The Passover Lamb
The Israelites at the time of the Exodus were told to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and roast it without breaking any of its bones. They were to apply the blood to the doorpost of their homes. This blood on the doorpost was to protect them from the angel of death who would pass through Egypt and slay the firstborn son in every house. But anyone who believed God and obeyed him by putting the blood on the door would save their firstborn from death.
During his lifetime, Jesus claimed that he would die on a Roman cross and by his death provide life for his followers. Later, he was executed by the Romans. Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and visited his disciples on numerous occasions. His death had been a sacrifice to bring eternal life to his followers.
John the Baptizer once referred to Jesus publicly as, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Just like the Lamb at Passover, Jesus had died to save lives. Like the Passover Lamb, Jesus was unblemished -- he led a sinless life. He was slain without breaking any of his bones, just like the Passover Lamb. And just as the Israelites had to apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to the doorpost of their home, so we must apply the blood of the Messiah to the doorpost of our hearts.
That is, it wasn’t enough for the Israelites to simply kill and eat a lamb. They had to apply the blood to the doorpost. In the same way, it isn’t enough that Jesus died. We must apply his death to our lives. He taught that we could do this by believing.
COMMUNION: THE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR MESSIAH THE THIRD CUP OF WINE AND THE MATZA AFTER THE MEAL
In the last Passover that Jesus celebrated with His Students (disciples), we see Jesus taking the matza and the cup or glass of wine and investing it with greater meaning. Both the matza and the cup already meant freedom from slavery because of the blood and the body of the lamb slain in Egypt. Now Yeshua would inject Himself into that already present meaning and amplify it
Paul goes on to speak about the Body and Blood of Yeshua:
1 Cor. 11:23: 'For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;'
(and of course, this bread that He injected Himself into had to be matza, unleavened bread, for it was the Passover and Feast of Matza when Yeshua gave it to the Apostles),
1 Cor. 11:24: 'and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My Body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'
1 Cor. 11:25: 'In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'
1 Cor. 11:26: 'For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord's Death until He comes.'
1 Cor. 11:27: 'Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord.'
1 Cor. 11:28: 'But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.'
1 Cor. 11:29: 'For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the Body rightly.'
1 Cor. 11:30: 'For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.'
1 Cor. 11:31: 'But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.'
1 Cor. 11:32: 'But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.'
1st Corinthians 11:23-32 tells us very little of what communion really is, but more that we should not be unworthy in taking it. 1st Corinthians 11:27-28 declare that we should not take it in an unworthy manner, which would make us guilty of not taking His Body and Blood for the reason that it was given: to cleanse us and make us like Him. Paul tells us to examine our self and in verse 31, he tells us to judge our self.
What he is saying is that before we take communion, if there is sin in our life, if we have trouble forgiving a brother or a sister, we are to tell Him about this, and ask Him to help us to walk in forgiveness. We need to confess it and ask Abba El (Papa-God), to forgive us. Then we may take communion, relying upon the Blood and the Body to free us from that sin. This is the 'negative side' of communion. We are to judge ourselves; where our walk is with Yeshua.
What does it mean to proclaim His Death every time we take communion (1 Cor. 11-24-26)? It means that we are to die to self. We are to enter into His Death, that we might die to ourselves and be alive unto Him. We 'proclaim His Death' by dying to self, and if we take communion thinking that we don't have to, that we can walk in our own carnality, we take it to our own condemnation. He did not die to sanctify my carnality.
A word about unworthiness or condemnation. If one feels unworthy and refuses to take communion because of it, they are spitting in the Face of Jesus; they are nullifying the Body and Blood which were given to us. No one is 'worthy' enough in their own, to take communion. It is only for those who know their lack of worth before a most Holy God. The attitude of 'unworthiness' is really one of inverted pride. It doesn't trust in the Sacrifice of Jesus, but in self. It says, 'I will make myself acceptable to God, my way.' We cannot get 'good enough' to take the Body and Blood of Yeshua in our own strength or 'holiness.'
The positive side of the Body and Blood of Yeshua has three major aspects to it which all stem from the original symbolism of the First Passover. They are remembrance, table fellowship, and the attitude with which God wants us to take communion.
