The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, our Second Reading for this Sunday, continues the reflection on the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. To understand the crucifixion more fully, we need to look back deep into Israelite history. The patriarchs of Israel moved to the land of Egypt, where the Israelites became a large and prosperous ethnic group. However, the Egyptian Pharaoh became jealous of their success and decided to enslave them. He then sought to destroy the Israelites by having every male child killed right after birth.
In response to their suffering, God sent Moses to free the Israelites form bondage. Moses sought to prevail upon Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh would not listen. As a result, God performed 10 signs, also known as the 10 plagues, through Moses in order to persuade Pharaoh to set the captives free. The last of the signs was the angel of death flying over Egypt and striking down the firstborn male in every household. The Israelites themselves could avoid this punishment by each family gathering together to sacrifice and eat a lamb and marking their doorframes with the lamb’s blood. When the angel of death would see the blood upon the doorframe, it would pass over the house without causing harm.
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