Pessach    -    Passover  

The Last Supper    -    The Seder

 Passover is first of seven feasts. It falls in March or April, in the Jewish month of Nisan.  

Leviticus 23 says in v5 -8,  The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.  On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.  On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.  For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.' "

When the feasts were instituted Nisan was the first month, Chodesh Nisan,   (Exodus 12 c1-2).  This is still the start of the religious calendar.   The civil new year is celebrated in the Autumn.   (Rosh Hashannah)   

Passover It is a family celebration, at home, involving children and using not just  Visual  Aids but taste experiences     See - Ex 12 v 1-16 and 27    -  Lev23v4&9    -    Dt 16v1-8   (Note    New Testament references are given in black ) Preparation On the 10th of Nisan  a lamb was brought into home - Ex 12 v3&6  -  John 1 v11 On the Eve of Pessach , Chametz ( leaven / yeast ) items were to  be searched out and burned.  Nowadays Father and the children hunt house with candles.   (Mother will have placed bits around to be found). Chametz is a picture of sin and vanity of life in Egypt . On the 14th of Nisan, at twilight, the Lamb was to be slaughtered and prepared.   It was to be roasted whole over the fire (no bones broken)     Ex12v46  -  Num9v12  ( See  John 19 v33 for a reference to Jesus)

Jesus kept Passover      Matt 26 v 17-30  - Luke 22 v7-20  -  John 13 .  Jesus said,  "I will not partake again until......."  Luke22 vl5&16

The celebration of Pessach

(See the excellent video by Neil Cohen for amazing teaching on Passover  (Books and other resources) )

Special for Passover !   Haggadah on PowerPoint.  Download here.

If you are planning to celebrate Passover as a church or house-group and you have access to PowerPoint and a video projector, you might like to use this Haggadah.   Right click here - PowerPoint Haggadah  and then click on "Save Target as" to download the file.   If you click on the banner it will play; if you have PowerPoint installed on your computer. 

The Seder plate is the centrepiece of the table.   It  has five (or six) dishes around a bowl of salt water.   Each dish holds an item of significance which we will come to later.  

The leader ( Father in a family seder) leads us through the feast, with others taking part.    We drink four times during the meal.  There is an extra cup which will be mentioned later.  

First, a woman, mother in a family Seder, covers her head, lights the candles  (usually two) and says the blessing.          "Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheynu, Melech ha Olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvah tov vitsavanu l'hadlich ner shel shabbat"      "Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has set us apart by his word, and in whose name we light these festival lights."

Then we remember GOD'S four promise to Moses,  Ex 6 v 6&7  

We bless the first cup  ( The cup of sanctification)  and all drink     "Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheynu, Melech ha Olam, borey pri hagafen"  ' Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who  creates the fruit of the vine.'            (Jesus referred to the cup ; Luke 22 v17&18 )

We wash our hands            ( Jesus washed disciples feet   John 13 v5-17 )

We eat some parsley (representing life) dipped in salt water (representing tears)

The four questions   are asked by a young child

"On all other nights we eat bread or Matzah - on this night why do we eat only Matzah?"

"On all other nights we eat all kind of vegetables -on this night why do we eat only bitter herbs?"

"On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once - on this night why do we dip twice?"

"On all other nights we eat our meals sitting or reclining - on this night why do we eat reclining?"

The leader goes on to answer these questions.

Matzah  

(The unleavened bread) -      is to remember the Israelites not having time for bread to rise. Three Matzot are wrapped for Passover ( Think about why three wrapped together ) The leader takes the middle Matzah, breaks it in half.  One half is wrapped in a white cloth.    (Jesus was wrapped in burial cloths)    This half is called Afikomen (the coming one).   He tells children to hide their eyes and hides the Afikomen.   The Afikomen will return to end our Passover Seder Blessing for Matzah   "Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheynu, Melech ha Olam, hamotzi lechem min ha aretz"'     Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth " All share some.

Jesus broke this bread, gave thanks, and added "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."   Luke 22 v19

 Today, Matzah is pierced is marked with stripes.   See   Isaiah 53v5 and Zechariah 12 v10 for prophecies concerning Messiah's suffering.   The Authorised Version translation says,  "by his stripes we are healed" ,  meaning the wounds from the scourging Yeshua received before crucifixion.   It seems strange that the Jews breaking the Matzah do not see the connection, but scripture says these things have been hidden from them for the present  (see Rom 10-11).  Pray for the coming  day when, like the disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24 v30-31) Messiah will be revealed to them in the breaking of bread.

