Death, Where Is Your Power? Passover Breaks Your Chains

Samuel MABBOUX, pastor of the church in Nice l'Ariane, opens the book of Exodus one Easter morning and asks you a direct question: is the blood of Christ over your life? Because Passover isn't the memory of a distant past. It's the blood of the Lamb that protects you today, the leaven you remove from your house, death losing its power over you.

Introduction: what Passover says to your life this morning

The preacher opens in Exodus 12:12: "That night I will pass through the land of Egypt, and will strike all the firstborn... The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." This is the setting of the tenth plague, the night the Hebrew people leave slavery behind. The word Passover comes from there: Pesach, "to pass over," to be spared.

Samuel MABBOUX applies the text head on: this Easter week isn't just another week. In Egypt, the people had to prepare for their liberation. Today, you're called to prepare to meet your God. You're not just waiting for the Lord's return; you're going out to meet him. And the blood of Christ shed 2,000 years ago is the only protection that counts when judgment passes over your life.

The outline of the message

1. Preparing to meet Christ

All week long, in Egypt, the people prepare to leave. This isn't religious routine; it's a liberation taken seriously. Samuel MABBOUX reminds us: we often talk about the Lord's return, but really it's our own coming to meet him. We go out to meet Christ. Passover season is a time to prepare for heaven's appointment.

2. The blood of the Lamb that protects

"Is the blood of Christ, shed 2,000 years ago on the cross, over your life? Because that blood is what will protect you." The preacher takes up the image from Exodus 12:23: when the Lord sees the blood on the doorposts, he passes over the house. The destroyer doesn't come in. Today, it's not your doorpost, it's your life where the blood of Jesus needs to be.

3. Remembering: a duty against forgetting

Verse 14: "This day shall be to you for a memorial." Samuel MABBOUX insists: throughout the Old Testament, God keeps coming back to the word remember. "Teach your children, do this." Even at the entrance to the promised land, in the Jordan, the people set up a memorial (Joshua 4) so they won't forget their slavery. Remembering isn't wallowing in the past: it's rejoicing over what Jesus has already done.

4. Removing the leaven from your house

Verses 15-20: seven days of unleavened bread. Leaven, in the Bible, symbolizes sin. "Leaven symbolizes sin, symbolizes the evil we need to remove from our cupboards, from our drawers." The Lord doesn't ask you to remove sin just for the sake of removing sin. He asks you because that sin chains you. The people had chains on their feet in Egypt; the leaven you remove is what's holding you bound.

5. Passing Passover on to your children

Verses 26-27: "When your children ask you, what do you mean by this service?" Samuel MABBOUX is direct with parents: Passover isn't about little chocolate bunnies. You have a responsibility to teach your children the message of the cross. "Just as you make them balanced meals, just as you take them to school, take them to church too. Pray with your son and your daughter, read the Bible." The child will remain free to choose, but you carry the responsibility to teach them the truth of Jesus Christ.

6. The Lamb will return as the Lion of Judah

Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, with gentleness and humility, with nothing to draw attention to himself (Isaiah 53:2). He took your shame on the cross. But Samuel MABBOUX reminds us forcefully: he won't return on a donkey. He'll return on a white horse, as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5; 19:11), to establish justice. Don't settle for just the little baby Jesus in the manger or Jesus dead on the cross: take hold too of the almighty Jesus who comes to judge the nations.

7. Death, where is your power?

Verse 23: "For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you." Death no longer has power over those who belong to Christ. That's the heart of the message: "Death, where is your power?", an echo of 1 Corinthians 15:55: "Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?" You deserve eternal death because of your sin. But Jesus paid the price. By his wounds and his blood, you live for eternity, by grace alone.

Key takeaways

• The blood of Christ is your only protection. The destroyer passes over houses covered by the blood of the Lamb. Without that blood over your life, nothing stops the judgment.
• Sin chains you, Passover sets you free. Removing the leaven means removing what's holding you bound. God doesn't ask for holiness to frustrate you: he sets you free.
• Remembering means rejoicing. Recalling where God pulled you out from isn't a punishment. It's the engine of gratitude.
• Passing it on is your responsibility as a parent. Teach, pray, read the Bible with your children. They'll remain free to choose, but the responsibility to teach rests on you.
• Death has lost its power. Christ has risen. Eternal judgment can no longer reach you if you're in him.

Personal application

1. Is the blood of Christ over your life? Have you ever bowed your knee and acknowledged your need for his grace?
2. What "leaven" still sits in your cupboards? Is there a sin you're tolerating that keeps you chained?
3. If you're a parent, how are you concretely teaching Passover to your children this week?
4. Is there someone you're holding a grudge against, someone you could send a message of forgiveness to today?
5. Do you see Jesus only as the gentle Lamb, or are you also waiting for the Lion of Judah who returns in justice?

Bible references cited

• Exodus 12:12-27 · Passover, the blood of the Lamb, the passing over
• 1 Corinthians 15:55 · "Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?"
• Joshua 4 · The memorial of twelve stones in the Jordan
• Isaiah 53:2 · "He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him"
• Revelation 5:5 · The Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome
• Revelation 19:11 · The white horse and the righteous judge
• Proverbs 22:6 · "Train up a child in the way he should go"

FAQ

Why does Samuel MABBOUX turn to Exodus 12 at Easter?

Because the Jewish Passover told in Exodus 12 is the prophetic model of the Christian Passover. The slain lamb whose blood spares the houses points forward to Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The preacher isn't giving a mere history lesson: he's showing that the blood of the Lamb protects, today, those who belong to Jesus.

What does "removing the leaven" concretely mean today?

It means taking out of your life whatever dishonors God and keeps you chained. Samuel MABBOUX calls for personal self-examination: identifying tolerated sin, grudges, a lack of forgiveness. The leaven isn't removed by willpower alone, but by bringing everything to the blood of Christ, in repentance. It's not a performance: it's a liberation.

How do I pass Passover on to my children without forcing them?

The preacher points to Proverbs 22:6: train up the child while young. Take them to church, pray with them, read the Bible together, watch videos that explain the gospel. They'll remain free to choose for themselves as adults. But the responsibility to teach rests on you, just as you take care of their meals or their schooling.