The Seder is the traditional dinner Jews eat as part of Passover. Passover is a commemoration of their exodus from slavery in Egypt. When the angel of death “passed over” the homes of families who had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, the firstborn child in the household was spared. (Exodus 12:1-13)
The Seder meal has deep parallels to the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.
Although there are other elements of the Seder, let’s just focus on two—the lamb and the matzoh. The shank bone of a lamb is part of the meal and the instructions in the original Passover specified that the bones could not be broken (Exodus 12:46) Jesus, was called the “Lamb of God,” and His sacrifice rescues all who believe from ETERNAL death. (John 1:29) The Romans broke the legs of anyone they crucified, but miraculously, they did NOT break the legs of Jesus. The requirements of the symbolic sacrificial lamb directly parallel the Divine sacrificial Lamb. (John 19:33; Psalms 34:20). Now let’s look at the matzoh, or unleavened bread.
This is truly fascinating and provides a remarkable picture of the Trinity, the Messiah, and the Gospel.
The matzoh is broken in three pieces and placed in a bag called an echad, which means “one” in Hebrew. In fact, the word “echad” is used in Genesis 2:24 when God said the man and wife would become “echad” or “one.” The echad has three chambers and one piece of matzoh is placed into each chamber of the bag. The matzoh in the first chamber is not touched, not used, and not seen. The matzoh for the second chamber is broken in half at the beginning of the Seder. Half of the broken matzoh is placed in the echad, and the other half is wrapped in a linen cloth. The third matzoh in the echad is eaten with the other elements on the Seder plate. Many Jews consider the three pieces of matzoh to represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they can’t explain why Isaac is broken in half or why half of the middle matzoh is placed in the echad and the other half left out, wrapped in a cloth.
But the Seder has a deep, rich meaning which reveals the plan of salvation and how the Trinity worked together to have a relationship with broken humanity.
The first matzoh remains in the bag throughout Seder, and represents Ha Av—the Father, whom no man sees. (John 1:18; John 6:46) The third matzoh which is eaten, represents the Ruach Ha Kodesh—the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. And the second matzoh, the broken one, represents Ha Ben—the Son. The half placed back into the echad represents Jesus’ divine nature. The other half, wrapped in a linen cloth and separated from the echad, represents Jesus’ humanity as He came to earth. The linen cloth represents Jesus’ burial cloth. The matzoh must be unleavened because leaven is equated with sin and God—is sinless. Matzoh must be striped because by the Messiah’s stripes our spirit and soul are healed (Isaiah 53:5). The matzoh must be pierced; just as the Messiah was pierced in His hands, His feet, and His side (Psalm 22:16).
Wow!!!
Jesus is the completion of the promised New Covenant:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Jesus fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies!!!
For the Jewish people who are still awaiting a Messiah, today is the celebration of Passover. But over 2,000 years ago, Jesus sat down with His disciples at His LAST Passover, and the same meal was also the FIRST Lord’s Supper. He was preparing Himself as the Firstborn Son of God, the spotless Lamb, to become a sacrifice so each of us could choose to apply His blood and thus, escape eternal death. This meal was an ending and beginning demonstrating that as the transition took place from the Old Testament to the New Testament—salvation remained the same (by grace through faith).
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