REMEMBRANCE
1st Cor. 11:24 tells us that the bread equals His Body. As the Lord passed the unleavened bread (Matza), around that Passover night, Paul says that the meaning is to eat it in 'Remembrance of Him.' The very next verse, 11:25, says that the wine equals His Blood and that we are to drink it in 'Remembrance of Him' also. Remembrance of His Death. The Price of our Freedom.
The concept 'to remember' in Hebrew means, 'to go back to the event and be a living part of it.' Exodus 13:8 says,
'And on that day you will explain to your son, 'This is because of what Yahveh did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
Corporate Identity is a term that theologians use to express the Body of Christ: past, present and future, and we who believe in Yeshua, are all part of that Body. Hebrews 7:4-10 states that Malkizedek was a greater priest than the Levitical Priesthood (or the High Priest Aaron), for Levy was in the loins of his father Abram, when Abram gave a tithe to Malkizedek, and Malkizedek blessed Abram (Gen. 14:18-20).
When we Jews sit at our Passover Table, we envision ourselves at that First Passover in Egypt. This is seen from the above passage where God commands us to say that we (I), came out of Egypt (Ex. 13:8). As believers in Messiah, both Jew and Gentile, we come to see ourselves also at the Second Passover, with Jesus and all the Apostles and all the saints present. For this is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This is where the BrideGroom initiates the Covenant of Marriage for His Bride, the Body of Messiah.
His Death means that we enter into it, by dying to ourselves, which is what Passover is all about, and baptism also:
Romans 6:1: 'What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that Grace may increase?'
Rom. 6:2: 'May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?'
Rom. 6:3: 'Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His Death?'
Rom. 6:4: 'Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.'
Rom. 6:5: 'For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His Death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His Resurrection,'
Rom. 6:6: 'knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;'
Rom. 6:7: 'for he who has died is freed from sin.'
Death is the basic concept behind both Passover and Baptism. Baptism is done at the beginning of our walk with
FRIENDSHIP
When anyone in the ancient Middle East would break bread with anyone else, even an enemy, they were now bound to become like blood brothers. This is how powerful table fellowship, or eating together, was. It was a sign of the strongest possible friendship. Here, at the Passover Table, we have God and Israel at the Table, sitting down and becoming friends. We who were enemies of God, as Paul says, are now friends. We are seen as friends of God, because of the Blood and Body of the Lamb. Jesus makes it possible for God the Father, and us, to be friends, because of His Passover Sacrifice. This is a very powerful Reality and not something to be taken lightly. The God of Israel is our Friend. If we have any need, He will meet it. That's just the nature of friendship.
THE BIBLICAL ATTITUDE FOR COMMUNION
Exodus 12:14 has Yahveh explaining what the proper attitude for Passover must be:
'And this day will be for you, a day to remember (or enter in to), and you must celebrate it, a Feast (Celebration) to Yahveh for all your generations, an eternal decree. You must celebrate the Feast.'
The word celebrate means 'to dance, to reel about, to be giddy and to rejoice.' To rejoice mightily! The picture that best captures the emotional reality that God desires for us to have at communion, is seen on the face of the Israelites when they watch their enemies, the Egyptian Army and charioteers, who wanted to murder them, engulfed in the Red Sea. The Psalmist rejoices in Yahveh and tells us that Passover is one of the Great and Mighty Deeds of Yahveh (Psalm 77:12-20; 114, etc.). (Creation being the other Mighty Deed or Act; Psalm 115, etc.)
The Crucifixion though, is the Great and Mighty Deed of Yahveh, and He wants us to realize this when we have communion. It combines both Creation and Redemption. We have been set free from our enemies: Sin, Satan and Eternal Death, and given His Nature, and God wants us to rejoice, sing and dance unto Him, at the very least, in our hearts, and through our mouths. This is the biblical attitude for taking the Body and the Blood.
JESUS: THE MATZA (UNLEAVENED BREAD) OF LIFE
Isaiah 53:5 gives us an incredible Picture of our Messiah Jesus as the Crucified Matza (unleavened bread):
'Yet He was pierced through for our open rebellion, crushed for our perverse heart; on Yeshua lies a punishment that brings us Shalom (Peace) with Papa God, and through His stripes we are healed.'
