Passed Over? A New Covenant Perspective

Tonight I walked us from the garden to the table, from the first breath of Adam to the breathless Lamb, to remember that love moved first. God made a world bursting with beauty, and then we—Adam and Eve, and all of us in their bloodline—turned from His voice. Sin wasn’t just a list of wrongs; it became our nature, a blindness that made even the best of creation look dim. But God was not content to leave us groping in the dark. He set redemption in motion by His own promise, cutting an irrevocable covenant with Abraham, and then telling a story through time that we could touch and taste—judgment, lamb’s blood, Passover, and freedom.

Passover taught that life is in the blood and that death must pass where blood is seen. Yet no animal blood could truly undo the curse; it could only point forward. It was never our blood that God asked for; it was His own, in the person of our Messiah, Yeshua. Isaiah says our sins have separated us; no one could intercede—so His own arm brought salvation. The Z’roa on the plate points to that Arm. The “forbidden chapter,” Isaiah 53, tells the hidden glory: the Servant despised, pierced, crushed, silent—bearing our iniquity, making many righteous, and seeing His offspring after pouring out His soul to death.

At the cross—the true wooden doorframe—His blood marked the place where wrath passes over. He carried the weight of history’s evil, from the first murder to the last delusion, and cried the loneliness our sin deserved so that we might hear the Father again. Tonight’s table is not ceremony; it is covenant. The question remains: Has God passed over? Have we passed over from death to life? Whoever looks on the One pierced, receives His righteousness, and trusts His blood enters the new covenant—eyes opened, sins removed as far as east from west, welcomed into fellowship. We remember because it cost Him everything so that we could have Him.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Sin blinds; redemption restores true sight Sin is more than behavior; it distorts perception. Without God’s intervention, we can stare at beauty and remain unmoved, because we’re estranged at the roots. Redemption isn’t mere pardon; it is the restoration of vision to see God’s glory and goodness clearly. Sight is the first miracle of grace. [02:39]
• 2. Passover blood points to Messiah The lamb’s blood did not change hearts; it marked houses for mercy. It was a signpost toward a greater Blood that would not only cover but cleanse. In Yeshua, judgment fully meets mercy, so death truly passes over and life takes hold. The sign becomes substance in Him. [06:16]
• 3. God’s arm accomplishes salvation alone When no one could intercede, God’s own arm acted. Salvation is not the sum of our efforts but the result of His initiative, promise, and power. Grace humbles our pride and anchors our assurance in God’s character, not our performance. We rest because His arm does not fail. [09:50]
• 4. Receive the new covenant by faith The table is invitation, not achievement. We cross over by trusting the One pierced—His righteousness counted ours, His death our freedom, His life our future. Faith receives what blood has secured and what resurrection guarantees. This is how we enter fellowship that endures. [19:59]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:26] - Creation, fall, and our blindness
• [02:39] - God’s love and the hope of redemption
• [04:48] - Covenant with Abraham and promised deliverance
• [06:16] - Egypt’s judgment and the Passover sign
• [08:00] - Only Messiah’s blood can redeem
• [09:50] - Isaiah 59: separation and the Arm
• [11:30] - The “forbidden chapter” introduced
• [12:49] - Wood, blood, and Passover fulfilled
• [14:10] - The cry and the weight of sin
• [15:07] - He bears the penalty we could not
• [16:35] - Isaiah 53: pierced and silent Lamb
• [18:15] - The Servant makes many righteous
• [19:59] - Invitation: new covenant by faith and the table

Bible Reading

Isaiah 53 — 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Observation Questions

1. Which phrases in Isaiah 53 describe how people saw the Servant (appearance, rejection, silence)? What recurring images stand out to you in these verses?
2. Which verses say why the Servant suffered (what His suffering accomplishes for others)? Point to the words or phrases that connect his suffering to our healing and righteousness.
3. The sermon said sin blinds us so we cannot see God's beauty. Where in the message was this explained, and what picture did the pastor use to make that point? [02:39]
4. The pastor connected the Passover plate's Z'roa (the arm) to God's saving work. Which line in Isaiah connects to that image, and how does that help link the Passover sign to the Messiah? [09:50]

Interpretation Questions

1. How should the group understand “he was pierced for our transgressions” and “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all”? What does the text imply about substitution and the transfer of guilt? [16:35]
2. The passage says, “by his wounds we are healed.” How does the group interpret “healed” here — primarily spiritual reconciliation, physical healing, or both? What would justify each reading from the text?
3. The sermon traced a line from God’s covenant with Abraham through Passover to the cross. How does Isaiah 53 function as the fulfillment of those earlier covenant signs? Be specific about the continuity (covenant, blood, deliverance). [04:48]
4. Isaiah 53 emphasizes the Servant’s silence and submission (“he opened not his mouth”). What does this silence reveal about the nature of his mission and about the kind of savior God chose? How should that shape the church’s understanding of suffering and redemption? [18:15]

Application Questions

1. The pastor asked, “Has God passed over? Have we passed over into life?” Take a moment to answer personally: Do you have assurance that you have passed from death to life? If not, what step will you take this week to seek that assurance (read Scripture, talk with a believer, pray to receive)? [19:59]
2. Identify one area in your life where sin has blinded you to God’s goodness or to the needs of others. What is one concrete step (a habit to stop, a spiritual discipline to start, a confession to make) you will practice this week to ask God to open your eyes? [02:39]
3. The sermon said the Passover lamb’s blood was a sign that pointed forward to the Messiah’s blood. Think of a time you trusted your own effort rather than Christ’s finished work. Name that situation and a specific action you will take this week to rely on Christ’s righteousness instead of your performance (e.g., confess, stop self-justifying, receive grace from a friend). [08:00]
4. The message stressed that salvation comes by God’s arm — His initiative, not our effort. What burden or responsibility are you currently holding that only God can carry? What will you practically stop doing and what prayer or truth will you remind yourself of this week to rest in God’s arm? [09:50]
5. Isaiah 53 pictures the Servant “making many righteous” and “interceding for transgressors.” Who is one person in your life you can pray intentionally for this week as someone who needs to be met by the Servant’s righteousness? How will you follow up with them (call, invite, pray together)? [18:15]
6. The sermon invited us to remember that it “cost him everything so that we can have him.” What is one regular, concrete way you will remember Christ’s cost in the coming month (a weekly communion moment, a short daily meditation on Isaiah 53, journaling a confession each Sunday)? [19:59]