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. The phrase at twilight — ben ha-arbayim, literally between the evenings — marks the liminal time between afternoon and nightfall, the transitional moment at the boundary of day and night. The Passover sacrifice happens at the threshold of time, the moment when the old day ends and the new begins, which is fitting for an event that marks the end of slavery and the beginning of freedom. John 19:14 notes that Jesus was crucified at the sixth hour on the Preparation Day of Passover — the timing of the crucifixion connects to the Passover sacrifice at a level the synoptic Gospels make explicit. The lamb dies at the threshold of time so that those who shelter under its blood may cross from death to life.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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