Rev Colin Chow
11-04-2017
It has
always been about Jesus. It’s still all about Jesus. And it will be about the
second coming of Christ.
Mark 14:12-16New International Version (NIV)
The Last Supper
12 On the first day of the Festival 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 preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of
water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The
Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my
disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us
there.”
16 The disciples left, went into the city and
found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
Mark and
Luke described the location where Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His
disciples as a large upper room (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12) which seems similar to
Luke’s description of the upper room (Acts 1:13) where the disciples gathered
after Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after His resurrection.
Isaiah 53New International Version (NIV)
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
Jesus is the Passover Lamb that gave His life for His
people.
Cleaning the leaven from the homes
Exodus 12:14-24New International Version (NIV)
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate
it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.15 For
seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your
houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through
the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first
day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food
for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread,
because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for
the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from
the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your
houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in
it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel
and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and
slaughter the Passover lamb.22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some
of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe.
None of you shall go out of the door of your
house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will
pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.
In Jesus’
burial, He fulfilled the unleavened bread.
In Jesus’
resurrection, He fulfilled the first fruits.
Why Celebrate the Passover or Pesach (Hebrew: פֶּסַח Pesah
or Pesakh)?
Exodus 12:25-27New International Version (NIV)
25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this
ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites
in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
Seder (Hebrew: סֵדֶר sedeʁ)
means “Order” or “Arrangement”
Haggadah (Hebrew: הַגָּדָה) means “Telling”
The
Passover Seder involves a retelling of the story of the liberation of the
Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. (Exodus 12) Seder customs include
telling the story, discussing the story, drinking four cups of wine, eating
unleavened bread (matzah), partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover
Seder Plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom.
God told
the people of Israel to celebrate this day as a festival of the LORD – and He
intended it as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
Lighting the Candle
Exodus 13:21-22New International Version (NIV)
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a
pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the
pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Hebrews 12:29New International Version (NIV)
29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
The Ten (10) Plagues (Hebrew: מכות
מצרים, Makot Mitzrayim)
One of
the most dramatic moments of the Passover seder comes with the recitation of
the 10 plagues that, the Bible says, God brought on the Egyptians to
persuade Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery.
The
Plagues:
- Blood (Hebrew: דָם dam)
(Exodus 7:14-24)
- Frogs (Hebrew: צְּפַרְדֵּעַ tzefardea) (Exodus 7:25-8:15)
- Gnats or Lice (Hebrew: כִּנִּים kinnim) (Exodus 8:16-19)
- Flies (Hebrew: עָרוֹב arov) (Exodus 8:20-32)
- Livestock (Hebrew: דֶּבֶר dever) (Exodus 9:1-7)
- Boils (Hebrew: שְׁחִין shechin) (Exodus 9:8-12)
- Hail (Hebrew: בָּרָד barad) (Exodus 9:13-35)
- Locusts (Hebrew: אַרְבֶּה arbeh) (Exodus 10:1-20)
- Darkness (Hebrew: חוֹשֶך chosekh) (Exodus 10:21-29)
- Slaying of the firstborn (Hebrew: מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת makat bechorot) (Exodus 11:1-12:36)
The Passover Seder Plate (Hebrew: קערה ke'ara)
Maror
(Hebrew: מָרוֹר mārôr) or Marror,
also known as Chazeret:
Bitter
herbs (horseradish root, watercress or some other strong radish or vegetable) bring
tears to the eyes to remember the tears and bitterness of slavery that the
people of Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל Yisraʾel)
endured before their escape from Egypt. It is also symbolic of the worldly
system ruled by the Adversary.
Zeroah or
z'roa (Hebrew: זרוֹע zrōā):
The shank
bone of the Passover/Pesach brings to mind deliverance which the Lord God
wrought for us by the blood of this sacrifice. It represents
the roasted lamb which could no longer be sacrificed as the Temple had been
destroyed in 70 C.E. So we no longer eat roast lamb at Passover/Pesach because Jesus/Yeshua
(ישוע) was the perfect
sacrificial lamb at Passover/Pesach offered one time for all times. Hence the
zeroah represents the Arm of YHWH who would redeem the world.
Charoset
(Hebrew: חרס cheres,
meaning "clay"):
Mixed
fruit salad made from finely chopped apples, chopped nuts, dates, cinnamon and
wine reminds us of the mortar which the Israelites (Hebrew: בני ישראל Bnei Yisra'el) were forced to use to
make bricks without straws in Egypt, enhancing the bitterness of slavery, yet
were tempted with the sweetness of hope of redemptions promised to Abraham
(Avraham), originally Abram, years ago. The sweetness of the apples in
contrasting from the bitterness of slavery is a symbol of hope.
