In my recent post,
“Replacement Theology I,” I was making a case for celebrating Christ’s Crucifixion
and Resurrection at Jewish Passover time, not at Easter. They were originally
at the same time, but were separated because of the Christian prejudice of the
Jews.
My argument in that
blog was based on the following reasons: (1) The pagan holiday Easter,
celebrated long before Christianity, was about fertility, involved sex, and it
was where we get our eggs and rabbits from.
Nothing to do with Christianity, yet it was allowed to horn in on the
precious time that our Lord should be praised, and Him alone, for His
sacrifice, and glorious resurrection. (2)
The feast of Passover was developed by God for Moses and the Jews to celebrate freedom
from slavery; but it also has many symbols of Jesus’ death, His shed blood, His
burial and resurrection, the Trinity, freedom from the slavery of sin, the
Incarnation, and persecution. These symbols are all worthy of learning. (3)
They are an evangelistic tool for Jews.
The Jews don’t believe the symbols tie in to Jesus—but maybe they don’t
believe because no one has shown the symbols to them. (4) Synthesizing the two (Passover
and Christ) again has other benefits for Christians; its study will create more
interest in the Old Testament, beyond the stories that are typical, such as
David or Noah, and morals that can be learned.
Those curious will follow up for other symbols, and proceed to other
prophecies of Christ--He is throughout the Old Testament, as He told the
brothers of Emmaus. See Luke 24:27:
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets,
He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The
word “Scriptures,” of course, are Old Testament, since the New Testament hadn’t
been written yet.
Finally, (5) doing this could lead to not only a knowledge of the Jews
(and learn a bit about the Jewish calendar), but it could lead to a spirit of
evangelism rising up in someone with that gift.
If we can successfully learn the Old Testament to show the Jews how it
contains Christ, we might, with God’s help, save a few. That’s especially important given today’s
anti-Semitism raising its ugly head once again. Just below is the message, as
expanded, which I got from “Gotquestions.org.”
I’ll bet this festival is also demonstrated on Youtube, but it’s much
better if dad or mom learns it and recites it first.
One more thing:
If you need to refresh your memory on Passover, it is covered in Exodus
12. The Jews had been slaves to the
Egyptians for 400 years, and the chapter is set at the tenth plague, the
ultimate devastation God gave to Egypt.
This plague will kill every firstborn, every first child, man or woman,
boy or girl, people or animals, in all of Egypt. Then and only then will Pharoah set the Jews
free. For their last night in bondage, God
gave Moses instructions on doing Passover.
As God teaches him, the only way the Jews will be protected by the oncoming
death angel—it will pass over them IF they have swiped the blood on the
doorposts.
SYMBOLISMS OF JESUS
CHRIST IN THE PASSOVER MEAL
The Seder is the
traditional dinner that Jews partake of as part of Passover. The annual Passover commemoration is celebrated by nearly the
entire Jewish community, bonding families and communities to their Jewish
roots. Each year Jewish people, religious and nonreligious, celebrate the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by gathering and experiencing the Passover Seder.
The Hebrew word Seder means “order.” The Passover meal has a
specific order in which food is eaten, prayers are recited, and songs are sung.
Each item on the Passover plate has a specific historical meaning related to
the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and their freedom from slavery. But 1 Corinthians 5:7 identifies Jesus Christ as our Passover;
thus, the Seder carries a New Testament meaning related to Jesus the Messiah.
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you
may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ,
our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
In the Seder, there
are several strong symbols of Christ. One is the shank bone of a lamb,
which reminds the participants of the feast of God’s salvation. During the
tenth plague, God instructed the Israelites to daub their doorposts and lintels
with the blood of a spotless lamb so that the Lord would “pass over” their
homes and preserve the lives within (Exodus 12). This is a symbol of salvation
in Egypt, but it is also a picture of Jesus who was and is the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29):
The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
His shed blood
preserves the lives of all who believe. The instructions for the original
Passover specified that the lamb’s bones could not be broken (Exodus 12:46):
In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not
carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its
bones.,
This is another
foreshadowing of Christ’s death (John 19:33):
But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was
already dead, they did not break His legs
Another symbol of Christ on the Seder plate is the matzoh, or unleavened
bread. As the Jewish people left Egypt, they were in great haste and therefore
had no time to allow their bread to rise. From then on, Passover was followed
by the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:3)
You shall eat no leavened bread with
it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that
is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in
haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of
Egypt all the days of your life
The Jews, in their
haste to escape, did not have time to bake bread with leaven; they had to grab
it up and eat it without leaven. There
are some more fascinating things about the matzoh that provide
a remarkable picture of the Messiah:
For example, the matzoh is placed in a bag called an echad,
which means “one” in Hebrew. But this one bag has three chambers. One piece
of matzoh is placed into each chamber of the bag. The matzoh placed
in the first chamber is never touched, never used, never seen. The second matzoh in
the bag is broken in half at the beginning of the Seder; half of the
broken matzoh is placed back in the echad, and the
other half, called the Afikomen, is placed in a linen cloth. The
third matzoh in the bag is used to eat the elements on the
Seder plate.
