How to Lead A Christian Passover Seder
The 70th Jubilee Year's Passover is on April 12, 2025
A Christian Passover Seder
Passover Seder Preparations
This section (until you reach the “Welcome” heading below) contains suggested preparatory steps for planning and managing your Passover Seder.
Haggadah is the Hebrew word for a written Passover Seder program. I’ve been attending or hosting Christian Seders for 10 years, and 2025 will be the third year I’ve been asked to lead a Christian Passover Seder.
This document is my latest Christian Seder Haggadah version. It contains improvements from lessons learned from the last two years. Feel free to tailor it for use in your church, or scale the logistics down to use it in your home for just your family/friends.
Haggadah Printing
A Seder should be an enjoyable, interactive educational experience, especially for children. So, everyone (who can read) needs to be able to read the Haggadah during the Seder.
I think it’s best to print a copy of the Haggadah to give to each person. Then they can read it, write in it, and take it home.
If the printing cost is prohibitive, here are some alternatives:
Use a big screen TV or projector to project the Haggadah for all to see
Email a PDF of the Haggadah to attendees in advance, so they can print it themselves, or they can read it on their personal electronic devices.
Ask me any questions, or request this Haggadah in PDF or editable Microsoft Word format, by emailing me at Tom@thomasnoss.com
Audio/Visual
Have microphones for the head table and roving mics for people reading, children asking questions, etc.
Have a big screen TV for videos, and for showing the Haggadah to anyone who doesn’t have a copy.
Save all electronic materials (Haggadah, videos, etc.) to a laptop’s hard drive to prevent the risk of network issues during the Seder.
Test sound and visual setup well before the Seder
Readers
It’s wise to rehearse the program in advance with everyone who has a part to play.
The Seder is led from a head table. The head table should include at least two people, plus an empty chair and place-setting for Elijah.
These two people, traditionally called the abba (father) and the eema (mother), are the primary readers, and they should alternate reading to avoid monotony.
Children read the questions highlighted in yellow. This keeps them engaged and provides variety for the audience. Make it fun for them.
Food
I delegate the food portion of the Seder to our Church’s widows’ group. I ask them not to include biblically unclean foods (i.e., pork, shrimp, rabbit, etc.) but otherwise we don’t worry about manmade kosher rules, i.e., mixing cheese and meat.
Make sure someone takes responsibility to provide enough roasted lamb, bitter herbs (kale, parsley, etc.) and horseradish for everyone to receive a token amount for the ritual Passover meal.
For the feast that follows the ritual meal, our widows organize a potluck, with a wide variety of foods, including foods like: beef brisket, baked salmon, roasted chicken, potato casseroles, various salads, and many desserts.
Each table should have a nice table setting, with carafes of grape juice and water for the table to share. Plates, glasses and cutlery should be as elegant as possible. After all, this is one of the Lord’s three annual feasts. With that said, we use disposable paper tablecloths, elegant-looking paper plates and nice plastic drinking glasses
We normally have one table at a time go through a buffet line and fill their plates. After all tables have served themselves, people are welcome to go for more.
Our teens from the church enjoy serving tables, ensuring carafes are refilled when necessary, clearing dirty dishes, and cleaning up spills, etc.
Seder Preparation Schedule
Weeks In Advance
Settle on a venue and set a date and time.
Funding source for venue, printing, decorations and table settings, etc?
How many people can fit comfortably in your space? Share this information with the food and decorations teams so they’ll know how much to plan for.
The decorations team decorates the room and the table settings, including plates, cutlery, etc. Ask a mother to light the candles and do the candle-lighting prayer.
Print the Haggadahs for the estimated number of attendees
Have people register to attend. Post a sign-up sheet in church, or email to the Decorations Team leader. Plan for the number of people registered, plus 10%.
Assign Food and Decorations team leaders
Find people who enjoy doing these tasks. The right people will do it joyfully.
Get weekly informal status updates up to the event. Resolve any problems.
