Commentary on Exodus 12:1-14

Of the many hundreds—possibly thousands—of sermons I have heard preached in my life, I cannot recall a single sermon ever preached on the regulations for Passover observance. When Christian communities engage this text in worship, it is usually in order to lay the groundwork for discussing Jesus as the “Passover lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:7)—which is, of course, an important idea to study. Still, while the echoes of the Passover in the death of Jesus can be a fruitful topic for proclamation, Exodus 12 also makes meaning as a primary preaching text.

That is particularly true in the context of the semicontinuous Old Testament lectionary, since the passage is not thematically paired with the New Testament lessons, as it would be in the complementary lectionary. In this commentary I will highlight a few ways in which Exodus 12 might speak to Christian communities beyond the analogy of Jesus as the Passover lamb.

Exodus 12 prompts us to reflect on the ways we mark time as a community.

The Pentateuch—particularly the Priestly authorial voice responsible for this passage—is deeply concerned with questions of time. Sabbath practice, for example, is a core topic not only in the legal texts of Exodus, but also in Genesis 1, where God’s resting on the seventh day provides the rationale for Sabbath-keeping. The Priestly creation story of Genesis 1 presents God’s creative work as well ordered, scheduled, and rhythmic.

Similarly, Exodus 12 seeks to establish a schedule and a rationale for the Passover. The text begins, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you” (Exodus 12:2). The keeping of festivals and the marking of the seasons bloom from the memory of God’s saving work delivering the Israelites from Egypt.¹ Inasmuch as the exodus narrative is concerned with questions of identity—Pharaoh’s, Moses’s, God’s—the Passover regulations underscore the identity of the people of Israel as those who have been freed by God to serve God in a covenantal relationship. Israel’s identity as God’s liberated people frames the community’s timekeeping.

In any given Christian church, we operate by multiple calendars: The liturgical year begins in Advent, our programming might follow a September-to-May school calendar, the fiscal year might begin July 1, and the secular calendar starts on January 1. But what is the theological underpinning of our timekeeping? If Easter is the foundational story for Christians, how might our practices throughout the year—and our organization of the year itself—better reflect rootedness in the resurrection account?

Exodus 12 alerts us to the ways ritual and story intersect.

The Passover instructions given in Exodus 12:1–14 are presented both as the directions for the first Passover event and as the establishment of a “perpetual ordinance” (verse 14). But as anthropologists of religion have long observed, a ritual practice or tradition is usually something that is done first and explained later. That is likely true in this case as well, with the Passover being “probably originally a rite of spring, practiced by shepherds.”²

The festival of Unleavened Bread was also likely a freestanding festival that was eventually combined with the Passover observance (as in Exodus 12 and Deuteronomy 16:1–8).³ The Passover as prescribed in Exodus 12 provides comprehensive instructions and a narrative foundation for practices that had already been underway. It’s an important reminder that religious practices change over time, even today: Old traditions meet new events to remember and new cultural pressures to negotiate.

Through specific instructions—for example, “This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly” (Exodus 12:10)—rituals forge connections between our bodies and the stories that animate our hearts. While American Christianity today often conceptualizes religion as intellectual assent—Do you “believe” the Bible? Do you “accept” Jesus?—it is the practice of religion that cements our commitments. Preachers might take the opportunity this week to help their listeners consider how they live their faith in their bodies: through worship, through service, through living daily life in ways that respect others’ bodies as well as their own.

Exodus 12 can encourage us to make interfaith connections.

The Lenten season sometimes inspires Christian communities to hold a Passover seder, to help congregants better understand the Passover setting of Jesus’s last supper. While usually well-meaning, these seders—particularly if conducted outside of partnerships with Jewish congregations—are often misguided, given that the seders practiced in Judaism today contain many elements that were not present during Jesus’s lifetime. Studying and/or preaching on Exodus 12—particularly outside of Lent—can help Christians comprehend the Passover on its own terms, better appreciating how the festival held meaning for its ancient practitioners, as well as how it still makes meaning for Jewish communities today.

Moreover, the September date for this lectionary passage could be an opportunity to pursue interfaith connections without the sometimes-fraught context of the Lenten season. Perhaps Exodus 12 will inspire your communities to reach out to Jewish neighbors for new opportunities for mutual support and understanding.

Notes

1. Even though in current practice the fall holiday of Rosh Hashanah is the primary Jewish New Year, Jewish tradition still recognizes four “new year” milestones annually. See, for example, Michelle Alperin, “How Many Jewish New Years?,” My Jewish Learning, accessed June 29, 2026, https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-many-jewish-new-years/, and Michelle Alperin, “How Rosh Hashanah Became New Year’s Day,” My Jewish Learning, accessed June 29, 2026, https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-rosh-hashanah-became-new-years-day/.
2. John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004), 114.
3. Vestiges of that standalone status can be detected in the way the festival of Unleavened Bread is named in many places throughout Scripture alongside of the Passover festival, rather than being subsumed into it. See, for example, Leviticus 23:5–6; Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:1, 12.