Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. The Passover is given to the whole community — not just the priests, not just the leaders, but every family. The democratization of the festival is significant: each household participates directly in the sacrifice, not through a mediating priest. The selection on the tenth day and slaughter on the fourteenth creates a four-day period during which the lamb is part of the household — observed, perhaps named, certainly present. John 12:1 records Jesus entering Jerusalem six days before Passover, presenting Himself to the city as the lamb who will be slaughtered at Passover. The four-day period of the Passover lamb and the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem are structurally parallel.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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