Audio/Visual equipment status?
Save all leader’s electronic materials (Haggadah, videos, etc.) to a laptop’s hard drive. Practice without a Wi-Fi connection.
Assign a woman to do the candle-lighting. If she knows the traditional Hebrew prayer that’s said for the weekly Sabbath-day candle-lighting, she’s welcome to say it first in Hebrew. But make sure to say the prayer in English for all to understand.
For the ceremonial handwashing we tried the Jewish way of pouring water over each hand, but it was too time-consuming and messy, so now I suggest one of two methods for this ritual:
Have the teens distribute hypo-allergenic wipes to each person. After people wipe their hands, the teens then collect them for disposal.
Have the teens go around to each table and squirt hand sanitizer on each person’s hand.
Select good readers to read parts of the Haggadah. For example, we delegate these parts:
The abba and eema alternate in reading the bulk of the program.
They go through the Haggadah together and agree on who’s going to read each paragraph. Then they rehearse at least once all the way through it.
A male and female to responsively read the Hallel at the end of the Seder. Encourage them to read these verses with expression.
Someone to read the short Hebrew blessings before each of the 4 cups, before the meal, etc. Or, the leader (abba) can do this.
Have plenty of matzah. Don’t wait until the last minute because stores sometimes run out of matzah when it gets close to Passover.
Get a cloth ‘Matzah Tash’ for the afikomen part of the Seder. Here’s an example
Think about the redemption prize you want to give the child who finds the afikomen. We give the child a bag of chocolate coins and we encourage the child to share with the other children.
Decorate the room
Select a closing hymn
Rehearse with everyone who has a part to play
On the Day of the Seder
Give printed Haggadahs to the decorations team.
Decorations team put place settings (Haggadahs, cutlery, carafes, plates, flowers, etc.) on the tables
Put bitter herbs, matzah, and horseradish in the center of each table. Just before the start of the Seder, add the roasted lamb meat for the ceremonial Passover meal. (One small piece per person is enough.)
Food team sets out the potluck foods, taking care to keep foods cold/hot as appropriate.
Check audio/visual equipment. Microphones, PCs, and TVs, etc.
Just before the Seder begins, place 6-10 packets of yeast on the floor around the room. In the beginning of the Seder children will be asked to find them and pick them all up to ‘cleanse’ the room of leaven.
Handwashing equipment ready? Youths assigned to distribute/collect hand wipes?
Place 2 candles on the head table for the candle-lighting ceremony.
Prepare the matzah tash for the afikomen ceremony
Ask one of the teens to hold a trash receptacle when it’s time for the children to deposit the yeast packets. After collecting the yeast, take the leaven away—out of the room, symbolically destroying it.
When you reach the 10 plagues in the program, we like to ask the audience who’d like to read a plague. We assign each volunteer a number, and then each volunteer reads their plague in sequence. If you don’t want to do that, I suggest having a male and female alternate reading through the plagues.
If you have people with specific speaking parts, it’s a good idea to highlight their parts in their Haggadah. For example, highlight (in green) all the places the person who reads the Hebrew blessings, “Baruch ahta Adonai…” needs to speak. Label their Haggadah with their name and personally give it to them.
Please remove these three pages of preparatory information before printing the Haggadah for Passover Seder participants.
The next section begins the script for the Seder.
Welcome
For 3,470 years, Jewish fathers have used a Passover Seder like this one to teach their children how God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. Tonight we'll carry on this tradition, teaching our children, and adults, how the Lamb of God delivers us from slavery to sin.
We’ll enjoy a feast, and we’ll learn how Jesus fulfilled ancient Passover patterns, becoming the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.
In our future, Revelation 13:8 says,
“All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, please bless us with a sense of Your presence as we celebrate this Passover Seder. Help us understand how you deliver your people from bondage, from ancient times up to today. Help us respond appropriately to your grace and love. Bless our fellowship with shalom—Your perfect peace. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Introduction
Welcome to the first of ‘God’s appointed times’ this year.
