CHRIST IN THE PASSOVER: MESSIANIC PROPHECIES/SYMBOLISM
God gave instructions for the "Seven Feasts of Israel." The first three, described in Leviticus 23:4-11, occur in the month Nisan, the first month of the Jewish religious year, which begins at sundown on the day of the first New Moon after the Spring Equinox, sometime in March or April.
4 These are the LORD's appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:
5 The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
6 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.
11 He [the priest] is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath (Feast of Firstfruits).
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection fit the timing of these three feasts. He was killed on Passover Day. He was buried for three days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Luke 22:7-8). He rose from the dead on the day of firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20).
God instituted the festival of Passover (Exodus 12:1-14) to commemorate His redemption of the Jewish nation from slavery in Egypt.
3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month eac h man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. • Jesus the Lamb of God entered Jerusalem on the day when the Passover lamb was selected for sacrifice.
5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (1 Peter 1:18-19) .
6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when the people of the community of Israel must (e)slaughter them of at twilight. • At 3:00 p.m. the lamb was sacrificed. The priest blew the shophar (ram's horn). At 3:00, when Jesus was being crucified, He said, "It is finished" at the moment the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the shophar was blown from the Temple. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God was fulfilled at the hour that the symbolic animal sacrifice usually took place.
Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.
12 On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14 This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance.
• Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:13; Romans 5:9; 1 John 1:7; 1 Corinthians 5:7.
46 It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.
• Psalm 34:20; Zechariah 12:10
• Soldiers broke the legs of the other two men but did not break Christ’s since He was already dead.
Jesus is actually the central character in the Passover Seder.
Matzah:
• bread made without yeast/leaven = Unleavened, sinless, Savior
• Three matzahs are put together = Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• The middle matzah is broken, wrapped in a white cloth, and hidden = Death and burial of Jesus
• The matzah itself is designed to represent Jesus = Striped and pierced, prophesied in Isaiah 53:5 and Zechariah 12:10.
• Following the Seder meal, the hidden/buried matzah is found/resurrected.
• Foretold in the prophecies of David, Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 49:15.
God the Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah,
• was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4)
• meaning “house of bread”
• Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. (John 6:32)
• Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
During the Passover Seder (Luke 22), Jesus proclaimed that He was instituting the New Covenant foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The celebration of this covenant is now Holy Communion/The Lord’s Supper. Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, and said that it represented His body. Then He took the cup of wine, which would have been the third cup of the Seder, the cup of redemption, and said it was the new covenant in His blood "poured out for you."
In the Jewish tradition a hymn of praise known as the Hallel is sung during the Passover Seder. In it is Psalm 118:22, speaking of Messiah:
The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.
In Matthew 21:42, one week before His death, Jesus quoted that verse and claimed that He Himself is that stone.
In the Seder Service, there is both celebration of what God has done in the past and an eager anticipation of what God will continue to do to bring deliverance to a world that still groans under its slavery to sin. The traditional saying "next year in Jerusalem" is an expression not only of the faithfulness of God in the past but also of faith and confidence in God’s future plan. Jerusalem is really a symbol of the restoration of all things for which both Jews and Christians eagerly await.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Deem, Rich. “How the Passover Reveals Jesus Christ”
• Fairchild, Mary. “A Christian Perspective of the Bible Feast of Passover”
• Sewell, Curt. “Christ in the Passover”
THE INVITATION
★ You can't depend on your own goodness to get to Heaven. We've all sinned (Romans 3:23). Jesus paid the penalty for your sins with His death on the cross and His resurrection (John 3:16).
★ To be forgiven and be guaranteed a place in Heaven, you need to repent of sin, confess that you are a sinner, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart (Acts 2:21).
★ You can use the following prayer or your own words, but you must actually believe in your heart that your prayer is real:
Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I confess that I have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed.
Please forgive all my wrongdoing and let me live in relationship with You from now on.
I receive You as my Savior and recognize that the work You accomplished once and for all on the cross was done on my behalf.
Thank You for saving me. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to You.
In Your name I pray, Amen.
Rev. Dr. Nicholas J. Gray, Pastor Broadway Baptist Church Sedalia, Missouri 2015
