Pesach: Passover
When
Pesach is a week-long holiday, typically in mid March to mid April.
(April 22-30, 2024)
Biblical Reference
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. ****And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, ****and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ****They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ****In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. ****For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ****Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ****On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. ****In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.”
(Exodus 12:1-18)
History
It had been four centuries of Egyptian oppression. Backs bruised, legs weakened, hands calloused, brains traumatized, spirits suffocated, dreams quelled.
Then, the Hebrew-raised-as-an-Egyptian man who had been long-disappeared made his return out of the wilderness. Moses had arrived for one reason and one reason alone - to free all who desired to follow the ways of YHWH and become a people - a nation - set apart as his own.
Moses demanded the release of Israel, and Pharaoh remained hardened.
Plagues came and went - wonders of God announcing His might and opposition to the unjust and idolatrous Egyptian Empire - but Pharaoh’s response stayed the same: “No!”
There remained one final plague - a devastating yet sure-fire display that would penetrate even Pharaoh’s heart long enough for him to relent to the insistence of Moses and Aaron.
Death.
Not just any death. Death of the firstborn. Death that would cause “a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead” (Exodus 12:30). That is, among those who had not partaken in the guided seḏer - the “arranged order and ritual” - of Adonai. Each aspect of this Passover seḏer would be intentionally followed as an act of embodied submission to God, trusting that Adonai alone would cover over and protect against the cruelties of sin, death, and spiritual oppression.
And then it happened. Pharaoh relented, and the exodus began.
“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, ‘Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.’ But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.” (Exodus 13:17-18)
Glimmers of hope were on the rise. Tambourines and songs of praise and dancing were filling the air. By cloud and by fire, the Lord led his newly liberated people. And, with one final miracle remaining - a parting of the Red Sea - God’s children were finally free, commanded to forever practice holy Passover in remembrance of the Lord’s faithfulness to deliver his people from captivity and establish them.
Purpose
The holy week of Pesach - inclusive of the Feast of Unleavened Bread - is rich with symbolism and overflowing with narratives that call to mind our core identity and truest hope as Adonai’s children. Every aspect of Passover is prophetically deliberate in directing us back to God’s heart for liberation and His condemnation of the Empires of Man. Holding space for common memory allows us to recall past wounds and hold fast to what God has taught us so we might be shaped and reshaped into a people that lives by His ordained freedom in the present.
As we partake in the Passover seḏer, each purpose intended for this set apart time echoes in the guiding texts of the Haggadah - a liturgical book of readings, rituals, and prayers facilitating this extraordinary household gathering.
And what are these core symbols and acts?
They are the unblemished lamb, killed as an atoning sacrifice for sin.
They are the blood of this lamb, spread on the doorpost of the home as a protective covering against death.
They are the matzah - or unleavened bread - eaten to recall how the Israelites were in such a hurry to leave that they had no time to let the dough rise.
They are the parsley, reminiscent of the initial flourishing of the Israelites in Egypt, yet dipped in salt water to portray the tears wept as their flourishing turned into enslavement (called Karpas).
They are the maror - or bitter herbs, such as horseradish - consumed as a reminder of the bitterness of Egyptian oppression.
They are the charoset - or the medley of nuts and fruit - representing the brick and mortar materials of Egyptian labor, yet carrying the sweet taste of freedom from harsh working conditions at the onset of the exodus.
They are the 4 cups of wine, drank at intentional points throughout the seḏer, pointing to the core themes of the Exodus journey: Sanctification, Affliction, Redemption, and Praise.
They are the fastened belts, worn sandals, and staffs in hand in preparation and anticipation for departure.
In all of this, Pesach is our call to never forget. We choose to remember the oppression of Egypt so we never become a people of oppression. It’s a declaration that we will tells the stories of the past so we do not repeat wickedness that was done, but instead are moved by the faithfulness of God.
At a later point, Moses gives this exhortation to the Israelites:
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I commanded you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live In them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14)
Passover celebrates the goodness of deliverance but also calls us to remember who the Deliverer is; it is a day when good gifts have been provided but reminds us that the Lord is our Provider; it is a holiday of merriment at the establishment of God’s people as a distinct kingdom, yet a reminder that God is a king who doesn’t rule like the Empires of man.
