Canon Couratin (9)

Lesson IX. The Paschal Lamb. (Exodus 12:1-11) 

1. It was by means of the Flesh and Blood of the Paschal Lamb that the Old Israel escaped from the bondage of Egypt. The blood was smeared upon the door-posts, and turned away the destroying angel of God's wrath, and the flesh was eaten by the People of God in accordance with his command.

2. It is by means of the Flesh and Blood of Christ that the New Israel escapes from the bondage of sin and death. The Passion and Resurrection of the Lord is the Christian Passover. Christ is the Paschal Lamb, who dies to put his life-giving Flesh and Blood at the disposal of his People. But Christ is also the New Israel who in his death and resurrection passes over from the bondage of this evil world into the freedom of the world to come.

3. Each Christian shares in the Christian Passover by means of the Paschal Sacraments. In Baptism the Christian is washed in the Blood of Christ, which turns away the destroying angel from his soul and makes him accepted in the beloved Son. In Baptism the Christian passes over from the bondage of this evil world into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And in the Eucharist he enters into the heavenly places and tastes the powers of the world to come and feeds on the Flesh and Blood of the Lamb of God.