Ekko s PASSOVER SEDER. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, therefore, let us observe the feast... 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Transcription

1 Ekko s PASSOVER SEDER For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, therefore, let us observe the feast... 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

2 Ekko does the Passover Feast. Why? Matthew On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover? 18 He replied, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house. 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat; this is my body. 27 Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father s kingdom. 30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. This was the Feast Jesus had before facing the Cross of Calvary. In reciting the Story of Passover, with Jesus as the Passover Lamb, we enter the story afresh. Placing ourselves at the table with Christ as he reframes and completes this ancient story of God s deliverance. To understand this story is not only to respect Jesus and his incarnation but it is to understand the Gospels as well. That Christ is our Passover Lamb that was slain for our freedom. Christ introduced us into a New Exodus and has given us a New Pentecost, put his Law in our Hearts rather than on Stone, and now he is taking us into the New Promise Land.

3 Respecting and Honoring the Incarnation of Christ So why do we do it again? The church claims that divinity took on human flesh was incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth. The time and the place therefore matter. Christianity follows Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Cleveland or Jesus of Mexico City; the incarnation dates to the first century, not the twenty-first. Further, the Jewish tradition into which Jesus was born and the Christian tradition that developed in his name were historical religions, that is, their foundational events took place in history and on earth, rather than in some mythic time and mythic place; they have a starting point and a vision for the future. To disregard history, to disregard time and place, is to be unfaithful to both Judaism and Christianity... Jesus cannot be understood fully unless he is understood through first-century Jewish eyes and heard through first-century Jewish ears. Levine, Amy-Jill ( ). The Misunderstood Jew (p. 20). I can no more understand Jesus apart from his Jewishness than I can understand Gandhi apart from his Indianness. I need to go way back, and picture Jesus as a first-century Jew with a phylactery on his wrist and Palestinian dust on his sandals. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew GOD TOLD US TO DO IT. 12 On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn both men and animals and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. 14 This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD a lasting ordinance. Exodus 12: JESUS TOLD US TO DO IT. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Luke 22: 19 PAUL TOLD US TO DO IT. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast! Corinthians 5:7-8

4 What is the Haggadah? What is The Seder (Say-der)? The Haggadah is a book that tells the story of the Passover. Haggadah means, the telling and is told by the father of the house to the family at the feast each year. The Seder is a Hebrew word for order of the service. It shows the order of the feast and what takes place. Excerpt from Feast by Derek Leman Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, since you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast, or with the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Corinthians 5:7-8 Christ-followers typically do communion today versus the way it once was done. In modern church life, the Lord s Supper is often a thimble-full of juice and a tiny wafer of unleavened bread. Compare the practice of the Corinthian Christians: Paul wrote these words to Christians in Corinth even though very few of them were Jewish. Nevertheless, he expected them to understand the meaning of Passover. There are some clues that second-century Christian leaders such as Polycarp and Papias continued celebrating Passover. The early Christians saw connections between Jesus acts and the acts of God in the Passover. They didn t think Passover was only for Jews, and so Paul appealed to that belief in his letter. Pauls instruction to them reveals a lot of the differences in the way that Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not really to eat the Lord s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one person is hungry while another is drunk! Don t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on the church of God and embarrass those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you for this! 1 Corinthians 11:20-22

5 We can guess from these passages and others that the Lord s Supper was a very special occasion. It didn t involve a little snack but an entire meal. Though the Corinthians misused that meal and needed some correction, we see that in the New Testament an entire meal was associated with this ceremony. Likewise, Passover for Jewish people is a meal to remember. It is a meal with ceremony, not a ceremony without a meal, as the Lord s Supper has become in contemporary days. In the act of eating together, there is a deeper participation in the symbols. Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkard in Matthew 11:19. In Luke s Gospel, on eight occasions we see Jesus teaching people at a meal about the kingdom of God. The seventh was the Passover or Last Supper. The eighth was the meal on the road to Emmaus. The early followers of Jesus dined together regularly. They called it breaking bread in Acts 2:46. They couldn t eat together often enough. In church history, these celebrations are called the Quartodeciman Controversy (taken from the number 14). Bishops in Asia Minor like Polycarp and Papias continued to celebrate a feast on the 14th of the Jewish month, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Other bishops celebrated a feast on the resurrection day, the closest Sunday to the Jewish Passover. What feast were Papias and Polycarp celebrating? Probably Passover.

