PASSOVER AND JESUS
by Avram Yehoshua
In the days of Yeshua (the Hebrew Name of Jesus), as caravans of Jews
made their way to Jerusalem each year for the Passover celebration
(Exodus 23:14-17), they would sing praise to God. These would come from
specific Psalms, called the great Hallel (Hebrew for praise), Psalms
113-118 and 146-150. These Psalms glorify God as both Creator and
Redeemer.
As excitement mounted the closer they came to Jerusalem, thoughts would
turn toward the First Passover. The greatest redemption or mighty act
that God had ever done was to free Israel from Egyptian bondage by
slaying all the first-born of Egypt. The Hebrew first-born were spared
or saved from death by the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12:12-14).
This great deliverance set in motion a yearly celebration, a time to
remember or to re-experience that mighty deed. Zahar, the Hebrew word
for remember or memorial, has profound significance. When we Jews sit
down to eat the Passover meal, we envision ourselves back at the First
Passover. God commands that we tell our children that we who are alive
today, (even 3500 years after the First Passover), were delivered out of
Pharaoh's kingdom (Exodus 13:8). This is known as corporate identity or
one body. All Jews are one with each other, past, present and future.
When Avram paid a tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:17-20), Hebrews
7:1-10 makes the rabbinic point that the greater priesthood is that of
Melchizedek, in comparison to the Levitical. The writer understood
corporate identity, declaring that Levy was 'in the loins' of Avram at
the time, giving a tithe to a greater one than he. And yet, Levy would
not be born for another 120 years.
When the Apostle Paul speaks of taking the physical reminders of
Yeshua's Body and Blood (1st Corinthians 11:23-34), we are told that as
often as we do it we are to remember His Death. What the Apostle is
presenting in Hebraic terms is that we are not only to identify with
Yeshua in His Death (Romans 6; death to self), but of especial
importance, that we are to understand that we too, are there with Yeshua
at what I have come to call the Second Passover, receiving the bread and
wine from Him and also being crucified with Him. We are to consider
ourselves as having been 'in the loins of the Apostles' or more exactly,
Yeshua. We are to re-experience that moment of time and its significance
by entering into it by the Spirit of the Holy One.
The Passover that Yeshua celebrated before His Death is a picture of the
sacred banquet that is seen in Luke 13:28-30 and Rev. 19:6-9. God
(Yeshua), and man at table, eating and fellowshipping, is the strongest
possible picture of friendship. In the middle East, if two hostile
enemies eat together, they must become friends. That is how powerful
table fellowship is. We who were once enemies of God, because of our
rebellious Adamic nature, are now friends of God, because of the table
fellowship at the Passover. And look what it is we are eating.
The Apostle Paul would tell us that the Body and the Blood are living
reminders to us that Papa-God is our Friend. The kind of friend that
will help us whenever we need any kind of help.
DAILY REMINDERS
The LORD commands Israel to remember every day what He did for them.
Deuteronomy 16:3 states, '...you must remember every day of your life,
the day you came out of the land of Egypt.' This means that they would
envision themselves being delivered by God from Egypt. And of course,
they would be very thankful.
God also gives them a daily concrete reminder that reflects their
salvation. Every morning and every evening (Exodus 29:38-42), they would
sacrifice a lamb, with its compliment oblation (grain offering), and
libation (wine offering). These sacrifices allowed them twice a day to
remember or to 're-experience' the salvation of the LORD.
In those daily sacrifices we see the Body and the Blood of Yeshua. The
oblation or fine grain, is the Body, and the wine represents the Blood.
In the lamb, we again see the Body and the Blood. The lambs would point
to both the First Passover in the past, and the Second Passover in the
future (before Yeshua came).
The blood of the lamb is represented by the wine of Passover. That is
why the rabbis say that the wine must be red. To make wine, the grapes
must be stomped. To make flour for bread, the whole kernel must be
crushed.
Yeshua is the grape or kernel (wine/bread), crushed for us, that we
might be able to sit at the Table and eat the Food of God, Heavenly
Food. Isaiah 53:10 speaks of this transformation process when he says
that, 'The LORD has been pleased to crush Him...'
MATZA
The bread that God requires us to eat at Passover is a special type of
bread that reflects the purity of our Messiah. Israel was commanded to
eat this bread at the First Passover (Exodus 12:8, 15-20 & 13:3-10), and
every subsequent Passover thereafter. This bread, Matza, Hebrew for
unleavened bread), would remind them of their time in Egypt, God's great
deliverance and His desire for them to be holy.
