Passover with Jesus
Since I come from a Jewish family, my church in Atlanta asked me to lead a Passover service for one of our community groups in 2017. I wrote the Haggadah (text) and have continued to revise and lead a Christian Passover service for the past five years. I would be honored to share that text and lead a Passover for you, or give a talk on the connection between Passover and Communion, or on the significance of Passover for Christians. Instead of sharing the very extensive Haggadah I have written, here is an abstract to more concisely share my interpretation of the Jewish tradition’s meaning for the Christian faith.
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus celebrated Passover with His twelve closest disciples. Passover is a meal with certain foods that are represented on a Seder Plate that accompany the retelling of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. These elements on the plate are explained and passed around during key moments of the narrative so that those around the table have a real taste of what their ancestors endured: Karpas, which is a tender shoot like parsley that is dipped in salt water; Marror, which is a bitter root like horseradish; Charoset, which is a mixture of apples, cinnamon and wine; Matzo or unleavened bread; and Zeroa, an “arm” or shank bone of a lamb. This bitter history of Israel’s exodus from Egypt is punctuated by drinking the sweet fruit of the vine, and culminates in the main course: the Lamb whose blood caused judgment to pass over God’s people. This is the meal that Jesus longed to enjoy with those He loved: one that recounted the suffering of His people in slavery, and God’s faithful provision of deliverance in the body and blood of a Lamb.
This is what Jesus wanted to remember the night that He was betrayed, just before all His loved ones would fall away: the suffering of slavery so oppressive that His people could not utter anything more than a groan when they cried out to God. He sat with those He loved as they gave voice to what had been unutterable oppression, and He tasted the tears of His people by dipping karpas in salt water. He and His loved ones ate horseradish so bitter it makes the eyes water so they could relive the harsh history together. That night God in man not only heard His people, He experienced it with us. This was a true communion with God our Savior, and something amazing happened. Jesus not only experienced human suffering with us, as us, He became the carrier of it. He took the bread and it was His body broken for those He loved. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. It was His blood poured out for us that saved us from a far worse slavery than our ancestors endured in Egypt. His blood redeemed us from slavery to sin and death. Now, instead of remembering the pain our ancestors suffered, we remember an only beloved Son who came to dwell among us, be acquainted with our grief, bear our pain to its bitter end even to death on a cross, so that we could go free. We remember Him who communed with us in all the sorrow and joy of our human experience, the One who took all that we are upon Himself, and gave all that He was to us in return – His life for ours – His very flesh and blood – that we may live.
