Christian Passover
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus and His apostles gathered for a meal which we call The Last Supper — which was the Jewish holiday Passover. Many Christians celebrate this traditional Jewish holiday with a modern Christian Passover meal eating symbolic foods and sharing a discussion on their historic meaning and how Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb. Passover is a sacred occasion and hosting your own Passover will enlighten those who attend.
Passover has been celebrated since the days of Moses when the Children of Israel were in bondage to the Egyptians. Throughout a series of plagues, the hard-hearted Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. The final plague took the life of every firstborn child and beast in the land. Knowing this would also affect the Israelites they were instructed to sacrifice and eat an unblemished lamb and place the blood of the lamb on their door. Death would “pass over” their homes. Pharaoh let the people go after four centuries of slavery. Jews around the world have celebrated Passover since that time.
During the Last Supper Jesus “took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20) Jesus Christ is the holy Lamb of God whose blood allows us to be “passed over” by the destroying angel and spiritual death. Because of His sacrifice, we are released from the bondage of sin and death. Passover of the Old Testament and Easter of the New Testament both testify of the greatest gift of God. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 we read “… For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us”
Creating a Passover Program
Creating a Christian Passover can be as simple or detailed as you choose. Over the last few years, we have hosted a Passover dinner for family and friends. It has evolved over time – both the program and the food. We have researched many ideas and purchased several books such as What Every Christian Needs to Know About Passover, Christ in the Passover, and Celebrating Passover. From those sources, we have created an informative Seder. Our Seder includes readings for up to 12 guests plus 2 hosts. It is easily adaptable for fewer or more guests.
You can also download a 20-page full-color program
Planning the Meal
Much like Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Passover meal is as unique as the family who celebrates it. The meal can be very simple or exquisite! Set your most festive table – use the good china and crystal — or purchase Passover Paper Goods for Seder. You will also need 2 white candles, 3 pieces of matzah, grape juice, bowls of salt water, a Passover plate (we have this one) and a place setting for Elijah with the finest cup.
We share a Mediterranean-themed meal and ask friends to bring their favorite “Passover” dish. We provide lamb balls (we’ve found many friends are not fond of roast lamb!) and Holy Yum Chicken plus a side or two. We are pleasantly surprised by the delicious and creative dishes that friends bring.
Here are some favorite recipes.
We’ve had many wonderful experiences over the years! Our guests change from year to year and bring different insights and experiences to our Passover table.
Purchase an Easter Lamb for Easter decorating.
Next year in Jerusalem! Next year may all be free!
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One Comment
Charity J.Dell
I believe the Passover Seder experience was meant to be, and can be, transformative for all its participants.
As an African-American Pentecostal believer who has written my own Passover Seder, and has been blessed to present this festival to churches during Holy Week, I can affirm that Passover celebration is the ultimate audio-visual experience that helps people literally “walk through the Bible” through the use of our senses. We see and hear the scripture narratives as we read the Exodus and Passion stories; we literally “taste and see that
YAHWEH is good” as we smell and eat the paschal foods. Every year, I am always touched by the eyes of
children, youth and adults that “light up” in that “AHA!” moment, when the participant suddenly understands
why slavery is bitter, the longed-for freedom was sweet, and that roasted lamb and matzah represent the lambs slaughtered on the first Passover and Jesus/Yeshua the Lamb of God, slain and resurrected at Passover. The other blessing of Passover observance is what it teaches about the heart of God, and how He regards injustice and oppression. In the Exodus narrative, we learn that a huge “mixed multitude” escaped with the Hebrews. These various African, Mediterranean and Levantine peoples believed Moses’ message and, like the Israelites, applied the blood of the lambs/goats on their houses to escape death by the Destroyer. The liberation of the “mixed multitude” (Exodus 12:38) was not a “tangential by-product” of God’s rescue of the Hebrews. It is actually the heart of the Exodus story–YAHWEH ELOHIM is “no respecter of persons,” and He was so offended by injustice, that He literally broke the Egyptian economy–an economy built on the backs of slaves– through ten plagues to get ALL the slaves liberated from Egypt! Those slaves and freeborn persons of the “mixed multitude” who trusted in YAHWEH and placed the blood on their doorposts discovered that the God of the Hebrews was also THEIR God; the Creator Who loves the widow, the orphan and the stranger, and comes to their rescue.
The “God of the spirits of all flesh” (numbers 16:22) reminds us that “All souls are Mine,” (Ezekiel 18:4). The great deliverance of both Hebrews and Gentiles foreshadows the victory wrought by Yeshua, the Lamb of God, Whose triumph over sin, death and eternal destruction during Passover accomplished salvation for all people from “every nation, tribe, and language” (Revelation 7:9,10). Like the great host of the redeemed in John’s
Apocalypse, we, too shout: “Salvation belongs unto our God Who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb!”
NEXT YEAR IN THE NEW JERUSALEM!