TORAH: Exodus 10:1-13:16
HAFTARAH: Jeremiah 46:13-28
GOSPEL: John 19:31-37
Portion Summary
The fifteenth reading from the Torah is named Bo (בוא), which means “Come.” The title comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which say, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘[Come] to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart” (Exodus 10:1). The portion begins by concluding the narrative of the ten plagues, the tenth of which is the slaying of the firstborn. To avoid the plague, the Israelites are given the instructions for the Passover sacrifice and the laws of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Pharaoh finally consents to let Israel go, and they leave Egypt.
Torah
Exodus 10:1 The Eighth Plague: | Locusts
Exodus 10:21 The Ninth Plague: | Darkness
Exodus 11:1 | Warning of the Final Plague
Exodus 12:1 | The First Passover Instituted
Exodus 12:29 The Tenth Plague: | Death of the Firstborn
Exodus 12:33 The Exodus: | From Rameses to Succoth
Exodus 12:43 | Directions for the Passover
Exodus 13:3 | The Festival of Unleavened Bread
Exodus 13:11 | The Consecration of the Firstborn
Prophets
Jer 46:13 | Babylonia Will Strike Egypt
Jer 46:27 | God Will Save Israel
Portion Commentary:
The Two Remembrances
The first commandments God gave directly to the entire community of Israel concerned the Passover, the Passover lamb, and the seven days of unleavened bread. Messianic Jews note the significance. The first laws God assigned to the nation involve the Passover sacrifice (which foreshadows the death of Messiah) and the preparation for redemption from Egypt (which foreshadows the final redemption). Before receiving any other commandments, the nation needed first to keep the commandments of redemption.
Passover has messianic significance. The Messiah Himself has obligated us to keep the Passover in remembrance of Him. He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Did He have in mind only the breaking of bread and drinking the fruit of the vine? No. He issued that directive to His disciples within the larger context of the annual Passover celebration. He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
The commandment to do “this” in remembrance of Yeshua is not merely a commandment to take a cup and bread. The specific “this” to which Yeshua referred was Passover and the seder meal. He did not take only one cup; He shared four cups with His disciples. He did not break just any bread; He broke the unleavened matzah with His disciples.
If we desire to really do “this” in remembrance of our Master Yeshua as He commands us, we cannot do less than the whole “this,” that is, the whole seven-day festival of Passover, not just the seder meal and not just a cup and bread. This includes the commandment of casting out the leaven from our homes on the fourteenth day of the month, the commandment of keeping a Passover Seder on the eve of the fifteenth day of the month, the commandment of eating no leavened bread for seven days, and the commandment of keeping the first and last days as festival Sabbaths.
The authentic cup and the bread of the Master comes only in the context of Passover. Jewish and non-Jewish believers both have the privilege of keeping the Passover in remembrance of our great salvation, Yeshua the lamb of God.
Read complete commentary at First Fruits of Zion.
