I have always loved butterflies. From their delicate, colorful wings to their erratic, but fascinating flying patterns, these amazing insects stop me in my tracks whenever I see one. Found on every continent except Antarctica, these beauties are a miraculous creation that points to the awesome and transformative power of God.

As the Passover season approached this year, butterflies were on my mind. This biblical holiday/observance brings me back to the profound truth that Christians are new creations. The redeeming blood of Jesus Christ changes the hearts, minds and lives of believers. In a sense, they go from squirmy, wormy caterpillars whose only drive is to munch on the leaves of the world, to beautiful winged creatures that soar to new heights.

While mostly observant Jews will celebrate the Passover, there are also Christians who celebrate it as well. Most Christians tend to observe Resurrection Day (Easter) only, but there are many who see the rich symbolism in the entire Passover holiday. Here are a few past blogs that explain why Jesus is the Passover lamb and how every part of the Passover holiday points to Him!!!  Link 1      Link 2     Link 3

(These are older blogposts so the dates of Passover will be different, but the symbolism and biblical connections are included).  

This year Passover will arrive at sundown on April 12, 2025 and last through sundown on April 20. During this holy week, both Orthodox and Messianic Jews will be remembering and celebrating their deliverance by God when He brought them out of their slavery in Egypt. Like a butterfly that once crawled around as a helpless caterpillar, the lives of the Jewish people would change dramatically. Their lives would be transformed from slaves who were subjected to the commands of an earthly ruler, to a chosen people who would follow an all-knowing, holy God. This would set the world on a trajectory toward an even bigger, more powerful, future metamorphosis, where hearts would be recreated and reformed by Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

What is Passover?   

For hundreds of years, the Jewish people suffered under the oppression of a cruel master who gave them no rest. All of that changed when the Hebrews (Jewish people) were instructed by God through Moses:

“Tell the whole community of Israel that on the 10th day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household….. the animals you choose must be year old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the 14th day of the month (14th of Nisan), when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.  That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast (unleavened bread)….. this is how you are to eat it; with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”  EXODUS 12:3-13

The Jewish people followed God’s command by placing the blood of an innocent lamb on their doorposts. The angel of death PASSED OVER their homes, sparing the firstborns. Subsequently, they were able to escape from the Egyptians, starting their lives anew, with God as their guide and protector.

As Christians, we know that the blood of this innocent lamb was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Once the blood of Jesus is applied to the doorposts of our hearts, we too are delivered from our oppressive master. Like the Egyptian Pharaoh, who forced backbreaking labor and misery upon the Hebrews, we too are oppressed by a cruel master in our lives called sin. The enemy (Satan) works us to the bone, forcing us to carry heavy burdens, guilt and shame.

Hebrews 10:12-14, reminds us:  

"But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." 

Translation: Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, making his blood an offering for our sins. This “single sacrifice” covers us so that when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, the angel of death cannot harm us. Our slave master (Satan) no longer has any legal authority over us. His yoke of bondage is null and void. We are free from the sin that entangled and condemned us. Under the wings of Jesus, we are free to fly up, up and away…. And one day we will literally fly away to heaven where we will live eternally! Hallelujah!

Just recently I had an experience which reminded me that I am no longer under the bondage of this world. The truth is that all of us feel this way sometimes. Whether it’s the weight of our own sins, or the stress we feel from problems in our lives, it’s easy to forget that we are no longer slaves to guilt, shame, depression and defeat. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are more than conquerors in Jesus and no matter what obstacle crosses our path, we have the assurance of knowing that Jesus is working it out for our good. In the meantime, it’s our job to stay close to Him through prayer and the Word, clinging to everything that He is showing us.

Time can go slow when you’re waiting for prayers to be answered, but that doesn’t mean we should go back into our caterpillar cocoon.

Now to my story….

One day I was fed up with all sorts of problems I was facing. That particular afternoon I was feeling particularly stressed so I decided to go outside and do some weeding and put out some mulch. While working in the hot sun, I kept thinking about all the things that were wrong in my life. As I pulled the weeds, the dust and dirt would fly up and scatter all around. That would make me even more upset as I continued meditating on my problems. At one point, I saw a big cluster of weeds and I tried to pull them all up. The roots were pretty deep though, so I had to really dig down into the dirt. As I did this, a giant plume of debris and dust hit me in the face. I closed my eyes to shield myself from it, but when I opened them, I saw something that made me do a double take.

See picture below….

It was a beautiful, delicate monarch butterfly wing. I realized it must’ve been buried under the dirt and debris. Ever so gently, I dusted the dirt off the wing. For at least a minute, I stared at this single wing in my hand. 