Marror           The Bitter Herbs     ( typically Horseradish )

This is a reminder of how, sweet as our lives are today, the Egyptians made life bitter for the children of Israel.   ( Ex 1 v12-14 )

Scoop some on to matzah, and eat,  allowing the bitter taste to cause us to shed tears.

We dip twice        Charoset  is a reminder of clay used to make bricks.   It is a mixture of fruit, nuts and sweet wine.

Put some Marror on matzah, but also put some sweet Charoset    ( a reminder that even bitter circumstances can be sweetened by the hope we have in GOD.)       (Mk14v18-20)   

Tonight we recline      The first Passover was celebrated by people enslaved.  They were instructed to eat in haste, ready to leave. We may recline and enjoy at leisure.  

Many Jewish families will recline to the left in their chairs while eating, or the four cups may be drunk while leaning the left elbow on the table

The leader and other readers then tell the story of Passover.   

When we get to the plagues, we fill our cups a second time.   The second cup is "the cup of rejoicing".   As each plague is recounted we dip a finger in and allow a drop to fall, reducing the fullness of our cup of joy.   This cup is not drunk at this stage.

The things on the Seder plate   

The shankbone of a lamb    Represents the lamb whose blood marked the houses of the children of Israel         Ex12v3,v5-8&v11-13    Since the Temple in Jerusalem no longer stands, lamb is not eaten at Passover, Hence the bone.

The roasted egg     is regarded as a symbol of mourning (for destruction of second temple)   It is also considered  to denote eternal life since the shape has no beginning or end.   Some consider it to be a reminder of the burnt offerings in Temple worship.

The Passover supper is now eaten

After this, if the Afikomen has been "stolen" by one of the children, it may be ransomed by the head of the table.  We finish the meal by sharing the Afikomen.

The third cup      is the cup of redemption and it is drunk warm to signify the blood of the Passover lamb.    

This is the cup ( the cup after supper ) that Jesus gave to his disciples       (Luke 22 v19 )  

Eliyahu HaNavi       (The Prophet Elijah )     The extra cup at the table is for Elijah.    One of the children opens the door to welcome him to our Seder.   Remember Elijah did not die, but was taken up to heaven. Elijah is expected to come before Messiah.     "Look, I will send to you Eliyahu the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of YHVH.    (Malachi 4 v5-6 [ Mal'akhi 3 23-24 in Complete Jewish Bible ]  See also   Luke 1 v17  -  Matt 11 v14 )

The Hallel is sung   -   Hallel means "Praise" and is Psalms 113 to 118 or psalm 136.

Where most English translations of Mark 14 v 26 say, "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives"  they actually sang the Hallel.   This suggests to the author, that Jesus' special Seder did not include the fourth cup, but adjourned to Gethsemane where Jesus wrestled in prayer about  the cup of suffering he was about to drink.

The fourth cup      Is the cup of praise.   It is drunk while joining in responsive praise for various ways in which GOD has blessed us.

The traditional ending    " haba'ah bi Yerushalayim"       "'Next Year in Jerusalem"

After AD 70 it was impossible for the Jews to celebrate in Jerusalem and that was their great desire.   In 1967  Israel  recaptured Jerusalem and since then it has been possible for the  Jews  to celebrate there, signifying that the "Times of the Gentiles" are drawing to a close.  Jesus spoke of the signs of the End of the Age, including saying , "Jerusalem will be trampled on by  the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."     Luke21v24

Jesus said,  "It is Finished"

But in Hebrew that is, Tam ve’nishlam - These are the first two words of the Hebrew phrase, "Tam ve’nishlam Shevach La’el Boreh Olam", which means, "It is completed and fulfilled, blessed be God, the Creator of the world." The acronym for this phrase,  is written at the end of sacred Jewish writings such as books of the Bible.   These words were also used in the marketplace, indicating that a deal or transaction had been completed.    Thus Jesus declared that he had completed and fulfilled everything God had purposed for salvation, since the creation of the world.