Our Jewish Roots

Each year all over the world Jews celebrate the wonderful way God helped them escape from slavery in Egypt. They call this celebration ‘Passover’. A few days before Jesus was crucified, he journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations where He ate a Passover meal with his disciples. Today there are many different versions of the Passover meal. The following guide is based on the Jewish Passover meal with a few different foods and the inclusion of the Christian meaning.

Spiritual Significance of this Meal

Exodus 12:43-49 states that with regard to the Passover meal that: "no foreigner may eat of it". For Christians the celebration given by Jesus is Communion - which our Lord instituted at The Last Supper (Passover). Hence the following celebration must be held as a celebration of Communion and that our salvation is in Christ alone. The following demonstration of the Passover feast highlights the spiritual significance in the Passover of the details which point to Christ and his command to take the Bread and the Wine in memory of him (Luke 22:19). Jesus is our Passover Lamb and the following meal is to show us why this is so...

The Cross Displayed

The following are the traditional parts of the Passover meal:

The lighting of two candles
The drinking of four cups of wine
The eating of symbolic foods
The retelling of the Passover story
The main meal
The reciting of Psalms of praise.

The Jewish Passover is preceded by the removal of all yeast and leavened food from the house in accordance with God’s instructions. Although Christians are not bound to perform this cleaning, they might choose to do it either actually or symbolically. This symbolises our desire to clean the yeast of sin from our lives (l Cor 5:7).

During the course of the meal four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk. These are:

the Cup of Sanctification
the Cup of Judgment
the Cup of Hope
the Cup of Redemption

These cups recall the seven promises the Lord made to the Jews:

I am the Lord your God
I will bring you out from wider the yoke of the Egyptians
I will free you from being slaves to them
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment
I will take you as my own people
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
I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD." (Exodus 6:6-8)

These four cups are taken at different points in the meal. The third cup of Redemption is understood to be the moment when Jesus and His disciples shared the first Communion (1 Cor 11:23-27).

The main meal is usually a roasted lamb dish with vegetables. Dessert and sweets also have important symbolic value, representing the land of milk and honey to which God took His people.

Many Jews no longer eat lamb at Passover because the Temple sacrifices are no longer offered. Instead they substitute a symbolic shankbone of lamb (Zeroah). However Christians are free to eat lamb as symbolic of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:36).

At every Seder Meal, an additional setting is made with an empty chair, and the main door is left ajar. Tradition has it that this seat is reserved for Elijah - who is expected to return during this period and so the door is left open for him: "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes" (Malachi 4:5).

It is also possible that the empty seat with the settings are to provide for any Jewish traveller who may chance to drop in and join the meal. The door left ajar could also have also originated from the 12th Century when Christians in England first levelled the charge of ritual murder against Jews. The Jews were alleged to have killed Christian children before Easter for ritual purposes (known as blood libel). To avoid such suspicions, the main door was left open for anyone to see that this was nothing more than a family meal.

The Psalms of praise are traditionally chosen from the Hallel Psalms (113-118) and the Great Hallel psalm 136 (Hallel means 'praise’).

Note: a guide to the preparation of the food and Biblical background information are included below.

Meal Procedure

1. Lighting of the Candles

The Seder Meal commences with the lighting of the two candles by the lady of the household. A lady always lights the candles because it was through a woman (Eve) that darkness came upon the world and it was also through a woman (Mary) that Light (Jesus) came into the world. The woman says a prayer after the lighting of the candles.

Hostess
Blessed are you O Lord our God, Lord of the universe - who has kept us alive by your Word. May the light of your face shining on us in blessing and peace consecrate our house.

2. The Cup of Sanctification

Host
The Passover meal has begun. During our Seder we will drink from our Cups four times. The first is the Cup of Sanctification by which we commit this time to God and His glory." Let us take a time of personal examination and silent confession in preparation before the Lord (1 Cor 11:28).

Host
We thank you Lord that you gave your life to cleanse us from all sin. We confess our sin and desire to set ourselves aside to serve you and your purposes - as you have first served us (John 15: 16 and 1 John 1:7).

All drink from the cup of Sanctification.

