Passover Service
While people are getting their seats have Jewish music playing in the background.
Introduction to Passover Service:
God commanded in Exodus 12 that this day be remembered. Passover is the celebration of the day of deliverance of the Israelites. It’s the day God delivered His people out of the slavery of Egypt.
The word “Passover” describes how the death angel passed over the Israelites who had Lamb’s blood smeared on their doorposts and struck down the first born of all the Egyptians. It was the worst plague. It came on Egypt because Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler, would not let God’s people go free.
Jesus celebrated this event the night he was betrayed in the room with His disciples. We find this scene in Matthew 26:14-30: (Music in background during the reading).
The Holy Bible, New International Version
Matthew 26:14 (NIV)
14Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests
Matthew 26:15 (NIV)
15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
Matthew 26:16 (NIV)
16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:17 (NIV)
17On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
Matthew 26:18 (NIV)
18He 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.’”
Matthew 26:19 (NIV)
19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
Matthew 26:20 (NIV)
20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
Matthew 26:21 (NIV)
21And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
Matthew 26:22 (NIV)
22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”
Matthew 26:23 (NIV)
23Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
Matthew 26:24 (NIV)
24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Matthew 26:25 (NIV)
25Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”£
Matthew 26:26 (NIV)
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Matthew 26:27 (NIV)
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
Matthew 26:28 (NIV)
28This is my blood of the£ covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:29 (NIV)
29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:30 (NIV)
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
All Christians today celebrate Communion- Jesus instructed us to continue to do this to remember the price He was going to pay for our sins. The price would be paid with His body being broken represented by the cracker and by the shedding of His blood represented in the juice.
The object lesson discovered in a “Passover Service” to Christians is that it shows and reminds us how God delivered us out of bondage of sin and set us free through His sacrifice.
Step One: At your table you need to choose a mother and a father.
Step Two: Bedikath Chamatz (Searching for leaven)
When God commanded the children of Israel to leave Egypt, He commanded them to eat only unleavened bread with the Passover meal Exodus 12:19,20:
9For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. 20Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
The Bible declares that the leaven is a symbol for sin. With the destruction of
the Temple, the unleavened bread became the substitute for the Passover Lamb sacrifice to cleanse of sin, this lamb was to be perfect, without spot or blemish.
Our Messiah, Jesus, made the unleavened bread a symbol of His own sacrifice for our sins. Concerning the leaven it is written I Corinthians 5:7,8:
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
Therefore let us search out the leaven of sin in our lives and in our house.
Pause- Selah “Let us look for sin in our lives and repent!”
Instructions for Action: A designated son will search for the leaven of sin in the house. Let the search begin- others from the table can help but all must stay together.
When they find the sin they must not touch it! They must come and get the Father and tell him they found it. Then they must ask the Father to remove the sin from the house.
The father will then proceed with the spoon and plate then go to the representation of sin and cast it outside into the fire. This representative to what happens when we are forgiven of our sin.
You may go and cast out the sin: Music from World’s Best Messianic tracks 3,4,5 plays during the search and destroy mission.
Step three: Brechat Haner (Blessing of the Festival Candles)
The mother will light the first candle and say, ”Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by the blood of the Lamb and has commanded us to kindle the festival light.”
Then she will light the second candle and say, “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe who helped us persevere, and by His hand has enabled us to reach this season.”
Pastor: Will read Matthew 4:16:
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”£
Step 4: The first cup called – “The Cup of Salvation” or “The Cup of Blessing” Kiddush.
The four cups which we will drink tonight stand for the four “I Wills” recorded in Exodus 6:6-8:
6“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”
The Cup of Salvation comes from Exodus 6:6 “…I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians…”
This is God’s promise that He would deliver the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.
Instructions: Have cup one filled and everyone lift glass and say “Kiddush!”
And repeat together, “Blessed art thou, O Eternal, our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. For you have chosen us and made us holier by the blood of the lamb. You have given us eternal life through Christ and you have blessed us.”
Scripture concerning the first cup, it is written about in Luke 22:14-18:
14When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Instructions: Let us all drink the cup of the Kiddush while reclining on the left side.