We know that Yeshua was pierced through. Not only were His Hands and His Feet pierced through, but also His Side:
John 19:34: 'But one of the soldiers pierced His Side with a spear, and immediately Blood and Water came out.'
The Blood would be a reference to the blood of the lamb in the First Passover, slain for Israel's Salvation, and the Water would be a reference to the Water that was given to Israel from the Rock in the Wilderness, that Moses struck once:
Ex. 17:5: 'Then Yahveh said to Moses, 'Pass before the People and take with you some of the Elders of Israel; and take in your hand your Staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.'
Ex. 17:6: 'Behold, I will stand before you there on the Rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the Rock, and Water will come out of it, that the People may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the Elders of Israel.'
The striking of the Rock pictures the crucifixion of Yeshua and the Provision of Living Water that would be given to all who desire. This is especially evident when we see 40 years later, that Moses is told to speak to the Rock, for Water this time, but Moses, in his frustration, and separation from Israel ('...you rebels!' Numbers 20:10), as the mediator between God and Israel, strikes this Rock twice. In so doing, he incurs a very severe penalty for his sin of disobedience. He is told by Yahveh that he cannot enter the Promised Land that he has been leading Israel to, for the last 40 years (Numbers 20:12).
At first this might seem harsh of Yahveh to do this to Moses, but when we realize that even in Moses' sin, he is a picture of Messiah, we come to see the reason for this. Moses, because of his sin, would die before the Sons of Israel would enter the Promised Land. And we see that Yeshua the Messiah, must also die, before anyone Jew or Gentile can enter the Promised One.
The matza was once very hard kernels of wheat. It had to be crushed in order for it to be baked and made edible. The punishment we deserved is crucifixion, for we have all rebelled against God. This is where Yeshua was crushed for us, so that we might be able to eat of the Matza (Bread) that would give us Life, His Life.
The brown markings on the matza are known as stripes or bruises. They come from being placed on a rack. Jesus' back was lashed open by the Romans until His Flesh was torn in pieces. And by His Stripes we are healed.
The matza that we are to eat for communion, coming from the Passover Table, thus forms a perfect Picture of the Crucified Messiah, Yeshua and why Yahveh institutes matza for that First Passover.
Next we come to the wine. It comes from grapes. They too had to be crushed so we could drink it. This pictures His Blood that we can drink because of His being crushed. The Rabbis say that the wine for Passover must be red, for it has to reflect the sacrificial blood of the Passover lamb. And in so doing, it also represents the Blood of Yeshua.
Wine in the Bible is both a symbol of death (sacrifice) and life (the joy it brings), i.e. Psalm 104:15, 'And wine which make's man's heart glad...' Wine is not a part of the biblical commandment in Exodus, but Yeshua uses this Jewish tradition to form one half of Christian communion.
You see, everything was already there for Jesus when He came upon the scene 2000 years ago. The Stage had already been set by His Father 1400 years earlier in the First Passover. In Yeshua's time, as He came to the 3rd Passover Cup of wine, He injects Himself who is Freedom (Redemption) and Salvation, into the Matza and the Wine, which already pictured Freedom and Salvation from slavery, thus overlapping and intensifying the picture of the Passover matza and the wine.
The Next Time You Have Communion, Take These Realities
1.Remember His Death. Ask Him to help you to die to self that you might experience His Reality more in your life, and that you might truly be made into His Image. Dying to self is true freedom from sin.
2. Examine your self and be washed and cleansed: From John 13:5 we know that Jesus washed the feet of all His followers, including Judas. You are at the Table and Jesus is washing your feet. If you have any bitterness, resentment, emotional pain inside you, Jesus looks up into your face and asks you to give it to Him. He will heal you. His Body and Blood are your forgiveness for sin and wholeness. He came to set the captive free. This is the aspect of forgiveness and cleansing.
3. Yeshua and Papa God are your Friends. You are at the Table, He gives you His Body and His Blood and He calls you His Friend. Yeshua is pleased with you because you walk in His Blood Sacrifice and you rejoice in Him, trusting Him to cleanse you of your sin and provide Salvation for you. God has chosen to deal with sin by the Death of His Son and He wants us to rejoice before Him. Not only at the Passover Table in His Day, but the One in the Future! If you need anything: forgiveness, life, health, wisdom, we have it in Yeshua. He has committed to serve you! To make sure you make it!
