Exodus 12:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Let us now reflect on the lamb that symbolizes the divine glory of the Lord. It was essential for this lamb to be spotless, male, and one year of age. Above all, it exemplified purity and perfection, as only Christ embodies complete perfection and remains entirely sinless, requiring no justification whatsoever. As He Himself affirms, ‘So we must fulfil all righteousness’ (Matthew 3:15). This is the reason why only flawless animals were used for sacrifices, serving as representations of Christ. God instructed the priests to be entirely pure and undefiled in body, for they prefigured the true High Priest. Additionally, the Passover lamb had to be male because this gender is inherently associated with authority and advantage, much like the natural bodily superiority of men over women.

You are to select a lamb without defect, as in Christ unite all the qualities of divine honor. Yet, let there also be "the male," as the lawgiver specified, for He is the one who plants in us the seeds of divine knowledge and brings us into a longed-for promised land, as the prophetic scripture proclaims, presenting humanity to God and the Father through the proclamation of the Gospel. Furthermore, let Him be "one year old," either regarding age to ensure His perfection, as He must be at least a year old from His birth, or because the observance of Christ’s glorious passion each year is necessary for those who partake in the fruits of His suffering. "Take it from the sheep or from the goats," it is written.

Thus, this Bridegroom, who stands equal to His guests and was prepared to invite both the righteous and the unrighteous to the feast (cf. Matthew 22:10), chose to be born from both good and wicked individuals to fulfill the prophetic significance of the Passover, where it was commanded to consume a lamb selected from among sheep and goats—symbolically representing both the just and the unjust, a foreshadowing of Himself. By embodying both the divine and the human, He did not disdain His righteous and sinful ancestors for the sake of human kinship; instead, He opted to be born of a virgin to accomplish a divine wonder.

In order to grasp the profound wisdom and abundance of God’s unfathomable judgments, it is noteworthy that God did not leave the sacrifices of the law as mere rituals, lacking sanctity and confined to the mere act of bloodshed. Instead, a remarkable Sacrifice, so to speak, is introduced that transcends the initial offerings—this cleansing is not limited to a portion of the universe nor to a brief period but encompasses the entirety of creation for eternity. To this end, the ‘lamb’ is symbolically consecrated as a remedy for humanity's ancient nakedness; this Sacrifice, which we have received, is rightly termed the garment of immortality.

“He instructed that your lamb must be unblemished; you shall select it from among the sheep or the goats. Additionally, it is stated that if an individual is unable to observe the Passover in the first month, they should do so in the second (See Num. 9:10-11). A similar directive applies here: if someone is unable to obtain a lamb, they may at least acquire a young goat. For Christ is offered within the Church in two distinct manners: if we are righteous, we partake of the lamb’s flesh; if we are sinners who seek repentance, the goat is provided to us. This does not imply that Christ is among the goats, who will ultimately be cast aside (cf. Matthew 25:33), but rather reflects the varying degrees of merit that assign either a lamb or a goat to each individual.”

He instructed them to select not only lambs from the sheep but also goats of the same age from the herd. However, they were not to slaughter both kinds together. Instead, those with sheep should offer the sheep, while those without sheep could provide a goat for sacrifice. This allowance to take from both sheep and goats underscores the compassion of God, for our Lord Christ did not endure suffering solely for the righteous, but also for the wayward. He Himself guided our understanding by comparing the assembly of the faithful to lambs and the assembly of the unrepentant to goats. The law requires a goat to be offered for sin. Additionally, it appears that the Russian translation has omitted two phrases due to considerable stylistic challenges.

To the Israelites who were about to partake of the lamb, the law instructed: “Let them eat the head with the feet” (Ex. 12:5, 9). Through this directive, we can discern the significance of the divine construction of the Lord's House, where the ‘head’ represents the Godhead and the ‘feet’ symbolize humanity. The Evangelist articulated: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), and he further declared, “And the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). Thus, we ought to honor God and embrace the belief that God became man. In Christ, we find a duality: externally, He appears as Man, yet internally, He is the divine God. Therefore, it is not appropriate to refer to Him merely as man without acknowledging His divine nature, nor is it prudent to profess His divinity without recognizing His humanity. This succinctly addresses your inquiries.

This illustrates how the ancient prophecies are fulfilled in the time that follows (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus Christ, the ‘lamb’ characterized by humility, embodies the perfect unity of divine and human nature, embodying ‘masculine’ strength to carry our weaknesses, and remains ‘spotless’ in His freedom from sin, including original sin, as a lamb ‘one year old,’ signifying the completion of His natural maturation.

The Passover offering must be selected as ‘a perfect lamb,’ meaning it should be a flawless, fully grown male, since the lamb is to be sacrificed to protect Israel's firstborn males from the Angel of Destruction. This lamb must be ‘without blemish,’ free from any physical imperfections—neither blind, deformed, unattractive, nor infested (Lev. 22:22-23). The requirement for a spotless lamb aligns with the sacred intent behind its sacrifice and reflects the moral integrity expected of those who present it. The law mandated that sacrifices should consist of animals without defects (Lev. 22:12), and through the prophets, God consistently voiced His disapproval of individuals who, in offering sick or damaged animals, demonstrated a lack of reverence and love for Him. Furthermore, the lamb must be ‘one year old,’ indicating that it should not exceed this age. The same standards applied to the selection of a goat for sacrifice if a lamb was unavailable.

Consider the passages from Leviticus, specifically I, 3 and 22, 20.