Why a Messianic Passover?
Jesus was a Jew. What better way to connect with God and His Son, our Savior, Jesus than to walk through the Passover celebration? This symbolic retelling of the exodus of oppression commemorates the struggles of the early Jews and foretells of the coming of Jesus the Messiah.
The Passover celebration is rich in heritage and steeped in symbolism. But, along with this beautiful weaving of history and commemorative toasts of tradition also carries with it an attitude of “perfectionism” that can seem daunting and intimidating.
Hearts that truly want to lift up and honor the Messiah, hopefully will not look to the Passover celebration and story as a legalistic obligation, but more as a gift of sincere appreciation and reverence.
In a day and age where no day is any different or special than the next, a choice to stop and honor God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a chance to grow deeper as a human being.
We wish to bestow our time and efforts in this Passover celebration not to achieve “perfection” (by the manner of the law or man’s approval), but to achieve only one goal: To celebrate the freedom we all have in Jesus Christ, (Yeshua) and to honor Him.
We can only truly understand the depth and breadth of that by looking at the oppression of God’s people in the past. Jews (by blood) have suffered much oppression. Many Christians that have taken on the name of Christ have also died in honor of the name of Jesus. All who have been afflicted in any way for the name of Jesus and for uplifting a life of righteousness over a life of paganism can understand the power of a Living God to overcome any and all circumstances.
In Christ, not in our own humanistic power, we have the power to become sons and daughters of the Living God!
As it was said in John 1: 10-12:
“He was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
But, as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”
Who is a Jew in God’s eyes?
“Behold, thou art called a Jew, and resist in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
And knowest His will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
And art confidant that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Thou that makest thy boas of the law, through breaking the law dishounourest thou God?
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law; but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Therfore if the uncircumcision keep the righteouness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfils the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
For he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Rom 2: 17-29 (New Covenant)
“And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” Deut. 30: 6 (Old Covenant)
Passover Seder Plate:
1. Roasted Egg (Beitzah)- Another symbol of spring.
2. Parsley that is dipped in saltwater (Karpas) -Symbolizing springtime is used to remind us of the tears of the Jewish slaves.
3. Lettuce –
4. Charoses / Haroseth- a mixture of walnuts, wine, cinnamon and apples that represents the mortar the Jewish slaves used to assemble the Pharaoh’s bricks.
5. Shank Bone (Zeroa)- Symbolic of the sacrificial lamb offering (the bone can come from whatever the family is eating, such as the leg bone of a roasted turkey).
6. Bitter Herbs (Maror and Chazeres) (freshly grated horseradish)- Symbolic of the bitter affliction of slavery.
Traditional Passover Foods:
* Red wine- four cups served to commemorate the redemption in the book of Exodus:
1. I will bring you out of Egypt.
2. I will deliver you from bondage.
3. I will redeem you with an out stretched arm.
4. I will take you to Me for a people.
* Matzoh is a yeast-free bread product to commemorate the Israelites who fled quickly into the desert. Although it reminds us of slavery, it is actually the bread of freedom. It is a symbol of the body of Christ. Christ called Himself the Bread of Life sent from God. The lack of leaven symbolizes the lack of sin from Jesus’ life on earth. He was the unleavened bread, because He had no sin.
Leaven is a symbol of sin in the Torah:
“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Gal. 5: 9
“Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Parisiees and the Sadducees.” Matt. 16: 6
“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness: but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Cor. 5:6-9
*Hametz- Is the ceremonial clearing the house of all yeast products up to the first night of Passover.
Passover is an 8-day holiday.
Sedar lasts the first 2 night of Passover.
The Sedar is a 15-step ritual with symbolic foods and retelling of Jewish history.
Utensils and dishware normally used in the kitchen are not allowed at Passover.
Only Kosher foods are allowed for Passover (no yeast, no blood)
*Shema is: “The central and most important prayer in Judism”
Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 Mitzvah’s love of God
“Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is the One.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them
When you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deut 11:13-21 (Vehayah)
“And it shall come to pass if you surely listen to the commandments
That I command you today
To love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
That I will give rain to your land, the early and the late rains,
That you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil.
