The Jewish Passover

The painting by Bohdan Liaseki, above, shows what I believe to be a more realistic view of the Passover meal /Last supper of Jesus with the meal shared by family and friends.
Without wishing to offend, it should be noted that, at no time in His life, was Jesus a Christian remaining totally committed to Judiasm until the end.
At The Last Supper Jesus Christ is Himself the Passover lamb, offered up for the redemption and deliverance of His people, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The bread and wine speak of His death, and of the rebirth, reconciling God and man.
Jesus says "Do this in rememberance of Me", telling His disciples that the Passover is fulfilled in Him.
Until He comes again, we are to remember the significance of what He has done for us.
Many Christians celebrate this aspect of the Last Supper with Communion at each service.
The Passover meal is held as an annual event in each Jewish household.
The meal commemorates the deliverance and Exodus of the children of Israel from the dominion of Pharoah as slaves in Egypt, around 1450 BC.
The first Passover is described in Exodus chapter 12: one lamb was slain for every household and the blood painted onto the doorposts.
This was done in order that the angel of Death would not slay the first-born son of the Jewish households, but only those of Pharoah's people, whom God had warned He would judge.
"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" the Lord told the children of Israel (Exodus 12:13).
They were to eat the lamb, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, in haste prior to their departure from Egypt.
The eating of unleavened bread was to continue for seven days, as their sustenance to exit Egypt and escape Pharoah's slavery.

God ordained that the children of Israel would commemorate the Passover every year to remember their deliverance, almost 3,450 years ago.
Through the meal the history of the first Passover is read aloud from Exodus chapter 12 and Psalms 113 and 114.
The second cup, the Cup of Plagues is filled and passed round.
The ten plagues on Pharoah's Egypt are verbally recounted (Exodus 7:14-12:36): Blood! Frogs, Lice. Flies, Cattle Disease, Boils, Hailstones, Locusts, Darkness and Death of the Firstborn.
Passover is probably the best known of the Jewish holidays, mostly because it ties in with Christian history
Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan.
It is the first of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Shavu’ot and Sukkot).
Agriculturally, it represents the beginning of the harvest season in Israel, but little attention is paid to this aspect of the holiday. The primary observances of Passover are related to the Exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery.
The name “Passover” refers to the fact that GOD “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt.
In Hebrew, it is known as Pesach which is based on the Hebrew root meaning “pass over”.
The holiday is also referred to as Chag he-Aviv (the Spring Festival), Chag ha-Matzoth (the Festival of Matzahs), and Zeman Herutenu (the Time of Our Freedom).
Probably the most significant observance related to Passover involves the removal of chametz, leaven, from homes.
This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the “puffiness” (arrogance, pride) from our souls.
Chametz includes anything made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt) that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water

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