3. Washing of Hands or Feet

This should occur here to symbolise our desire to live pure lives before God (John 13:3-16).

4. The Passover Story and the Cup of Judgment

Youngest child
Why is this night of the Passover different to other nights?

Host
We celebrate tonight in this special way so that we can remember how God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt. The meal also reminds us how Jesus rescued us from slavery to evil and death.

When drinking the Cup of Judgment, a drop of wine is removed from the overflowing cup (the joy of the Lord is always overflowing) with the little finger each time one of the ten plagues is recited. This is to remind us that when others turn away from God, as did Pharaoh and the Egyptians, we cannot be full of joy. Our joy is diminished as we recall the plagues God used to deliver the Jews. The removal of the droplets of wine is also to signify that although we exalt the power of God, we do not rejoice at the distress of our foes. God saves - but at a great cost!

This is done in accordance with the Lord’s decree that "On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’ (Exodus 13:8).

Here are the main points of the story leading up to the Passover:

Joseph was sold by his brother as a slave into Egypt
Joseph was raised by the Lord to be the second man in Egypt
Jacob and his other children were brought into Egypt by the seven-year famine that ravaged the land
The family were reunited with Joseph
The later Pharaohs who did not know Joseph enslaved the Israelites in Egypt
The Lord delivered His people from their enslavement to the Egyptians with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgment through Moses (the miracles are listed below).
God parted the Red Sea so that the Jews crossed it as on dry land
The pursuing Egyptian army was drowned in the waters when the sea closed over them
God brought the Jews into the promised land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Host or narrator may read the story from Exodus 12 or tell the story of Exodus 1-12 in his own words - covering the bullet points above. See also Biblical background information below.

All
At the completion of the story all drink from the second cup - the Cup of Judgment…

Thank you Lord for the salvation from your judgment of our sin, obtained on our behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. The Matzah

Three pieces of matzot are used. At the beginning of the meal when the matzot are broken, the second piece of the matzah (known as the Afikomen) is hidden away - and only restored to the table towards the end of the meal.

Note: Matzah is singular and Matzot is pleural.

Youngest child
Then what do these special foods mean?

Host
See the Biblical background information below.

All
At the completion of the story all drink from the second cup - the Cup of Judgment…

Thank you Lord for the salvation from your judgment of our sin, obtained on our behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. The Matzah

Three pieces of matzot are used. At the beginning of the meal when the matzot are broken, the second piece of the matzah (known as the Afikomen) is hidden away - and only restored to the table towards the end of the meal.

Note: Matzah is singular and Matzot is pleural.

Youngest child
Then what do these special foods mean?

Host
The matzah is a symbol of God helping His people to escape from Egypt. Yeast makes bread rise, but it takes time. The Hebrews had to make hasty preparations to leave Egypt - they did not have time to wait. They also took the Matzot with them in obedience to the Lord's command to eat unleavened bread over the next seven days. They were not to take the leaven (sin) of Egypt with them.

The matzot shows burnt and striped marks (produced in the process of baking) - and they are pierced with holes to keep the matzah flat. The matzot points the Israelites to the body of the Messiah ~ a sinless body (unleavened), striped through lashing and "pierced for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5).

God has provided prophetic insights about the Messiah in the Seder Meal. However Jews still do not realise that the matzah they eat during the Seder Meal is a prophesy already fulfilled in Christ.

Host
The host breaks the unleavened bread and prays: "Thank you Lord God for rescuing your people and bringing them out of slavery. Thank you for your sinlessness and your delivery of us from slavery to sin. Thank you for this special food".

Matzot is passed around and each person breaks off two pieces.

All
Blessed are you O Lord our God for saving us from our slavery to sin.

6. The Seder Plate

Youngest child
Then what do these special foods mean? What is the meaning of the greens and salt water?

Host
The karpas is to remind the people of the hysop branches that the Israelites use to paint the blood of the lamb over the lintels of their door posts. It also symbolises new life and points to the waving of branches as the people shouted "Hosanna!" as Jesus entered Jerusalem (Mark 11:9).

The salt water is to remind the Israelites of the tears of sorrow and oppression they shed while in enslavement in Egypt. This also reminds us of the tears Jesus wept as He looked upon Jerusalem.

