The Last Supper

Ever wonder what it would be like to walk with Christ when he was a human walking the earth?  One thing I often forget to think about as I read the New Testament is that Jesus was familiar and practiced many of the Jewish traditions.  One thing I'd like to bring to your attention is the fact that Jesus, or Yeshua, celebrated Passover.  For those of you that are unfamiliar, in the book of Exodus, God instructed Moses and Aaron (Moses's brother) to have every Israelite family put lamb's blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs so that when He (God himself) goes throughout Egypt, He will "passover" those houses and will not take the lives of their firstborn (the last plague).  If you want to know more about this, it's in Exodus Chapters 11 and 12. 

Why am I talking about Passover which celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt when tomorrow is Easter Sunday?  Because last night, I participated in a Seder for the first day of Passover.  It was cool that the first day of Passover was on Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified.  A Seder is a Jewish dinner that celebrates Passover.  I know a couple Messianic Jews (Jews that believe that Jesus, or Yeshua, is the Messiah and that salvation comes through faith in him alone, not these rituals) that used to come to our ministry's community dinners back in the day.  There were only 6 of us at their house, well, 7 if you include the 11-month old Lily who didn't really participate in the synchronized readings.  We started with each person having a plate with Morar and Chazeret (two bitter herbs which include a lettuce leaf and horseradish which burns the nostrils if you have too much), Charoset (a sweet brown paste with fruit and nuts symbolizing the mortar used by Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt), Karpas (another herb which can be parsely, celery, or cooked potato, we had celery dipped in salty water), Beitzah (a hard boiled egg, nothing to do with Easter), and finally Zeroa (roasted lamb bone, which only the host ate last night).

The ceremony continues with readings, particular times when you eat each of the six items, four times wine is poured (I had Welch's grape juice) and we poured for someone else, never for ourselves.  As we drank, we all leaned to the left which is a "reclining" position.  People traditionally (even before Jesus) ate Passover standing up.  In Jesus's time, it became customary to sit down and recline.    The Four Cups represent the four expressions of deliverance by God in Exodus 6:6-7.  "I will bring out."  "I will deliver."  "I will redeem."  "I will take."  At about the half-way point of the night, we had the main meal which consisted of corn, peas, more Charoset (which was delicious), Matzah (a bland bread you might've had during Communion) and a tasty chicken salad.  After the meal, we continued reciting the Haggadah, then had our last food for the night--the afikoman.  At an earlier part of the Seder, I was asked to hide the afikoman (basically just matzah) and this was to symbolize Jesus's death and burial in the tomb.  Later in the Seder, the afikoman was found, which symbolized His resurrection, and we ate it.  It's also custom for the afikoman to be the last thing eaten that night, a mini-fast.

It was very interesting for me to experience the Passover meal as Jesus and His disciples, more or less, experienced it.  If you read the accounts of the Last Supper starting at Luke 22:7, it mentions that they reclined, took the cup, took the bread, all parts of the Passover.  Unlike other Passovers, Jesus substitutes himself into the ceremony.  Take this cup.  Take this bread.  A ceremony filled with so much symbolism and remembrance, and as I see it, nothing of real physical substance, would become 100% real and physical only a day later.  His blood poured out, his body broken like the bread.  Jesus knew what the cross would mean for those he loved and who would believe.  I admit that many times when I sin, I forget that His blood already paid for it.  I beat myself up as if I thought I could do better.  I can't.  Not alone.  Not by my means.  If you know Jesus for yourself, don't forget that this world is not about you.  The main character is God.  "What can God do for me?" is replaced with "How can I live for God?"  "How do I stop sinning?" is replaced with "How do I fix my eyes on the Lord so that nothing else even comes close to importance?"

I'm not Jewish and haven't turned into one in case you are curious or concerned.  I'm still doing inner-city ministry.  I'm just more and more curious about the Jesus that walked the earth as well as the Jesus whose death and blood sacrifice two thousand years ago still matters today.

Happy Easter!