Matza is the bread that Yeshua injects Himself into, when He holds it up
and declares that 'this is My Body...' (Matthew 26:26)
In 1st Corinthians 5:6-8, Rabbi Shaul (Saul) struggles to make the
Gentile congregation understand how even:
'a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid
of all the old yeast and make yourselves into a completely new batch of
bread, unleavened, as you are meant to be.'
Leaven or yeast has always been a symbol of sin, especially pride,
because pride, like yeast, puffs one up. That is why the Israelites were
commanded to celebrate the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread. For
seven days God wanted Israel to remember that He had delivered them out
of Egypt, not to do their own thing, but to be a holy people,
consecrated unto the LORD. Seven is perfection (Creation), wholeness and
completion, as well as representing holiness.
This is why Yeshua, the Sinless One, was able to inject Himself into the
matza, for it represents sinlessness, purity, holiness. It is without
yeast. He is the Pure Bread (Matza) that has come down from the Heavens.
Any bread with yeast in it pictures Yeshua as sinful. This is why it is
so important to have matza for communion.
THE NEVER ENDING MATZA
When Yeshua multiplies the loaves for the multitudes (John 6:1-15), the
immediate reference is obvious to a Jew. God through Moses, provided
manna (bread), for Israel in the wilderness. As Yeshua performs a
similar miracle, He reveals Himself as King-Messiah (Dt. 18:15-18 & John
6:14-15), to the Jewish people who were there.
What this also tells us is that in the Matza (Bread) of Life, there is
more than enough for all of us, just as it was for the Jewish people
back there in John 6. After 1900 years, we who are alive today, are
still being fed off of the breaking (crucifixion) of the Matza of Life.
He continues to multiply Himself to feed us.
Whenever we take the Body and the Blood, remember that we are back there
at the Second Passover, with all the saints; past, present and future.
Man is at the Passover Table with God. We are not only His friend, but
because we are eating and drinking Him, we are becoming like Him. In a
spiritual way, we are what we eat.
His Blood is not only a symbol of His Death, but of the Joy of our
salvation, wine having this double meaning in Scripture. In Exodus 12:14
God declares:
'This day is to be a day of remembrance for you and you must celebrate
it as a feast in honor of the LORD.'
The word for 'celebrate' means 'to rejoice mightily.' This is the proper
attitude for taking His Body and Blood. This is the proper attitude for
acknowledging what Papa God has done for us in setting us free from our
enemies; sin and death.
In 'discerning the Lord's Body' (1st Cor. 11:29), before communion, we
must lift up to Him any anger, resentment or jealousy that we might have
toward others (as not being able to forgive the other from our heart),
and any resistance that we might have to the Lord Himself.
It is for these very reasons that we need His cleansing Blood and
healing Body. As we yield ourselves to Yeshua, He feeds us what we need
to grow into His Image and His Holiness.
Helpful in dealing with our carnality is the scene at the Second
Passover (John 13:1-30), where Yeshua washes the Apostles feet. Peter
strongly objects but finally consents. Most rightly understand this as a
lesson in humility. But do we realize why Peter objected? The only
person who washed other people's feet, was the lowest slave of the
house.
The Master of the Universe had assumed the role of a slave.
Can you imagine when you are angry with someone and the Lord Yeshua
begins to wash your feet, look into your eyes and asks you to give Him
that anger? I dare say that your anger would give way to awe and wonder,
gratitude and humility. That is how the Lord transforms us. By His
Loving service. In this we see that there is nothing that we will ever
need, that He cannot supply us with. He came to serve and we understand
this service as enabling us to walk along the highway of Holiness,
giving us what we need to be holy, to be like Him, when we need it.
Please realize that Yeshua also washed the feet of Judas, the one He
knew would betray Him. And He also gave Judas the place of honor at the
Passover ceremony, next to Him (John 13:26). This is the kind of love
that Yeshua wants to give us. A love that will love our enemies. A love
more powerful than hate. We cannot do this in our own strength. This is
our greatest need that Yeshua fulfills in the Body and the Blood. For as
we eat Him, we become like Him, to the glory of Papa-God who has wrought
this Great Redemption.
You see, we're all a lot like Judas,
but oh what a Friend we have in Yeshua.
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