The Passover

I'll just say right from the beginning that I've tried to think of a few things to cut out to shorten this post but I just plain old don't want to so it might be lengthy - so for you to read or not to read, that is the question.

Last Sunday night at our church we celebrated the Passover. Granted, it was an abbreviated version of the real thing but it was so neat to participate and learn about this Jewish holiday. I knew that the celebration of the Passover had to do with when the Israelites fled the land of Egypt but most of it was new to me and the rest of our family. About 100 of us sat and were divided into different tables. Each table had a 'Papa' who did some of the ceremonial things and ours was Matthew, fitting I thought! Each group had a plate and some "wine" for us to use.

Everything at the passover meal has a significance and I'll try and remember them accurately. Our Passover was led by Jennifer Rogers who did things VERY accurately. She is a Cornerstone graduate who is now part of Chosen People Ministries and is raising support to work among Russian Jews in the country of Germany. About a decade ago there were around ten thousand Jews in Germany and there are now about 100,000 of them, many having come from Russia.

We began with the traditional song and lighting of the candles which is done by the 'Mama'. Then several times throughout the meal we had some "wine", I think 5 different times, each time was for a specific reason.

One of the times we didn't drink it but took 10 individual drops and placed them on our napkin as a reminder of the ten different plagues that took place in Egypt prior to Pharaoh letting God's people go.Each table had some unleavened bread on it. This is, of course, because God commanded them to make bread without leaven for a few reasons - leaven represents sin and before Passover even today it is customary for the house to be cleansed of any dirt, and also to be ready to depart quickly when the time came for them to leave. Traditional bread takes a couple of hours while unleavened bread can be made in less than 30 minutes. There are 3 pieces of bread all inside a special bag with 3 compartments in it (or, in our case, a napkin). Early on in the meal the 'Papa' reaches into the cloth and removes the middle piece of bread, breaking it in half. The broken piece is wrapped and taken to another room and hidden.

Also on the plate is a cup of salt water and a green, leafy vegetable of some kind, ours was parsley. Each person took a piece and dipped it in the water and ate it. This is symbolic of the Israelites dipping a branch into the shed blood of the lamb to paint it on their doorpost as a way of letting the angel of death know that they belonged to God and were under the blood - just as we today are under the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. This is when the Egyptians suffered the greatest plague of all when their firstborn sons were taken from them. A shank bone of a lamb sits on the plate as further reminder. We did eat something bitter, horseradish, and something sweet, an apple sauce-like mixture, as well. Then, towards the end (traditionally about 3 hours into the Passover meal), all the children were asked to go and find the piece of bread that had been hidden. Those who still celebrate the Passover do this also. Whoever finds it gets a prize from his 'Papa' and it is therefore met with great rejoicing. Logan was the one to find it and you can see what his prize was, given to him by Miss Rogers.

Sadly, though it seemed obvious to me, the unsaved Jews do not see the significance of this. Jesus, as part of the Trinity, was bruised and broken for us in His death on the cross and then hidden away and buried. But DEATH COULD NOT KEEP HIM IN THE GRAVE and He rose again after 3 days, just as He said he would. His resurrection was met with great rejoicing! I was so glad that our church was able to partake of this Passover meal. This traditional meal is full of things that have so much meaning to them - what a great way to better understand and witness to those of God's chosen people who do not yet see Him as their Messiah.