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Perhaps it’s because of my annual viewing of The Ten Commandments around Easter, but I must admit that I have something of a romanticized view of the Passover event. I think that all of the central stories of our faith, the ones we repeat through the liturgical year, are susceptible to this kind of reductionist reading, but for much of my ministerial life I’ve thought of this event in a dramatic, if simplistic, light: It’s a mighty miracle of God of such magnitude that it needs to be commemorated and replayed annually as a reminder of God’s salvific power. On the surface it’s straightforward, with easily recognizable good guys and bad guys and a plainly victorious outcome. But as I sit with this text again, I can’t escape the messiness of this miracle.
