In my recent posts on “Replacement Theology,” I was making a case for celebrating Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection at Jewish Passover time, not at Easter, a pagan holiday originally. Passover, and His Crucifixion and Resurrection were originally ce;ebrated at the same time, but became separated because of the Christian prejudice of the Jews.
My argument in those blogs 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 symbols of eggs and rabbits from. Nothing to do with Christianity, yet it was a date on which 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, freedom from the slavery of sin, the Incarnation, and persecution. These Passover symbols of Christ are all worthy of learning. (3) The connection of the two are an evangelistic tool to bring Jews to Christ. 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 it is an even "specialer" story of our Lord. 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” there, 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 You tube, 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. Similarly, I John 1:7 tells us:
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin
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 4:347:199:2926:82 Kings 17:36Psalm 136:12Jeremiah 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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