Celebrating Passover As a Believer | Finding Jesus at the Center
We invite you to put your feet under the Lord’s table and join us for Passover April 22nd. The doors are open – it’s time to walk through them! Register Today.
For the Believer in Jesus, Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, there is rich inheritance and invitation to be found in Passover. Jesus is referred to throughout the scriptures as the Passover Lamb and the Lamb of God.
Revelation 12:11 tells us, “…they overcame him [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”.
We triumph and overcome the spirit of death and darkness through the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Lamb. Jesus’ blood covers our iniquities and His stripes heal our diseases. He is right at the center of this holy day, and by celebrating Passover as Believers, we’re invited to draw closer to Jesus and experience a deeper revelation of Who He is.
Let’s explore the meaning of the Passover Lamb in the Exodus story…
Understanding the Blood of the Lamb
When the Jewish people were in slavery in Egypt, the God of Israel invaded their captivity. He provided deliverance and it started by issuing a blood covering:
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.’”—Exodus 12:13-14
An everlasting ordinance. A feast unto the Lord.
And this is only the beginning of the Passover story!
If you’ve ever wondered about celebrating Passover as a Believer, then you’ve likely felt called to go deeper into your faith journey–into the roots of your faith. Maybe you’ve felt there was something more to this appointed time but are unsure what it is.
First-century Believers never had to ask these questions because they understood the connection between Passover and their covenant relationship with God. However, due to a devastating rupture from the Jewish roots of our faith (more history on that here), we have been robbed of our inheritance as those grafted into the house of Israel; as people nourished by the root (Romans 11).
If you belong to Jesus, Passover belongs to you too. It is part of your inheritance. Notice how God does not call this a feast unto Judaism. He calls it a feast unto Himself.
Why is this distinction so important?
Throughout Jewish history, Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach, is central to Israel’s present moment and promised future. His centrality is foundational in all things. His eternal covenant with the Jewish people is for His Name’s sake (1 Samuel 12:22). Through Israel, He reveals to all humanity something critical about His character, nature, and heart. Likewise in each of the holy days He called them to keep. In each, He shows us Himself and our need, revealing a gaping breach that, apart from Him, has no remedy. Israel is all about Him. Life is all about Him. This is the beauty of celebrating Passover as a Believer.
Look what Paul tells us about Jesus in Colossians 1:15-20:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Jesus is the firstborn over all creation (hold onto that). All things were created through Him and for Him.
And Jesus tells us this about Himself in Matthew 5:17,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
He came to fulfill. He is central. This is a foundational framework when approaching the feasts, especially Passover.
The Story of the First Passover
To grasp the beauty of Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of this feast, let’s circle back to the first Passover story found in Exodus.
If you are unfamiliar with the full Exodus story, we encourage you to read through it as we approach this year’s Passover.
In summary, God saw the oppression of His people in Egypt and heard their cries. He raised up a man, tested in the desert, to return to Egypt and confront Pharoah with a message. The message being, “Let my people go.”
Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and in response, God sent ten plagues, each intentionally designed to make a mockery out of Egypt’s gods. Pharoah would not relent, and the last plague, “the death of the firstborn,” was the most severe. This is where we find the institution of the Passover:
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: “On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household…
“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it…
“And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.”’”—Exodus 12:1-3, 5-7, 11-12, emphasis added
Death would pass over those who put the blood of a spotless lamb on the doorposts of their homes.
Can you feel the weight of this? Can you see Jesus here? This is the powerful connection we celebrate in Passover as Believers.
The Jewish people know better than anyone the unimaginable cost of sin. The gravity of innocent blood shed on behalf of others. For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). They carried the holy burden of the sacrificial system as a people set apart to God.
But God did not create people to die. He did not create animals to die. All creation has been tormented by death ever since sin tore us from Eden. God’s heart has been torn ever since He lost us. Without connection to Him, we will die. We were made for Him. And ravaged by sin we cannot be in connection to a Holy God.
Only God can save us from death, and yet the cost to Him is that He must go there Himself.
The Fulfillment of Passover
Jesus’ earthly ministry began with a bold declaration from his cousin, John the Baptist. He looked up to see Jesus approaching him one day and declared loudly, as the voice of one “crying out in the wilderness”…
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29)
Behold the Lamb of God. From the beginning, the one ordained to make straight the way of the Lord was telling us, This is God’s Lamb.
In Matthew 26, at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, his disciples approach Him with a question:
“Where do you want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” (Matthew 26:17)
So he told them, they found a large upper room, and hours before His death, Jesus sat down to His Passover. This moment is often referred to as the Lord’s Supper, but in full context, this was a Passover seder meal.
This is how Luke 22 records it (vv 15-20):
“Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’
“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’
“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’
“Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’”
This was the appointed moment. The blood of His covenant. The initiation of the satisfactory, eternal atonement and covering.
As the blood of lambs filled the Jewish temple, the blood of the Lamb of God filled time and space. He cried out “It is Finished”.
Death passed over you and took the firstborn over all creation. The firstborn became the Passover Lamb. And as He faced death he “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15).
Multitudes of angels now encircle the throne of the resurrected, living, breathing Messiah proclaiming:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)
Worthy is the Lamb.
Remember Paul’s words in Colossians 1:18-20:
“And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead... For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself… having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Coming to the Table | The Symbolism of the Seder
We see the power of how Jesus fulfilled Passover. As Paul proclaimed, “…For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
There is rich meaning for believers to draw from the Passover seder. The word seder means “order” in Hebrew. Even in the title, God is showing us more about His character. He is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Cor 14:33).
There is much to soak in and study in the Passover tradition and the seder meal itself. To support you in this, we have created a free download to help you unlock the blessings and transformation God has for you in Passover. You can download the guide here.
Here is some of what you’ll find:
- Nine powerful blessings and declarations to speak over yourself, your family, and your community as you put your feet under His table. He wants you to come with expectancy.
- A full outline and explanation of the seder plate. The seder plate symbolizes God’s deliverance of His people from slavery, pointing to how Jesus rescued us from spiritual captivity.
- The symbolism of the 4 cups of the Passover, representing sanctification, plagues (judgment), redemption and healing, and praise. Discover each cup’s meaning, its significance today, and more context into what Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper.
Though many Jewish people do not yet see Yeshua Messiah in the Passover celebration, He is right there, waiting to be found by them, waiting to be found by you. As we approach this appointed time of Passover, pray it would be a time of holy visitation for the Jewish people to encounter Yeshua as the Lamb in the seder, to know the completion of coming home to Messiah.
This Passover begins the evening of Monday, April 22, 2024, and goes through Tuesday, April 30, 2024. We encourage you to seek out a messianic seder demonstration or join us online or in-person–we are hosting at House of David–the One New Man Embassy on April 22!
The Invitation | Will You Have a Meal with Jesus?
Under Jesus’ blood covering and His fulfillment of Passover, keeping this feast is not a requirement; it’s an invitation. As we celebrate Passover as believers, may this be our heart posture!
We don’t participate to be saved. We participate to celebrate how we’ve been saved. Jesus is always intentional in how He pursues your heart and this appointed time is no exception. He wants to reveal more of Himself to you. More of what He’s done for you. In Revelation, He tells us He stands at the door and knocks. And if we open to Him, He will come in and have a meal with us, and us with Him (3:20).
Will you have a meal with Him this Passover?
Will you behold Him, the Lamb of God, who has taken away the sins of the world?
He’s waiting for you. As He loves to say,
Come and see.