And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle and you will eat and you will be satisfied. B
Beware, lest your heart be deceived and you turn and serve other gods and worship them.
And the anger of the Lord will blaze against you, and He will close the heavens and there will not be rain, and the wealth will not give you its fullness,
And you will perish quickly from the good land that the Lord gives you.
So you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them for signs on your hands, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord are unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.”
Numbers 15:37-41 (Teflin, Torah Mezuzah, Tzitzit)
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the boarders of their garments throughout their generations, that they put upon the fringe of the borders a rib-band of blue:
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them: and that ye seek not after your own heart and you your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring;
That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the lord your God.”
Haggadah- The “Telling” Story of Slavery-The story of the Exodus of Egypt
(Only story that can be illustrated for children)
The story of the Four Sons:
Each son asks a question regarding the meaning of the Passover Seder. But, his personality affects his attitude in asking. These four representative archetypes serve as a model for educating children.
1. The wise son: (Deut. 6: 20-21) Asks with intellectual curiosity, “What is the meaning of the laws that God has commanded?” He wants to be positively challenged rather than pampered.
2. The wicked son: (Ex. 12: 26-27) Asks with pride: “What is this service to me?” He cares about fitting in more than honoring family values.
3. The simple son: (Ex. 13: 14-15) Asks plainly, “What is it?” He has a kind a generous heart that wants to do the right thing.
4. The Apathetic son: (Ex. 13:8) He does not even ask. He does not care or listen.
* A piece of All of the four sons of Haggadah live in all of us, but they each offer a different insight into how educate ourselves and strengthen our own weaknesses and interests. Sometimes circumstances in life cause our attitude to be genuinely seeking for answers, other times we rebel by putting our own interests first, sometimes we connect more with our heart first and then our head and at other times we choose to be ignorant. May we never loose the spark that interest in life and the depth of it can bring. Answers may not come, but the search for them must never cease.
Beginning of Maggid-Retelling of the Passover story: Messianic Style
*Raise the tray with the matzot and say:
“This is the bread of the affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is hungry, let him come and eat; anyone who is in need, let him come and conduct the Seder of the Passover. This year we are here; in our hearts, we are in the land of Israel. We are slaves no more, as Yeshua, by his death on the cross has made all bound slaves free.”
Now the child asks, “What makes this night different from all the other nights?”
The adult answers: “On all nights we may not dip even once, on this night we do so twice!
On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah.
On all nights we can eat any vegetable, on this night we choose maror!
On all nights we may eat sitting upright or reclining, on this night we all recline!
*The tray is restored to its place with the patzah partly uncovered. Now we say: “We were slaves, and we will recount those bitter days and nights…”
We discuss the exodus of our ancestors from Egypt with honor and humility. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord, our God reached out with his strong hand and outstretched arm of mercy to save His people. If the Holy One, blessed is He, had not bestowed His grace upon our ancestors, we, our children and our children’s children might still be in bondage today.
May all the days (and nights) of our lives and our children’s lives will we remember what God has saved us from.
Blessed is the Ominpresent One! Blessed is He! Blessed is He who gave the Torah (The old covenant) and Yeshua (the New Covenant) for the fulfilling of all the prophecies of His Word. Blessed is He who loves all of his creation: The wise, the wicked, the simple and the apathetic. Blessed is the God who is merciful to all who bow to His greatness and mercy. He is merciful to all who call upon the name of His Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah. Moses and Abraham and Jacob foretold of Him. We will not reject the Son of God with cold hearts and eyes that choose not to see, we will open our hearts and eyes and ears to the wisdom and words of Jesus Christ and we pray that the blindness will be lifted from our children and the future generations of our family.
From the beginning of time, our fathers made the Lord angry by bowing to idols. We do the same today, by giving pleasure in serving ourselves and our selfish desires, and the wickedness of the world over the covenants that the Lord has placed clearly for us in the Torah.