Fulfilment
Pesach overflows with clear foreshadowings of a fuller salvation, finding exquisite satisfaction in the person of Yeshua, the God-man whose name itself means “deliverance.”
As was customary for centuries to come following the exodus and the forty years of desert wanderings, Jews would observe Passover annually as they congregated together on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the city of the holy Temple of God.
Yeshua too, spending much of his time teaching and serving along the Sea of Galilee, would have and did make the 5-7 day trek southward to Jerusalem for Pesach. He wouldn’t miss it!
As we near the climax of the Gospel accounts, Yeshua approached the holy city with his disciples to celebrate Passover and was overwhelmed by a crowd there, laying cloaks and spreading palm branches in the streets, shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9).
Just as Passover marks how Adonai rescued the Israelites and set them apart as a distinguished people for Him to lovingly rule, so too do we see Yeshua being greeted in a manner befitting a triumphant king coming to save his people. The first celebration of Passover in Egypt was a rejection of Empire and a reception of YHWH; this Passover demonstration was a welcoming of Yeshua, choosing him as a new kind of king with a similar turning away from the kingdoms of man.
Upon his arrival, Yeshua and his disciples needed to make the traditional preparations that had been passed down to them for generations - the holy feast.
It was here, “the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it’… And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22: 7-8, 14-20)
In a baffling demonstration, Yeshua revealed himself as the perfect and complete Passover sacrifice. His cousin John the Baptizer was right years prior when he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29) Yeshua would be the final firstborn to get led to his death. His hands and feet would be pierced like the holes of the matzah; his body broken and hidden like the afikomen. His blood would flow, painting the wood of the cross just as the lamb’s blood covered the doorposts in Egypt. He truly was an innocent and unblemished “sheep being led to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7), and yet in his death, he also put to death sin’s claim on our blood.
But there’s one more point to be made during this particular Passover seḏer that’s not only highly irregular, but breathtaking in significance. As Rabbi Yeshua led his disciples through the traditional meal (with elements of each Gospel suggesting as such), he naturally arrived at the third cup: the cup of Redemption. At this point, he would have been expected to go around and refill the cups of each of his disciples, but instead, filling up his own cup, he said “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). Instead of their individuals cups, Yeshua invited his disciples to drink of his cup. While reminiscent of Moses’ declarations of the Lord’s covenant in the wilderness - sprinkling the blood of the lamb onto the congregation in the process (Exodus 24:8) - the disciples were being given a new covenant during this Passover - the Lord’s Supper - to ingest the “blood” of Rabbi Yeshua through the Passover wine as complete spiritual salvation.
But this cup came at a great cost. Only hours later, crouched on the ground in a garden on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, sweating drops of blood in a near convulsive anxiety attack, Yeshua cried out to his Abba, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) Our redemption meant his suffering, and his suffering meant our redemption. It was time.
Betrayal. Arrest. Trials. Beatings. Scoffing. Mockery. Thorns. Spears. Nails. Lynching. Crucifixion.
The earth stood still, the Father turned away, and - like a culmination of all possible plagues - the firstborn son of the one true God breathed his last… And so too did the powers of sin and spiritual darkness. But this dawns the question: what of the powers of death? Just wait!
All seemed lost, but nothing could have been farther from the truth. On the third day of Pesach, which aligned that year with the first day of the week, something remarkable happened, of such magnitude that mere myths and legends ought bow in its holy presence. Rabbi Yeshua came back to life! He walked out of his tomb with breath in his lungs and divine blood pumping from his heart! He was resurrected, for not even the snares of death could keep his broken body still!
This is the fulfillment of Pesach! This is the Messiah long prayed for!
As we partake in Passover, we remember physical bondage, spiritual enslavement, the oppression of manmade Empire, and the darkness of death. We reenact it. We allow ourselves to taste it. We weep over it. And then we look to our might Deliverer - our Creator and divine Abolitionist who brings liberty to our bodies, souls, and spirits. There is no king more worthy of praise than the Lamb of God who sets his people free and sits enthroned over a kingdom of new covenant!
