Passover for Israel was and remains a time for Israel to remember. To recall our redemption from bondage and how God who delivered us from bondage and slavery. Moses wrote:
(Exo 12:24-27) “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. “And it will come about when you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, that you shall observe this rite. “And it will come about when your children will say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.'” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
Let’s consider some essential elements of the Passover and the week of unleavened bread. In Jewish homes Passover is celebrated at the dinner table where we retell the outgoing from Egypt fulfilling Moses’ instructions in the above verses.
In our homes we generally read from a Haggadah to retell the story. Haggadah comes from the Hebrew word “to tell”. There are hundreds of different Haggadah’s in print that relate the essential elements of Passover from the writer’s perspective.
There are eight components of the Seder. The word Seder comes from the Hebrew word meaning “order” and speaks of the order of the retelling of the story of God’s redemption of Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt.
The Rabbi’s teach that all the Law and the prophets were written to point to the Messiah, the coming king of Israel. So, we will consider how the Seder foreshadows the Messiah.
- Removal of Leaven from our homes
In preparation for Passover, we are called to search and remove leaven in our households. The house with leaven in it was to be cut off from God and His people. (Exo 12:15) For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
Removing leaven is to remind us that our ancestors left Egypt in a hurry and didn’t have time for their dough to rise (Ex.12:34,39). It is also required to teach us that leaven is symbol of the “yester hara” or evil inclination, which the Talmud (Berachos 17a) refers to as “the leaven in the dough”.
This is what Yeshua taught as well (Mat 16:6-12) where He compared the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees as leaven. In much the same we are called to search for leaven in our lives prior to Passover and remove it.
Paul, writing to the believers in Corinth explains this Jewish understanding. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5:6-8).
Leaven is compared to malice and wickedness. Such behavior cuts us off from our relationship with God. Leaven, generally yeast, is placed in bread to make it rise. It continues to grow and permeate the bread until it is placed in the oven.
Sin is like leaven in our lives and God’s method for its removal is outlined in the New Covenant (1 John 1:9). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
Yeshua is our Passover, through Him we have been brought out of bondage and slavery, and like Israel we have begun our journey to the Promised Land.
Removal of the leaven is a reminder that Israel was redeemed to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). God made provision for their sin and holiness through the Tabernacle and the sacrifices offered there. So, New Covenant people are also called to be a kingdom of priests and holy to the Lord (1 Pet. 2:5). Passover is an annual reminder of our calling to be God’s holy people.
It is in the context of Passover that the Lord revealed to Paul concerning the Lord’s supper in 1 Cor. 11:23-32. In verses 27-31 Paul admonishes Believers to not eat the meal in an unworthy manner. This is a call to remove the sin or leaven in our lives before we partake of the meal. Failing to do so will bring the Lord’s discipline. If we continue in sin, we are told that it will leads to sickness and death (1 Cor. 11:30).
The Jewish people were told that if they failed to remove the leaven from their homes during Passover they would be cut off from Israel (Ex. 12:19). The same is true for us. So as we prepare our hearts for Passover we need to examine our lives and ask ourselves some questions.
- A second Key element in the Passover is the first of four cups that we partake, the cup of sanctification. To sanctify means to set apart. As Israel was set apart from Egypt so too have we.
The four cups of the Seder are tied to the four “I wills” God spoke in Ex 6:6-7 “I will bring you out… I will deliver you… I will redeem you… I will take you…”
The first cup: “I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt.” This is the beginning of redemption. God initiates the process before Israel does anything
Redemption begins with being set apart as God’s people Not just leaving Egypt. But becoming distinct. Israel was still physically in Egypt when God said, “I will bring you out.” So the first cup represents: The promise of redemption before its full realization
God’s people were called while we were in bondage, and so too we were dead in trespasses dead sins. Called but not yet saved.
Sanctification is an ongoing process and the will of God for God’s children (1 Thess. 4:2-3).
