By Leon Bent –
During a never-ending period of history, between the Fall and the Redemption, God was preparing mankind for the day when He would send them a Redeemer.
Today we shall consider the most important and instructive of all these prophecies in action, the one which will cast a flood of light, not only on the Redemption as worked by Jesus, but also its celebration at Easter, which we are getting reader for.
When Joseph, the son of Jacob was at the height of his power, his kit and kin had settled in Egypt and became prosperous. But, several generations after Joseph died the children of Israel had become enslaved by the Egyptians. These Gentiles masters oppressed them and reduced them to the utmost misery; they were overworked and underfed and ill-treated in every possible manner. Moreover, the Egyptians even decided that every male child born to them was to be cast into the river Nile.
However, God had other plans. One of these infants was found by Pharaoh’s daughter floating in a cradle. This child grew to be a great leader of the Israelites, hand-picked by God Himself.
One day God appeared to Moses in a Burning Bush, and ordered him to lead His Chosen People out of Egypt. Moses repeatedly pleaded with Pharaoh to allow God’s people to march into the Promised Land. But, the King of Egypt was very adamant, so God decided to send a terrible series of Plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
God gave orders through Moses that every family was to take a lamb with blemish, kill it in sacrifice and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts. They were to eat the lamb they had sacrificed, with unleavened bread, at a ceremonial meal. That same night God would pass through the Egyptians, killing the first-born of every Egyptian household. But, he would “pass over” the houses signed with the blood of the lamb. This night, therefore, was to be called the Passover or the Pasch. This ceremonial meal, or the Paschal Meal, was to be repeated in all its details every year in future, to commemorate the “passing over” of the Lord, which enabled the Israelites to “pass over” from slavery into freedom.
Pharaoh allowed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt after a great lament in the Egyptians’ homes. The Lord Himself led His people in a “pillar of cloud” by day, and a “pillar of fire” by night. Here we have a prophecy in action. Mankind was in slavery to sin, and was freed through the Blood of Him Whom we call “The Lamb of God” – the Messiah who was slain.
Our Lord Jesus, instituted a new form of the Paschal Meal, at the Last Supper. The new Paschal Meal is the Mass, which is the Pasch of the New Testament.
Like the Israelites, we too are moving forward to the Promised Land, which is the Kingdom of God or the Reign of God. And, we too have a light to guide us – Christ, the Light of the World! When we celebrate the Paschal Vigil on Holy Saturday, we are being set free to journey towards Eternal Bliss! We will enter the Vigil led by a pillar of light – the great Paschal Candle, which represents Christ, the Light of the World.
At the Paschal Vigil we too shall eat unleavened bread consecrated into the very substance of the true Paschal Lamb who was slain. The bread and wine are “transubstantiated” into the “real” Body and Blood of Jesus! We recall what St. Paul wrote: “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show forth the death of the Lord until he comes again.” Jesus reinforced his mandate: “Do this in memory of me!”
We go back to the Exodus of the Israelites. God decided to fulfil the promise, made in the distant past to Abraham, and renewed to Isaac and Jacob, that their progeny would be a nation. God called His people to Mt. Sinai, that they might hear His word; He called Moses to Him and said: “Tell them: You are to keep a covenant with me; and I, to whom all the earth belongs, will single you out from among its people, to be my very own people. You shall serve me as a “royal priesthood, as a consecrated people. Tell the Israelites this” (Ex. 19:1-6).
St. Peter echoes God words to Moses: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation….There was a time when you were not a people at all, but now, you are God’s people” (1 Peter 2: 9-10).
The people of God in the Old Testament answered God in one voice, with a resounding “Yes!” They said: “We will do all that the Lord has said.” This was the covenant with God: they would observe His laws, and God would cherish them as his Chosen People. Moses sealed the covenant in sacrifice. “Moses poured blood over the altar and sprinkled the people with blood, crying out: This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord makes with you” (Ex.4:6-8).
The new chosen people of God enjoy the same privileges through Baptism. They to accept God’s laws; they are cherished by God as His people; they too offer sacrifice on an altar; and this too is a sacrifice confirmed in blood. “This is My Blood,” said Jesus, “the Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant.”
When we renew our Baptismal Vows during the Paschal Vigil we, too, will be blessed in similar fashion. God fed His people with Manna as they journey to the Promised Land. The Manna has been replaced by the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass, for the new chosen people, who have been washed clean with the waters of Baptism.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.