Yeshua is my Passover!

What is Passover? For me, personally, it is when death "passed over" ME! I deserved to die for my sins, but Yeshua, the Passover Lamb, died in my place. When I accepted His blood sacrifice on the doorposts of my heart, I was "saved" from death. This is the spiritual reality of Passover.

The historical reality of Passover is found in the Book of Exodus (Chap. 12). The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. When they cried out to God to save them, He sent Moses. He would be their deliverer from slavery, just as Yeshua is my deliverer from sin. God sent ten plagues on Egypt to force Pharaoh to let God's people go. The tenth plague was the death of the first-born sons. The Israelites were instructed to kill a perfect lamb and spread its blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the death angel saw the blood, he would "pass over" those homes. The Israelites were obedient, and the next day they marched out of Egypt. On their calendar, Nisan 14 was Independence Day. God had chosen them and made them a holy nation to represent Him to the world through the Laws He would give them and the miracles He would do for them.

Passover is the first of the seven annual feasts God instituted for His people.  It shows His calendar of redemption! Moses had told the Israelites that God would send them a "Prophet" (Messiah) like Moses himself, from among their brothers (Deut. 18:15-19). This Jewish prophet would turn out to be YESHUA! (Philip told that to Nathaniel in John 1:45.) John the Baptist identified him, saying, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

This year I intend to celebrate Passover in our home. I am not Jewish, but I have a Jewish Savior. He is what Passover is all about. As a matter of fact, He died on the cross at exactly the time that the priests at the temple in Jerusalem were killing the Passover lambs! That was no co-incidence. It was fulfillment of prophecy, because He was the Lamb of God, the One to whom all the animal sacrifices down through the centuries had pointed to. The Apostle Paul said, "For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast ..." (I Cor. 5:7-8).

The first three of the seven annual feasts of Israel have been fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah! The Feast of Unleavened Bread is prophetic of His burial, and the Feast of Firstfruits is prophetic of His resurrection. The fourth feast, Shavuot (Pentecost in Greek), was fulfilled in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, birthing the Church, told about in Acts 2. The last three feasts happen in the Fall and prophesy the Second Coming of the Messiah: first, the Feast of Trumpets, when He descends to earth (I Thess. 4:16-17), then ten days later, the Day of Atonement, when "all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26), and finally, Feast of Tabernacles, when Yeshua will set up His kingdom on earth and reign for 1,000 years.
So, that is God's Calendar of Redemption, shown in the feasts. Wow! (See Lev. 23 for whole calendar.)

The symbolism in the Passover service, called a Seder ("order") is, likewise, full of prophecy. The unleavened bread, called "matzah," is flat. It has no leaven, symbolic of sin, and Yeshua had no sin. It is also pierced with holes, just as Yeshua's hands and feet were pierced on the cross. And, similar to a saltine cracker, it is striped. Yeshua was flogged with 39 cruel stripes on his back! This matzah speaks volumes about just WHO the Passover Lamb is!

The most awesome thing about the Seder is the particular piece of matzah that is broken and shared after supper along with the third cup of wine. This is the origin of what Christians call "The Lord's Supper." Churches celebrate The Lord's Supper or Communion, as some call it, many times during the year, and some churches celebrate it every Sunday. Yeshua said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me ... This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Paul added, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (I Cor. 11:24-26).

The question in my mind is - did Yeshua want us to celebrate the whole Passover Seder "in remembrance" of Him or just the ending part of it that we call "The Lord's Supper"? Before the Passover that night, Yeshua had told His disciples, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). Maybe He still has that desire to "dine with us!" Think about it!

On my next blog I will tell you what that last piece of matzah speaks of. It is truly fascinating! Also, we need to talk about the expected arrival of Elijah to the Passover Seder!