In Leviticus 23:4-5, we read:
“These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.”
According to the Hebrew calendar, today is the fourteenth day of the first month, and we’ll be celebrating this feast at twilight.
More than 3000 years ago, God established Passover as the first of seven festivals that He wants His people to celebrate each year.
These seven festivals symbolize and foretell the content and sequence of God’s redemptive plan. That is, they show the content and sequence of each believer’s salvation, from their initial repentance to dwelling forever in God’s presence.
Jesus already fulfilled the first four of these festivals, exactly on their anniversaries. And so, it’s certain he will also fulfill the last three on their anniversaries in our future.
Leviticus chapter 23 lists these seven festivals.
1. Passover
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3. Firstfruits
4. The Feast of Pentecost
5. The Day of Trumpets
6. The Day of Atonement
7. The Feast of Tabernacles
You’ll notice three feasts are in bold font. Five times in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy God commanded all male believers to celebrate these three feasts each year.
In this Passover Seder, we’ll be celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is when the Passover lamb is eaten.
A Passover Seder is for adults and children of all ages. You can expect this to be a time of joyful learning, worship, and delicious feasting.
A Passover Seder's written program is called a Haggadah in Hebrew.
In this Haggadah, every question mark is a signal for young people to ask that question. So, children, watch for those question marks. Raise your hand and I'll call on you.
What is a Seder?
In Hebrew, the word ‘Seder’ simply means ‘order of events.’ The order of events in tonight’s Seder is over 3,400 years old.
The Jewish Seder
Moses and Israel celebrated the first Passover in 1446BC. It included a sacrificial lamb whose blood protected the Israelites from God’s judgment against the Egyptians.
Every year since then, Israeli families worldwide remember this event in a Passover Seder.
A Passover Seder is traditionally celebrated in the home of one family, or a small group of families, as we’re doing tonight. The father told the ancient Passover story using symbols and fun activities to teach his children about God’s deliverance.
In the New Testament, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder. In Luke 22:8, Jesus told Peter and John, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
The Passover Seder we celebrate tonight will be done in basically the same order as Jesus and His disciples celebrated at the Last Supper, on the night before His crucifixion, nearly 2000 years ago.
Keeping traditional ceremonies like the Passover Seder is a big reason the Jewish people still survive, while all the nations who’ve tried to destroy them for more than 3,400 years no longer exist
This Christian Seder
Tonight, in this 21st century Christian Seder, we’ll learn about the historical Passover event in Egypt, and then we’ll see how Jesus became our Passover Lamb, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
Finally, we’ll see Jesus’s current, heavenly position, as we look forward to His return as the King of kings over all nations.
What is the Historical Passover Story?
Here’s the story of the first Passover: BibleProject video Overview: Exodus 1-18.
Just after the first Passover, Yahweh declared His goal for His covenant people:
“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6)
Remember this last line… “you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
What Does Passover Mean to Us Today?
Passover teaches us how Yahweh delivers his followers from slavery, whether it’s Israel’s slavery in Egypt 3,400 years ago, or our slavery to sinfulness today. In both cases, this deliverance involves sacrificing a lamb.
Jewish Passover: Every year, Jewish people around the world remember the liberation of their ancestors after more than 400 years in Egypt. For Jews today, Passover is both historic and prophetic. It remembers Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage, and they also look forward to the time when Yahweh will deliver them from all bondage through their future Messiah.
What is a Messiah?
The Hebrew word “Messiah” is translated as the word “Christ” in our English Bibles. Both words, ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ,’ simply mean “anointed one.” Israel’s Messiah (or Christ) is the promised deliverer who will bring freedom to mankind, establishing a messianic kingdom of righteousness over all nations.
Christian Passover:
Most of us tonight already believe Jesus is the Messiah, and that he is not only the Messiah for Jewish people. We believe Jesus is the Messiah for anyone who will enter a covenant with Yahweh, in Jesus’ name.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
The Lamb of God:
The original Passover lamb in Egypt was a symbolic picture of what Jesus would accomplish as the Lamb of God on the cross.