Beitza (Hebrew: ביצה):
The egg symbolises new growth as fresh vegetation springs
forth after winter, giving fresh hope as Israel was/is agricultural based. It could
represent sorrow at the destruction of the Second Temple. It also
impresses upon the desire for freedom to which hard labour gave birth, i.e. new
life after Egypt.
Karpas (Hebrew: כַּרְפַּס):
Parsley
is a spring vegetable and sign of new life. It
symbolises life that YHWH created and sustained as:
(a) the Israelites came out alive after crossing Yam Suph
(Hebrew: יַם-סוּף) or the Sea of Reeds whilst Elohim drowned their enemies;
(b) resurrection because Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead;
(c) spiritually, believers accepting Jesus/Yeshua experience
newness of life.
The
parsley is dipped in salt water twice to represent the hyssop dipped for
sprinkling on the door posts. It is a sign of tears that need to shed and
groaning caused by oppression and enslavement in Egypt before joy can be
experienced.
Salt
water:
Not part
of the Seder plate but kept on the table to represent the sweat and tears shed
by the Hebrews.
Matzah or
unleavened bread:
The unleavened bread is a reminder that the Israelites left
Israel in such a haste that there was no time to wait for the bread dough to
rise or puff up. So it became bread of affliction. When roasted, it was striped
and pierced and looked like bruised marks on the surface. Isaiah 53:5 says He
was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and by His
stripes we are healed.
Kiddush (/ˈkɪdɪʃ/; Hebrew: קידוש [ki'duʃ])
wine/grape juice:
This is the first cup of sanctification, praising Elohim for
sanctifying us with His commandments, giving us the season of freedom and
memorial of the Israelites departing Egypt, from this worldly system.
Four Cups
According
to the four promises of God to Moses:
Exodus 6:6-7New International Version (NIV)
6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke
of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will
redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be
your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the
yoke of the Egyptians.
1) I will bring you out (Cup of Sanctification)
2) I will free you (Cup of Deliverance)
3) I will redeem you (Cup of Redemption)
4) I will take you as my own people (Cup of
Acceptance/Restoration)
Note that
Jesus did not drink the fourth cup.
Matthew 26:27-29New International Version (NIV)
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to
them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of
the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Elijah Cup
Open up
the door for Elijah to enter with us. Elijah prophesied the coming Messiah.
Order of the Passover Seder
1
|
Kadeish קדש
|
Recital
of Kiddush blessing and drinking of the first cup of wine (Kos Rishon)
|
2
|
Urchatz ורחץ
|
The washing
of the hands
|
3
|
Karpas כרפס
|
Dipping
of the parsley in salt water
|
4
|
Yachatz יחץ
|
Breaking
the middle unleavened bread; the larger piece becomes the afikoman
|
5
|
Maggid מגיד
|
Retelling
the Passover story, including the recital of “the four questions”:
Q1:
Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or
matzah, but on this night we eat only matzah?
A1:
Matzah reminds us that when the Jews left Egypt, they had no time to bake
their bread, but took raw dough and baked it into crackers.
Q2:
Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this
night we eat only bitter herbs?
A2:
Maror reminds us of the bitter and cruel way the Pharaoh treated the Jewish
people as slaves in Egypt.
Q3:
Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on
this night we dip them twice?
A3:
We dip bitter herbs into Charoset to remind us of the bitterness of our
slavery. The chopped apples and nuts look like clay used to make bricks for
Pharaoh’s buildings. We dip parsley in salt water to remember the tears of
our captivity.
Q4:
Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on
this night we eat in a reclining position?
A4: We
lean on our pillows to remind us that we are now free and no longer live as
slaves.
Drinking
of the second cup of wine (Kos Sheni)
|
6
|
Rachtzah רחצה
|
Second
washing of the hands
|
7
|
Motzi מוציא, Matzo מצה
|
Blessing
before eating matzah
|
8
|
Maror מרור
|
Eating
of the bitter herbs
|
9
|
Koreich כורך
|
Eating
of a sandwich made of matzo and maror
|
10
|
Shulchan
oreich שלחן עורך
|
The
serving of the holiday meal
|
11
|
Tzafun צפון
|
Eating
of the afikoman
|
12
|
Bareich ברך
|
Blessing
after the meal and drinking of the third cup of wine (Kos
Sh'lishi)
|
13
|
Hallel הלל
|
Recital
of the Hallel, traditionally recited on festivals; drinking of the fourth cup
of wine (Kos Revi'i)
|
14
|
Nirtzah נירצה
|
Say
“Next Year in Jerusalem!”
|
Related:
Hebraic Root - Cultural Insights into words, action and saying of Jesus
Hebraic Perspective in Understanding the FATHER'S HEART in HIS WORD for HIS Children
Jesus the Jewish Messiah
The Threefold Calling
Pentecost
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