Lectionary Preaching Workbook
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Exodus 12:1-4 (C)
Here we have the beginning instructions to the Jews in preparation for the Passover of God. The ancients believed in the sacrifice of animals as a form of worship and obedience. They imagined themselves required to prepare to do so now. As Bernhard Anderson observed, "Every reader of the Bible has to make up his mind about the historical nucleus which lies at the heart of the tradition that has been elaborated and colored by Israel's faith over a period of generations."