The Bible reveals clearly that from the perspective of God, because of His awesome holiness and His unimpeachable justice and fairness, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their sin could only be dealt with effectively through the shedding of blood. There in the Garden, God saw their futile efforts to clothe themselves and hide their shame behind fig leaves. Adam and Eve did not know the full implications of their rebellion, nor its long-lasting consequences for all their offspring. In self-preservation they stitched together some fig leaves to conceal their nakedness. Their effort was far below the bar of God. His pastoral and fatherly care combined with the necessity to atone for their sins made God to devise means of proper accoutrement for Adam and Eve:
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
“Tunics of skin” is recognised shorthand for clothes made from the fur of some animal. In the course of time, we gain real understanding that this sacrificial animal is most certainly “a lamb without defects”. Therefore, the “scarlet” or “blood” thread of salvation began in the Garden of Eden. The LORD was pointing to the ever-recurrent theme that there could be no remission (forgiveness and cancellation) of sin without the shedding of blood.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)
In the course of time, this scarlet thread was developed into a system of rituals in the Old Testament, under the hand of the priestly tribe of Levi. The Levites were tasked with facilitating the forgiveness and cancellation of sins through various cleansing rituals, including the washing in water (at a laver placed within the sanctuary), the sprinkling of animal blood (from lambs and calves mostly) on offerings and supplicants to purify them, and the actual ceremonial slaughter of a lamb without defects annually by the High Priest to atone for the sins of the whole nation of Israel.
The annual atonement was a memorial derived from the events associated with the deliverance and departure of the Israelite nation from Egypt where they had been treated as slaves for about 430 years. This event is celebrated in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12 where the LORD commanded Moses to institute the first redemption festival.
As the key reason and outcome of this festival was that the Angel sent by God to slay the firstborn son of every Egyptian passed over the homes of Israelites because he respected the blood of the lamb on their lintels, the festival soon became known as the Passover Festival. It is then ceremonially marked every year by the Jews wherever they may be in accordance with the commandment of the LORD.
However, in the purposes of God, Passover (or, Redemption) Festival is more than a Jewish thing – it is a picture and a prophecy of what the Lord Jesus Christ would accomplish for mankind by His death. Just as God provided a way out for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and for the Jews in Egypt, through His Son Jesus Christ, God has now opened up a way, in fact, a highway of salvation for everyone through Christ Jesus.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
In other words, Jesus was and still is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, pointed Him out to his disciples in remarkably prophetic manner when he stated as follows:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36)
Therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Himself all our sins and received the penalty for them, which was death and eternal separation from God. He knew the painfulness of that separation when He cried out on the cross:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).
He shed His blood freely for us through the nail prints in his hands and feet, the blood streaming from His brows caused by the crown of thorns, and the blood and water seeping from the gape in His ribs where one of the Roman soldiers had pierced Him to check whether He was dead.
Indeed, Christ died upon the cross as the Lamb without defects, a perfect Saviour for sinful mankind.
But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7:24-28)
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15)
Leeds Redemption Festival is a thankful celebration of what the Lord Jesus Christ achieved for us through His death on the cross. He was our Passover, He was sacrificed for us.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the Romans gave permission for Him to be removed from the cross and buried. He was buried in a tomb that had not been used before, provided by Joseph from Arimathea, a secret believer. But triumphantly, the Lord Jesus was raised from death by the power of God on the third day. His resurrection became the most concrete proof that He is the Messiah (or Saviour sent by God) and through Him alone can anyone expect to see God.
