Long before Jesus entered Jerusalem, a lamb appeared in the story.

God’s people were slaves in Egypt.

Oppressed for generations.
Unable to free themselves.
Living under the weight of fear and control.

They cried out for deliverance.

And God answered.

Through Moses, God told them:

“On the tenth day each man is to take a lamb for his family…
The blood shall be a sign for you…
when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
— Exodus 12

That night, something changed.

Not because the people had become powerful.

Not because they had earned freedom.

But because God was leading them out of bondage.

The Passover lamb was not about appeasing God.

It was about trusting God.

The lamb marked the night God led His people out of bondage.

Deliverance was coming.

Freedom was coming.

A new life was beginning.

Bondage would not have the final word.

By morning, they were no longer slaves.

More than a thousand years later, Passover arrived again.

Jerusalem filled with pilgrims remembering the great deliverance.

And into that moment, Jesus entered the city.

Palm branches filled the streets.

Voices cried, Hosanna.

Hope was rising again.

Because Passover was the celebration of freedom.

Freedom from oppression.

Freedom from slavery.

Freedom from everything that held God’s people captive.

When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, he said:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

A Passover image.

A liberation image.

A freedom image.

Many of us have been taught to think of salvation primarily in terms of avoiding punishment.

As though the deepest problem between us and God is His anger.

As though something had to be paid before love could flow freely.

But the Passover story tells a different story.

The Gospel tells a different story.

A story of rescue.

A story of deliverance.

A story of a God who runs toward people in bondage.

Sin is a cruel master.

Fear enslaves.

Shame chains the heart.

Accusation whispers that we are separated from God.

Death casts its shadow over every human life.

Humanity lives under a deeper bondage than Egypt ever knew.

Bondage to sin.

Bondage to fear.

Bondage to the lie that God is against us.

Jesus does not begin with condemnation.

He begins with forgiveness.

He welcomes those religion pushed away.

He restores those crushed by shame.

He speaks peace where fear once ruled.

He opens a way into life no system could produce.

Some say:

Jesus died so that God could forgive us.

But scripture tells us something even more beautiful:

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:19

The cross does not create God’s mercy.

It reveals it.

At the cross, we do not see God demanding punishment.

We see God entering our bondage in order to lead us out.

Not by mirroring violence —

but by overcoming it through self-giving love.

The Lamb of God is not the victim of God.

The Lamb of God reveals God.

God is not the author of our bondage.

God is the One who sets us free.

The first Passover marked freedom from Egypt.

The Lamb of God reveals freedom from sin and death.

Freedom from fear.

Freedom from accusation.

Freedom from the endless striving to make ourselves acceptable.

Palm branches welcomed a king.

But the king came as a lamb.

Not weak.

Not defeated.

But revealing the surprising power of God:

a power that liberates
a power that restores
a power that breaks chains
a power that brings life where death once ruled

Perhaps the invitation of the gospel is not:

“Try harder to make God willing to forgive.”

Perhaps the invitation is:

Trust the One who already forgave, before you knew that you needed forgiveness.

Step out of fear.

Step out of the belief that God is against you.

Step into the freedom the Lamb reveals.

The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

Not by demanding payment.

But by setting captives free.

A Prayer

Father,

Open our eyes to see You as You truly are.

Where fear has shaped our understanding of You, bring light.

Where we have believed You were against us, show us Your mercy.

Where shame has kept us hiding, call us into freedom.

Teach us to trust the love You have already shown.

Lead us out of bondage.

Lead us out of fear.

Lead us into the life You have always desired for us.

Thank You for the Lamb who reveals Your heart.

Amen.