Remember and learn from the times of Joshua when he said to all the people: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers used to live on the other side of the river-Terach, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods.” Must we provoke the Living God to jealousy? Search your hearts this blessed day and see if there be any wicked way in thee. The Gentiles have embraced the Son of David and have provoked the Jews to jealousy. God bestowed blessing upon the Israelites, and they rejected His Son. The Gentiles have embraced the living Son of God in Christ Jesus. This Son of God came to save all, Jew and Gentile, male and female; all who will submit to Jesus.
What did the Lord do for a wicked nation that turned their hearts to idols carved in wood and stone? “And I took your father Abraham from beyond the river, and I led him throught the whole land of Cannan, I increased his seed and gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it, and Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.” God blessed Abraham, for Abraham served the Lord. Who is the Lord you serve? Who is the Lord of your heart? Search your heart and be truthful to a God that can search the depth of your intentions, no matter what man sees on the outside. God knows your heart.
Blessed is He who keeps His promise to Israel, blessed is He! For the Holy One, blessed is He!
And God said to Abraham, “You shall know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and make them suffer, for four hundred years. But I shall also judge the nation whom they shall serve and after that they will come out with great wealth.” Our God is a God that rewards patience, and He is a God that fulfills His covenants with His people, even if His people stray as our nation has many times.
In every generation, many have tried to rise against us to destroy us, but God blessed is He, saves us from their destruction. We are a nation once again.
Laban the Aramean wanted to destroy the house of Jacob. Pharaoh had issued a decree against the male Hebrew children only, but Laban wanted to destroy the whole nation of Israel. God delivered the house of Jacob into the land of Goshen, where they were fruitful and multiplied. Our fathers went to Egypt with seventy persons and now God had made the nation as numerous as the stars of heaven.
God declared for the nation of Israel, “By your blood you shall live!” The people multiplied and were blessed in the land, even though they were slaves. Egypt made them suffer but the people of God grew strong despite being naked and bare. The work the oppressors put upon the children of Israel was never ending. They build storage cities for Pharaoh, Pitom and Ramses. They made the life of the Israelite bitter with hard work as they made mortor and bricks. The suffering of their labor and oppression was not unseen by the Lord. They cried out to their living God to save them.
God heard their groanings and recalled the covenant He made with their fathers Abraham, Issac and Jacob. He saw His people and it broke his heart.
God Amighty split the sea for us, walked us through the center with dry feet, drowned our oppressors in the waters and kept us safe.
God, the creator of the universe supplied all our needs in the desert for forty years. He fed us manna from the skies above, given us a sacred day of rest in Shabbat, supplied us with the protection and wisdom of the Old Covenant, the Torah.
God, Adonai, brought us into the land of Israel, and restored Israel as a state in 1948.
Because the Omnipresent Lord our God passed over our father’s houses in Egypt as it is said:
I shall say: “This Passover we dedicate to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, because He sent spared our sons and passed over the children of Israel in Egypt when all of the Egyptians were cast down with the plagues, He saved our people. More than saving our bodies, He extended even more mercy to deliver our souls and any humble enough to reach out to the God of mercy. He sent His perfect lamb as a sacrifice for our sins. This Son of God was spoken of by Abraham and Moses. His name was Jesus. Jesus the Messiah, we thank you that the blood you spilled was precious, untainted by the sins of this world. We honor you, this Passover. God bless us for this honor today.”
Bow in prostration in honor of Christ.
*Take the broken Matzah into your hand (this signifies Christ’s body) and say:
“We eat Matzah for this reason: Christ is the Everlasting Bread of Life. Many Jews as testified in the New Covenant denied Him, but we will not. We honor the Living Bread of God today, which is Jesus Christ.”
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me,; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up in the last day.” John 6: 32-40
*Take the Maror into your hand and say:
“We eat maror for this reason: To remember the embittered lives of our forefathers and to put the past of that oppression behind us. We will not continue a legacy of bitterness and prejudice for unjust past. We will leave the justice to the only just one: God Himself. Our God is for us, who can be against us?”
Cover the Matzah and raise the cup. – Keep the cup raised as you say this prayer:
“Dear Heavenly Father,
It is our honor to call you Father and have Jesus for a brother that would lay down his life so that I and my family can have eternal life and blessing in the family of the Living God.
