Religious Glossary - common terms used related to Religion
Passover - Annual feast commemorating the deliverance
of the firstborn in Egypt when the angel of death took all
those who did not have blood on the doorpost.
A Jewish Holiday which commemorates the time when the angel
of death passed over all of the Jews in Egypt because of the
blood of a lamb spread over the doorposts of their houses.
Jesus used this image to identify his impending death as the
occasion when his blood shed on the cross would cover the
sins of his people and would save them from spiritual death.
Thus, Christians say in their Eucharistic feasts, "Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep
the feast." (St
Michaels)
This is the most important feast of the Jewish calendar,
celebrated at the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.
The name "Passover" was derived from the actions of the angel
of death as described in the book of Exodus. The angel "passed
over" the homes of the Jews which were marked with the blood
obtained from a ritual animal sacrifice. The same angel murdered
the first-born son and first-born animals of every Egyptian
family whose doorway was not so marked. (religious
tolerance) .
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