Passover
Do not let anyone judge you with regard to a religious festival … these are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
~ Colossians 2:16-17
Jesus died at Passover.
Perhaps if the event were remembered by Christians at Passover every year the church might have had more success in reaching Jews with the good news of their Messiah. In addition, the church would have been edified by understanding the roots of the faith and the riches of the grace of God in His purposes for Israel.
The Last Supperby Leonardo da VinciRenaissance high art, mostly sponsored by the church, created a non-Semitic image of Jesus and the disciples in a European setting. This visual distortion of the truth affects the way many Christians think. It is no surprise that God said: "Make no graven image" [Exodus 20:4-5]
Exodus 20:4-5
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them …
About 300 years after Jesus, Christianity changed from being the faith of an oppressed minority into the religion of a triumphant empire. The Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian and the church moved to a place of partnership in the political order.
Soon after this a teaching developed that God had replaced Israel with the church. The Jews were no longer a chosen people, it seemed.
New festivals were decreed. Christmas was established as a date for the birth of Christ. In the mountains of the Bethlehem area it is too cold in late December to have flocks under the stars by night, as the New Testament relates, so this was certainly not the time of Jesus' birth. The mid-winter date was selected to draw pagans away from their feasts ÔÇô and symbols, such as Christmas trees and, later, Santa Claus, have pagan origins.
In like manner, Passover was rejected as a memorial date for the death and resurrection of Christ, precisely because it was Jewish. A new calendar around the worship of Aostre or Ishtar ÔÇô hence Easter ÔÇô was ordained. Modern-day elements, such as bunnies and eggs, are fertility symbols, again of pagan origin.
It is small wonder that the Bible says, about ritualistic observances:
"You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my time on you."
~ Galatians 4:10-11
For these reasons the sooner true Christians do away with observing the rituals of Christmas and Easter the better. The birth of Christ and especially His death and resurrection should be celebrated daily in the heart of every believer.
Turning the annual Jewish Passover into a substitute for Easter is not an option, but understanding how Jesus fulfilled the types and shadows in the Passover is instructive.
Passover ÔÇô the Feast fulfilled
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.
~ 1 Corinthians 5:7
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they, and their descendants, became separated from God.
Passover ÔÇô Spain ca1350Jews have kept the biblical feasts for more than 3,500 years. The story of the Exodus has been told at Passover wherever they have been scattered.God had said: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live."(Leviticus 23:14)
God's plan of redemption came through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the children of Israel. The Bible tells how God rescued the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Although they saw miracles they complained, and showed their unbelief, as they journeyed through the wilderness to the Promised Land. So God imposed the Law, through Moses. Israel accepted the new conditions of blessings for obedience and curses for failure.
The story is instructive because it shows that they, and all people, are unable to measure up in their own strength.
Galatians 3:19
What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come …
to God's unconditional promises because of their transgressions, and which was a curse on Israel[Galatians 3:10]
Galatians 3:10
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law".
, included moral and ceremonial requirements.
God knew that Israel would not be able to keep the Law. Nevertheless, He gave the Law for these reasons:
Psalms 19:7
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
Romans 3:20
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Hebrews 8:7-8
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:"The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."
Romans 10:4
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
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The Bible says that the Law was 'only a shadow of the good things that were to come' (Hebrews 10:1). The Old Testament has many types and shadows that pointed to the Messiah. The Feast of Passover was one of the ceremonial requirements of the Law.
Passover events that foreshadowed the Messiah and that were fulfilled in Christ
Israel had to take a lamb:
"Tell the whole community of Israel that each man is to take a lamb …"
~ Exodus 12:3
Jesus is the Lamb:
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
~ John 1:29
Israel had to take a lamb without defect:
"The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect."
~ Exodus 12:5
Jesus was sinlessly perfect:
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.
~ 1 Peter 2:22 and Isaiah 53:9
Israel had to put blood on the sides and top of the doorframes of their houses:
"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."
~ Exodus 12:7
Jesus shed His blood to cover our sins:
God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood.
~ Romans 3:25
The Israelites would be spared from death when they were under the blood:
"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 …"
~ Exodus 12:13
Jesus' blood covers our sins, so that we shall not be condemned:
We have been justified by His blood.
~ Romans 5:9
In Him we have redemption through His blood.
~ Ephesians 1:7
The Israelites had to stay in the house until morning:
"Not one of you shall go out of his house until morning."
~ Exodus 12:22
Faith in Jesus must be enduring:
He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation ├ö├ç├┤ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel …
~ Colossians 1:22-23
Israel was delivered out of slavery in Egypt:
On that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt.
~ Exodus 12:51
Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.
Exodus 13:3
Jesus gives spiritual deliverance from slavery to sin and the fear of death:
… He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death ├ö├ç├┤ that is, the devil ├ö├ç├┤ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
~ Hebrews 2:14-15
We were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
Galatians 4:3
Passover was linked to the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
The Lord's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.
~ Leviticus 23:5-6
Leaven is yeast. It causes bread to rise; to get puffed up. It is a picture of sin, through pride and selfishness. Israel had to eat bread without yeast.
Christians are called to humility:
Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast ÔÇô as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
~ 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
We can also see pointers to Jesus, and the community of believers that He would birth, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Jesus said: "I am the Bread of Life."
