Passover

It was sometime in high school that I (Aimee) started questioning what the differences were between Judaism and Christianity.  I mean, I knew that Jews are still waiting for the Messiah and we know that He already came (hallelujah!), but I didn’t know anything besides that.  And it was a question that really intrigued me because I also knew that Jesus was a Jew.  So, I found myself asking: if Jesus was Jewish, why aren’t we? 

The answer?  Because He changed everything!  His life, death and resurrection changed everything!  Can I get a “hallelujah”?!

We can’t go on living as people did before Jesus was born, and we especially can’t continue on the way people did before He died and rose again on the third day.  We’ve been freed from our bondage to sin.  We’ve been redeemed and reconnected with God through the blood of the Lamb.

I bring this up because Passover—the celebration remembering and celebrating the Jews exodus from slavery in Egypt—was on Monday night and right now is the time for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (first mentioned in Ex 23:15, which connects it with Passover).  At my church, tomorrow night (Maundy Thursday), we will be having a Passover Seder concluded by a Tenebrae service. 

Ok.  I know that those were a lot of big words and you may not have heard all of them before.  A seder is the word used to describe the celebration of Passover.  A Tenebrae service is when you read the passages of Scripture dealing with Jesus’ last night with His disciples and His betrayal into the hands of His enemies.  As the passages are read, the room is gradually darkened, until all lights are out at the very end.

Now that you know, you might be thinking that you’ve attended Tenebrae services before.  Maybe your church even does that type of service annually.  But have you ever attended a Passover Seder.  Most Christians would answer, ‘no.’  Passover is considered a Jewish holiday.  If Jesus made everything different, then we shouldn’t be doing that.  Right?  Wrong.

First, in Exodus 12 we can read about the first Passover while the Jews were still in Egypt; the final plague that took the lives of all the firstborn of Egypt.  Beginning in verse 24, after describing what they were to do, it says:

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.  When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.”

Jesus changed the meanings of many things that we read in the Old Testament, but He said :

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”

That’s why I learn more about Jesus every time I read through the Old Testament.

Second, Jesus’ last supper with His disciples—the one that we base communion off of, the one that we remember most especially on Maundy Thursday—was a Passover meal.  (So, we kind of remember it already in a way.)  Jesus celebrated Passover.  He believed it was important, meaningful.  He still saw its value and He gave it new value.  Jesus changed Passover.  There’s no question about that.  Jesus is our Passover lamb who redeemed us from slavery to sin.

I’m convinced of the need for Christians to celebrate Passover.  But I’m not going to take time to try and fully convince you.  I just want to convince you to give it some thought.  Read your Bible (the beginning of Exodus and the end of the Gospels in particular).  Ask some questions and seek out the answers whole-heartedly.  Pray about it.  Then come back and tell us what you think.

Blessed Passover.