The word echad is used in Genesis 2:24 (the man and his wife will become “echad,”
or “one” flesh). The word also appears in Numbers 13:23 when the spies returned from Canaan with
an echad cluster of grapes. In both cases, the word echad refers
to a complex unity of one. Many Jews consider the three matzohs to
represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they cannot explain why they break
“Isaac” in half or why they place half of the middle matzoh back
in the echad and keep the other half out, wrapped in a cloth.
The meaning of the Seder’s ritual of the matzohs is understood
with clues from the New Testament. The Trinity is pictured in the matzohs.
The first matzoh that remains in the bag throughout the Seder
represents Ha Av, the Father whom no man sees. The third matzoh represents
the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. And the
second matzoh, the broken one, represents Ha Ben, the
Son. The reason the middle matzoh is broken is to picture the
broken body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:24).
and when He had given thanks, He
broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body
which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of
Me.”
(If everyone’s attention is still with you, this
is a good time to mention the Communion meal, if your church celebrates that
and visitors are uninformed). The half
put back in the echad represents Jesus’ divine nature; the
other half, wrapped in a linen cloth and separated from the echad represents
Jesus’ humanity, His Incarnation, as He remained on earth.
The linen cloth that wraps half of the second piece of matzoh suggests
Jesus’ burial cloth. During the Seder, this linen cloth with the Afikomen
inside is hidden, and after the dinner the children present look for it. Once
the Afikomen is found, it is held as a ransom. Again, we see that these rituals
point to Christ: He was fully God yet fully human; He was broken for us; He was
buried, sought for, and resurrected; and His life was given a ransom for many (Mark 10:45):
For even the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom
for many
.Jesus is the
completion of the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31, and the Passover Seder rituals bear that
out.
Also, the matzoh used for the Passover Seder must be prepared
a certain way. Of course, it must be unleavened—leaven is often equated with sin in the
Scriptures, and Jesus is sinless. Second, the matzoh must be
striped—Jesus’ “stripes” (His wounds) are what heal us spiritually (Isaiah 53:5)
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities;
The chastisement for our
peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed
And, third, the matzoh must
be pierced—Jesus was nailed to the cross (Psalm 22:16)
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My
feet;
The other elements of
the Seder plate are traditional reminders of the Israelite enslavement to the
Egyptians. They are as follows:
Vegetable (Karpas) – This element, usually parsley, is dipped in salt
water and eaten. The karpas pictures the hyssop that
was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to homes of the Israelites in
Egypt. In the New Testament, hyssop was used to give the Lamb of God vinegar
when Jesus said He thirsted (John 19:29). The salt water represents the tears shed
during the bitter years of slavery and the Red Sea that God split during the
exodus.
Bitter Herbs (Maror) – The eating of “bitter herbs” is commanded
in Exodus 12:8. In modern times, this is usually
horseradish, one of the bitterest herbs. The maror reminds the
Jews that they were unable to offer sacrifice and worship to God, and that was
bitterer than the slavery of Egypt.
Charoset (haroseth) – Charoset is a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, and
spices. It represents the mortar the Israelites used in the constructing
buildings during their slavery to the Egyptians. Of all the elements of the
Seder, charoset alone is sweet, and this is a reminder of the hope of
redemption.
Hard-boiled or Roasted Egg (Baytzah) – Traditionally, hard-boiled eggs
were eaten by mourners, and the egg is eaten during the Seder to remind
participants that they are always in mourning for the loss of their temple. The
fact that the egg is roasted evokes the roasting of the sacrifice on the altar
of the temple.
There are also four cups of wine used at various points during the Seder. Each
of these glasses of wine has a name: the first glass is the “cup of
sanctification.” The second is the “cup of judgment.” The third is the “cup of
redemption.” And the fourth is the “cup of praise.” At the Last Supper, Jesus took the first cup and promised His disciples that the
next time He drank the fruit of the vine with them would be in the kingdom (Luke 22:17). Later in the Seder, Jesus took the third
cup—the cup of redemption—and used that cup as a symbol of the New Covenant in
His blood (Luke 22:20). Thus Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolism
and infused the whole feast with a new meaning.
In Exodus 6:6, the Lord God promised His people that He
would save them from slavery: “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from
under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”
The phrase “with an outstretched arm” is repeated throughout the Old Testament
in connection with Passover remembrances: Deuteronomy 4:34; 7:19; 9:29; 26:8; 2 Kings 17:36; Psalm 136:12; Jeremiah 32:21. Can it be coincidence that, in the New
Testament, the Messiah had both of His arms outstretched as He freed us from
sin and brought us salvation?
FOR FURTHER STUDY
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