~ John 6:48
The Bible says that believers are one with Jesus ÔÇô one body [Colossians 1:18].
Colossians 1:18
"He is the head of the body, the church …"
To Jews, each day starts at sunset. The Sabbath is the last day of the week ÔÇô a Saturday. It starts on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening. Sunday follows the Sabbath. It is the first day of the week. It was the day that Jesus rose from the grave.
When Jesus rose from the dead, the church was born. The disciples became the firstfruits of the harvest ÔÇô the first grain unto God. They saw the resurrected Lord on Sunday ÔÇô the first day of the week by Jewish reckoning.
Israel had to bring a grain offering on the day after the Sabbath
The Lord's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins …
~ Leviticus 23:5-6
"When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath
~ Leviticus 23:9-11
Passover has been fulfilled. Jesus has accomplished redemption for all who believe in Him.
Passover ÔÇô the meal
Jesus said: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God."
Luke 22:15-16
The Last Supper, when Jesus ate with His disciples, was a Passover meal.
From the time of Moses, Jews have celebrated the Passover in the same way. The celebration is called a 'seder'. It means 'order' in Hebrew. There is a set order of service that has varied little for more than 3,500 years.
Seder books for PassoverThe Haggadah is the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Here is a Haggadah from the Middle Ages and a modern version.
The sequence can be summarised as follows:
Note that four cups of wine are drunk.
In Exodus, God said through Moses:
"I am the Lord,
1. I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
2. I will free you from being slaves to them
3. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
4. I will take you as My own people,
and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."
Exodus 6:6-7
Four promises are made to Israel.
The first cup of wine is called the cup of sanctification. It is to commemorate the promise: "I will bring you out."
The second cup is called the cup of plagues ÔÇô the plagues that came upon Egypt ÔÇô and it relates to the second promise: "I will free you from being slaves."
The third cup is called the cup of redemption, where God says: "I will redeem you."
The fourth cup is called the cup of completion, where God says: "I will take you as my own people."
There are four cups of wine in the Passover meal, to remind the Israelites of those four promises. The New Testament account of the Last Supper draws attention to two of those cups, and omits the last. This is significant. In addition, we see the following in the actions of Jesus.
The seder starts with the first cup of wine ÔÇô the cup of sanctification: "I will bring you out". God brings us out of Egypt ÔÇô out of the world and out of spiritual slavery to sin and the fear of death. Jesus drank this cup of wine with the disciples [Luke 22:17].
Luke 22:17
After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you."
Either at the point where the host washes His hands, or when everyone washes their hands, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples [John 13:3-5,12-17].
John 13:3-5,12-17
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" He asked them. "You call Me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
The three matzot ÔÇô the unleavened bread ÔÇô remind us of the Trinity ÔÇô the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Significantly, in the seder, the middle matzah is taken out and broken in two. Jesus' body was 'broken' for us.
Half is eaten then and half is hidden until later. Understanding God's promise of salvation for the remnant of Israel, we see a picture of the harvest of Jews who first came to faith and those who will find salvation in a time to come. The broken half is hidden during the seder and has to be found, later, by a child.
Jesus had said:
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
~ Mark 10:15
Childlike faith and trust is the way to God.
Note the appearance of the matzah. It is easy to see what looks like bruises and stripes, and that it is pierced. Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah:
"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."
~ Isaiah 53:5
Unleavened bread is bread without yeast. Yeast makes dough puff up. The matzah is also pierced ÔÇô again, to stop it puffing up. Jesus was meek and mild ÔÇô the opposite of proud and arrogant.
The second cup of wine is not mentioned in the gospels. It is the cup of plagues, drunk after the Passover story is told but before the meal.
At the point where bitter herbs are eaten, Jesus revealed that He would be betrayed by Judas: "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me" [Matthew 26:20-25].
Matthew 26:20-25
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, He said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me."
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord!"
Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Then Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
When the half matzah is found it is broken into pieces, distributed and eaten by everyone. Jesus said, at this point: "Take and eat; this is My body" [Matthew 26:26].
Matthew 26:26
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is My body."
Luke 22:20
In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you."
Matthew 26:27-28
Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
He did not drink the fourth cup of wine ÔÇô the cup of completion. He said that He will drink that cup with us in heaven [Matthew 26:29]
Matthew 26:29
"I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
They sang the hallel (or praise) psalms, ending with Psalms 118 [Matthew 26:30].
Matthew 26:30
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Psalms 118 is the middle chapter in the Bible (based on a word count in the original languages). This is one of the great Messianic passages in the Old Testament. It contains the following prophetic verses:
"The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation."
(verse 14)
"I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done."
(verse 17)
"Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.I will give You thanks, for You answered me; You have become my salvation."
(verses 19-21)
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstonethe Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."
(verses 22-23)
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."
(verse 26)
When Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, at the start of the passion week, the crowds cried out:
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."
~ Matthew 21:9
This, together with their cry of "Hosanna to the Son of David!" was acknowledgement of the Messiah. The terms in the Tanach were accepted as Messianic.
Jesus had said to the teachers of the Law and Pharisees: "You will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'" [Matthew 23:37-39].
Matthew 23:37-39
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
Jews who have rejected Jesus are waiting for the Messiah to come. He has come. And He is coming again. They will say:
"Baruch ha'ba b'shem Adonai"