John the Baptist testified Jesus is, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29, 36)
The apostle Paul wrote, “Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
So, what does Passover mean to us today?
1. Passover’s Feast of Unleavened Bread is one of the three feasts Yahweh commanded His people to celebrate each year. The sacrificed and roasted Passover lamb is eaten in this feast.
2. Passover is a remembrance of how Yahweh delivered His people, in Israel and today.
3. For Christians, Passover is a worshipful remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
The Passover Seder
Removing the Leaven
In the Bible, leaven (or yeast) represents sin. As God’s holy people, we must be diligent to remove sin from our lives.
To symbolize removing sin from our fellowship, I’ll now ask the children to get up from their tables, search the room for the packets of yeast scattered in our midst, and throw them into the trash—to be taken out and burned.
***
During Passover, Jewish people don’t eat anything with leaven. Instead of leavened bread, they eat unleavened bread, which is called ‘matzah.’
We usually eat bread with leaven in it. Why do Jewish people only eat matzah bread on Passover?
There are two reasons they only eat unleavened matzah on Passover:
1. First, it reminds them that Israel didn’t have time to leaven their bread before they left.
Exodus 12:39 said, “Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.”
In like manner, in the ‘Parable of the Ten Virgins’ and in Matthew 24, Jesus told us to be watchful and prepared for his coming. There won’t be time to prepare when that time comes. So, eating unleavened bread reminds us to watch and be ready for the Lord’s return.
2. Second, they remove all the leaven on Passover because leaven represents our sinful nature in the Bible. Eating unleavened bread reminds us of our new life of sincerity and truth.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)
Candle Lighting
Now that we’ve ceremonially purged sin from our presence, our Passover Seder can begin.
A mother stands to light a pair of candles at the head table.
It is appropriate that a woman lights the Passover candles, since it was through a woman that the light of the world, our Messiah Jesus Christ, came into the world.
As she lights the candles she says this traditional blessing,
“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us in your Word and given us Yeshua our Messiah. You command us to be light to the world. Amen.”
What is the Passover Seder’s Sequence?
A traditional Passover Seder is organized around the drinking of four cups of “the fruit of the vine.” Each of the four cups stands for one of the four “I will” statements recorded in Exodus 6:6-7.
“I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
For those who counted, Yahweh actually said “I will” five times in this passage. But, according to Jewish tradition, the last two “I Will” statements — “I will take you to be my people and I will be your God”—are counted as a single statement.
The drinking of these four cups provides the sequence for our Passover Seder tonight.
1. The cup of sanctification: I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
For Christian believers, Yahweh fulfilled this cup by “rescuing us out of the Devil’s dominion of darkness, transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Colossians 1:13)
You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
2. The cup of judgment: I will deliver you from bondage.
Yahweh fulfilled this cup by judging Jesus on the cross for our sins.
“He was handed over to death for our sins…” (Romans 4:25)
3. The cup of redemption: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.
Yahweh fulfilled this cup when He raised Jesus’ body from the dead.
“He was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
This is pictured in the ritual of baptism. When Jesus was raised from the dead, we were raised with Him.
4. The cup of praise: I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be your God.
According to Revelation 1:6 and 5:10, Jesus has already made us a kingdom, and priests to Yahweh, and we shall reign on the earth.
When we get to this cup, we’ll recite the song that millions of angels in heaven are now singing to praise the Lamb of God.
Jesus promised,
“To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
The First Cup - Sanctification
Let’s prepare our cups for drinking the first cup—the cup of sanctification.
To prepare your cup, pour juice into your cup, as if you were preparing to ‘toast’ with it.
What is sanctification?
Sanctification is a big word that simply means to set something apart, make it different, or make it holy.
For ancient Israel, this meant Yahweh would make them His nation. He made them different from all the other nations. Israel became Yahweh’s chosen people, called to be “a holy nation.”