"Oh 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." (Matthew 23:37).

All dip greens in salt water and eat… initially, the taste is pleasant but it soon turns bitter in the mouth.

Host
This pleasant-bitter experience reminds the Israelites of the pleasant life their forefathers had when Joseph was second only to Pharaoh in Egypt - and how their life became bitter when subsequent Pharaohs who did not know Joseph enslaved them.

For us who believe in Jesus, this pleasant-bitter experience reminds us of how temptations lead to sin, and how initial indulgences produce a false sense of elation to the flesh. Sooner or later this turns to sorrow and bitterness. The salt water also reminds us of the bitter tears of repentance for our sins that we shed before the Lord as He brings us back to Himself again.

All
What is the meaning of the bitter herbs?

Host
They symbolise the bitterness of life in Egypt, where the Egyptians used the Israelites ruthlessly as slaves. They also remind us of the deep bitterness of a life ‘gripped by sin and death. We eat the matzah with the bitter herbs in accordance with the Lord’s instruction:

"... they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast." (Exodus 12:8).

This also reminds us of the bitterness of life apart from Jesus the Messiah, when we were under the bondage of sin… and of the wine vinegar given to Jesus as he hung on the Cross. (Matthew 27:48).

All eat a small helping of bitter herbs (Karpas) with matzah.

All
What is the meaning of the sweet Charoseth?

Host
The charoseth is sweet and fibrous. It reminds us of the clay mixed with straw that the Israelites used to make bricks in Egypt. The sweetness is to remind them that even in their hard labour and suffering, they can always look to the promise of the Lord to deliver them. For we who believe in Jesus, the charoseth reminds us that even in the deepest afflictions the Lord has promised:

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" (Heb 13:5).

Our afflictions are but a chastisement to purify us, they are given out of His love - not to harm us but to mature us:

"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline" (Rev 3:19).

All eat a small helping of charoseth between pieces of matzah, symbolising mortar between bricks.

All
And what is the meaning of the egg?

Host
The egg is a symbol of life. The eldest sons of the Israelites were glad to be alive. It reminds us that Jesus died so that we who believe in Him can live forever. We dip the egg in salt water to remind us that life was won for us through the tears of death.

All dip pieces of egg in salt water and eat.

All
These foods all remind us of the bitterness of slavery from which God rescued His people. In the same way they remind us of the bitterness of sin and the great slavery from which God has rescued us through Jesus.

7. The Main Meal

The meal is served

Youngest child
What is the meaning of these foods?

Host
The roast lamb reminds us of the lambs whose blood saved the first-born of the Israelite families from death in Egypt. It also reminds us of Jesus whose death on the cross saved us from our sins. The sweets that follow remind us of the land flowing with milk and honey - the Promised Land where the Israelites were led by God. They also remind us that Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us where there will be no more tears or suffering and we will he with Him forever (John 14:1-4).

Host
Let us eat and be joyful!

8. The Cup of Hope

Host
Jewish people have a special cup on the Passover table, a cup for Elijah. They place it there on the basis of God's promise through His prophet Malachi: "See. I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." (Mal 4:5). Each year the Jews hope that this will be the year God sends Elijah with the Messiah, the Son of David.

However we know that Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah - and that his coming marked the arrival of God's Messiah. We now look forward in hope to His coming again, in glory and majesty and power and to being with Him forever at the eternal Feast of the Kingdom of God!

All
Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory! Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!

All drink the third cup - the Cup of Hope.

9. The Afikomen

The hidden Matzah is restored to the table towards the end of the meal and speaks of the body of the Messiah: when Joseph of Arimathea took the body from the tree and put it away in the tomb where it laid for three days and three nights. The re-appearance of the afikomen at the table represents the resurrection of the Messiah - when Jesus appeared to His disciples and the two Mary’s.

It was during the Passover Meal that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Towards the end of the meal, He took the bread (afikomen - the hidden Matzah) - broke it, and instead of just distributing the pieces to those around the table, He said:

"Take and eat, this is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19).

Host
"This bread represents Jesus body, broken for you; eat this in remembrance of Him."

All share in the Afikomen

10. The Cup of Redemption

Host
At the Last Supper Jesus took the cup of Redemption, 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." Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:27-28).