6 The Seder Order Lighting the Candles The Four Cups of Wine The Cup of Sanctification Kiddush Washing Our Hands Urkhatz Parsley Karpas The Four Questions Ma Nishtanah The Story of Passover Maggid The Cup of Plagues The Seder Plate Breaking of the Matzah The Passover Lamb Pesakh The Passover Supper Shulkhan Oreykh Dayenu It Would Have Been Sufficient The Afikomen Tzafun The Cup of Redemption Kapora The Prophet Elijah Eliyahu HaNavi The Cup of Praise

7 EKKO CHURCH 3 SEDER PASSOVER Lighting the Candles The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1 As we light the festival lights, we ask for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to bring great personal meaning to this, our Passover celebration. As light for the festival of redemption is kindled by the hand of a woman, we remember that our Redeemer, the Light of the World, came into the world as the promised seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15) and by the will of God (Isaiah 7:14). MOTHER Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has set us apart by His Word and in whose Name we light the festival lights.

8 EKKO CHURCH 4 SEDER PASSOVER The Four Cups of Wine Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do Exodus 6:1 As the Lord spoke these words of encouragement to Moses, He revealed to His servant the plan by which He would redeem the children of Israel. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians... I will rid you out of their bondage... I will redeem you with an outstretched arm... I will take you to be for me a people, and I will be your God. At Passover, we celebrate these promises of redemption and relationship by drinking from our cups four times one for each promise.

9 EKKO CHURCH 5 SEDER PASSOVER The Cup of Sanctification I will bring you our from under the burdens of the Egyptians Exodus 6:6 Let us lift our first cup together and bless the name of the Lord! Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. As he began his final Passover seder, Jesus the Messiah shared a cup with his disciples, and said to them, Take this and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. (Luke 22:17, 18) Let us drink of this, the first cup of Passover.

10 EKKO CHURCH 6 SEDER PASSOVER Washing Our Hands Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart... Psalm 24:3,4 Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us by your commandments and has commanded us to wash our hands. In Jewish custom, the first hand washing by the host sets him apart from the rest of the company and shows that he is the most important person at the table. In light of this, let us also reflect upon the gesture of humility and the lesson of commitment made by Messiah Jesus, when, on that night, he laid aside his garments and girded himself with a towel. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel around his waist. (John 13:5)

11 EKKO CHURCH 7 SEDER PASSOVER Parsley...the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God... Exodus 2:23 Passover is a holiday that comes in the springtime, when the earth is becoming green with life. This vegetable, called karpas, represents life, created and sustained by Almighty God. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth. Now let us, together, eat the karpas. But life in Egypt for the children of Israel was a life of pain, suffering, and tears, represented by this salt water. Let us take a sprig of parsley and dip it into the salt water, remembering that a life without redemption is a life immersed in tears.

12 EKKO CHURCH 8 SEDER PASSOVER The Four Questions When your children ask you, What does this ceremony mean to you? then tell them... Exodus 12:26 The children are essential to the Passover celebration, for it is through this feast that they may learn of God s redemptive nature. And so at this time, the children come forward to learn the meaning of Passover by asking the traditional four questions. ISABELLA Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we eat bread or matzah. On this night why do we eat only matzah? We eat the unleavened bread to remember that the sons of Israel, in their haste to leave Egypt, had to take their bread with them while it was still flat. JAYMEE On all other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs. On this night why do we eat only bitter herbs? We eat the bitter herbs to remember how bitter it is to be enslaved. LOGEN On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once. On this night why do we dip them twice? By dipping, we remember that a life of bondage is bitter indeed, but that even the harshest bondage is sweetened by the promise of redemption. MARTIN On all other nights we eat our meal sitting. On this night why do we eat only reclining? For once the Israelites and we were slaves, but now they and we are free; so we recline in order to appropriate and appreciate the rest God has bought for us. In gratitude, let us then worship our God and recount the story of Passover.

13 EKKO CHURCH 9 SEDER PASSOVER The Story of Passover I have remembered my covenant. Exodus 6:5 The story of Passover is a story of miracles, a story of redemption, a story of the mighty power of God to overcome evil. JOONG HO The Lord had promised the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; yet here were their children in Egypt. Now after the death of Joseph, there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply... Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied. MICHAEL CHANG Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile. Now a Levite and his wife gave birth to a son and after hiding him for three months, they entrusted his future to God, placed him in a basket, and sent the basket down the river. Coming upon the basket, Pharaoh s daughter took pity on the child and chose to raise him as her own son. She called him Moses, which means drawn from the water. GRACE CHONG One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. ESTHER HAN Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in- law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horev, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. The Lord told Moses that He had heard the cries of the Israelites and that He was sending Moses to Pharaoh so that he might lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Fearful and reluctant, still Moses agreed to return to Egypt and bring God s message to the king, Let My people go! However, God warned Moses that Pharaoh would not listen: But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.