Today, for the followers of Jesus, sanctification means the same thing, but in a spiritual way.
Yahweh doesn’t take believers out of an earthly king’s physical kingdom.
Yahweh takes us out of the Devil’s kingdom of darkness and death, transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son Jesus, into His kingdom of light, life, and glory. He gives us a new spirit now, along with the hope of eternal life and authority in the promised land of His kingdom.
Sanctification is the process whereby God makes us holy, like Himself. Holiness is defined as being perfect in goodness and righteousness, so sanctification is Yahweh’s process to make us holy, fit to be citizens in the kingdom of God forever.
Ceremonial Cleansing
We’re now at the point in the Seder when Jesus washed all the disciples’ feet. Don’t worry, we’re not planning to wash anyone’s feet tonight. But, in a few moments, we will ceremonially wash our hands.
Why do we wash our hands?
The first step a person can make toward Yahweh is to admit they have dirty hands. Each one of us must admit that we’ve sinned.
“if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:7)
We’ve already removed the leaven from our presence, which represents our sinful nature. But our conscience can still condemn us for sins we committed in the past. So, even after we repent and receive forgiveness, our conscience must be cleansed before we can feel clean—before we can believe that we’re ‘good enough’ to enter Yahweh’s presence.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)
This ceremonial handwashing represents how we wash away our guilt, not because we’re good enough, but because our Savior’s blood is good enough. If, by faith, we apply his blood to our past sins, we can believe that God forgave our sins, fully and forever.
Do the ceremonial hand washing.
Now that we’ve removed the leaven from our presence, and cleansed our guilty conscience, we can drink the four cups.
This first cup is to thank Yahweh for setting us apart, forgiving us, sanctifying us, and giving us the ability to cleanse our conscience.
It’s customary to recline (lie down) as we drink the cups.
Why is it customary to recline while drinking the cups?
For thousands of years, reclining symbolized the luxury of freedom. In ancient times, only free people could recline while eating or drinking. John 13:23-25 tells us that Jesus and His apostles reclined as they ate the Last Supper.
Since it’s no longer customary to recline as we eat, we simulate reclining by leaning to the left momentarily before drinking the fruit of the vine.
At the Last Supper, Jesus would have pronounced this traditional Jewish Kiddush blessing (in Hebrew) over the cup:
Baruch ahta Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, bo-ray paree ha-gafen. Amen.
Let’s all say this blessing together in English.
All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine. Amen.
Now, let’s momentarily recline to the left to drink the cup of sanctification.
The Second Cup - Judgment
Let’s prepare our cups for drinking the second cup—the cup of judgment.
In the second “I will” statement, God said, “I will deliver you from their bondage.”
The children of Israel were in Egypt for over 400 years. After so much time, they had forgotten what freedom was like. They’d grown accustomed to their bondage as slaves, just as we were all accustomed to our bondage as sinners.
The Israelites could not free themselves from bondage, just as we could not free ourselves from our sinful nature. Only through Yahweh’s miraculous deliverance, in the name of Jesus, can we be freed from this bondage.
Both in Israel’s deliverance and in ours, Yahweh’s deliverance is preceded by His judgment.
The Ten Plagues
With ancient Israel, Yahweh sent Moses to Pharaoh 10 times to command him to let the people of Israel go. Nine times Pharaoh refused. But, after the tenth plague—the death of every Egyptian firstborn—Pharaoh finally relented.
Each of the 10 plagues targeted one of Egypt’s false gods, humiliating them by their powerlessness against Yahweh, proving that He alone is the Almighty God.
