A Year of Celebrating Biblically: Passover
Passover: the gravity of sin and the necessity of a savior played out over dinner.
On the night He was betrayed, Maschiach Yeshua took the matzah, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body. Take and eat. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way He took the Cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Such a strange thing for Jesus to say. Such a strange metaphor: body and blood. Under Mosaic Law such a thing was sinful; even today cannibalism is, to put it lightly, frowned upon. And yet, perhaps, it is not so odd. Jesus began His earthly ministry by transforming the water in the ceremonial cleansing jars into the best of the wedding wine. Now at the end of His ministry He takes the cup of wine and concludes, “This is my blood, poured out for you, so that judgement and wrath would pass over— my blood poured out to cleanse you.”
And again, at the start of His ministry, His cousin John the Immerser calls out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Just as the people of God had consumed the Passover lamb for generations, Jesus in like manner says, “This is my body. Take and eat.” In a sense, His earthly ministry ends much in the way it began: body and blood.
What so many have called the Last Supper, Jesus knew was his last seder— that night was a night of Pesach (Passover), a celebration of the redemption of the people of God with His mighty hand and outstretched arm.
When Jesus took the cup, He symbolically re-iterates and then, in a sense, clarifies, “There is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood. This is my blood poured out for you.” Meditation and contemplation upon this divine act — fully God in human form, humbled to a willing death on the cross— should stir up our affections for our Savior; the gravity of sin, and the necessity of savior become a stark reality by impacting the five senses over the course of the dinner: smelling the wine, tasting the bitter herbs, touching and breaking the bread, hearing the Word of the Lord proclaimed, and, today, seeing the Bride of Christ partaking in a literal Love (Agape) Feast. Such an evening compels worship and creates a far reaching impact.
The Original Passover: An Overview
The Israelites had been mistreated under Egypt’s tyrannical rule. Israelite parents and children were enslaved. Infants were being thrown in the river, or murdered upon birth. They were oppressed and full of sorrows. When God saw fit, He raised up Moses as a redeemer and deliverer for His Chosen People. He sent Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh with one simple, impactful directive: "Let my people go”.
Pharaoh’s response was a quick, unyielding: No.
What ensued was a systematic display of God’s holy power and dominion over all creation. One by one, the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob picked off the gods of the Egyptians— sending plagues to undermine each false god’s area of rule. With the final plague, the Death of the Firstborn, the Israelites were provided a means of escape, a way to be “passed-over” by the harbinger of death executing God’s holy judgment.
In Exodus 12, Moses explains to the congregants of Israel — in not so many words — that this event was to be so transformative that it would mark the beginning of their calendar year. This, this event, would start the People of God, Chosen by God, for the Purpose of God off on a literal journey of transformation into a nation with their own distinctive language, religion, customs, laws, and, yes, calendar.
But first, they needed a lamb— a perfect, male lamb to be slain. His blood was to put put upon the posts and lintel of the door. Afterward, his body was to be eaten. This physical act would echo into the words of John the Immerser, as mentioned earlier. He declared to crowd that Jesus was the Lamb of God, here to take away the sins of the world. And in the hours before his arrest, Jesus said, “Take eat. This is my body.” And like manner so many generations before, the Israelites ate the flesh of the lamb with bitter herbs and matzah, unleavened bread.
That night when the Angel of Death entered Egypt, he passed over the homes of those covered by the blood of the lamb, thereby sparing the firstborn son therein.
With the conclusion of this final plague and the death of Pharaoh’s firstborn son, Israel found freedom. Released by Pharaoh, they left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and began ever so slowly to understand their identity and purpose as God’s Chosen People.
The Passover Celebration: A Haggadah
While God’s original instructions to Moses detailing the Passover preparations covers only a handful of verses in the Bible, man’s tradition over the years has transformed the original, solemn, dinner into an extended feast devoted to the praise, worship, and adoration of the Almighty One who delivers and redeems His People with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. This involved and participatory evening requires a pamphlet (haggadah) so that all can follow along.
Rabbi Sobel makes a beautiful point in his book, “Aligning with God’s Appointed Times” when he writes:
Moses’s first miracle when he was delivering Israel from Egypt was to turn the water into blood. Yeshua-Jesus’ first public miracle at the start of His ministry of redemption was to turn the water into wine. . . Jesus, as the greater Moses, did not come to bring death; rather, He came ‘that they might have life, and have it abundantly!’ (John 10:10).”
Because of Jesus the Messiah, the Passover Lamb, not only has death passed over born-again believers, but they have passed from death to life! (1 John 3:14). He is the better Moses and the fulfillment of the Passover.
In celebrating Passover, we thank the Lord for:
The work of His mighty hand and outstretched arm in redeeming His people, Israel;
His mighty, saving power for His people, His Bride;
And the banqueting table He will share with her on the New Earth.