The account of the first Passover in Exodus 12:1-14 is unusual in that it is a feast based on an historical event that hasn't yet happened. Immediately prior to this reading is the promise of God's judgment on Egypt: the Final Plague. This reading then, appointed as the First Reading for Maundy Thursday, is perfectly matched with a service centered on the Eucharist, since that meal is also a feast based on an event (the Crucifixion) that has not yet happened when the Last Supper took place. The preacher will do well to announce the word of liberation in this text as akin to the liberation we have in Christ.
(The following questions have been developed to reflect on a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers: the function of the Word in the text. This is essential since the function of the Word will, in many ways, guide the function of the sermon. For more on this method or on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? From the opening announcement the reader has the sense that something new is happening. All of life, even down to the remaking of the calendar, will result from what God is about to do. The tone is one of palatable hope and by the end of the passage, we know why: God is about to liberate the people! This is a Gospel function.
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? The Word does not function as Law in this text, except in the sense that the power of God is obvious: "I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord."
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? We identify with the "whole congregation of Israel", to whom these words are spoken. Our liberation is at hand. The commands and promises are coming to us. This shall be our festival.
4. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? One could understand this entire text as a call to obedience if all that was here was instruction. That, however, is clearly not the case. Promises abound. Also, the commands here are more rubrics than calls to live in a certain way in response to God's work in the world.
5. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Couplets are not present in the text, but using some of the vocabulary, we can imagine several: judgment/salvation; destroyed/saved.
6. Exegetical work: Scholar Nahum Sarna notes that "the impending Exodus is visualized as the start of a wholly new order of life that is to be dominated by the consciousness of God's active presence in history." (The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, p. 54). Terence Fretheim speaks of a a new order of life as well, but one begun in the feast itself. He says, "The reenactment is as much salvific event as the original enactment. The memory language... is not a 'soft' matter, recalling to mind some story of the past. It is an entering into the reality of that event in such a way as to be reconstituted as the people of God thereby." (Interpretation series, Exodus, p. 139). He goes on: "The Jewish liturgy of passover (Passover Haggadah) stresses that worshippers in every celebration are actual participants in God's saving deeds: God brought us out of Egypt." (Ibid.). Another important point that Fretheim makes is in regards to the blood which is put on the doorposts and lintel of the house. He says, "What is important is the word, the promise associated with the sign, not the sign in and of itself, (12:13). The blood is a sign 'for you' (i.e. for Israel), not for God! that is, it is a sign of the divine promise: God commits himself to passover the blood-marked houses. Israel can rely on God's being faithful to this commitment." (Ibid., p. 138). Sarna also makes an interesting point in regards to this sign and the meaning of the verb 'passover'. He says, "Three traditions about the meaning of the stem p-s-h have survived. The oldest, and apparently the most reliable, is 'to have compassion,' another is 'to protect,' and a third [the least likely] is 'to skip over'." (JPS, Exodus, p. 56). Knowing this and re-reading verse 13, we can hear God say, "When I see the blood, I will have compassion," or "When I see the blood, I will protect you." These give some understanding to this text that keep us from having a merely wooden transactional understanding of God's actions in the Exodus.
7. Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic? Fred Craddock famously exhorted preachers to bring the experience of the text to the listeners, not just the content. It would be a great sermon that achieved that with this text: the anticipation, the promise, and the hope. There is a goal.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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