remembering Passover

"Now before the Feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

John 13:1

A week from today we will celebrate Passover with our boys around our dinner table. We will reread and remember the story of the children of Israel as they prepared to make their exodus from the land of Egypt, out of the slavery and bondage they had known for four hundred years. We will make bread without leaven and roast lamb and imagine what it might have been like for those people, living more than a thousand years before Christ was ever born, to up and leave the land they called home, the oppression they had become so familiar with, and follow the deliverer God had sent to lead them to a better place, to freedom, to Him. 

We will remember that first Passover, that night in Egypt 3400 or so years ago, when the blood of a lamb without blemish, painted on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses, would act as a sign to the Lord, declaring "the sacrifice has been made in this home, no judgement need be executed here." 

And the Lord declared it a memorial day. A day to be remembered, throughout all generations, a holy day, a feast to the Lord, a day to bow one's head and worship. Teach to your children the mercy the Lord has shown this night, remember His goodness toward you.            {exodus 12} 

It was three years ago that we first celebrated Passover with a traditional seder meal in our home. Josiah had just turned three. I was reading an assortment of books and they all converged together with enough force to push me to move past wanting  to create "being there" opportunities for our family to actually doing it. 

A little book, Celebrating Biblical Feasts by Martha Zimmerman, had intrigued me. I wanted to know more about the holidays Jesus observed. I wanted to understand the people in the Old Testament in a deeper way by understanding the rhythm of their years. I wanted to try to alter the rhythm of my year to be more centered on Christ. The Christmas season, for a Christian, is all about Christ. {Well, it should be.} The whole month of December is lived in anticipation of Christmas Day. Easter, however, seemed more like just a day. Even a day that could sneak up on you. Why so much less fanfare and anticipation? We're talking about the day we celebrate our risen Lord! 

I am in no way a Bible scholar, so bear with me. But as I've read a little about the celebration feasts that were observed in the Bible before Christ came and then by him as he lived on this earth, it is striking to see how Christ fulfilled those celebrations and altered them for the rest of history. So much so that it makes me want to continue celebrating them, to use them as teaching opportunities to point my children to the Lord. And I want to encourage you to consider doing this for your family too. 

The book I mentioned above is a good resource but the Haggadah, the text they give for the narration of the story of the Exodus, is long for little ones. I found a child-friendly version here. The author of this text makes the meal super simple too, so if this is something that you think you would like to try but are just a bit overwhelmed, take a look at her script. It is very doable. Start small and then you can grow with it. We now take a day before Passover to make matzah together but  we've grown into that. 

The script is for a Messianic seder, meaning it is written for those of us who believe Christ was the Messiah, and whose reason for observing this holiday is not to fulfill the command given in Exodus 12 but to remember and celebrate Christ as our Passover lamb. We remember what He commanded His disciples as He shared this Passover meal with them, that night before He went to the cross, how He bent low and washed their feet and said, 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; 

even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34

We symbolically wash each others' feet, around the dinner table. I love this part. I love to watch my boys bend low and wash the feet of their brothers, learning as little boys that they are called to lead by serving. I appreciate the opportunity to physically go through the motions my Lord went through, on knees with water and towel, the night before He became my sacrifice. Reflecting on His gift of salvation and remembering this great story that we've been invited into while sharing a traditional meal with my family, as people have been doing for thousands of years before me, connects me to that story in a very real way. It is a holy thing and it leads my heart to worship. 

How thankful I am that He loves us to the end. 

And again, in case you missed it: a link to a printable script for a Messianic seder dinner for families with young children.