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| Source: Ann Voskamp's blog, www.aholyexperience.com |
This is surely to be a very special time and will most definitely help prepare our hearts to celebrate the ultimate sacrifice and display of love in Christ.
What is Passover?
According to the account of the first Passover recorded in Exodus 12, a lamb's blood was shed and doorposts were painted so God would "pass over" that house, sparing the family from death. As a spiritual picture, this symbolizes the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, being painted on the doorposts of our heart. What a beautiful picture of forgiveness!
When we compare the principles of the Passover to the details surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus, it's exciting to see how the two are related. God's directives to His people thousands of years ago foreshadowed His plan to deliver each one of us through Jesus' death and resurrection hundreds of years later. (Source: Focus on the Family, www.ThrivingFamily.com website)
Here is Ann Voskamp's view of the Christian meaning of Passover. She is a well known and respected author most widely known for her book, "One Thousand Gifts" and her blog called "A Holy Experience". See more references by her later in this post.
"Keeping Passover isn’t about keeping laws and regulations.
Keeping Passover isn’t about keeping our burdens.
Keeping Passover isn’t about keeping some empty, meaningless customs.
On the night of four questions, the answer murmur clear in the stream of time: Keeping Passover is about keeping our way on The Way.
Passover is about keeping something worth preserving: emblems pregnant with the fulfillment of the New Covenant.
Passover is about the questions that keep time to the beat of our children’s heart:
Why am I here?
What does all of this living really mean?
Where am I headed?
When will I be all that I am to be?
And this story, His story, His
three-thousand-year-old Passover story has answers, told on a quiet
evening in spring when the trees are budding under nesting birds.
When all the rivers run alive and swift and on forever, free…"
~Ann Voskamp
What is a Jewish Seder Meal? (Source: Wikipedia)
The Passover Seder (pronounced as say-der) is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew Calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in the Gregorian calendar.
The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This story is in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. The Seder itself is based on the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" (Exodus 13:8) Traditionally, families and friends gather in the evening to read this narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, commentaries, and special Passover songs.
Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom.[3] The Seder is performed in much the same way by Jews all over the world.
Other Resources for Creating Your Own Family Seder Tradition
- HERE is a link to a Ann Voskamp's version of a Messianic Seder along with free printables including a Menu, Passover Table Setting List and a Program with Four Questions with Life Answers {A Messianic Seder}.
- Click HERE for suggestions from Focus on the Family for hosting your own Seder Meal and the Christian meanings for each element.
