I want to share some beginner points to Passover. I love studying the feast of God and how very symbolic His teachings are. It’s important that we believe the whole Bible as God’s word and not just the parts we agree with.
Matthew 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
As always I encourage you to read the book of Exodus for the facts of this God-appointed feast and the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.
Believers in Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua His Hebrew name, have the freedom to celebrate the feast of God, and it’s time once again to take part in the remembrance of Passover. However, we must observe it in accordance with the New and Old Covenant. All of the Levitical laws must be fulfilled as we look forward to His second coming. Passover is a powerful foreshadowing of Yeshua’s sacrificial death, burial and resurrection. Taking part in the Passover feast is a great way to teach our children their heritage and serve as a testimony to Jewish friends we are trying to reach.
Let’s look at the Old Covenant and New Covenant requirements together.
Exodus 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
Under the Old Covenant the Jewish people ate unleavened bread to remember how hastily the Exodus was for their ancestors.
Exodus 12:39 39With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
New Covenant
1 Corinthians 5:8 Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(Leaven was yeast, yeast in the New Testament represents sin.)
Yeshua celebrated all God commanded feast, He was without sin. At Passover, Jesus told His disciples:
Luke 22:15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
During the meal He took the elements of the Passover, unleavened bread and the cup, and said they symbolized His sinless body and blood. He was referring to His death.
Passover is a seven-day celebration.
Leviticus 23:4-8 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,[a] is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”
Passover begins with the removal of leaven, again representing sin.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The meal shared during Passover is called the Seder, a ceremonial dinner that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and includes the reading of the Haggadah and the eating of symbolic foods.
Below are some, not all of the traditions I have been a part of while celebrating with other believers.
Washing of Hands. A ceremonial cleansing that Yeshua also took part in but rather than wash just His hands, He got up from the table and washed the feet of His disciples, giving a profound lesson in humility. (John 13:2-17)
The family gathers around the table and the father tells the Haggadah. The Haggadah means “the telling” it is the telling of the story of Passover, the Exodus from Egypt.
Four Cups:
The First Cup. The seder begins with a blessing over the 4 cups, Jesus also blessed the first cup. Luke 22:17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
The 2nd Cup is to remind us of the Ten Plagues and the suffering of the Egyptians. In order not to rejoice over others suffering you spill a drop of the fruit of the vine, which is a symbol of joy.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
The seder meal is all symbolic. Karpas or parsley which symbolizes life is dipped in saltwater as a symbol of tears to remind us that life for our ancestors was immersed in tears.
Bitter herb usually horseradish is eaten with matzah to bring tears to your eyes in order to recognize we were once slaves to sin.
Charoset (chopped apples, nuts, honey) is a symbol of morta that Jews used to build bricks in the land of Egypt. It shows that even the bitterest of labor can be sweet when redemption draws near. It is a reminder to us that even when life is bitter we know our Lord is coming near one day.
Shankbone of a lamb. In Exodus, Jewish firstborns were spared from the angel of death by applying the blood of a spotless, innocent lamb to the doorpost of their homes. Today we believe Yeshua is the perfect Passover Lamb! When we apply His blood to the doorpost of our heart we too go from death into life, to being a redeemed child of God!
Third Cup. This cup is taken after the meal. It is the cup of redemption to serve as a reminder of the shed blood of the innocent Lamb. Jesus took the Third Cup:
Luke 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Fourth Cup: Cup of Hallel. Hallel in Hebrew means “praise.” Yeshua had praise on His lips as He went to His death.
John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
4th Elijah’s Cup: A place setting remains empty for Elijah the prophet, an honored guest at every Passover table. The Jewish people expect Elijah to come at Passover and announce the coming of the Messiah.
Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes."
Those of us who believe in Yeshua know that He is the one the prophets spoke of. He is the spotless, unblemished Passover Lamb, whose body was broken for us and whose blood was shed, and who now LIVES in all who apply His blood on the doorpost of our hearts as we pass from death into His eternal life.
Matthew 26:29 "I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
Of course in Jesus' time a number of the traditional observances were not a part of the celebration. But the 3 major component parts were in place: the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The washing and cups of wine were a part of the seder and the dipping of the bitter herbs in a bowl of saltwater.
Matthew 26:23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.”
It will be a sweet intimate time with my Lord as I honor God's command to celebrate the feast. I encourage you to do the same.
When did it happen?
John 19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
The Passover lamb was slain at twilight Wednesday as Thursday was beginning. Jewish days go from sunset to sunset. Thursday was the preparation for the Passover and that evening (the beginning of Friday) the Passover was eaten - including the Passover meal eaten by Yeshua and His disciples. Gethsemane was later that night. The arrest, trial by Annas and Caiphas went on late into the night.
The rooster crowd during Peter’s denial pointing out it was early in the morning, it was now Friday morning, still the day of Passover when Yeshua was taken to Pilate.
Matthew 27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
Jesus was taken to be crucified, and was dead and buried before the weekly Sabbath (Friday evening to Saturday sunset).
Again following the Laws of God as the perfect sacrifice..
Jesus still fulfilled the law from Leviticus when He too was examined before the High Official before sacrifice.
Leviticus 22:17 Adonai spoke to Moses saying: 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all Bnei-Yisrael, and say to them: Whoever is from the house of Israel, or one of the outsiders in Israel who brings his offering, whether it be any of their vows or any of their freewill offerings that they present to Adonai for a burnt offering— 19 for you to be accepted—you are to offer a male without blemish, from the bulls, the sheep or the goats. 20 But whatever has a blemish you are not to present, for it will not be acceptable on your behalf. [a] 21 Whoever brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Adonai to fulfill a vow or for a freewill offering, either from the herd or the flock, it must be unblemished to be accepted—there must be no defect on it.
(note or one of the outsiders above. Many non jews confessed Yahweh as the one true God and left with the Jewish people)
Luke 23:14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
Jesus was to be dead three days and three nights.
Matthew 12:40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus spoke of rising from the dead on the 3rd day.
Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
THE IMPORTANT THING IS, HE IS RISEN!
Exodus 12:14 This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
Either we believe the whole book or we don’t.