As a Jewish Christian I have often been asked by churches at Easter to speak about the Jewish Passover or to perform a demonstration of one. Churches seem fascinated by it. It looks like it would be helpful background to understanding the Last Supper and therefore Jesus’ death.
This is not only untrue, but is a quite dangerous deception. There are no secrets in a Jewish Passover that will help Christians better understand their faith. Paul is clear about this in Colossians 2:16-17: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” The Jewish Passover meal is a shadow of the reality which we already have in Christ.
The Passover is the tenth plague on Egypt. God had promised Abraham to give his descendants the land of Canaan. Therefore he rescued them from Egypt to bring them into the promised land. The rescue was effected by the tenth plague—the death of the first-born in Egypt. The Israelites’ first-born were spared God’s judgment. God provided an atonement for them: they slaughtered the Passover lamb and daubed its blood on the doorframes of their houses. When God saw the blood he passed over their houses, and they were spared his judgment. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. He is the reality, the true Passover: the animal’s blood in Egypt was a symbolic representation of Jesus. When Jesus returns, God’s judgment will come. But it will pass over us, because Jesus’ blood has been shed to atone for our sins.
This truth is captured in song by Martin Luther:
Here the true paschal Lamb we see,
Whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree—
So strong His love!—to save us.
See, His blood doth mark our door,
Faith points to it, death passes o’er,
The murderer cannot harm us. Hallelujah!
So what does a present day Jewish Passover meal have to do with all this ? Would it help Christians to see one? Does it have some kind of secret meaning to deepen our understanding of what Christ has done ?
Most important of all perhaps is what doesn’t happen at a Passover meal. Since the Temple was destroyed in AD 70 there has been no Passover sacrifice. This point is a huge one and often overlooked. There has been no Jewish Passover kept since 70 AD—at least not in an Old Testament sense. And that is hardly surprising—our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. It is true that unleavened bread and bitter herbs are eaten on the night—but they are a mere adjunct. Passover was one of three Old Testament festivals where the Israelites had to go to the Temple and sacrifice. That is now impossible.
The main thing that is done now at a Passover is to repeat the story of the Exodus and to thank God for it. The Bible is explained by Talmudic commentary, some of which is enlightening, some not. Psalms 113-118 form a response of praise. However I don’t think many Christians would enjoy the night! Much of the reading is in Hebrew, or often half Hebrew/half English. The latter is equivalent to having every second page of your Bible torn out. The tragedy is that most modern Jews do not hear the story at all—it is read fully or partly in a language which is foreign to them.
Since the 1970s a movement has arisen called Messianic Judaism. Unlike the older Hebrew Christian movement, which was evangelical, this movement is largely charismatic. Many of these groups hold demonstration Passovers. These have little in common with a real Jewish Passover. Moreover there is a tendency to spiritualise elements of the Passover to make it ‘Christian’. For example: In a Jewish Passover there are three pieces of unleavened bread placed in a pile on the table. In the service the middle piece is broken in half. This is often explained by Messianic Jews as follows: The three pieces of unleavened bread represent the Trinity; the middle piece is Jesus, broken for us. Unleavened bread often has holes in it, and I have even heard this applied to Jesus being pierced for us ! The practice explained here is not from the Bible, but the rabbis. The interpretation is arbitrary—for instance anything which had three elements could now represent the Trinity. Jesus now fulfils the Passover in its secret hidden meanings instead of as our Passover lamb who has been sacrificed. I could give more examples, but won’t.
Christians have it all. We have the reality in Jesus Christ. Our sins are forgiven. Our rescue has happened. We have been set free. Those of us who are Jewish might join our family for a Passover meal, just as those who are Chinese might go to a Chinese New Year. But for Gentile Christians there are no secrets which will enhance their understanding of Jesus’ death. A 21st century Passover has little in common with the 1st century Jewish background to the New Testament. And a Messianic Passover is, in my opinion, dangerous. It encourages Christians to see the fulfilment of the Passover in rabbinic rituals instead of in the Passover of the Bible. It encourages Christians to think that modern Jews can unleash hidden secret meanings to ceremonies in the Bible. But all along we already had the real secret which has been made known—Jesus. There is nothing else that we need. We have the real Passover lamb already, the Lord Jesus Christ.