- The next significant part of the Seder is the washing of the hands or the Urchatz. It is ceremonial washing without saying a blessing that the children might ask the question why do we do this and not recite a prayer?
Our Messiah used this to teach His children an important lesson. They too questioned him why he would wash their feet. (John 13:3-16). The Passover meal is designed to engender questions we need to consider. So, we should consider why did Yeshua wash the disciples’ feet?
Do I have a servant attitude? Do I need recognition and credit for the things that I do? Do I esteem others as more important than myself (Phil. 2:6)?
- The fourth thing to consider in anticipation of Passover is the Maggid.
The Maggid is the story of redemption. In it we learn of God’s grace. Israel was in bondage and slavery but not totally victims, as many of us think. Part of their bondage was rooted in their spiritual rebellion to God. In Lev 17:7 and Josh. 24:14 we learn that our fathers in Egypt worshiped the idols and demons that the Egyptians did.
The Maggid is also the story of God’s grace in which we are called to remember that though we deserved judgment, God had mercy and delivered our fathers from bondage. In the same way we should remember our deliverance. We too should remember the state we were in before we were redeemed. We are prone to pride thinking that we somehow deserved to be redeemed, and that we are better than others.
That kind of pride and arrogance leading to being ungrateful. Such behavior can lead to a victim mindset when God’s discipline comes. We need to remember that we all deserve judgment damnation and death, but God gave grace to us. With that in mind we can find the ability to be gracious to others.
- The fifth aspect of Passover to consider is a song we sing during our dinner “Dayenu” (It would have been enough). It is a song calling for thankfulness.
To recall all that God did for us bringing us out of bondage, providing for us in the wilderness, and giving us His Word. Here are some of the lyrics of the song:
If He had merely rescued us from Egypt, but had not punished the Egyptians: Dayenu
If He had merely punished the Egyptians, but not had destroyed their gods: Dayenu
If He had merely destroyed their gods, but had not slain their first born: Dayenu
If He had merely slain their first born, but had not given us their property: Dayenu
If He had merely given us their property, but had not split the sea: Dayenu
If He had merely split the sea for us, but had not brought us through on dry ground: Dayenu
That is the basis of our thankfulness – to remember that we got here with by, and that He has provided every blessing we have. Being ‘thankful’ is not passive, but active. Many of us want to know what God’s will is for us. Well, this is clearly His will that we be thankful (1 Th 5:18).
In life, all people (including Believers) will be placed into situations which we may not like. Situations that may go against what we want. Situations that are downright awful. But the Word of God commands us, to give thanks, in everything, because giving thanks is the will of God for our lives.
Some of the barriers to not being thankful is thoughtlessness. “Think” and “thank” come from the same Anglo-Saxon root word. Often, we are ungrateful because we just don’t think what God has done for us. Thankfulness flows from a rembering His blessings. Listen to the words of David from Ps 103:
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits– who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
You may not have seen it but there are Five blessing in these verses that David gave thanks for (1) Forgiveness (2) healing (3) redemption (4) compassion (5) satisfaction.
A second barrier to thankfulness is faithlessness. Giving thanks is an expression of genuine faith and belief in God. The person who refuses to believe, can’t really be thankful because he trusts in himself.
A third barrier is discontent many suffer from the “thanks BUT” syndrome. Before we can genuinely be thankful, we must develop contentment (1 Tim 6:6-8).
Listen to the words of Paul, Phil. 4:11: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
A fourth barrier to thankfulness is selfishness. Those who have been blessed by God must learn to be a blessing.
In Matt 18:23-35 Yeshua taught a valuable lesson with the Parable of the Debtor.
His master had forgiven him a debt of 10,000 talents the equivalent of $10 million or 150,000 years of labor (15 years labor = 1 talent) While his fellow slave owed him 100 denari the equivalent of $18.00- or 100-days’ worth of labor (His lack of mercy demonstrated his ingratitude!)
