Today’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 12:1-6; Mark 12:13-34; Luke 22:66-23:14
“Your lamb shall be without blemish,”
Here we see that the requirement for the Passover lamb was that it be without blemish. They would select the lamb on the 10th of Nisan and keep it under watch until the 14th of Nisan. This gave them time to inspect and observe it for any type of blemish. As we saw Sunday, Jesus was led into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan. So what was happening between the 10th and the 14th. Amazingly enough, He was being inspected. Look at the words used to describe the discussions Jesus had with the various religious leaders during this time period.
“The chief priest and the elders … confronted Him” (Matt. 21:23)
“The Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him …” (Mark 12:13)
“Some Sadducees, … asked Him” (Mark 12:18)
“One of the scribes … asked Him” (Mark 12:28)
Were all of these religious leaders coming to Jesus to learn from Him? No, they were trying to find fault with Him. They wanted to find a reason to kill Him. Ironically, it was the fact that they couldn’t find fault with Him, thus He was without blemish, that made Him the perfect sacrifice. Beyond these indirect methods of questioning we also see that on the 14th Jesus was actually put on trial to find a reason to kill Him. The inability of the Jewish leaders to produce two or three witnesses that could agree meant that, according to Deut. 17:6, He could not be put to death under Jewish law. However, that didn’t stop them from taking Him to Pilate, and then to Herod, and back to Pilate to get Him condemned.
The final declaration of His being without blemish is found in Pilate’s summary statement in Luke 23:14, “I have found no fault in this Man.” Jesus was the Lamb without blemish.
Questions for Reflection
“Your lamb shall be without blemish,”
Here we see that the requirement for the Passover lamb was that it be without blemish. They would select the lamb on the 10th of Nisan and keep it under watch until the 14th of Nisan. This gave them time to inspect and observe it for any type of blemish. As we saw Sunday, Jesus was led into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan. So what was happening between the 10th and the 14th. Amazingly enough, He was being inspected. Look at the words used to describe the discussions Jesus had with the various religious leaders during this time period.
“The chief priest and the elders … confronted Him” (Matt. 21:23)
“The Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him …” (Mark 12:13)
“Some Sadducees, … asked Him” (Mark 12:18)
“One of the scribes … asked Him” (Mark 12:28)
Were all of these religious leaders coming to Jesus to learn from Him? No, they were trying to find fault with Him. They wanted to find a reason to kill Him. Ironically, it was the fact that they couldn’t find fault with Him, thus He was without blemish, that made Him the perfect sacrifice. Beyond these indirect methods of questioning we also see that on the 14th Jesus was actually put on trial to find a reason to kill Him. The inability of the Jewish leaders to produce two or three witnesses that could agree meant that, according to Deut. 17:6, He could not be put to death under Jewish law. However, that didn’t stop them from taking Him to Pilate, and then to Herod, and back to Pilate to get Him condemned.
The final declaration of His being without blemish is found in Pilate’s summary statement in Luke 23:14, “I have found no fault in this Man.” Jesus was the Lamb without blemish.
Questions for Reflection
- Are you without blemish, do you have sin in your life?
- If someone was to spend 4 days inspecting everything you did, would you want them to make public the records?
- God tells us in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned.” This is why we needed someone who was sinless to take our place.
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