Week 1 – Weekend

When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. And when your children ask you, “What do you mean by this observance?” you shall say, “It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.”

Reading

Exodus 12.21-32

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. And when your children ask you, “What do you mean by this observance?” you shall say, “It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.”’ And the people bowed down and worshipped.

The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, ‘Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord, as you said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone. And bring a blessing on me too!’

Reflection

Another challenging character in Exodus is Pharaoh’s daughter. In rescuing the baby Moses she defies her father with one single act of compassion that will bring Egypt to its knees. She collapses the easy caricature of Egyptians as ‘enemies’. She, an Egyptian, also must be seen and heard. Indeed, the ritual with which Israel is instructed to remember the night of their liberation also stresses the cost of freedom in the loss of Egypt’s children.

We often try to tame Exodus, read it selectively. To attend to the whole of Exodus is challenging, because it calls all of us to see and hear all around us, without prejudice or caricature, and bear witness. Exodus challenges us to examine how we seek justice: do we simply reproduce the patterns of thought and action of those we challenge? Or are we ready to be transformed by God’s radical call to hold together justice and compassion for all?

Prayer

Loving God, inspire us to seek justice your way, driven by compassion for all, shaped by your holiness and ready to discover grace in the most unexpected places. Amen

Today’s family challenge

Watch an animation that tells the story of the Exodus

‘The Prince of Egypt’ might make a good film to watch.

Make time to talk about the different characters in the story.