God uses Passover and communion to prepare our hearts with gratitude and thankfulness for all our gracious God who has given to us, far more than we deserve. We truly deserve judgment and death but God has extended to us undeserved grace. All of us should remember Dayenu!
- Sixth, we remember the cup of Judgment. This is the second cup of the Passover Seder.
With this cup we remember the cup of plagues that came upon Egypt to affect our deliverance from bondage and slavery.
This points to a most important truth about the character of God. It is inconceivable to some people that God could hate…anything. Isn’t God “love?” Isn’t God “peace?” Isn’t God “mercy?” Yes, he is most certainly all of these. Passover is the story of all of that.
But a key attribute of who God is that He hates sin. We who have been redeemed by the mercy of God – have forgotten what it means to serve a God who hates sin.
We are constantly bombarded with calls “to be tolerant.” We are told that it is uncivilized to hate anything. Many Believers place themselves in a vulnerable position when we forget the story of Passover. When fear men more than we fear God. When we want to be more in tune with what is popular in society, rather than learning and obeying the Word of God.
When we forget the story of Passover we forget that God can do great and wondrous things for His children.
J. Kirk Johnston, in the book, “Why Christians Sin” wrote “Some Believers choose to sin because they have lost sight of what God has done for them. Some Believers choose to sin because they have forgotten that God will severely discipline those who rebel against Him. Some Believers choose to sin because they have lost their focus on the future.” But I would add a 4th: Some Christians choose to sin because they have forgotten how much God hates sin.
Passover is a story of God’s judgment; this is something we should always remember. That God judges sin as seen in the cup of plagues or judgment.
This cup helps us to see God’s justice in punishing sin, but His mercy in providing the Messiah to take our sin on Him.
In the garden after the Passover meal Yeshua prayed in Matt. 26:39: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Of all men who ever lived no one was more cursed than Yeshua. He was both our Passover lamb and the scapegoat of Lev. 16:20-22. He is the servant of the Lord described by Isaiah 700 years before Yeshua came (Isa. 52:13-53:12).
The Good News is that He drank the cup of judgment we deserved and for that we give thanks.
- Then we need to reflect on the Matzah and the Afikomen. This is the unleavened bread we eat at Passover also known as the bread of affliction.
The Afikomen comes from a special container on the Seder dinner table called the Matzah tash which pictures the echad or Unity of our God. It contains a slice of matzah placed in three different sections. The middle one is removed, and the father breaks it and says to all at the table “this is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the wilderness”.
The Middle Matzah is a picture our our Messiah who was unleavened in that He was sinless. The matzah also is pierced just as Yeshua was on the cross. It also is stripped as part of the baking process. It is then broken for which is a picture of His death for our sin. The Afikomen is wrapped in linen and hidden a picture of his burial.
After we have eaten the meal, the children are sent to look for the hidden Afikomen. The one who finds it receives a reward from the father leading the seder. Afikomen means “I have come”. In most Jewish homes we do not really know when this custom began and why we do this.
I believe that this is the bread that Yeshua broke after he had eaten and said represented His body which was given for us (Luke 22:19). This is the bread that points to the bread of communion. Which helps us to remember His body which was afflicted, broken, and given for us.
- The Third cup of the Seder is the “cup of redemption”. For Israel it was a reminder of the blood placed on the doorpost that separated those who were saved from the judgment of death of the first born.
Our Messiah took the third cup and said this is the new covenant my blood poured out for you. It is a reminder of The New Covenant made possible through His blood. As often as we eat the bread and drink of this cup, we are to remember the Lord’s death until He comes (Luke 22:19-20).
- The fourth cup is the cup of praise thanking God for our redemption.
The Seder ends with the readings of Psalms Ps 115-118. The 118th Psalm closes with the reminder in vv 20-26.
This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
O LORD, do save, we beseech You O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
The Stone the builders rejected is Yeshua and may we pray that the Jewish people this Passover might come to recognize the Stone.