Step 5: The Uichatz (washing of the hands)
Scripture reading from John 13:1-11
The Holy Bible, New International Version
John 13:1 (NIV)
1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.£
John 13:2 (NIV)
2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
John 13:3 (NIV)
3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
John 13:4 (NIV)
4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
John 13:5 (NIV)
5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:6 (NIV)
6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
John 13:7 (NIV)
7Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
John 13:8 (NIV)
8“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
John 13:9 (NIV)
9“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
John 13:10 (NIV)
10Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
John 13:11 (NIV)
11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
Instructions: Fathers wash everyone’s hands at the table.
Step 6: The first question.
The son asks the father, “For on other nights we eat bread, but tonight we eat only matzah?”
The father answers: “ I am glad you asked this question. This night is different from all the other nights because on this night we celebrate the going forth of the Jewish people from slavery into freedom.
When pharaoh let our forefathers go from Egypt they were forced to flee in great haste. They had no time to bake their bread and could not wait for the yeast to rise. The sun which beat down on the dough as they carried it along baked it into unleavened bread called matzah.”
“The matzah in the sack has special significance.”
“It is representative of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The outer sack is representative of the unity between the three. The top piece of matzah is the father, the center is the Son, and the third is the Holy Spirit.”
Instructions: Remove the center matzah from the sack bypassing the first and third section. The father will then, once removed, break the matzah in half.
The father further explains: “The breaking of the middle matzah signifies the breaking of the Son. As you observe the broken matzah. It has holes in it and burn marks on it. These signify that Christ was beaten, broken and pierced for our sins on the cross.”
Instructions: Take the bottom half of the broken matzah and wrap it in the white cloth. This is called the Afikomen. This is to be hidden by the father during the meal. This represents Christ in the tomb. The upper half of the matzah is placed on the white plate.
Step 7: The second question the son asks: “On all other nights we eat vegetables and herbs of all kinds; why on this night do we eat only bitter herbs?”
Father answers, ”Why do we eat bitter herbs tonight? Because our forefathers were slaves in Egypt and their lives were made much better by God’s deliverance.”
Instructions: Father serves the maror and then breaks the upper half of the broken matzah and he dips it into the maror.
He lifts up the maror and states, The bitter herb speaks of the sorrow, the persecution, and the suffering of our people under the hand of the Egyptians (representatives of bondage, sin), and as horseradish brings tears to the eyes, so also, did the great affliction of our people bring tears to their eyes.” He eats and others follow.”
Step 8: The third question asked by the son: “ On all other nights we never think of dipping herbs in water or in anything else, why on this night do we dip the parsley in salt water and the bitter herb in charoseth?”
Father answers: “Why do we dip twice the herbs? We dip parsley in salt water because it reminds us of the green of the springtime. We dip the bitter herbs in sweet charoseth to remind us that our forefathers were able to withstand the bitter slavery, because it was sweetened by the hope of freedom.”
Instructions: Father dips parsley in slat water for each person at his table. The father then dips the other half of the upper part of the matzah. He then dips it into the sweet charoseth and eats it. Others follow.
Step 9: The fourth question asked by the son: “On all other nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, why on this night do we all recline?”
Father answers: “Why do we recline at the table? Because reclining was the sign of a free man long ago, and since our forefathers were freed on this night, we recline at the table. Reclining also celebrates our deliverance and freedom, so we sit in comfort and enjoy our freedom, wishing the same for all people.”
Step 10: “The second cup called ‘The Cup of Judgment’ or ‘The Cup of Bondage.’
Exodus 6:6 “I rid you out of their bondage.”
Explanation: “This cup literally is showing what God did to Egypt by the ten plagues. It is done in remembrance of God’s judgment on Egypt. The ten plagues brought against Egypt all have significant meaning.
The Egyptians worshipped 10 gods in their nation. Each one of the 10 plagues show God’s power and authority over these false gods. He shows by these plagues to the Israelites that He is the powerful and only God to be worshipped.
