Jesus and the Four Cups of Passover

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America's Occult Holidays, David J. Meyer, Doc Marquis, Easter, Exodus 6:6-8, Jesus' Last Supper, Last Supper and Passover, nimrod, Pagan Easter, Semiramus, Tammuz, The Cup of Acceptance, The Cup of Deliverance, The Cup of Hope, The Cup of Redemption, The Cup of Sanctification, The Four Cups, The Occult Origin of Easter, The Occult Origin of Easter Bunnies, The Occult Origin of Easter Eggs, The Pagan Origins of Easter, Tim Hegg

We are in a truly special and holy season of the year; one of the most exciting as well. But the excitement and holiness does not center around a bunny who lays eggs nor new dresses nor fancy hats nor colorful baskets nor ham dinners. And really, all of that is not just for fun either. Historically all of those details are rooted in the Babylonian Mystery religion that goes as far back as Nimrod and his mother/wife Semiramus and the tower of Babel. And as a matter of fact, the name Easter is in reality the name of a Babylonian fertility goddess whose symbols were the bunny and the egg: the bunny because of how quickly they propagate and the egg represented reincarnation.

The origin of Easter egg hunts and wicker baskets come from the yearly celebration of this fertility goddess’ reincarnation. It was thought that the first to find an egg would be blessed by the goddess. Furthermore, it was said that the egg of the goddess was to descend into a wicker basket. And thus the reason for the use of baskets in modern times when looking for hidden eggs at Easter time.

The origin of Easter bonnets and new clothes also stems from the occult following of this fertility goddess. Every spring at this festival the women would wear new bonnets (that looked more like baby bonnets) and the men would be dressed in white new clothes.

As for the ham dinner, that too comes from this fertility cult following. For, it is believed that the goddess’ son, Tammuz, was killed by a wild bore. Thus, every year the worshipers of the goddess would kill a pig on behalf of her dead son and eat ham.

Though paganism has always attempted to overshadow the holy throughout the centuries, the holy still shines more piercingly than ever. For God ordained from before the foundation of the world that His only begotten Son, the Lamb, would be slain. And God created His own calendar of His own divine appointments and called His own people to celebrate each one in a certain way at specific time of year. Jesus therefore fulfilled every detail of God’s spring calendar of events including the feast days of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Jesus came as the Passover Lamb whose blood would take away the sin of the world, and also came as the sinless unleavened bread that was striped, pierced and bruised for our salvation. Thus, Jesus is the reason for this season of the year, and the cross combined with the empty tomb is the central attraction.

Elements Of The Last Supper

Every holiday has specific food related to it. When we think of our national Thanksgiving day we think of turkey dinner. When we think of Independence day we think of barbequed hamburgers or hotdogs. When we think of birthdays we think of usually think of cake. Even so, with God’s holidays there are certain foods that were eaten. This was not just tradition. The food actually had meaning.

The Passover supper consisted of bitter herbs, matzah, charoset, lamb, and wine. Since Biblical times, the Jews have added other elements that also have meaning, but the ones that God attributed meaning to are most important.

We have already covered the lamb and the unleavened bread. Today we will explore the significance of the wine.

Usually during God’s feast days there are two cups of wine at the table. However, during Passover there are four. In Luke 22:14-17 we catch a glimpse of two of these being served: namely the second and the third. And the one we are most familiar with is the third cup that Jesus raised up as the cup of a new covenant in His blood. Did you know that that cup was a part of Passover?

The first cup of Passover is referred to as the cup of sanctification, the second as the cup of deliverance, the third as the cup of redemption and the fourth as the cup of acceptance and hope. In these cups of wine, we can see the amazing picture of God’s ultimate salvation through Jesus.

The Four Cups of Passover

The concept of these four cups is found in Exodus 6:6-8 which reads,

“6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ”

The picture conveyed here is that of a slave who is carrying a monstrously heavy burden –just think of something too heavy to carry and it is placed on your shoulders, that’s what it means. Not only this, but the slave is in thick chains and is trapped in slavery in a foreign land to a cruel taskmaster with no hope of freedom, ever.

The Cup of Sanctification

So, what does God say, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians…”

This is the phrase associated with the first cup: the cup of Sanctification. Essentially the Hebrews had cried out to God because they were weary of the uncomfortable burden of their cruel enslavement to a hard taskmaster. Physically they were weary; emotionally they were exhausted. But…they in desperation cried out. And so God came down to investigate, and upon doing so, promised to change their status from that of heavily burdened to unburdened, to set them apart as His own. This was not just for the sake of doing it, but as God stated time and again to Pharoah, it was so that the Hebrews might worship Him. For indeed the concept of servitude in the Hebrew language has to do with worship. This unburdening was all about the transfer of their service from Pharoah to God. Thus, God unburdened them and sanctified them which means that He set them apart and made them holy that they might worship Him.

