April 13, 2009
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. ” John 10:17-18
These are the words of Jesus, Y’shua, our Messiah. They are so loving and truthful. He chose, willingly, to be our sacrificial Lamb, knowing that through His physical death, He would live again, and we too would have a chance to live eternally with Him. That is obedience and love.
Once our family starting learning about the Feasts and Festivals of the Bible our schedules and focus changed forever. Our activities, food, hobbies, vacations and other aspects of our life revolve around the Biblical calendar.
We are in the “Spring Feasts” season. It’s a busy time. Passover is one of the highlights and possibly one of the more well known feasts. Our congregation Passover was incredible this year. There were many reasons for this, but instead of telling you everything, I’ll show you:
The depiction of “the blood on the doorposts in Egypt” so that Elohim would pass over them and not bring death to their first born.
The wedding chuppah or wedding canopy, symbolic for the return of Jesus, Y’shua for his bride.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:7-9
We usually do hand washing instead of feet washing at our larger Passover Sedars.
The first of the four cups of Passover. The Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Deliverance, the Cup of Redemption, and the Cup of Praise. “And he (Jesus/Y’shua) took the cup and gave thanks…” Luke 22:17
The Lord, Elohim, sent 10 plagues against the land of Egypt, for Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. We dip our finger in the cup and drop a droplet on the plate as we recall each plague: Blood – Frogs – Lice – Flies – Animal disease – Skin disease- Hail – Locusts – Darkness – Death of the firstborn.
The bread of affliction or matzah. As Jesus, Y’shua was bruised, striped, and pierced, so is the bread at our Passover and the bread we eat for the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows.
Traditionally there are three pieces of matzah wrapped together during the evening. We take the middle one and break it in half. It represents our Messiah’s body which was broken for us. We wrap one of the halves in a white napkin or cloth and call it the afikomen. That is Greek for the one that comes after, or dessert. We hide it from the younger kids, so that later in the evening they can look for it, just as Jesus the Messiah returned from the tomb and will soon return to us.
Of course the kids have to hide their eyes…no peeking!
The bitter herb of horseradish is spread on the matzah for us to eat, just as the Israelites had a bitter life in slavery and as Y’shua took the bitter cup of His death for us. Horseradish is hot, so a cool glass of water afterwards is appreciated.
By dipping our parsley into salt water, we are reminded of the salty tears the Israelites cried while in slavery, in Egypt. Y’shua also cried while He prayed to His Father before he was betrayed.
Sweet and bitter. Charoset, a mixture of apples, nuts, honey, mixed with horseradish reminds us of the clay the Israelites used to make bricks and of the sweetness of the Messiah, even when things are not going so well in our lives.
Reclining is acceptable at Passover, although it’s difficult to do in a formal setting. We can relax knowing that we’ve been set free by the blood of the Lamb, Y’shua, just like the Israelites were spared and set free by the blood on their doorposts.
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12
Dayenu! That means, “It would have been sufficient.” We all love to sing this song. Our good friend Eleanor leads us every year.
Back to the afikomen, who can find it for a ransom, just like Y’shua who ransomed us back to the Father.
Elijah is our expected guest each year. We set a place for him and send a young one to the door to see if he is here. “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Yahweh.” Malachi 4:5
It is our hope that the “spirit of Elijah” will move upon the hearts of us all, causing us to remember His laws and decrees (Torah).
Maybe next year.
The last cup is drank, the Cup of Praise. We have so much to be thankful for. Our heavenly Father provides well for His children. We have a Savior, His Word, homes, jobs, cars, clothes, good health, talents and gifts, freedom to worship, a purpose, wives, husbands, children, parents, family, and friends.
I’ll leave you with a few words from an aspiring young man. He’s almost through with his first year of college and he looks and sounds like he’s off to a great start.
Though certain members of the Catholic Church may object, Jesus wasn’t creating the concept of communion at this moment in time. “Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat,” he tells Peter and John a few verses earlier (Luke 22:8). Clearly, rather than creating a new institution, he was reaffirming that which had already been being acted out for 1500 years since the time of Moses.
Furthermore, Jesus is our Passover lamb. In Exodus chapter twelve, God commanded the Israelites to kill the paschal lamb to paint over their doorposts to protect them from the angel of death.
“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats” (Exodus 12:5)
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things… But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
The early church fathers recognized Jesus as the sacrificial paschal lamb. When the Roman soldiers came to Jesus to break his legs to speed up his death, they realized that he was already dead, so they didn’t break them (John 19:33). “For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.” The scripture John is referencing is from Exodus 12:46, “In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.”
Peradventure they had broken his bones, he would have been unable to serve as the paschal lamb. As all of you know, God commanded his people to kill a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood so that way that angel of death would pass over (hence the name Passover). Similarly, Jesus’ blood protects us from the sting of death.
It would be a flagrant exegete of Pauline theology to suggest that Paul didn’t support keeping the feast of Passover. Furthermore, he implored the Corinthian church to do so by saying, “…Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast…” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
As if both Jesus and Paul instructing the Church to observe Passover wasn’t enough, God himself said in Exodus 12:14, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.”
If we were supposed to cease from celebrating the feast of Passover after Christ resurrected, God must be shortsighted, limited-by-time, and certainly cannot be all-knowing. If any of you have the audacity to apply any of those attributes to God, I pray for your soul. As such, Yahweh, Jesus, and Paul all agree—Passover should be commemorated and honored forever.
Though I could write at length on all of the Christian themes that the “Jewish” feast of Passover has, I’ll only select one. Each year during the Passover Seder, three pieces of matzo are placed in a “unity bag,” which is divided into three compartments. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). This vivid picture of the Godhead is astounding, especially considering that the Jews deny the existence of any sort of trinity. As if that weren’t enough, the middle piece is removed, broken, wrapped in a linen cloth, and then hidden—a picture of Jesus’ descent from heaven, crucifixion, and burial.
Also, one must understand the nature of matzo to fully realize how incredible this is. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Matzo appears to be bruised, striped, and pierced (John 19:34). Also, matzo is a flatbread made without yeast as the Israelites didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise in their haste to flee Egypt. Leaven represents sin. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” Galatians 5:9. Jesus himself recognized this uncanny parallel as being a representation of himself when he said,” this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
Every year, Jews across the world wrap this sinless, pierced, bruised, striped, piece of matzo in linen, hide it, and then ransom it (thirty pieces of silver, anyone?).
Passover is the essence of Christianity. In ancient Egypt, the Israelites sacrificed a perfect, innocent lamb to redeem them from the sting of death. Our sin nailed the perfect, innocent Lamb of God to a wooden beam 2000 years ago. His blood redeems us today.
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him… the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Passover is a story of redemption. God delivered the Israelites from the hand of their oppressors. In the same sense, God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ suffered the deepest and most unimaginable death to redeem his people from their sins.
“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 3:16).
Honor Jesus. Celebrate Passover.
“I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of Elohim comes.” Luke 22:17
Whoa! this is great. Keep the feasts forever!
Please let me know where in Toronto children and their families will be able to celebrate the passover that points to Jesus!
Thank you