In preparation for the last plague, the death of the firstborn, and Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, the Hebrews were told to sacrifice an ‘unblemished’ lamb.

They were then to spread its blood over the lentil of their homes so that the angel of the death would not kill their firstborn, and then eat the lamb in what would become the first Passover supper (seder).

The only requirement was the lamb had to be unblemished. According to Thayer’s, the Hebrew word form for unblemished, tâmı̂ym, means “complete, whole, entire, sound, healthful.”

⁵ Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (Exodus 12:5 NASV)

They had to use the best of their flock for the sacrifice, not the rejects or the lame.

Even today, Jewish priests are fastidious in enforcing this unblemished requirement for sacrifices. In September 2022, the Temple Institute purchased five Red Heifers from America, whose ashes are needed to purify the priests.

The Institute actually sent a Rabbi to examine the heifers with a magnifying glass to ensure they had no off-colored hairs.

And as the Passover sacrifice for the sins of the world, Jesus similarly needed to be unblemished or more specifically without sin. Speaking of the Lord, Peter wrote, “He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22 NASV).

Yet, despite this Biblical demand for Christ’s sinless perfection, a recent survey by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University revealed a strange thing happened over the course of the COVID pandemic, the Christian Post reports.

Today, less than half of born-again Christians, 44%, believe that Jesus led a sinless life on earth. Prior to COVID hitting in 2020, 58% of US Christians believed Jesus had a sinless life.

And this was not the only thinking that saw a dramatic shift through the COVID pandemic. The percentage of born-again Christians who believed life was sacred fell similarly from 60% to 48%.

And the percentage of those who were ‘deeply committed’ to practicing their religious faith fell from 85% to 50%.

So what happened?

Well, I suspect the COVID hard times tested the faith of every believer and all Christians suffered spiritually as a result, some more than others.

Can we recover?

Absolutely.

When the Lord warned the Apostle Peter that Satan had asked for permission to sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31). Peter responded that he would never deny Christ.

According to Got Questions, the word sift metaphorically meant to “shake someone apart” or “break a person down.”

This was going to be a severe testing and Jesus added that He would pray for Peter, so that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:32).

In response, Peter brashly vowed he was willing to go to prison for Jesus. While Peter had undoubtedly braced himself to face down a Roman centurion, he was not prepared for the small servant girl, who accused Peter of being with Jesus (Luke 22:56-60).

Peter’s faith faltered, and he denied knowing the Lord. Realizing what he had done, Peter fled in shame.

But despite his failure, after His resurrection, Jesus gathered His Apostle back into the fold.

And while all of us may have had our faith rattled through the past few years, the Holy Spirit is similarly drawing us back in.

READ: Less than half of born-again Christians believe Jesus lived sinless life on Earth: study