The Ten Plagues:
1. Turning all the waters of Egypt into blood
2. Frogs that covered the entire land
3. Gnats on men and beasts
4. Swarms of flies in all the Egyptians’ houses, but not in the Egyptian region of Goshen, where Israel lived
5. All the Egyptians’ livestock died of a plague, but none of Israel’s livestock died
6. Boils and open sores covered the skin of all the Egyptians
7. Thunder, hail, and fire from heaven killed every Egyptian man and beast who didn’t heed Yahweh’s warning to stay under shelter. The hail also destroyed every plant and broke every tree in Egypt, but there was no hail in Goshen
8. A swarm of locusts so thick it darkened the sky. The locusts ate every plant not destroyed by the hail. Not a green thing remained in all Egypt
9. For three days, all of Egypt experienced total darkness; a ‘darkness that could be felt,’ but there was light for Israel in Goshen
10. The death of every first-born child and beast, from the firstborn of Pharoah to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon. There was not a house where someone wasn’t dead. Meanwhile, Yahweh’s judgment “passed over” the houses of every obedient Israelite who applied lamb’s blood over their doors
A full cup is a symbol of our joy. And yet, our joy is tempered by the knowledge that innocent Egyptians suffered in the process that made Israel free.
In the same way, we remember the tremendous suffering our innocent Savior experienced when He died to set us free.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely, He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth… He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.” (Isaiah 53:3-8)
God paid a terrible price for our deliverance. When he delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt, many innocent first-born Egyptians died. But when Yahweh delivered us from our bondage to sin, it cost Yahweh his firstborn, his only begotten son.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Baruch ahta Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, bo-ray paree ha-gafen. Amen.
All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine. Amen.
Let’s recline to the left and then drink the Cup of Judgment.
Two Passover Meals
Tonight, we’ll eat two Passover meals.
Why will we eat two Passover meals?
Exodus 12:8 says, “They are to eat the lamb that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.”
1. So, first we’ll eat a ritual meal that includes a token amount of the three required elements: roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs.
2. Then, we’ll enjoy the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is a full dinner feast, in fellowship with Yahweh and each other.
The Ritual Passover Meal
In the center of each table, you’ll see the elements of our ritual Passover meal, including roasted lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and horseradish.
Roasted Lamb
Roasted lamb reminds us of the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our deliverance from sin and death.
“Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Let’s eat the roasted lamb.
Matzah (Unleavened Bread)
Matzah is the bread of haste, since the Israelites didn’t have time to leaven it.
In our future, many people believe we may likewise need to leave our homes in haste. If so, remember how Yahweh miraculously provided manna and water for more than a million people for 40 years in the desert. He can provide our needs too.
Break off a small piece of matzah bread and inspect it. You’ll notice it has both piercings and stripes.
“He was pierced for our transgressions … and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
Let’s eat the bread of haste.
Bitter Herbs
Next, the bitter herbs.
Why, on this night, do we eat bitter herbs?
For the Jews, the bitter herbs remind Israelites of the bitterness of their slavery in Egypt.
For us, it reminds us of the bitterness of our lives as sinners.
Please use the herb on your table to dip some horseradish, making sure to get enough so that you get at least one tear from your eyes.
Let’s eat the bitter herbs.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Every year, the Passover lamb was killed at 3 pm on the 14th day of the first month of the Jewish calendar. Then, just after sunset, each family would ceremonially eat the roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and matzah bread, as we just did, followed by a feast with all sorts of other good foods.
And so, having fulfilled the requirement to eat the three ceremonial foods, we can now enjoy feasting at Yahweh’s table.
This is how Jesus would have prayed to ‘say grace’ before He and His disciples ate their food at the Last Supper:
Baruch ahta Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, ka-mo-tzee leh-chehm meen ha-aretz. Amen.
Let’s all say this blessing together in English.
All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
Enjoy the feast! We’ll continue the Seder when most of us are done eating.
30-60 minute break for feasting and fellowship.
The Matzah Tash
This is a ceremonial ‘Matzah Tash.’
The leader stands to display a Matzah Tash while a reader reads this part.
