Passover Customs and Traditions

This is one of my favorite times of the year. For the Christian, our minds and hearts are fixed upon the person and work of Jesus Christ all year long. But, this time of year allows us to do so with even more passion!

I would like to take a moment to invite you to some of our services that are intended to help us fix our eyes on Christ!

First, this Sunday is Palm Sunday. We will be celebrating God's plan to bring salvation to sinners and then we will take communion together.

Second, there is a Good Friday service at 6:30 pm. Ron Starcher will be preaching and helping us to consider the death of Christ on our behalf.

Third, we invite you to our services on Easter Sunday. We have a service at 8:30am and again at 10:45am. There is also a fellowship breakfast in between if you are able to stay or come early. Easter Sunday is always one of the most worshipful services of the year as we meditate upon our risen Savior!

Finally, right in the middle of this Passion Week we will be having a very special and unique service. On Wednesday evening at 6:30, we will be meeting in the fellowship hall for a Passover Sedar Service. We will be led through a Passover meal together by one of our missionaries. So, do not eat dinner before you come and plan on taking advantage of this unique opportunity to worship our Lord for His great work of redemption!

I asked my friend to write an article to help us to prepare our hearts for this occasion...so here it is:

"There are traditions and customs that we clearly identify as Jewish and there are those that we label as Christian. Those customs derived from the Bible often have various or changing meanings depending on who observes them and in what context. For example, most churches observe Communion or the Lord's Supper on a regular basis. We follow this custom according to Paul's command in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in order to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. We might even relate it to the Last Supper that Jesus ate with his disciples prior to his crucifixion. Do you have DaVinci's famous painting in mind? Most Christians identify this as a distinctly Christian custom. How often, however, do we think of either of these in light of their Jewish origins in relation to the yearly Passover sacrifice that the Jews have observed since their deliverance from Egypt 1500 years before the advent of Christianity?

When rabbi Yeshua gathered his disciples together for that last meal, it was in observance of the Jewish Feast of Unleavened Bread. Mark, in his gospel, writes, "on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, 'Where do you want us to go and make preparation for you to eat the Passover?'" (Mark 14:12). Later in the chapter, Mark tells us that while they were eating, Jesus took matzo (unleavened bread), gave thanks and broke it.

While living in Jerusalem, a Jewish family from our son's school invited us to eat a Passover meal with them. The father, acting as priest and king of the family, lifted up a cloth sack containing 3 pieces of matzo. He removed the middle piece of unleavened bread and broke it in half. He placed this broken matzo, known as the afikomen, in a separate cloth and hid it. Traditionally, after the meal, the children will search for the hidden afikomen. The one who finds it is often rewarded with money or chocolate.

One Jewish tradition tells us that the three pieces of matzo represent the three divisions of the Jewish people--the Priests, Levites, and Israelites. Another says that they represent the three patriarchs--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why is the middle matzo, the afikomen, removed and broken? We are told that it represents the Passover lamb that is to be sacrificed just like Isaac was taken to the mountain as a sacrifice by his father, Abraham. Jewish tradition says that God will send a Messiah at Passover to redeem his people through the prophet Moses. Afikomen is a Greek word that translates as that which is coming after or he who is coming after. Modern Jewish tradition tells us that this refers to the dessert, the hidden piece of matzo that will be eaten after the meal.

As rabbi Yeshua lifted up the afikomen at the Passover meal and broke it he said, "take and eat; this is my body." He was hidden for a time--crucified and buried, only to be revealed on the third day. Is he the one that Moses wrote about in Deuteronomy 18:15, "the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers."? Is he the one that John the Baptist, coming in the spirit of Elijah, announced as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world--the Passover lamb without spot or blemish?

I hope that you will join us next Wednesday evening at First Baptist of Howland as we enjoy a Passover meal together and see Christ, the Messiah, in the Passover."