“Why don’t we celebrate Passover?” asked one of my students, when I once taught on the topic.
“We do,” I said. “Christians call it Pascha or Pascua or Páques. But in languages with a lot of German words mixed in, we call it
So different, English-speaking people routinely assume Easter and Passover are two entirely different holidays. I can’t argue with this assumption. Christians don’t bother to purge our homes of yeast or leavening. Don’t cook lamb—nor do we practice the modern Jewish custom of not having lamb, ’cause there’s no temple in Jerusalem to ritually sacrifice a lamb in. Don’t put out the seder plate. Don’t tell the Exodus story. Don’t have the kids ask the Four Questions. Don’t hide the afikomen and have the kids search for it—although both holidays have eggs, and we do have the kids look for eggs.
Well, some Christians observe Passover as a separate holiday. Some of us even celebrate it Hebrew-style, as spelled out in the scriptures, as in Exodus and Deuteronomy. But more often, Christians do as Messianic Jews recommend—and Messianic Jews borrow their traditions less from the bible and more from the Conservative Judaism movement. (Which, contrary to their name, ain’t all that conservative.) Their
Yes, some Messianic Jewish customs are in the Mishna, so they do date back to the first century. Still, Mishnaic practices weren’t standard practices; not even in the 10th century. Just as Christians celebrate Christmas every which way, Jews then and now got to choose their own customs. Hence families have unique customs, and various synagogues emphasize various things. Medieval Jewish communities in eastern Europe, north Africa, Spain, and the middle east, all came up with their individual haggadahs. (As did
The point of the haggadah is to teach the Exodus story to children. And remember, Jesus’s students weren’t children. Teenagers certainly, but still legal adults who already knew the Exodus story: If they hadn’t heard it at home, Jesus would’ve taught it to them personally, and they’d have celebrated several Passovers together by the time of his last supper. So, just as some families don’t tell the nativity story every Christmas once the kids get older, don’t be surprised if Jesus skipped the haggadah’s customary Four Questions (what’s with the matzot, why are bitter herbs part of the meal, why roasted meat in particular, and why does the food gets dipped twice) as redundant.
Christians don’t always realize this. Nor do Messianic Jews. So whenever they attend a Passover
Passover’s origins.
The bible’s second book, Exodus, is about how the Hebrew descendants of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians, and how the L
Those two things hanging on the black inside of this clay oven (or tannúr) are bread. For Passover you just made ’em without yeast. Biblical Archaeology Society
Passover’s also called the Matzot Feast, or Feast of Unleavened Bread.
During the feast, the Hebrews were to purge all yeast, leavening, and fermenting agents from their houses.
Exodus 12.1-20 KWL - 1 In Egypt’s territory, the L
ORD told Moses and Aaron to say, - 2 “This is your main month, your first month of the year’s months.
- 3 Tell the whole Israeli assembly: On the 10th of this month,
- every man pick yourself a sheep for your father’s house; one sheep per house.
- 4 If it’s too small a house for a sheep, take your neighbor’s house,
- nearest in number of souls, in mouths to feed. Figure that for the lamb.
- 5 Pick yourselves a sound male lamb, born this year, from your sheep or goats.
- 6 Put it under your watch till the 14th of this month.
- The whole Israeli assembly, together: Slaughter it between the evenings. 7 Take blood from it.
- Put it on the two doorjambs, on the lintel, in the house where you eat it with one another.
- 8 Eat the meat this night, roasted over fire. Eat it with matzot and bitter herbs.
- 9 Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled in boiling water,
- because its head, its legs, its innards must be roasted over fire.
- 10 Don’t have leftovers of it in the morning.
- Burn the leftovers of it in the morning in the fire.
- 11 Eat it like this: Your waist belted, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand.
- Eat it quickly. It’s the L
ORD ’s Passover. - 12 “I pass over Egypt’s territory that night.
- I smite every birthright in Egypt’s territory, from Adam to the animals.
- I enact my judgment upon all Egypt’s gods: I’m the L
ORD . - 13 The blood on the houses where you are is your sign. I see the blood: I pass you over.
- No smiting comes to destroy you when I smite Egypt’s territory.
- 14 This day is your memorial. Celebrate it as a feast to the L
ORD . - It’s an eternal doctrine for your generations. Celebrate it!
- 15 Eat matzot only seven days. On the first day stop using leaven in your houses.
- If anyone eats leavening, get their souls out of Israel—whether the first or the seventh day.
- 16 The first day’s a holy assembly, and the seventh day’s a holy assembly.
- Don’t do any work on them—other than what all souls need to eat. Only do that.
- 17 Watch the matzot. For on this day, in power, I brought your armies from Egypt’s territory.
- Watch this day! It’s an eternal doctrine for your generations.
- 18 On the first month, the 14th day, at evening,
- eat matzot till the 21st day of the month, at evening.
- 19 Seven days: No leaven is to be found in your houses.
- If anyone eats leavening, get their soul out of Israel’s assembly, whether stranger or national.
- 20 Don’t eat any leavening in any of your dwellings.
- Eat matzot.”
After that first Passover, after the L
Exodus 13.3-10 KWL - 3 Moses told the people, “Remember this day! You left Egypt, the slaves’ house!
- You went out like this with the strength of the L
ORD ’s hand! Don’t eat leavening! - 4 The day you went out is in the month of Aviv.
- 5 Work this work in this month
- once the L
ORD brings you to the land of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, - which he swore to your ancestors he’d give you—a land where milk and honey flow.
- 6 Eat matzot seven days. Feast to the L
ORD the seventh day. - 7 Eat matzot seven days. Don’t even look at fermentation, at leavening in all your vicinity.
- 8 Proclaim it to your child on that day.
- Say, ‘This action was done for me by the L
ORD when he took me from Egypt!’ - 9 It’s a sign on your hand for you. A memorial between your eyes.
- It’s so the L
ORD ’s Law would be in your mouth: - With a strong hand, the L
ORD took you from Egypt! - 10 Keep this doctrine on its date in days to come.”
Passover thus became one of the three great festivals of Israel. Further commands were added about it: It had to be observed at temple,
The last supper.
Yes, Jesus’s last supper was a Passover seder.
So Jesus’s students had to perform all the ritual sacrifices and offerings Thursday morning in preparation.
Christians tend to think of the last supper as a somber reflection of Jesus’s self-sacrifice. True, Jesus was a little agitated, and interrupted everyone else’s calm with it.
Jesus added one feature to his seder, one we Christians now do all year round, and not just on Good Friday or Easter:
Not that God’s deliverance of the Hebrews is irrelevant. Far from it! But
But again: Christians have largely replaced Hebrew-style Passover with Easter and communion. So unless we’re of Jewish descent (or unless
