The central theme of the beginning of Sefer Shmot is clearly the bondage in Egypt and how Hashem in His infinite kindness redeemed us from there.  This week's parsha contains many psukim quoted in our Haggadah - three out of the four sons, vayehi bachazi halila, va-avarti beEretz Mizrayim balaila hazeh, the psukim cited in the Haggadah as the reasons for the mitzvah of Pesach and Matzah, and more.

This latter point requires further explanation.  Chazal (Sanhedrin 21b) teach us that the reasons for mitzvoth were not revealed to us with the exception of a king not being permitted to have too many wives and too many horses.  Therefore it is clear that Pesach, Matzah, and Marror are included in mitzvoth whose reasons were not revealed to us.  Why then do there appear to be reasons for these mitzvoth written in the Torah and emphasized by us at our Pesach Seder?  Even if the Torah may provide what appear as reasons, there are many more hidden reasons which were not revealed to us.

HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt"l points out that from here we can gain insight into the centrality of the Yom Tov of Pesach and of the exodus from Egypt.  We must emerge from Pesach, and perhaps also from learning these parshiot, with the clear knowledge that Hashem is constantly working miracles for us and guiding us, whether we realize or not.  The mitzvoth of Pesach are not counted among the mitzvoth with reasons revealed to us by the Torah, but it is important that we internalize the lessons of Yetziat Mizrayim and the Yom Tov of Pesach.

The Ramban at the end of our parsha emphasizes the importance of the ten plagues in Egypt bringing us to an understanding that Hashem is behind everything that happens, even what appears as "nature".

Let us elaborate on the three mitzvoth whose reasons we note in the Haggadah:

Pesach - the Torah writes that we offer the Korban Pesach because Hashem pasach, passed over, the houses of the Jewish people in Egypt thus saving us from the plague of Makat Bechorot (see Shmot 12;27 - read also on the first day of Pesach).  Rav Moshe points out "passing over" the Jewish houses does not necessarily imply that Jewish houses were sandwiched in between Egyptian houses and it was as if Hashem physically skipped over a Jewish home.  "Passing over" includes even those Jews who had no Egyptian neighbors, who were not near any danger.

Although it is easier to feel gratitude when close to a tragedy and saved from it, we must be grateful for not being near harm as well.  When a person emerges unscathed from a traffic accident, he is extremely grateful to Hashem.  What about one who drives from one point to another and could describe his trip as "uneventful", should he not thank Hashem for having spared him harm?  We are all well aware, unfortunately, of the terrible state of traffic fatalities.

Years ago, Andy Rooney at the end of 60 Minutes had a piece responding to people who asked: "why do you only report the news when it is bad?"  Andy Rooney proceeded to report the news "as you would like to hear it".  He began with "I am standing here by the Mississippi River, it is raining but there is no chance of flooding".  "An armored car transporting gold from one point to another arrived safely at its destination without a holdup."  "A plane took off from New York and landed safely in Los Angeles."  Andy Rooney of course was being cynical, but from our perspective we must be thankful for events such as these as well.

Matzah - We say in the Haggadah that we eat matzah to show that Hashem was able to redeem us before there was even time for our dough to rise.  Imagine, the entire Jewish population of Egypt - 600,000 men plus the women, children, and even animals, was cleared out in a total of 18 minutes.  The lesson from here is that no matter how difficult things may seem, HaKadosh Baruch Hu can see to it that the situation changes in no time.

How many of us, especially those who have been around longer, cannot testify to this?  Many have had difficulty finding a shidduch, having children, finding work, and many other things, and suddenly everything changes.  The matzah teaches us that Hashem's salvation can happen at any moment and we must keep on davening.

Marror - We eat the Marror to remember the bitterness of the bondage, as we read in Parshat Shmot: "vayemareru et chayeiheim - they embittered their lives."  To understand the context of this bitterness, we must remember the "glory days" when Yoseph was viceroy, the Jewish people held an honorable place in Egypt.  Suddenly "a new king arose over Egypt who did not know of Yoseph".  We must never rely on any foreign government to help us lead the lives we want without seeking Hashem's help.  At any moment the benevolent state can turn against us.

May we soon merit the geulah shlema.