This cup of redemption represents Jesus blood of the New Covenant.

All
We drink it with great thankfulness for the redemption Jesus has won for us through His death and resurrection.

All drink.

11. The Hallel

The Seder Meal ends with the singing of Hallel (Psalm 136) to the Lord. After supper, Jesus and his disciples:

"... sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives"

where Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and was subsequently arrested (Matthew 26:30).

Finish the Passover with Psalm 136 and a song of praise.

12. Join hands and say the Grace together

‘May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, ever more. Amen.’

Preparation of the Meal

Matzoh
Unleavened bread ~ symbolising the affliction of slavery, and the haste with which the Israelites had to leave Egypt. Matzah can be bought in many countries at supermarkets (in Singapore try the Synagogue in Waterloo Street).

Hazaret
Bitter herbs - usually horseradish or onion ~ symbolising the bitterness of slavery.

Karpas
Usually parsley but can include lettuce, celery or endive ~ symbolising the hyssop used by the Hebrews to smear the lamb’s blood on their door posts.

Salt Water
Or vinegar ~ symbolising the tears of the Israelites.

Charoseth
Sweet paste ~ symbolising the clay and mortar used by the Israelites in making bricks for Pharaoh. It is sweet because even the most bitter labour is sweet when redemption is near.

How to make:
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup ground walnuts
1 tablespoon sugar
I cup grated apple
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Sweet red wine

Combine all the ingredients except the wine in a bowl, and mix. Add the wine to make into paste. You may need to add more or any of the ingredients to adjust to your own taste. Some like to add raisins.

Haggigah Roasted egg ~ to the Jews this symbolises the ancient Temple sacrifices… but many take it also as a symbol of the life God gave the Israelites in setting them free from slavery in Egypt.

How to make:
Hard-boil the egg and with the shell still on hold it over a flame to brown. If you've got an electric stove, place it in the oven for a while!

Roast Lamb
Symbolises the Passover lamb as well as Jesus the Messiah, the lamb of God.

Note: No lamb has been slaughtered for the Passover celebration since the destruction of the Second Temple. This information is from the book Pesach Hagadah, which tells the story of the Passover.

Sweets
Symbolises the abundant goodness of the Promised Land to which God's salvation leads. Here is a middle-eastern example:

Honey pie

Sweet shortcrust pastry 1/4 cup honey
1 cup collage cheese 1/2 teaspoon
(250 gins) Cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar 2 eggs

Line pie plate with pastry. Puree remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shell and bake 40 mins at 150 degC, then 10-15 mins at 19000. Leave in oven until cold. Serve topped with whipped cream. (Serves 5.)

The Seder Plate

The symbolic foods are served on a special plate ~ a round compartmentalised platter made especially for the occasion (see illustration above). However it is OK to choose another one of you’re best plates for this purpose.

Biblical Information

The Passover (Pesach) was instituted in Exodus 12 and 13:1-16, when God was about to deliver the Israelites out of their enslavement in Egypt. The Lord had through Moses brought nine plagues upon Egypt as follows:

Blood

Frogs

Gnats

Flies

Pestilence

Boils

Hail

Locusts, and

Darkness.

This was judgment against Pharaoh and his people and the Egyptian gods they worshipped. "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go" (Exodus 10:27). Pharaoh had initiated the first move to "deal shrewdly" with the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 1:10) and the Lord had allowed him to harden his heart, for He says:

"I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).

In our own lives, if we harden our hearts against the Lord, God may allow us to continue on our own stubborn ways to our final judgment. Paul reminded us to:

"no longer to live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." (Ephesians 4:17-18).

As the nine plagues raged one after another in Egypt, the entire land, except Goshen where the Israelites were living - was devastated. The Lord has repeatedly said: "1 will make a distinction between my people and your people" (Exodus 8:23). Yet Pharaoh’s heart was unyielding. The Lord was about to unleash the last plague… the slaying of the firstborn.

In Exodus 12:1-17 the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

"On the 10th day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family... the animals you choose must be year-old males without defect... Take care of them until the 14th day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs".

