As this passage shows, the Passover lamb did much more than just provide blood - it was a distinctive meal. God begins with instructions to ensure that every person would have enough, but also that it would not be wasted. He continues with specific details, including when it should be eaten, how it should be prepared, what should be eaten with it, what should be done with the remains, and even how the Israelites should be dressed. The bulk of God's instructions concern the specially prepared lamb they were to eat. The repeated emphasis in both Old and New Testaments is on the eating of the Passover (Exodus 12:43, 48; 34:25; Numbers 9:11; II Chronicles 30:18; Ezra 6:21; Matthew 26:17, 26; Mark 14:12, 14, 22; Luke 22:8, 11, 15, 19; John 13:2; I Corinthians 11:23-26; see John 6:31-58), and this begins to set it apart from a sin offering, which was not generally available for eating.
God mandated a couple of things before one could keep the Passover. One requirement was circumcision (Exodus 12:43-48), and the other was ceremonial cleanliness (Numbers 9:6-13; II Chronicles 30:17-20). This requirement of cleanliness prior to the Passover gives a seventh reason why the Passover does not fit the pattern of a sin offering. The general purpose of the sin offering is to cleanse from sin. But if the Passover provided cleansing, there would be no need for the people to be clean before eating it. On the other hand, if they were clean in anticipation of the Passover, then there would be no need to keep the Passover for a hypothetical second cleansing. The Israelites did not have to be ceremonially clean to make a sin offering, but they did in order to make, or partake of, a peace offering (Leviticus 7:20-21).
Also, in this chapter, appear the instructions regarding the keeping of the second Passover. That is, if a person was defiled because of touching a dead body or were traveling on a journey so that they could not keep the Passover when it rightfully came, God permitted them to keep it one month later. Now, one month later, were they excused from doing all of the other things? All they had to do was kill a lamb? No. Let us look at what it says.
Nothing changed for the keeping of the second Passover. There are no instructions in the Old Testament scriptures that modify the original instructions, and there is nothing in the New Testament modified, except for the symbols. And even as there is no example, or command, in the New Testament regarding the [changing] of the Sabbath, neither is there any example, or command, in the New Testament changing Passover.
In the clearest of terms, the apostles record for us when Jesus kept that last Passover, when He changed the symbols. He did it at the time that God has always commanded it to be done. Regardless of what the other Jews were doing, He did it when God commanded in Exodus 12 and Numbers 9 - at the beginning of the fourteenth.
God's command is very clear. In order to keep the Passover, one must eat of it. And it had to be eaten on the night of the fourteenth. Again, remember John 6, unless you eat of His flesh. . . you have no life in you.
God mandated a couple of things before one could keep the Passover. One requirement was circumcision (Exodus 12:43-48), and the other was ceremonial cleanliness (Numbers 9:6-13; II Chronicles 30:17-20). This requirement of cleanliness prior to the Passover gives a seventh reason why the Passover does not fit the pattern of a sin offering. The general purpose of the sin offering is to cleanse from sin. But if the Passover provided cleansing, there would be no need for the people to be clean before eating it. On the other hand, if they were clean in anticipation of the Passover, then there would be no need to keep the Passover for a hypothetical second cleansing. The Israelites did not have to be ceremonially clean to make a sin offering, but they did in order to make, or partake of, a peace offering (Leviticus 7:20-21).
These prerequisites have New Covenant counterparts, including spiritual circumcision, which takes place at baptism. And the requirement of taking the Passover in a worthy manner shows the spiritual intent behind being ceremonially clean. It includes being free from carnal attitudes and approaches that defile, and which destroy the peace and well-being of the fellowship.
