etymology of the word “Passover”.
In other Semitic languages it means “joy” or “festive joy” or also “ritual and festive leap”. In the Bible the same root means “dancing or limping” in an idolatrous rite (cf. 1 Kings 18:21, 26) and “protecting” (cf. Is 31:5), so it could mean “punishment, lash” and also “salvation, protection”. In the present text the writer is providing a popular, non-scholarly etymology, and it is taken as meaning that “the Lord passes through”, slaying Egyptians and sparing the Israelites.
In the New Testament it will be applied to Christ’s passage to the Father by death and resurrection, and the Church’s “passage” to the eternal Kingdom: “The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 677).
12:14. The formal tone of these words gives an idea of the importance the Passover always had. If the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) hardly mention it, the reason is that they allude only to sacrifices in the temple, and the Passover was always celebrated in people’s homes. When the temple ceased to be (6th century BC), the feast acquired more prominence, as can be seen from the post-exilic biblical texts (cf. Ezra 6:19-22; 2 Chron 30:1-27; 35:1-19) and extrabiblical texts such as the famous “Passover papyrus of Elephantine” (Egypt) of the 5th century BC. In Jesus’ time a solemn passover sacrifice was celebrated in the temple and the passover meal was held at home.