The Passover celebration is a tradition nearly 3,500 years old. The meal provides a meaningful way to recounts God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt -- and so much more. But isn't it a Jewish holiday? Should Christians observe this in any way?
That's a loaded question. It assumes that something that is "Jewish" is something that "Christians" don't normally do, as if they are two religions that need to be kept separated. In fact, the Passover celebration is a good example of how this way of thinking developed in church history and why it is a mistake.
First, instructions for the Passover are given in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23. In both places God calls on the Israelites to observe the meal (and the week-long "Festival of Unleavened Bread) as a "lasting ordinance for the generations to come." The Bible never suggests the Israelites were to stop observing the Passover.
Of course, Jesus and all the Apostles were Jewish. They ate the Passover meal every year. There is clear evidence in the gospel accounts that they also observed the same or similar traditions that Jews continue to do to this day, even traditions that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible.
During the "Last Supper," Jesus explained that many of these traditions were pointing to what he would do in his death and resurrection in a deep, spiritual way. The night that Jesus was arrested, he told his disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk. 22:15). The meal is the background of the cup and bread about which Jesus proclaimed, "This is my body," and "This is my blood."
All of the first Christians were Jews. They continued to observe all the commandments given to the Jewish people in the Old Testament. They continued to observe the Passover and also infused into their Passover celebrations reflections on the redemption that came through Jesus' death and resurrection. They never thought they were separating from their Jewish beliefs.
But what about gentiles? Initially, Christ-following gentiles joined in with their Jewish brothers and sisters in the observation of Passover, although not required to do so in the same way as Jews. By the second century, the gentile-majority church began to simplify the celebration of Passover. They continued to view their annual observance as a type of Passover celebration, but they began to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus, to the exclusion of almost everything else.
Later, Christians began celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection all on the same day. By the fourth century, the church at Rome decided to begin celebrating Passover only on Sundays.
This celebration is still called Passover throughout much of the world to this day. In English, we call this day “Easter,” but in all other European languages "Resurrection Day" is known by words like “Pascuas,” (Spanish) which means, “Passover.” That means that, according to the traditional church calendar, what we call "Easter" is not actually a day to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, but a modified Passover celebration that memorializes Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
Unfortunately, over the centuries gentile Christians forgot about the many parts of the Passover meal that so clearly point to the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. These parts of the celebration were intentionally left out and forgotten in order to create a separation between Jews and Christians. This separation led to centuries of lost opportunities to present the gospel to the Jewish people and created an environment where anti-Semitism could thrive.
Today, an increasing number of churches are reconnecting with the Jewish origins of the Christian faith through Passover celebrations. The Passover meal is also a wonderful way to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. By learning about the Passover meal, Christians can understand the meaning of communion and the events of the “Last Supper.” The Passover also demonstrates how God foretold about the redemption that would come through Jesus in a remarkable way -- the traditions surrounding a special meal. The beauty of the symbolism demonstrates yet again that we can trust the Bible.
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