He supplies our food; both physical and spiritual. He is the Matza of Life.
He provides our shelter; the homes we live in, and the fortress we go to when the storms of life batter us.
He gives us our clothing; and clothes us in His Righteousness.
Because we eat of Him, this makes us one with Him. This is the aspect of marriage, or union.
Celebrate! Meditate on what Yeshua is to you and what God has done for you and you'll find yourself wanting to sing and dance unto Him. This is the attitude of true thanksgiving and celebration and one in which communion should be taken. He has defeated all our enemies and we are to rejoice in our hearts. And He promises to make us like Himself.
The Afikomen and the Matza Tosh
On the Passover table, there is a special pouch which contains three layers of matza, or unleavened bread. During the service, the leader removes the middle layer of the matza. He sets one half aside and designates the other half as the “afikomen”, a Greek word which means, “that which comes later”.
He then wraps the afikomen in a white, linen cloth and hides it somewhere in the house. Later, the children search for the afikomen while the adults wait. When the afikomen is found, the leader removes it from the white linen cloth.
What is the meaning of these symbols? The origin of the matza tosh and the afikomen are shrouded in history. The rabbis have some explanations for their meaning, but cannot pinpoint their origin. The rabbis surmise that the matza tosh has three layers to represent the unity of the three patriarchs of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some other rabbis say that it represents to unity of the three divisions of the Israelite people, the priests, Levites, and common people.
But why is the middle layer of the matza broken, wrapped, buried, and brought back? How does that fit with the rabbinic explanation? The rabbis’ answer doesn’t seem so convincing.
Jewish believers in Jesus have their own answer. The three layers of the matza tosh could be seen to represent the unity of the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And why is the middle layer of matza broken, wrapped, buried, and brought back? Many believers see Jesus, who was broken for our sin, wrapped in white linen cloths for burial, buried by Joseph of Arimethea, and came back to life on the third day. Why is the middle layer of matza revealed while the other two remain hidden? Again, many believers see Jesus, the middle person of the Trinity who was revealed in a human body while the Father and Holy Spirit remained hidden.
THE 4th CUP OF WINE: THE CUP OF PRAISE
This Cup praises Yahveh for His completed work of Redemption, as seen in the Passover and Red Sea. The Hebrew People that came out of Egypt were completely saved from Egyptian slavery.
Just about everyone that I know, who believes in Jesus and does the Passover, drinks from this 4th Cup. There's a problem with this though. Jesus didn't! Matthew 26:29, which takes place immediately after Yeshua drank from the 3rd Cup that He said was His Blood, has Yeshua saying,
'I tell you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine again until the Day I drink New Wine with you in the Kingdom of My Father.'
Traditional Jews drink from the 4th Cup because the Work of Redemption (Salvation), from Egyptian slavery was complete at the First Passover and the Red Sea. We shouldn't, because our Redemption won't be complete until we stand before God on Judgment Day, and become like our Messiah, Glorified. This is Salvation for us. Before that Day, we have the Heavenly Promise, sealed by the Death of Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit within.
The 4th Cup symbolizes the completed work of Redemption for Israel. That's why Yeshua didn't drink that Fourth Cup that night, we are not yet like Him. This is the New Jerusalem, coming down from the New Heavens. Yeshua will drink it with us then, when we are glorified like Him. This is the Praise to Papa God, who has wrought this Great Redemption, the picture of the Fourth Cup, and why Yeshua didn't drink of it that night, on the Second Passover. But He will, with us, on the Third Passover.
God is still calling people to this Second Table! It's as though Time has stood still for 2,000 years and has allowed us who weren't literally at that Second Passover Table with Jesus, to sit down and eat of His Body and Blood, that we might be part of the Kingdom of God. This time period will end on the Day of Judgment, the Day of Yahveh, when all those who have really eaten of Him, will have the Wrath of God Pass-over them, but those who haven't, will spend eternity in Hell Fire.