The Matzah Tash symbolizes “echad,” which (in Hebrew) means ‘one,’ but you’ll notice that it has three sections inside it. For us, these three sections represent the ‘three in one’ trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is represented by the central third of the Matzah Tash
There is unleavened bread in each of the three parts of the Matzah Tash. The matzah in the central part, representing the Son of God, is traditionally called ‘the Afikomen.’
The meaning of the word ‘Afikomen’ is lost in antiquity, but many scholars believe it comes from a root word meaning “I have come,” and it refers to the Messiah.
In Psalm 40:7-8, King David wrote: “Then I said, Behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book it is written about me: I delight to do Your will, O My God. Your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:7-8)
For thousands of years, without knowing why, Jewish fathers removed the Afikomen matzah and broke it in two. The first half was replaced into the center of the Matzah Tash. The second half was wrapped inside a small cloth and hidden, to be discovered by the children later.
The Third Cup - Redemption
Let’s prepare our cups for drinking the third cup—the cup of Redemption.
In the third “I will” statement, Yahweh said, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”
This cup refers to Yahweh’s promise that He Himself would redeem Israel from slavery. The word ‘redeem’ means to pay a ransom for someone’s freedom.
Redemption Through Sacrificial Blood
In ancient Israel, God told them to use the blood of innocent Passover lambs to protect them from the final plague—the death of the firstborn. This was a symbolic picture of how Yahweh would later redeem His people from their slavery to sin by paying the price that was necessary to obtain their freedom. This price was the blood of Yahweh’s own Son, Jesus.
Leviticus 17:11 states, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22)
“And Jesus took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the renewed covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:27-29)
The Mosaic Covenant
In 1446BC, Yahweh entered into the Mosaic Covenant with ancient Israel on Mount Sinai. Under that covenant, Israel’s sins were ritually covered by the blood of animal sacrifices. This covenant was a temporary, symbolic solution to cover the sins of just one nation until God could complete His plan to offer all nations complete forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.
Under the Mosaic Covenant, Israel’s sins weren’t forgiven, but they were covered, in faith, until the true Lamb of God could be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind.
Israel broke the Mosaic Covenant many times. Their rebellion finally culminated in Jesus cursing the fig tree and pronouncing judgment against rabbinical Judaism. Jesus said, “Your house is left unto you desolate.”
Forty years later, in 70AD, Roman armies fulfilled Jesus’ words when they completely destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Yahweh cast the Jews out of their land for the next 1,878 years. Then, in 1948, God brought them back, signaling the beginning of the end of this age before Jesus returns to rule all nations.
The New Covenant
After Jesus cursed the fig tree—on the same day—he inaugurated the New Covenant.
During the Last Supper:
Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25)
The next day he eternally ratified the New Covenant by allowing himself to be crucified as an offering for the sins of the world.
In the New Covenant, Jesus is the Lamb of God whose blood takes away the sins of the entire world—that is, everyone who believes.
The New Covenant is much greater than the Mosaic Covenant, because through faith in his sacrifice our sins are not just temporarily covered, they are totally 100% forgiven and forever removed.
As Jesus said, when we drink this third cup, it symbolizes our entering into a blood covenant with Yahweh, a covenant sealed in Jesus’ blood. Through this covenant, a believer’s sins are now and forever forgiven, and they are ‘born again’ to share His resurrection life.
Psalm 103:10-12 is a great comfort for those in covenant with Yahweh. It says:
“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”
Baruch ahta Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, bo-ray paree ha-gafen. Amen.
All: “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine. Amen.”
After reclining to the left, let’s drink the Cup of Redemption.
Ransoming the Afikomen
Where is the Afikomen?
Children, please search and find the missing part of the Afikomen and bring it to me.
Children find the hidden Afikomen, returning it to the Leader. The leader pays the child a redemption fee for the Afikomen.
When the Afikomen was broken in two, this represented our Savior’s death, when his body was broken for us.
Hiding the Afikomen represented his burial in the earth, hidden for three days. Reuniting the Afikomen with the original piece represents our Savior’s resurrection.