14 EKKO CHURCH 10 SEDER PASSOVER The Cup of Plagues I will free you from being slaves... Exodus 6:6 God sent plagues, one by one, yet with each plague, Pharaoh hardened his heart. The Egyptians became afflicted with discomfort and disease still, Pharaoh would not relent. With the tenth and most awful plague, God broke through Pharaoh s stubborn heart. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn both men and animals and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt; I am the Lord. (Exodus 12:12) Let us fill our cups a second time. 01 Blood, blood, blood 02 Frogs, frogs, frogs 03 Lice, lice, lice 04 Wild Beasts, wild beasts, wild beasts 05 Disease upon Cattle, Disease upon Cattle, Disease upon Cattle 06 Boils, Boils, Boils 07 Hail, Hail, Hail 08 Locusts, Locusts, Locusts 09 Darkness, Darkness, Darkness 10 Death of the First Born, Death of the First Born, Death of the First Born Now let us drink this second cup that reminds us that God freed us out of our bondage. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed are You, O God, for You have, in mercy, supplied all our needs. You have given us Jesus the Messiah, forgiveness of sin, life abundant and life everlasting. Hallelujah! A full cup is a symbol of joy and indeed on this occasion we are filled with joy at God s mighty deliverance. But let us also remember the great cost at which redemption was purchased. Lives were sacrificed to bring about the release of God s people from slavery in Egypt. But a far greater price purchased our redemption from slavery to sin the death of Messiah. As we recite each plague three times, let us dip a little finger into the cup, allowing a drop of liquid to fall, reducing the fullness of our cup of joy this night.

15 EKKO CHURCH 11 SEDER PASSOVER The Seder Plate The egg symbolizes new life, and as it is round, without beginning or end, it symbolizes eternal life. Let us now eat the egg. We dip the bitter herbs into the charoset to remind ourselves that even the most bitter of circumstances can be sweetened by the hope we have in God. The maror, horse raddish, reminds us of the tears the Israelites shed when they were slaves in Egypt. Let us now eat the maror. The egg was added to the plate after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The egg represents the festival sacrifice, that we are no longer able to bring to the temple. We eat this to mourn the fallen Temple. As we mourn for the fallen Temple for the Jews, we rejoice in the fact that now we are the Temples of God, where God chooses to make his dwelling. The Seder plate in front of us helps us to relive the story we have just retold the story of Israel s redemption. The karpas which we have already dipped in salt water once, remind us of a life of slavery, a life immersed in tears. The maror, horse raddish, reminds us of the tears the Israelites shed when they were slaves in Egypt. We are to eat enough of the maror to allow our eyes to tear like the Israelites. Let us all eat a small helping of the maror with the matzah. Before we do this, let s recite the blessing over the matzah and over the maror. The apple mixture, or charoset, is reddish brown in color, like the color of the mortar with which the bricks were made by the Israelites for the storage cities of Egypt. Let us once again scoop some bitter herbs (maror) onto a small piece of matzah; but this time, before we eat, let us dip the herbs also into the sweet charoset (apple mixture).

16 EKKO CHURCH 12 SEDER PASSOVER Breaking of the Matzah Let us bless and eat the middle of the three matzah contained within the three compartment pouch. We will eat one half of the broken matzah and will hide the other half (or afikomen) to be found and eaten after supper. This is the bread of affliction, the poor bread which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. The unleavened bread reminds us that our redemption out of Egypt came quickly and thus the bread did not have time to rise. Leaven in the Scriptures is often used as a symbol of sin. Leaven causes bread to become puffed up just as sin does; and often the leaven used in one loaf of bread was reused in the following loaves of bread. We see in this a clear picture of how our sin nature is passed down from generation to generation through the first Adam. However, matzah contains no leaven and is therefore both sweet and sinless. The Israelites were told to purge their houses of all leaven to symbolize the breaking of the old cycle of sin and the starting out afresh from Egypt. They did not put away leaven in order to be redeemed; rather, they put away leaven because they were redeemed. This is why the apostle Paul wrote: Your boasting is not good. Don t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5: 6-8)

17 EKKO CHURCH 13 SEDER PASSOVER The Passover Lamb The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Exodus 12:13 Jesus said, I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. (John 10:9) This roasted shank bone represents the lamb whose blood marked the houses of the children of Israel, signifying their obedience to God s command. This is the Passover offering for the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites when he stuck Egypt. The people knelt and bowed down. Tonight we eat the lamb to symbolize that the Passover Lamb, Jesus, has been slain for us, allowing us to walk free of bondage and slavery to sin.