Needs for Pesach:
Candles
Food for Passover Meal
Red wine
Matzah - unleavened bread
Karpas - parsley and a cup of salt water
Maror - bitter herbs (horseradish)
Charoset - nuts (walnuts), fruit (apples), cinnamon, and honey
Lamb (save the lamb bone)
Red towel or blanket
Basin of water
Modern Liturgical Adaptation
Pesach Seder Haggadah
The following liturgy is a particularly designed guide - or “Haggadah” - for a single Passover Seder meal and does not comprehensively walk through the entire Passover week.
Matriarch, or Household Leader (lights the Passover candle(s) at sundown):
Blessed are you O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who has brought us safely through another year and blessed us with Passover, as a celebration of Your goodness. We thank you tonight for Yeshua, our Savior and Messiah, Who is the Light of the world.
Father of the home (Introduction)
“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. It is a Passover to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians.” (Exodus 12: 14, 27)
Children
Why is this night different from all other nights?
Mother of the home
Jewish people have celebrated the special Passover meal for thousands of years. When they celebrate this meal they remember that God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and that death passed over their homes because they followed God’s commands by sacrificing a perfect lamb. (Exodus 13:14)
Leader
On the night before He Died, Yeshua and his disciples celebrated Passover at the home of a friend. We celebrate Passover now as a way to remember what God miraculously did through Moses and the Israelites, what Yeshua came to do on the cross, and what He will come to complete in His coming out of heaven to the Mount of Olives.
Guest
“When the hour came, Yeshua and his apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’.” (Luke 22:14-15)
Guest
“Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the Festival.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
The Meal
The First Cup - The Cup of Sanctification
Leader (holds the cup)
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe who creates the fruit of the vine. Let us lift up our first coup together and Bless the Name of the Lord, who sanctifies us.
(All lift and then drink the first cup)
Washing of the Hands
(Pass around the bowl of water for everyone to dip their towel in. Then wash the hands of the person to your right with the towel.)
Breaking of the Unleavened Bread
Children
Why do we eat only bread without yeast on this night?
Mother of the home
Called “the bread of affliction” because on the night when the Jews were freed from their affliction of slavery in Egypt, they had to leave in haste, so no bread was leavened. God tells us to remember these events by eating bread without yeast. (Deuteronomy 16:3)
Therefore, it would not be right during Passover to use yeast, for yeast today represents sin.
“Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8)
Leader (Hold three pieces of matzah)
These pieces represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(Take the middle piece of matzah and break it in half)
This piece represents Yeshua. On the night of his last Passover, he was whipped, beaten, and a crown made of thorns was pushed onto his head. Then He was nailed to a cross. The holes in our matzah remind us of the holes in his hands and feet.
(Wrap a half of the matzah up in a cloth)
We wrap this piece just as Yeshua’s body was wrapped for burial.
Kids please close your eyes.
(Adults hide the Afikomen)
Just like we have hidden the broken matzah, Yeshua’s body was put in a tomb and hidden.
(Hold up the other half of the broken matzah)
Now we bless this bread with no yeast in it, which is a sign of Yeshua, who has no sin in Him.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who gives us bread from heaven, the Bread of Life. (John 6:35)
(Don’t eat it yet!)
Remembering the First Passover
Children
Why do we eat bitter herbs on this night?
Mother of the home
On all other days we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on Passover we eat bitter ones, to remember how bitter life was for the Jews in Egypt when they were slaves under the cruel Pharaoh.
Leader
Scoop some horseradish onto a piece of matzah and taste the bitterness of it. This is a reminder of how bitter the slavery of the Jews was. Remember that without Yeshua, we are also slaves, but not to Pharaoh. We are slaves to sin and death.
(Eat only the small piece of matzah with the horseradish)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brought us out of slavery. (Exodus 13:14)
Children
Why do we dip herbs twice on this night?
Mother of the home
On all other days we do not usually dip one food into another, but today we dip them twice.
The haroset looks like the clays and bricks that the slaves used to make buildings with for Pharaoh. We dip bitter herbs into the haroset to remind us how hard the Jewish slaves worked in Egypt.
We also dip parsley into salt water. The parsley reminds us of the pieces of plant called “hyssop” that the people used to put the blood of the lamb on their door frames. The salt water reminds us of the tears of the Jewish slaves.
