Passover is a Jewish and Samaritan holy day and festival commemorating God sparing the Jews when he killed the first born of Egypt. Followed by the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, the full moon of that month, the first month of the Hebrew calendar's festival year according to the Hebrew Bible. In the story of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves, with the tenth plague being the killing of firstborn sons. However, the Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb, and upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord passed over these homes, hence the term "passover".] When Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread to rise. In commemoration, for the duration of Passover, no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason it is also called "The Festival of the Unleavened Bread" Matza (unleavened bread) is the primary symbol of the holiday.
Passover is a biblically-mandated holiday:
Leviticus 23 says in v5 -8, The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.' The Biblical commandments concerning the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) stress the importance of remembering:
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." (Deuteronomy 16:12)
Exodus 12:14 commands, in reference to God's sparing of the firstborn from the Tenth Plague:And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 13:3 repeats the command to remember:Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength the hand of the LORD brought you out from this place.
On the 10th of Nisan a lamb was brought into home - Ex 12 v3&6 - John 1 v11
On the Eve of ( leaven / yeast ) items were to be searched out and burned. Nowadays Father and the children hunt house with candles. (Mother will have placed bits around to be found). On the 14th of Nisan, at twilight, the Lamb was to be slaughtered and prepared. It was to be roasted whole over the fire (no bones broken) Ex12v46 - Num9v12 ( See John 19 v33 for a reference to Jesus) Jesus kept Passover Matt 26 v 17-30 - Luke 22 v7-20 - John 13 . Jesus said, "I will not partake again until......." Luke22 vl5&16
The Passover celebration is called the Seder , which means, literally, The Order (the order in which the feast is conducted) ) The seder begins at sundown and is conducted from the Haggadah (The Telling) The following comes largely from a Messianic Haggadah, which draws out the significance of various items to Yeshua ( Jesus ), which most Jews have not comprehended. The Seder plate is the centrepiece of the table. It has five (or six) dishes around a bowl of salt water. Each dish holds an item of significance.
The sequence can be summarised as follows:
A blessing is said over the first of four cups of wine.
The host washes his hands.
The middle one of three matzah – that is, unleavened bread – is broken in two. One of the broken halves is hidden until after the meal.
The Passover story is told.
A second cup of wine.
Everyone washes their hands.
Bitter herbs are eaten. In Exodus 12:8 the Jews were told to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. In Hebrew the bitter herbs are called ‘maror’. They are usually grated horseradish.
The main meal. The main course is roasted lamb.
A blessing is said after the meal.
The broken half of matzah, which had been hidden, is brought back to the table. It has to be found by a child. The matzah is broken into pieces and distributed. Everyone eats of the bread.
A third cup of wine.
A child opens the door to see if Elijah is there. The Bible says that Elijah would come and precede the Messiah.
Psalms 113 to 118 – the ‘hallel’, the praise psalms – are sung.
A fourth cup of wine.
Note that four cups of wine are drunk.
Matzah
The unleavened bread) - is to remember the Israelites not having time for bread to rise.
Three Matzot are wrapped for Passover. The three matzot – the unleavened bread – remind us of the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Significantly, in the seder, The leader takes the middle Matzah, breaks it in half. One half is wrapped in a white cloth. (Jesus was wrapped in burial cloths) This half is called Afikomen (the coming one). He tells children to hide their eyes and hides the Afikomen. The Afikomen will return to end our Passover Seder
Blessing for Matzah Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth " All share some.
Jesus had said:I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
~ Mark 10:15
Childlike faith and trust is the way to God.