18 EKKO CHURCH 14 SEDER PASSOVER The Passover Supper...you shall keep it a feast to the Lord... Exodus 12:14 Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast! 1 Corinthians 5: 7-8

19 EKKO CHURCH 15 SEDER PASSOVER Dayenu They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. Psalm 145:7 How great is God s goodness to us! For each of His acts of mercy and kindness we declare dayenu it would have been sufficient/enough. Usually this is sung in Hebrew, but tonight we will sing it in English. But the Holy One, blessed be He, provided all of these blessings for our ancestors; and not only these but so many more. So let us sing the Dayenu song. DAYENU LYRICS Had he led us out of Egypt Only led us out of Egypt Never given us the Torah Dayenu! Had he given us the Torah Only given us the Torah Never given us Messiah Dayenu! Had he given us Messiah Only given us Messiah Never granted us Salvation Dayenu! He has given us Salvation Set us free from all Oppression Jesus is our Lord and Saviour Dayenu!

20 EKKO CHURCH 16 SEDER PASSOVER The Afikomen...for the transgression of my people was he stricken Isaiah 53:8 It is now time to send all of the children to search for the hidden afikomen. If the afikomen is been found by one of the children, it may be ransomed back by the head of the table in exchange for a reward. It is time for us to share the afikomen, the dessert, the final food eaten at Passover. What is the meaning of the three matzos, and why is the middle matzo broken, hidden, and hen brought back? Second, it must be pierced... As was Jesus. For the prophet Zechariah says: They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. (Zechariah 12:10) Earlier we called this the bread of affliction that the Israelites ate in the land of Egypt and in the beginning of their desert journey. And that is true. But it is also a symbol of the Bread of Life, which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world. Jesus said: To many people the question is a riddle to be resolved. But for those who know the Messiah, it need not be a riddle at all. For where can we find a clearer picture of our Messiah than in this tradition concerning the afikomen that has been broken... buried... and then brought back? Even the matzo, a symbol of a sinless nature, speaks of Jesus. The rabbis have set down some very specific regulations concerning the appearance of matzo. If it is to be found suitable for Passover, first it must be striped... As was Jesus. For the prophet Isaiah says, And by his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) I am the bread of life: he that comes to me will never hunger, and he that believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35) It was about this matzah that the Messiah gave thanks to the Lord. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Jesus then added these words, This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. (Luke 22:19) Let us now eat the matzah, meditating on the broken body of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

21 EKKO CHURCH 17 SEDER PASSOVER The Cup of Redemption I will redeem you with an outstretched arm... Exodus 6:6 Let us fill our cups for the third time this evening. This is cup of redemption, symbolizing the blood of the Passover lamb. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Let us drink this in remembrance of his death and resurrection. The prophet Isaiah reminds us, Behold the Lord s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save (Isaiah 59:1). Jesus lifted this cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you (Luke 22:20).

22 EKKO CHURCH 18 SEDER PASSOVER The Prophet Elijah This is the cup for Elijah the Prophet. At this time I need one of the children to open the door to welcome Elijah to our Seder. See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (Malachi 4:5) Is Elijah there? Elijah did not see death, but was swept up to heaven by a great whirlwind, in a chariot of fire. It was the hope of the Jewish people in the first century, and it continues to remain the hope for many Jewish people today, that Elijah will come at Passover to announce the Messiah, Son of David. We know that in fact Elijah has returned. Before the birth of John the Baptist (which occurred near the time of Passover), an angel of the Lord said, And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah... to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17) Later Jesus spoke of John: And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come. (Matthew 11:14) It was this same John who saw Jesus and declared, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

23 EKKO CHURCH 19 SEDER PASSOVER The Cup of Praise I will take you as my own people and I will be your God Exodus 6:7 Let us fill our cups for the fourth and last time and give thanks to our God, our great redeemer by singing worthy is the lamb. Usually this Seder ends by reading portions of the Hallel or Praise Psalms, usually from Psalms 113 to 118. With your glass in hand let us now sing. WORSHIP Our Passover Seder is now complete, just as our redemption is forever complete. It is traditional to conclude the seder with the words Next year in Jerusalem. We say, Next year at Ekko Church!. Jesus said: Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End....I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. (Revelation 22:12, 16) Come, Lord Jesus, Come! BENEDICTION BY May God bless you and protect you, May God deal kindly and graciously with you, May God bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace, and May Christ be Victorious in Your Life. Amen.

24 All Rights Reserved Copyright 2014 by Ekko Church Illustrations by Janice Suh