The Powerful Gospel Message In The Passover Seder

“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 

This year, Passover begins after sundown on Saturday, April 12, 2025 (for those in Israel), and ends after nightfall on April 20, 2025. The Passover was instituted by God before the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. It celebrates the angel of death “passing over” the homes of all families who had placed the blood of the lamb on their doorposts so the firstborn child in the household was spared. (Exodus 12:1-13) As part of the Passover celebration, the “Seder” is the traditional dinner which demonstrates an amazing picture of the Trinity and the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. 

There are many symbolic elements of the Seder, however, for purposes of this devotional let’s focus on two—the lamb and the matzoh. 

The shank bone of a lamb is part of the Seder meal and represents the sacrifice of the Messiah. The instructions in the original Passover specified that the bones of the lamb should not be broken. (Exodus 12:46) Approximately 1500 years later, Jesus, who was called the “Lamb of God,” was crucified to pay the price to reconcile us from our sins into a relationship with His Father. Miraculously, although the Romans routinely broke the legs of everyone they crucified, they did NOT break the legs of Jesus. 

“Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.” John‬ ‭19‬:‭32‬-‭33‬

Furthermore, the blood on the doorposts which signified that the angel of death should pass over that home and spare the firstborn child, is a powerful reminder that when we are born again, the blood of Jesus covers us, and our soul and spirit are spared from eternal death. His sacrifice rescues all who are born again from ETERNAL death. 

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬ 

The symbolic sacrificial lamb directly parallels the Divine sacrificial Lamb. 

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.

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. 

The Seder has a deep, rich meaning that 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. The 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, do you see how incredibly miraculous it is that all this came to fruition when Jesus came to this earth? Jesus is the completion of the promised New Covenant that Jeremiah the prophet is speaking of in the passage above! In fact, 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 our sacrifice so we could choose to apply His blood and thus, escape eternal death. The Seder meal is a powerful demonstration that the truth of salvation has always been by grace through faith.