And now listen, Rabbi Samuel, to what John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul say about the Messiah-Christ:

"On the morrow John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world; This is the man of whom I said, A man is coming after me, who has gone before me, because he was before me; I did not know Him; but for this reason He came to baptize in water, that He might be manifested to Israel. And John testified, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and abiding upon Him; I did not know Him; but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "On whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God" (John, chapter 1, verses 29-34).

In his Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says: "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole dough? Cleanse therefore the old leaven, that it may be a new dough unto you, for ye are unleavened, for our Passover, Christ, was slain for us" (1 Corinthians, 5:6-7).

So, as you can see. The Lamb, which our fathers ate in Egypt at the time of the Exodus, prefigures the Messiah-Christ. And just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved the firstborn of Israel, because, according to the Scriptures, "the doors of the houses in which the Passover was eaten were anointed with blood": "And you will have blood as a sign in the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass by you, and there will be no destructive plague among you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Exodus, chapter 12, verse 13). In the same way, "the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin" (1 Epistle to John, chapter 1, verse 7).

The following interesting detail is also worthy of attention. In the words of the Scriptures, "The bones of the Passover lamb shall not be broken" (Exodus, chapter 12, verse 46). This was exactly fulfilled in Christ. Thus testifies John, the beloved disciple of the Messiah, who witnessed the crucifixion: "But as it was Friday then, the Jews, in order not to leave the bodies on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a great day, asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off. So the soldiers came, and they broke the legs of the first, and the other who was crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; He knows that he speaks the truth so that you will believe. For this has come to pass, that the Scripture may be fulfilled: "Let not His bone be broken" (John, chapter 19, verses 31-36).

There is another interesting parallel: the Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Hebrews: "We have an altar, from which those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat. Since the bodies of animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for the cleansing of sin, are burned outside the camp, so Jesus, in order to sanctify people with His blood, suffered outside the gate... (gate)" (Heb. 8:10-12; Leviticus 4:12).

Also, the image of a copper serpent nailed to a tree foreshadowed the death of the Messiah on the cross. Open the 21st chapter of the book of Numbers, Rabbi Samuel.

Samuel read: "And the people spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here, and our soul is disgusted with this worthless food. And the Lord sent poisonous serpents against the people, which bitten the people, and many of the children of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned against the Lord and against thee; pray to the Lord that He will remove the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make thee a brass serpent and set it on the banner (that is, fasten it on the staff), and he who is bitten will look at it and live. And Moses made a brass serpent, and set it on an ensign, and when the serpent bitten a man, he looked at the brass serpent and lived" (Numbers, ch. 21, verses 5-9).

And this is what Jesus Christ says about Himself in the Gospel: "No one ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who came down from heaven, which is in heaven; And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John, chapter 3, verses 13-16).

"If the Lord God loved the world so much, then He also loved us," said Samuel, "and gave His only begotten Son for us, that we might not perish?"

- Truly, dear Rebbe, if we have a living and true faith in Him, we will not perish.

"But I," said Samuel, "have hitherto been in unbelief, in contempt for Christ and His Divine Gospel, I have lived in sins, in deceit... What say, brother Isaac, can I be saved?

- Open the third chapter of the Gospel of John, Samuel, from which we have just read the words of Jesus Christ about Moses and the brazen serpent, and read the words of the Lord addressed to the righteous Nicodemus, beginning with verse 17, and you will find the answer to your question.

Samuel read, "For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in Him is not judged, and he who does not believe is already condemned, because he did not believe in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God. Judgment consists in the fact that light has come into the world; but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil" (John, chapter 3, verses 17-19).