Today, Matzah is pierced is marked with stripes. See Isaiah 53v5 and Zechariah 12 v10 for prophecies concerning Messiah's suffering. The Authorised Version translation says, "by his stripes we are healed" , meaning the wounds from the scourging Yeshua received before crucifixion. It seems strange that the Jews breaking the Matzah do not see the connection, but scripture says these things have been hidden from them for the present (see Rom 10-11). Pray for the coming day when, like the disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24 v30-31) Messiah will be revealed to them in the breaking of bread
Jesus broke this bread, gave thanks, and added "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22 v19
The father wraps part of the middle peace of Matzah in a white cloth and hides it some where in the house. (symbolizing the death and burial of the Messiah) After the meal the father sends the children to hunt for hidden Matzah. The Seder can not continue until the Matzah is found and given back to the father. (symbolizing the resurrection and ascension of the Messiah) The child negotiates what gift the father will give him for returning the Matzah. Then the father gives the child a coin as a down payment for the gift and the matzah is returned and the Seder can continue. This gift of a coin referred to as "the promise of the father" (symbolizing the giving if the Holy spirit at Pentecost as a earnest deposit of the gift of eternal life)Then the father brings out the Matzah that was hidden, each member is given two peaces of matzah to make the Afikomen. The Afikomen is a sandwich made of two peaces of matzah with the Maror (bitter herbs) on one side and the Charoset (a sweet antidote to the bitter herbs) on the other side. The sandwich is eaten Maror side first then Charoset. (symbolizing that the Messiah is the only antidote for sin)
The Passover Seder Plate Hebrew: ke'ara is a special plate containing symbolic foods used by Jews during the Passover Seder. Each of the six items arranged on the plate has special significance to the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, which is the focus of this ritual meal. The seventh symbolic item used during the meal — a stack of three matzos — is placed on its own plate on the Seder table.
The six traditional items on the Seder Plate are:
• Maror and chazeret — Bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Egypt. For maror, many people mix freshly grated horseradish with cooked beets and sugar to make a condiment called chrein. (Note: If the horseradish itself is cooked or pickled, it is not considered valid for the Seder by traditional Jews.) Whole horseradish root can also be eaten. For Maror, other Jews (Sepharadic tradition) use curly parsley and dip it in vinegar or salted water to symbolize the bitterness of slavery. Chazeret is typically romaine lettuce, whose roots are bitter-tasting. Either the horseradish or romaine lettuce may be eaten in fulfillment of the mitzvah of eating bitter herbs during the Seder.
• Charoset — A sweet, brown, pebbly mixture, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. In Ashkenazi Jewish homes, charoset is made from chopped walnuts, grated apples, cinnamon, and sweet red wine. Sephardi recipes call for dates and honey in addition to chopped nuts, cinnamon, and wine. The choice of ingredients reflects the various foods to which Israel is favorably compared in King Solomon's Song of Songs.
• Karpas — A vegetable other than bitter herbs, which is dipped into salt water at the beginning of the Seder. Parsley, celery or boiled potato is usually used. The dipping of a simple vegetable into salt water (which represents tears) mirrors the pain felt by the Jewish slaves in Egypt, who could only eat simple foods. The consumption of the karpas early in the Seder is meant to spark questions from the children at the table. Usually in a Shabbat or holiday meal, the first thing to be eaten after the kiddush over wine is bread. At the Seder table, however, the first thing to be eaten after the kiddush is a vegetable. This leads immediately to the recital of the famous question, Ma Nishtana — "Why is this night different from all other nights?"
• Z'roa — A roasted lamb or goat shankbone, chicken wing, or chicken neck; symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. Since the destruction of the Temple, the z'roa serves as a visual reminder of the Pesach sacrifice; it is not eaten or handled during the Seder in Ashkenazi and many Sephardi traditions. Vegetarians often substitute a beet, quoting Pesachim 114b as justification.
• Beitzah — A roasted egg, symbolizing the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. Although both the Pesach sacrifice and the chagigah were meat offerings, the chagigah is commemorated by an egg, a symbol of mourning (as eggs are the first thing served to mourners after a funeral), evoking the idea of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and our inability to offer any kind of sacrifices in honor of the Pesach holiday. Since the destruction of the Temple, the beitzah serves as a visual reminder of the chagigah; it is not used in any way during the formal part of the seder, but some people eat it with saltwater as the first course of the meal.