Our First Passover

Posted by My Heart Song

3/28/2013

A few days ago we hosted our first-ever Passover seder in our home. 

God has been teaching us more about our Jewish roots in recent months. Not in a legalistic way, but a freedom-in-Christ way, we have been celebrating the Sabbath each week. And now the Jewish "spring feasts" have begun - Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits. So we're learning as we go and observing these in some way. 

For our Passover seder, we invited a few friends in the faith who also celebrate Passover each year. We went all out - eating foods that are traditionally served for Passover, such as leg of lamb, potato kugel and macaroons. 

My favorite part of celebrating Passover may not have been the seder itself, but what happened beforehand. My daughter (age 9) was helping me prepare for the seder, making lists of items we needed to buy, and reading through the "haggadah" (the reading that is done during the seder, which explains the symbolism of the elements, and explains the biblical account of the exodus and the first passover). She asked some great questions about what it all means and we had an opportunity for dialog. Part of the point of Passover is to pass on to the next generation the story of what God has done. I saw a light click on in her head as I explained some elements. Passover was truly meaningful to her, which blessed my heart.

What did we learned from this first experience? 

We learned that it is not necessary to go all-out. We did not have to eat lamb or the traditional foods, though it was fun to try it. Next time, we'll have chicken. Next time, we'll also find a shorter haggadah. There are many Christian versions of the reading. The one we used was 21 pages long and took us about 2 hours to go through (not including the eating of the meal itself). It got too long for the children to sit through, so next time around we'll find a shorter version that still includes the main points. 

But most importantly, we celebrated the work of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the passover. 

1 Corinthians 5:7 says "Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed." It is finished. He paid the price once and for all. And because of that, we are free! Praise Him! 

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