Finding Jesus in the Passover Seder

Some of you may remember, but about a year ago I was studying the Passover. So in honor of holy week I thought I'd share some of the insights of what I learned from that time, and hopefully, you, like me, will find a new appreciation of the beauty and symbolism behind this tradition as you find the Messiah in the Passover.

As some of you may remember, I shared with you all how each of the celebrated holidays of Judaism unfold the story of salvation in order. Jesus would have died on the day of atonement, risen on the feast of first fruits (he is first among the harvest), and ascended to heaven during the feast of weeks.
Passover itself is celebrated through a ritual ceremony known as the Seder to commemorate the Lord's deliverance of his people from the Egyptians when the angel of death passed over homes painted with the blood of a perfect lamb. While there are some variations, the Seder has generally been celebrated the same for thousands of years without major change:


Chametz: The ceremony opens with the Father sweeping bread crumbs off the shelf, symbolizing the removal of yeast from the house (yeast in scripture is used to represent sin) the mother in turn lights the Passover candles and pronounces a blessing over the family


The Passover plate: each item on the plate represents a part of the deliverance story
The cup of Wine: the cup of wine is sipped from four different times, each sip with its own significance and meaning.


The First Cup - Cup of Sanctification: this is the first sip from the cup, symbolizing it is God who sanctifies us and sets us apart for special use. The father speaks a blessing, " Blessed are you O Lord our God, the King of the universe, the Maker of the fruit of the vine"


Urchatz: This is the ceremonial hand-washing to symbolize cleansing and purification. Jesus chose this part of the ceremony to wash his disciple's feet, demonstrating that true leadership not only serves but washes us in the word


Parsley/karpas: the parsley represents the hyssop used to paint the blood the lamb over the doorposts on the night of Passover. This parsley is dipped in salt water, symbolizing the tears and sorrows of their years spent in slavery, which in turn sweetens the parsley.


The First question: The children ask four different questions throughout the ceremony. The first is this: "Why on this night do we eat only unleavened bread?" The adult answers: Because our ancestors left Egypt in haste and did not have time to let the bread rise, and the unleavened bread was easier to carry for the journey.


The Matzah covering: In the covering are placed three pieces of unleavened bread. Some believe these represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the bread more likely symbolizes the oneness of God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Only the middle Matzah, the one marked by stripes, is removed from the covering and pierced. This pierced bread is then broken. One piece is wrapped in linen and hidden to be found at a later time and brought back to the father. The other piece is returned to the covering. Before consuming the bread, a blessing is pronounced: Blessed are you O Lord our God, who bring forth bread from the earth.  "Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.." (Jn 19:1). "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" (Isa 53:5).