Instructions: As the Pastor reads the ten plagues, dump a little juice into the empty cup of iniquity after each plague:
1. The Plague of Blood Exodus 7:14-24
2. The Plague of Frogs Exodus 7:25-8:15
3. The Plague of Gnats Exodus 8:16-19
4. The Plague of Flies Exodus 8:20-32
5. The Plague on Livestock Exodus 9:1-7
6. The Plague of Boils Exodus 9:8-12
7. The Plague of Hail Exodus 9:13-35
8. The Plague of Locusts Exodus 10:1-20
9. The Plague of Darkness Exodus 10:21-29
10. The Plague of the Firstborn Exodus 11:1-10
Then read from Exodus 6:7-12:
The Holy Bible, New International Version
Exodus 6:7 (NIV)
7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
Exodus 6:8 (NIV)
8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”
Exodus 6:9 (NIV)
9Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
Exodus 6:10 (NIV)
10Then the LORD said to Moses,
Exodus 6:11 (NIV)
11“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”
Exodus 6:12 (NIV)
12But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips£?”
Explanation: The symbol of the empty cup that was filled with iniquity. The prophecy of this in Jewish tradition was that when the cup is full, the Messiah will come.
Once the cup is empty (The one that is used to pour into the cup of iniquity )
it represents God’s deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of Israel.
To the Christians it represents that sin is driven out of the Christian by God and he is no longer a part of the world. He is now a son and no longer a sinner to God.
Pastor: “Let us partake of the Cup of Iniquity, (sin) recognizing that we were once sinners and in bondage to sin and God delivered us and cleansed us by His miracle working power.”
Step 11: The shank bone of the Lamb
The priests holds up the shank bone and states, :The pascal lamb which our forefathers ate in the Temple times was for the purpose of showing how the blessed Holy One spared those who put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts when the angel of death rolled through.”
This represents today that Paschal offering unto the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel.
To us Christians this also represents, “He who was oppressed, and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isa. 53:7).
Scripture also states, The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).
This is also a symbol of the Lamb that was sacrificed for our sins this being to us Jesus Christ, God’s own gift of a perfect Lamb for the sins of all.”
Step 12: The wasted egg.
Explanation: This is the symbol of the free-will offering that was given with the lamb. This represents giving more to God than just what is demanded. This is a gift of love. Jesus was God’s ultimate gift. God’s law demanded only justice, but with the gift of Jesus, God gave us more than justice; He gave us mercy, love, and forgiveness.
Not Touched! (The Lamb)
Music played- Tracks from World’s Best Messianic tracks 3,4,5
Step 13: Partaking of the Passover meal- father hides the Afikomen
Step 14: Search for the Afikomen by the children. The Afikomen is our substitute for the Paschal lamb, which in days of old, was the final food of the Teder Feast.
Instructions: The children search for the Afikomen. The father redeems it by giving the child a coin. The Matzah is broken and distributed to each person.
Meaning: Is it not significant that it is this middle matzah, which was broken and then hid away, finally to be brought back, broken and distributed, that Jesus points to and says, “This is My body which is given for you.” Is it not significant that Afikomen means – “I Have Come!”?
Jesus stated, “ I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down out of Heaven, that man may eat thereof, and not die. I am living bread which came down out of heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; yea, and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6:32-35, 48-51).
Pastor states: Lets partake of the Afikomen because He is risen!
Step 15: Ha-Geulah the 3rd cup called “The Cup of Redemption” Exodus 6:6 “I will redeem you.”
Meaning: This is God’s promise that He would redeem His people from slavery, meaning He would buy them back. It is this cup after supper in the Upper Room
Which Jesus raised and stated, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood, even as the Passover Lamb of old, to provide for all who will place their faith and trust in Him, redemption from sin.”
Instruction: Drink the third cup while reclining when the priest says, “Let us partake.”
Step 16: Time of rejoicing
Sing: Days of Elijah and King of Kings or other song off track.
Step 17: The fourth cup called “The Cup of Praise” or for the Jews, “The Cup of Elyah”. Exodus 6:7 “I will take you to me for a people.”
Meaning: To the Christians this cup represents a significant truth. To some they partake of this cup because John the Baptist was the Elyah who came. The Jews do not partake of this cup because they say Elyah has not come.
There are other Christian-Jews who do not partake of this fourth cup because they say that this cup is to be drunk in heaven with the Lord when we are risen and living in heaven. Celebrating the “Marriage supper of the Lamb to his bride.”
Scripture: Luke 22:17,18
17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Luke 22:27-30: 7For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Step 18: The Closing- music playing in the background
Pastor says, “O, pure One, Who dwells on high, restore you numberless congregation…speedily lead the shoots of the garden you have planted, redeemed, joyfully to Zion.”
Everyone in Unison: Next Year in Jerusalem!
