Moment of Meditation: Passover Coming (Matthew 26:1-2)

''When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified" (Matthew 26:1-2).''

The crucifixion. Looming over the disciples like a rain cloud. Ready to burst. Two more days, Jesus says.

Here Jesus "calls His shot." Not only is He going to be crucified. He's going to be crucified on the Passover. He is the Passover Lamb. The firstborn of all creation. The firstborn who died for the rest of humanity.

Jesus' crucifixion links to the deaths of the Egyptian firstborn sons with the tenth and final plague in the Exodus. The angel of death passed over the Israelites who had the Passover lamb's blood painted on the doors of their houses. In Christ, the angel of death passes over you because the doors of your heart have been painted with Christ's blood in your Baptism. You who have walked through the waters of Baptism will land in the Promised Land of Heaven. Amen.