HALLEL: THE PSALM SONG
In Matthew 26:30 it states, 'After singing the Hallel (hymns), they went out to the Mount of Olives.'
Hallel means praise in Hebrew.
Hallelu is 'you praise!' It's in the imperative or command mode, the 'you' understood.
Halleluyah is (you) Praise Yahveh! The 'yah' being a shortened form of Yahveh. (In Exodus 15:2, in the most ancient Hebrew poetry we have, the Song of the (Red) Sea, (in the Hebrew), it reads, 'Yah is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation!')
Psalms 113-118 and 145-150 are known as the Hallel and are traditionally sung or read at the Passover and that's what the reference of 'hymns' refers to. The Lord Yeshua and the Apostles sung those Psalms that night, lifting up the God of Israel as the Lord of Creation and Redemption.
The Lord Yeshua and the Apostles go out that night to Gethsemane and He desires that they pray with Him. Exodus 12:42 tells us that the Sons of Israel weren't to fall asleep on this night because Yahveh 'kept watch' for them that night:
'It is a night to be much observed unto Yahveh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of Yahveh to be observed of all the Sons of Israel in their generations.'
The word 'observed' means that the Apostles should have stayed up all night long, as the first generation of Hebrews did. Yahveh commands this because He 'kept' that night, to bring Israel out of the Kingdom of Pharaoh. All Israel was to stay awake, as it came around year after year, to also imitate Israel leaving Egypt. On the first Passover, no Hebrew slept that night: they had to be ready to leave the Kingdom of Pharaoh. Can you imagine falling asleep and waking up the next day and everybody gone?!
In Matthew 26:43, we read the account of the Apostle's falling asleep and breaking the Commandment, and also failing Jesus:
'Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.'
If the Apostles had known that this Passover would require the Death of Yeshua, they would have forced themselves to stay awake, as the Hebrew slaves did that night. But they thought this Passover would be like the all the other Passovers that they had observed before it.
Gethsemane means, 'oil press.' This is where the olives would be crushed by a massive stone rolling over them, to squeeze out the oil from the olive. It was here that Yeshua determined to do the Will of His Father:
'saying, 'Father, if You are willing, remove this Cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.' (Luke 22:42)
Because Yeshua was willing to surrender His Life and be crushed, the Oil of the Holy Spirit that was within Him, is available to those who call upon His Name.
There are really 'only' three Passovers: the First in Egypt. The Second in Jerusalem. And the third in the New Jerusalem. At each Passover, Yahveh moves in such a way that He never did before, or will again.
At the First, we see the death of the first born sons of Egypt and the sparing of Israel's first born, because of the blood of a lamb; and the freeing of Israel, God's People, from Pharaoh's slavery.
At the Second, we see the Death of the First Born Son of Yahveh, Yeshua, and the sparing of Israel's first born sons (which we all become in Yeshua), from Satan's Kingdom.
And at the Third Passover, because of the Blood of the Lamb, we have the Wrath of God Pass-over us and we are changed into Glory, to the Praise of Abba El (Papa God). He has brought this Great Redemption to His People Israel, at the Cost of His Son.
The Last Supper and the Passover
According to the Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover seder (“seder” is the name of the service held in the home at Passover). During the meal, Jesus broke matza and said, “This is my body which is given for you.” He then took the third cup in the Passover seder, a cup which is known as the cup of redemption and said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.”
The bread already represented to the Jewish people purity and sinlessness, for it was unleavened bread. Leaven, a symbol of sin, is forbidden at Passover. The cup already represented to the Jewish people redemption by the blood, for it represented to blood of the Passover Lamb. Jesus applied and extended these meanings to himself. The bread represents his pure, sinless body and the cup of wine represents his redeeming blood. And so, the communion service so familiar to Christians around the world is really part of the Passover seder! The correlation between Jesus and the Passover may not convince you that he is the Messiah. The ultimate proof that Jesus is who he said he was is the resurrection. To see evidence for the resurrection, check out Why Should Anyone Believe in Jesus?. But the fact that the Passover points to Jesus only adds evidence to the case that he is the Messiah and helps to confirm the truth for those who already see it. Jesus is our Passover Lamb and he takes away the sin of the world!