Passover to Easter
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This last Friday was Passover. The very first Passover was instituted over 3400 years ago. The book of Exodus gives a detailed account of why this is a special festival to the Lord and how to prepare for it and carry it out. Let's read.
11 “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
17 “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
24 “Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever. 25 When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. 26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’ ” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
8 “On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’ 9 This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.’ 10 So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.
God instructed Moses to lead the people of Israel in a ceremony that will be a reminder of how God rescued them out of the land of Egypt.
16 This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the Lord’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt.”
One might ask why a non-Israelite (non-Jew), or better yet a Christian would celebrate Passover. Passover is a reminder of how God brought them out of the land of Egypt. That's a fair question. Only if there was no new testament though. Remember, just as yeast or leaven represents sin; Egypt represents bondage to sin.
This ceremony pointed back to Egypt until Jesus comes on the scene. He revealed the new meaning of why we celebrate Passover, even as Christians.
Two main elements make up the first Passover.
One, eat no bread with yeast in it. Eat only Matzah, unleavened bread. What happens if you don't add yeast to your bread? Exactly, it becomes a cracker.
Two, sacrifice a 1-year-old lamb, spotless without defect and paint the doorposts of your house with its blood. Weird, but okay.
That was the requirements for the first Passover.
All other Passover celebrations required eating only Matzah and sacrificing a lamb but did not require painting with its blood.
1 “In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib, for that was the month in which the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the Lord your God at the designated place of worship—the place he chooses for his name to be honored. 3 Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, as when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread—the bread of suffering—so that as long as you live you will remember the day you departed from Egypt. 4 Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for those seven days. And when you sacrifice the Passover lamb on the evening of the first day, do not let any of the meat remain until the next morning.
Passover was celebrated with these two elements until 70 AD when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed; the place God chose for his name to be honored.
Throughout some 1400 years of the Passover celebration, different elements were added to the Passover seder, the symbolic meal.
Traditionally, throughout the Passover seder, everyone will drink “the fruit of the vine” four different times, remembering the four promises God gave to Moses before the exile from Egypt found in .
6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’ ”
1. I will bring you out (cup of sanctification)
2. I will free you from (cup of deliverance)
3. I will redeem you (cup of redemption)
4. I will take you as my own people (cup of restoration)
First, everyone recites the Kiddush (a blessing expressing the sanctity of the Sabbath) over the first cup. Then, the Exodus story is read over the second cup. Next, everyone will recite the "Grace after Meals" over the third cup. And last, everyone sings the "big Hallel" (Psalms and hymns of praises to God) over the fourth cup.
This is the Passover Jesus celebrated.
We'll now skim through Lukes account of the Gospel to connect the dots.
1 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is also called Passover, was approaching. 2 The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.”
I always like this part of the story. It's like James Bond, 007. Top secret spy stuff.
"When you enter Jerusalem, you see a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. He will enter a house and there you'll say the secret password and he'll take you to a large room that is set up for us. Prepare our Passover seder there. What's the secret password, Jesus? 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’'
13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
(ESV)
They reclined at the table. This was a sign of freedom. They were able to relax and enjoy this meal.
15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.
This was either the first or second cup, the Bible doesn't explicitly say. But it does say that it was before the meal.
The Passover seder is broken up into 15 sections. I'll briefly cover them for context.
1. Kadesh – a blessing over wine (First Cup)
2. Ur-chatz – ritual washing of hands without the usual blessing
3. Karpas – eating some leafy greens or green vegetables
4. Yachatz – raising up and breaking the middle Matzah
5. Maggid – the telling of the Exodus story (Second Cup)
6. Rach-tzah – ritual washing of hands before the meal, with the blessing
7. Motzi – the blessing over the Matzah and the meal
8. Matzah – another blessing over the Matzah, this time emphasizing the special nature of eating Matzah as a Passover ritual act
9. Maror – eating bitter herbs
10. Korech – eating a sandwich of Matzah and bitter herbs
11. Shulchan Orech – the festive meal
12. Tzafun – eating the Afikomen
13. Barech – grace after meals (Third Cup)
14. Hallel – singing psalms of praise (Fourth Cup)
15. Nirtzah – conclusion
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
This was probably #1, the first cup.
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
This was possibly #4 but more likely #12
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
This was #13, the third cup, the cup of redemption.
Matthew gives us a little more detail.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Paul instructs the church at Corinth on these matters.
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
It seems that Jesus skipped the fourth cup in #14, the cup of restoration. He fulfilled everything in the Passover except for the cup of restoration. He said that he won't drink wine until "the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom."
6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:
“Praise the Lord!
For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice,
and let us give honor to him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb,
and his bride has prepared herself.
8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”
For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”
That is during the wedding feast of the Lamb. When the church is presented to Christ as a pure bride.
This matzah represents Jesus’ body, sacrificed for us. For those who have yet to recognize the Messiah, this bread is a reminder of our redemption from Egypt. But for those who have come to Messiah, this bread is eaten in remembrance of Him
This bread and third cup remind us of the eternal relationship we have with our God, that we know Him, not merely know about Him. To know Him is relationship; to merely know about Him is religion.
Passover leads us to recognize that the lamb was not only to be slain but that the blood had to be applied to the door. If all the lambs of Egypt were slain but the blood was not applied, then the death angel wouldn't have passed over, and no redemption.
So also, the fact that Jesus, the Passover lamb has been slain for our redemption does us no good, unless ‘the blood has been applied’.
By trusting in Messiah’s sacrifice, we apply His blood as an atonement to our heart’s door.
Please stand while we come forward to prepare to take communion.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
Take a moment to examine yourself then come forward, break a piece of matzah, take a cup, and we'll all partake together.
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
You may eat the bread and drink the cup.