The leader removes the half-piece of matzah from the middle part of the Matzah Tash. He holds it up alongside the Afikomen piece to show them reunited as one, then returns both halves into the center part of the Matzah Tash.
The three parts of the Matzah Tash represent our triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. And now, this Trinity includes the glorified Son of God—a resurrected man!
Afikomen Communion
We’ll now share the Afikomen.
“In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote … is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:17)
Break and distribute the Afikomen to each table
“And as they were eating, Jesus took the 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.’” (Matthew 26:26, Luke 22:19)
Just as we all now share in eating part of the resurrected Afikomen, the spiritual reality is that Jesus’s disciples all share in His resurrection life.
“Let us eat the bread of communion.”
Calling Elijah
You’ve probably noticed there is an empty place at our table.
Why is there an empty seat at your table?
This place is set for Elijah, who will come before Jesus’ return in our future. About 400 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Malachi wrote,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5-6)
Jesus said John the Baptist partially fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy when John announced Jesus’ first coming, but after John’s death Jesus told his disciples that “Elijah will indeed come, and he will restore all things.” (Matthew 17:11)
So, in our future, a man with the spirit of Elijah will herald Jesus’ second coming. Many believe he will be one of the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation, chapter 11.
In His first coming, Jesus came as a sacrificial lamb. But, in His second coming, our Messiah will return as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Everyone, let’s call for Elijah to come.
All: May the prophet Elijah come soon, in our lifetime. And let our Messiah’s kingdom reign on the earth!
The Fourth Cup—Praise
As our Seder draws to a close, let’s prepare our cups to drink the last cup—the cup of praise.
This cup represents the fourth “I will,” where Yahweh promised, “I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be your God.”
By the blood of the Lamb, we’ve been ransomed. For the last 2000 years, all heaven has been praising Jesus with this song:
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
With this cup we praise Yahweh and Jesus for what they’ve done. And, as members of the Body of Christ, we look forward to our immortal glorification with Him soon.
Though we haven’t possessed our eternal inheritance yet, his Spirit continually blesses us and leads us toward that promised land, providing all our needs as we follow His leading by faith.
Baruch ahta Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, bo-ray paree ha-gafen. Amen.
All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine. Amen.
After reclining to the left, let’s drink the Cup of Praise.
The Hallel
In the traditional Jewish Passover Seder, a hymn called “the Hallel” is now sung. It’s a compilation of verses from Psalms 113-118, and it’s likely what Jesus and His disciples sang after the Last Supper.
The gospel of Matthew tells us,
“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:30)
Unfortunately, we no longer know which verses comprise this hymn, or its musical melody. But, the good news is, we now have something better.
A New Song, in Heaven
About 60 years after Jesus defeated death, the apostle John received the “Revelation of Jesus Christ,” which is commonly called the Book of Revelation—the last book in the Bible.
This revelation includes the words of ‘a new song’ that millions of angels now sing to praise Yahweh and His immortal Son—the resurrected Lamb of God in heaven.
John’s revelation gives us a current picture of Jesus, the glorified Lamb of God, as He exists today. It also provides a valid and timely way to praise our God. It’s how the elders and angels in heaven are worshiping Yahweh and Jesus right now.
The Bible passage below is from the Book of Revelation, from Revelation 4:8 through the end of chapter five.
I’ve asked two disciples to read this passage responsively.
Left: Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Right: And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
Left: “Then I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written on both sides, sealed with seven seals.
Right: And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
Left: And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
Right: And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Left: And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Right: And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
Left: And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, with these words:
Right: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Left: Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
Right: And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them. They sang, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Left: And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Amen! Praise the Lamb of God!
Closing hymn
Benediction
And now it’s time for our final blessing. From the Book of Hebrews 13:20-21, this is the apostle Paul’s benediction to bless God’s New Covenant people:
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Our Passover Seder is now complete.
Shalom, the peace of Yahweh be unto you all, in the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach—Jesus, our Messiah.