As I’m sure a lot of you know, Monday was the beginning of Passover, and this year, I was blessed to be able to enjoy the occasion with my fantastic church family.
I’m sure a lot of yall are wondering Um, Passover? I thought this girl was Christian! Is she Jewish? Did I miss something here?? No, you haven’t missed anything! I am Christian, but this year, my church, in conjunction with the Jews for Jesus ministry, hosted a Passover meal, which I was incredibly excited about. When I was a kid, I had a book called All of a Kind Family about a family of young Jewish girls growing up in New York during the turn of the century, and this book included a lot about traditional Jewish holidays. It was pretty detailed, so I had a lot of information that I wouldn't have had otherwise. It was certainly enough to get me really interested in Passover, so when my church announced that we would be celebrating Passover this year with a traditional Jewish man leading it, I was really excited!
The man who came to our church to lead us in the Passover meal was incredible. He was a man who grew up in a Jewish home, became an atheist, developed a relationship with Christ, and now works with Jews for Jesus in which he ministers to Jews and works to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ. His testimony was incredibly powerful, and it just blew me away. After sharing his testimony with us, he went on to begin the Passover celebration. He didn't just go through the dinner, but actually talked us through everything, and explained the significance of each symbolic part. That was interesting enough, but then he did something that I hadn't expected. He started talking about how Passover should be important to us as Christians.
As he talked about the symbols of Passover, he would show us how each symbol points to Jesus. For example, we’ll look at the z’roa, or shank bone. In a traditional Jewish home, the z'roa represents the lambs that God spoke to Moses of. He told Moses in Exodus 12:6-7, “Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.” He then explained the necessity of the blood in Exodus 12:12-13 and said, “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 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.”
You can look closer at the z’roa though, and see how that same symbol also points to Jesus, who is called the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Does the symbolism sound familiar? It should, because when the Lamb of God died on the cross, He did so knowing that He was creating a way for death to pass over us, bringing us redemption and everlasting life, so long as we accepted His sacrifice for us.
In addition to the symbols of Passover pointing to Christ, the man leading our Passover service made the very good point that Christ Himself celebrated Passover. How can we not celebrate something that Jesus found important enough to make time for when He knew He was preparing to take on death? And on top of that, the celebration honors Him and His sacrifice! I had never even considered that Passover could be a celebration for a Gentile like me! But celebrating this year has my husband and me firmly convinced that Passover is for us, and it’s just as important for our family to celebrate every year as Easter or Christmas. I’m so thankful for the opportunity that I was presented with by my church this year to learn more about Passover, and discover how important it truly is.
If you're interested in learning more about Passover, please click here, watch the video, and see if you agree!
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