The Sunday Sermonette – Passover. One Meal. Two Meanings.

On the night Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Pharisees, He and his Disciples celebrated Passover, one of the Jewish religion’s most sacred and widely observed traditions. It began with a Seder meal.

The word Seder, in Hebrew, means order. During the Sader meal, there is a specified order in which the food is eaten, prayers are recited, and songs are sung. Everything on the Passover plate relates to the Jews and symbolizes their exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery. Many of the items celebrated during the meal are symbolic for Christians, as well.

One is a lamb’s shank bone. It reminds Passover participants of Father God’s deliverance poured out on them during the Tenth Plague—the Death of the Firstborn. He told the Israelites to sprinkle their doorposts and lintels with blood—not just any blood—but that of a spotless lamb, so that He would “pass over” their homes and preserve the inhabitants within.

This symbolizes their salvation in Egypt but is also a picture of Jesus, the Lamb of God. The original Passover instructions stated that the lamb’s bones must not be broken, foreshadowing Christ’s death on the Cross—none of His bones were broken.

Unleavened bread is also part of the Sader meal. Because the Jews left Egypt so quickly, those baking bread could not wait for the bread to rise. During the meal, three pieces of unleavened bread are placed into a bag with three slots. Some Rabbis say the slots represent the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Others see them as representing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the three prominent patriarchs of the Jewish faith. To Christians, however, they represent the Holy Trinity—The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Other Sader elements remind the Israelites of their Egyptian enslavement, too. Parsley represents the hyssop used to apply the Passover blood to the Jewish doorways. Christians recall that hyssop was used to give Jesus vinegar when He was thirsty on the Cross.

No Sader plate is complete without a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, and spices. This mixture represents the mortar the Israelites used to construct buildings during their slavery. It is the only sweet-tasting part of the Seder meal. To Jews, it symbolizes the sweet-tasting hope of redemption from their Egyptian masters. To Christians, it represents the hope of redemption through Jesus Christ.

The Sater’s hard-boiled egg, an integral part of the Passover meal, symbolizes new birth and eternal life since its shape has no beginning or end. Jesus offers new birth and eternal life, too.

Other Sader elements remind Father God’s Chosen People that He would save them: “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians…I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”

The phrase “with an outstretched arm” is repeated throughout the Old Testament in connection with Passover remembrances. Can it be a mere coincidence that, in the New Testament, Jesus had both of His arms outstretched on the Cross as He freed us from sin and brought us salvation?

Happy Palm Sunday, dear friends.

Ponder this and go forth.