The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.

I realized that all those problems I was focusing on were the real cause of my misery. Instead of focusing on the One who has made me a new creation, I was directing all my attention to the worldly obstacles around me. Instead of walking in the spirit through these problems, I was throwing myself into the dirt and weeds, which was leading me nowhere.

The butterfly wing I uncovered brought me back to truth.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come,”  2 Corinthians 5:17.  

A butterfly is a gorgeous, breath-taking creation, but it was once a caterpillar. While caterpillars are kind of cute, they squirm around on the ground, or crawl around looking for leaves. Yet after going into their chrysalis, they eventually emerge as a completely new creation that will live an entirely new life.

Instead of eating leaves all day, they will drink nectar.

 Instead of crawling, they will fly.

The caterpillar will gain a totally new look as well. The body will be completely transformed.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing to understand about the butterfly, however, is that before it becomes this new creation, it has to die to itself.

Wonderopolis explains:

“Inside a chrysalis, a caterpillar's body digests itself from the inside out. The same juices it used to digest food as a larva it now uses to break down its own body!

The fluid breaks down the old caterpillar body into cells called imaginal cells. Imaginal cells are undifferentiated cells, which means they can become any type of cell. Many of these imaginal cells are used to form the new body.”

Whoa! Isn’t that crazy and extreme???? The caterpillar’s body is digested to prepare for the new body it will receive! Talk about no pain, no gain.

The Bible tells us that when we become this new creation in Christ, we too must die to ourselves. Luckily, we don’t have to digest our bodies from the inside out! Nonetheless, we do have to die to our old ways and sins.

The caterpillar must let the process of self-digestion happen so that specialized cells can take over. For Christians, our specialized cells are the Holy Spirit and it is through His voice and guidance (Jesus) that we will become these beautiful, amazing butterflies.

There are many verses that illustrate the concept of dying to ourselves…

Luke 9:23  

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Galatians 5:24 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

John 12:24 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

1 Corinthians 15:31 ESV

I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

1 Peter 2:24 ESV  

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Mark 8:35 ESV

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Romans 6:11 ESV  

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:21 ESV  

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Colossians 3:3 ESV

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

John 3:30 ESV

He must increase, but I must decrease.

Romans 6:6 ESV  

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Romans 8:12-13 ESV

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Digesting Ourselves

Like the caterpillar whose body must be digested in order to become the new creation, we too (as Christians) must “digest” our old self— our old ways—our old allegiance to sin—in order to take hold of our new life. We can’t keep thinking and acting the same way we did before.

Part of living this new life is realizing that Jesus carries the burdens and sins we used to carry ourselves. Oftentimes, we forget this and attempt to live like we did before. We keep wearing our old clothes and crawling around like a caterpillar. If only we could realize that Jesus is always working on our behalf behind the scenes. In the meantime, we must die to ourselves and give our lives over to Him.

To do this we may have to change our behavior with our family members or friends.

We may have to change our reactions to the obstacles in our paths.

We may have to change our expectations and timelines.

We may map out a plan, giving it our stamp of approval, and then suddenly Jesus shows us there is a better way.

In my case, I realized that while I can’t control every problem in my life, I can continue praying about each one, remembering that Jesus has a plan. While he’s working this out, I need to have faith in the promises He’s already shown me. Many times, Jesus places a promise in our hearts and we know He is working, but it appears things are falling apart. As time passes and the fire gets hotter, we worry that He has forgotten our prayers.

In these times, we shouldn’t revert back to the caterpillar. Instead, we must don our wings and fly! This is when we should praise Jesus for what he’s already done for us and best of all, what he’s working on! Like the little butterfly wing I found in the dust, dirt and weeds, it’s during these times that we should cling to the truth that we are a new creation and the King of Kings is right there with us.

I love that the wing I found was from a monarch butterfly—after all, this butterfly was named after a king.

Passover is a biblical holiday that reminds us of our King’s sacrifice on the cross. Because of this, we can enjoy this new life as a butterfly.

The angel of death, sin and defeat passes over us.

Every time you see a butterfly, may it be a reminder of your new life in Christ and the truth that He is always working on your behalf. Maybe this Passover, a beautiful butterfly will “pass over” you!!!! Just go stand by a bunch of flowers…….

If you are interested, here is a blogpost called The Scarlet Worm which is a great reminder of the blood that was shed by Jesus as the Passover lamb.

Many blessings to you and your loved ones this Passover season!