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast... "Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 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... This is a day you are to commemorate for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord - a lasting ordinance. 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. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do not work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat - that is all you may do. Celebrate the Feast of unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come?

The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded them through Moses. At midnight on 14^th Nisan the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh... to the firstborn of the prisoner and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. There was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead." (Exodus 12:29-30).

That same night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and ordered them to: "Leave my people, you and the Israelites go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go." (Exodus 12:31-32) The Israelites left Egypt on 15th Nisan taking "their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing" (Exodus 12:34)

Jesus (Yeshua) ~ the Lord’s Passover Lamb

The Lord’s Passover in Egypt foreshadowed the coming of Jesus as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) "that was slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). Jesus was God’s own unblemished Passover Lamb provided for the redemption of all mankind. His blood is to atone for the sin of any who would avail themselves of it. Scripture tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Therefore anyone not availing themselves of the atoning blood of the Lamb faces eternal death.

During the Passover in Egypt, any Israelite family who disobeyed the Lord and did not apply the blood of the slaughtered lamb over the lintel of their doors would have lost their firstborn son and livestock, just as the Egyptians when the Angel of the Lord went through the land. Exodus 12:50 tells us that "All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron." However, there are many in the world today who still choose not to obey the Lords instruction ~ they prefer to reject the atoning blood of the Lamb of God and to try to make atonement for their sin through their own works. They forget that "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" before God (Isaiah 64:6).

It was in the year AD 30 that Jesus (Yeshua), God’s own Passover Lamb (John 1:29), entered the city of Jerusalem on the 10th Nisan. Over the next five days he was examined by the people (he spoke and taught the people, debated with the priests, scribes and Pharisees. He was questioned by the Chief Priest and the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate and Herod. Pilate pronounced Him to be without a blemish:

"1 have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him - neither has Herod" (Luke 23 14-15).

Jesus was crucified on 14th Nisan and hung on the "tree" (Cross) from the third hour (ie: 9.00 am.) ~ untill the ninth hour (ie: 3.00 p.m.), when he cried out:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).

This quote from Scripture directed the on-lookers, including many Jewish people who were gathered around the Cross ~ to the opening verse of Psalm 22. The Psalms were very familiar to the Jewish people who had gathered there. In those days Scriptures were committed to memory at a very young age.

Jesus was telling them that "I am the Messiah" as prophesied in Psalm 22. They could compare the prophesy in Psalm 22 to what was taking place right before their very eyes.

"All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him... I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth... they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.... Posterity will serve him, future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it" (Psalm 22:7-8, 14-18, 30-31).

Mark 15:34 has often been used to illustrate Jesus’ agony and anguish as He experienced separation from God the Father. This occurred at the moment when He bore the sins of the entire world on His body. Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:22) - and even a temporary separation was unbearable to Jesus.

Jesus gave up his spirit shortly after the ninth hour (ie: 3.00 pm). This occurred just when the sacrificial lambs in Jerusalem were being slaughtered at the Temple for that year’s Passover celebrations. This occurred amidst the loud praises of the people, as they sang praises to the Lord for their redemption… a fitting atmosphere for the slaying of God’s own Passover Lamb for the redemption of the world.

Jesus was crucified at Golgotha outside the city gate. This fulfilled the Lord's requirement for the bull and goat sin offerings - whose blood was to be brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement and then taken outside the camp (Leviticus 16:27).

Exodus 12:10 says: "Do not leave any of it (the lamb) till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it." Joseph of Arimathea obtained the body of Jesus from Pilate between the time of his death, and before sundown. He wrapped the body in linen cloth and placed it in "a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid" (Luke 23:53). This fulfilled the requirement of the Lord regarding the sacrificial lamb. Joseph’s action also fulfilled Isaiah 53:9: "He was assigned a gave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth."

Jesus was crucified as a common criminal even though he was sinless and he hung between two robbers (Luke 23:14-15).

Credits

This material has been adapted from the following sources:

Han Yong, April 15, 1999
Olive Tree Manna
16-B, Siglap Road
Singapore 455849

"Together with God"
Family Ideas for Autumn, Lent and Easter
By: Merrill Corney.
Joint Board of Christian Education
Australia and New Zealand, and
Scripture Union, Australia.