We praise, glorify, exalt, adore, bless, elevate and honor the One who performed all the miracles for our ancestors in the desert and the One who was sent to die for our sins as a perfect sacrifice.
God the Father took us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to festivity and from deep and dark oppression of the heart and body to the light of salvation.
He did this to free us from our bondage to sin. Hallelujah! Praise God for the miracle gift of the only one who is worthy to be praised for the redemption of the whole world’s abominations against God the Father; that is Jesus!
He is the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel, The Son of David, Son of Man and Son of God. We worship you.
Jesus we offer you praise, as you humbled yourself to become a servant of the Lord. You were sent to redeem us! We praise the name of the Lord. We lift up the name of Jesus.
May the blessing of Christ be bestowed unto all who bow to the name of Jesus, From the rising of the sun, to it’s setting at dusk, the Lord’s name is praised and lifted high.
From now until eternity there is no name higher than Jesus the Son of God. Jesus is above the earth and all it’s galaxies, His glory is over the heavens. He is from the Father, a gift like none other, a gift of love sent from above.
Jesus is at His Father’s side interceding for the least of the saints, raising up the poor, simple and needy, calling out unto the Father to deliver them from the hands of the evil ones. He restores the barren and the shameful, the cast down and deserted, the defeated and rejected and he accepts and restores all that come to Him. Praise God for this gift of love, Christ the Living God.
Blessed are you Father, and Son and Holy Spirit. Thanks be to you for the everlasting fruit of the vine that was sacrificed for all of mankind we humble ourselves and give thanks to you.
We drink of this cup, to symbolize the blood of the Perfect Lamb who was slain for us. We eat of this bread that symbolizes His sinless life on earth. He is the Bread of Life, the Everlasting Well of water for our souls.
Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem to the simple and humble Mary, we are not worthy to drink of this cup and eat of your body, but because of your Father’s acceptance of your payment for our sin, He have the honor to be the sons and daughters of God. To the King of Kings! Lord of Lords! We love you, Adonai! Amen.”
God’s Covenant with the Jewish people in the Old Covenant (Old Testament/Torah):
“And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land; the number of days I will fulfill.”
Exodus 23:25-26
God’s Covenant with all of humanity through Jesus Christ in the New Testament/New Covenant:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”
John 13:34
The covenant that God gives to each person that accepts Christ as their personal savior:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and writ it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jer. 31:31-34
The Old Covenant Vs. The New Covenant:
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
2 Cor. 3:6
“Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”
2 Cor. 3:17
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Ez. 36: 26-28
Does it make any sense at all that a God who created every nationality would damn any person who was not of Jewish decent/blood to hell?
He created all man to be made in his image. God could have chosen the Messiah to be born out of a rock if He desired to. The Jewish nation is blessed to have been chosen, but they are no more important in God’s eyes than any other human being. All humans are valuable in God’s eyes.
All were worth redeeming from eternal damnation, as God chose to save humanity by sending Christ as payment for all sins.
The “Harlotry of the Jewish people”
All people have turned from God in some way.
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee,
Now therefore hearken unto their voice; howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king, And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
And he will appoint them captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep and ye shall be his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chose you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye ever man unto his city.
1 Samuel 8:7-22
God’s people PROMISE not to serve other gods:
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
For the Lord our God He it is that brought us put and our fathers out of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed.”
Josh. 24:15-17
The 10 Plagues:
1. Blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice (vermin)
4. Wild Beasts (flies)
5. Blight (Cattle Disease)
6. Boils
7. Hall
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Slaying of the First Born
How to have a good Passover:
1. We are children of God, and we can act like Royalty. By Pairing up, we can humbly serve each other and be served ourselves.
2. Involve the kids with the Plague bag.
3. Make copies of your Haggadah for everyone to read.
4. Encourage Questions of how the Haggadah relates to current history, to Jesus being the Messiah and how we can honor it.
5. Come prepared and not starving! Have a snack before.
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan
For more of Julia’s creative writing, please visit shalombewithyo.wpengine.com