Leader
Take a piece of matzah and dip it into the horseradish and then into the haroset two times and eat. Notice the bitter and sweet.
Then take the parsley and dip it two times into the salt water and eat. Notice the saltiness.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe. Who even in the most bitter things in life brings the sweetness of hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
Children
Why do we eat our meal reclining on this night?
Mother of the home
On all other days we eat sitting up straight, but today we can lean back. The first Passover was celebrated by slaves with their coats ready, their walking sticks in their hands, their sandals on their feet, ready to leave the bondage of Egypt. Today we all may relax and freely enjoy the Passover meal.
Leader
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who gives us freedom. (Galatians 5:1)
The Second Cup - the Cup of Affliction
Leader
The story of Passover is a story of miracles, a story of redemption, a story of the mighty power of God to overcome evil. Moses went to Pharaoh with God’s command, “Let my people go!” But God warned Moses that Pharaoh wouldn’t easily agree. The Lord sent afflicting plagues, one by one, but with each plague, Pharaoh refused, his heart hard against God.
(Someone plays Pharaoh. Give them the crown and a chair to sit in and say “No!”)
(Someone plays Moses. They stand and say “Let my people go!”)
(As the plagues are called out the children put them on Pharaoh, and the adults dip a drop of wine from their cup onto their saucer)
Leader
The Lord sent _________ as a plague throughout Egypt. (read each plague)
(Plagues: Blood in the Nile, Frogs, Lice, Flies, Disease on the cattle and livestock, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness)
Leader
Pharaoh’s heart was still hard. So God sent his last plague, the death of the firstborn.
(Place a red blanket or towel over all firstborn children in the house and have them enact falling over)
For this plague, the Jews needed a sacrifice for protection.
(Leader holds up the lamb bone)
This is our lamb. God told Moses, ‘The lamb must be perfect,’ no spots or defects. It must be killed, the blood marking the Jews’ door frames using the leaves from the hyssop plant. They were to eat the meat that night, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. God told them this ‘is the Lord’s Passover.’ He promised that when he saw the blood, he would pass over that house and the firstborn child in each house would not be killed. The blood of the lamb saved the Jews who received and obeyed the command.
Yeshua is our perfect Passover Lamb who was slain. His perfect and spotless blood marking us so that the judgment of death may also pass over us.
(Remove all red towels)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who atones for us. (1 John 2:2)
(Drink the second cup)
The Third Cup - the Cup of Redemption
Leader
It’s time to find the hidden matzah!
(Children search for the hidden matzah and bring it to the Leader)
Remember, this piece of matzah, made without yeast, is a symbol of the promised Messiah, Yeshua who is without sin.
It was hidden and now it is back to remind us that Yeshua was killed and buried but rose again to life.
He did this in order to fulfill his words at his last Passover when he took this “bread of affliction” and said “this is my body, broken for you.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)
He broke our affliction by breaking his body!
(All break off a piece of matzah and eat)
Yeshua also took the cup at the Passover table and said “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Let’s drink together to remember Yeshua, our Passover lamb.
Not only did he break our affliction, he sealed us by marking us with his blood covenant that frees us from the judgment of death!
(All drink third cup)
The Fourth Cup - the Cup of Praise
Leader
Now let’s refill our cups and give thanks to our great God.
(Pass around wine to fill cups)
Guests
Give thanks to the Lord, God of all creation.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Give thanks to the Lord, who gives us hope.
Give thanks to the Lord, who frees us from slavery to sin and death.
Leader
Lift your cups and bless the Lord.
All
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, through whom we have the sure hope of salvation, the renewal of all things.
(Drink fourth cup)
Leader
Yeshua says He will not partake in this meal again until He returns back to us so let’s end with the hope that next year we will celebrate face to face with Yeshua!
All
Next year in Jerusalem!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Pick one to three activities from the following list to enter into the spirit of Pesach:
Learn about, give to, or find a way to serve an anti-slavery organization or ministry (International Justice Mission is a great start point!).
Visit your local civil rights museum.
Share stories of hope and liberation.
Watch “The Prince of Egypt” movie with kids.
Spend time by a lake, river, or body of water picturing the Lord parting it to make a path for the Israelites.
Write a poem or song with themes of celebration and freedom.