Thus, the burden was gone and they were made holy for God’s service, but they were still chained and under the authority of Pharaoh in a foreign land.

The Cup of Deliverance

Continuing on with Exodus 6:6-8, it says, “I will rescue you from their bondage…” And so we come to the second cup: the cup of Deliverance. The definition of this word is actually “to rescue or to snatch away.” The powerful reality conveyed in this sentence is this: the Hebrews were utterly helpless to deliver themselves. There was nothing they could do. Nothing. They were chained. They were powerless. And these chains were not merely physical chains nor political chains nor ethnic chains, but were the chains of idolatry. Though the word for bondage is often a common word for work, in this verse, “I will rescue you from their bondage” there is more to it than work. For indeed, the word for “bondage” actually carries in its definition the concept of worship. “Israel surely needed to be “rescued” from the “service” of Egypt, because the tentacles of idolatry had already entwined and penetrated her national consciousness” (Hegg, pg 3). In other words, what had been happening in Egypt was not merely physical, but spiritual. The chains were not just on their feet; the chains were on their minds and hearts as well.

So, God promised to unburden them and make them holy for worship and to unshackle them that they might worship Him. But, they were still owned by Pharoah in a foreign land.

The Cup of Redemption

Continuing on with Exodus 6:6-8 we read, “…and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” And so we come to the Cup of Redemption. How was God to redeem them? With an outstretched arm and great judgments. In the Hebrew language there are two words for redeem. The word used here is a familial one. In other words, the one being redeemed was family. God even tells Pharoah that Israel is His first born son. Furthermore, redemption always requires payment. Thus, God was essentially buying back Israel from Pharoah. And God redeemed them with an “outstretched arm”. When in Hebrew the term “outstretched arm” is used, it “pictures power at it’s zenith—extreme power. This metaphor is used in connection with creation…” (Jeremiah 32:17). Though creating the world with an outstretched arm could be said to have cost God nothing, the redemption of Israel came at the cost of blood.

The Cup of Acceptance and Hope

At this point, God’s promise was for Israel to be unburdened, unshackled and paid for with blood, but they were still in Egypt. The last two verses of this passage in Exodus 6 essentially constitute the fourth cup at the Passover supper: the cup of Acceptance and Hope. For God accepts Israel as His own people, and promises them a home in the Promise Land. But, the Promise Land would not be reached immediately, for the Israelites had to travel the long journey through the Red Sea, across the desert, through foreign lands, and finally through the Jordan River. For indeed, “Redemption guarantees the final destination, but the journey is still necessary.” (Hegg, pg 5).

The Christian Application

These cups, however, are not just for the Jew. Through Jesus, the beautiful symbolism of these cups becomes our own.

For in the The Cup of Sanctification we recognize that God has lifted our burdens and sanctified us to live holy lives of worship for Him. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, 28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And furthermore, we are God’s workmanship created for good works in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).

In the The Cup of Deliverance we agree that we too were helpless to free ourselves from the shackles of sin and so God Himself rescued us from our idolatrous chains. “How this same picture fits each and everyone who is born from above! Our bondage to sin has left us unable to rescue ourselves. We simply cannot find our way to freedom because we are shackled by the chains of self-centeredness, which is idolatry. Our only hope is that One stronger than our fetters should come in and deliver us from our prison. Paul speaks of this when he writes in Colossians 1:13-14: For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Hegg, pg 3). “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

In The Cup of Redemption we find that the price of redemption is always blood, for without blood there is no remission of sin. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says, 31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the LORD. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The old covenant established on the continual death of goats and lambs was crucified with Christ, and God saved us through the blood of His only begotten Son, once for all. Jesus said that this third cup of the Passover supper was a cup of the new covenant in His blood.

And last but not least, in the fourth cup, The Cup of Acceptance and Hope we recognize that right now in this world we as Christians are pilgrims and strangers. Though completely accepted by God as His people, we still await the city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11). We still await the mansions that Jesus promised that He is building for us (John 14). We still await our Savior’s return to snatch us away to our eternal home where there will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more death. That He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

As we approach the day of Passover and Resurrection, may our minds not be filled with bunnies and eggs and ham dinner, but rather, let us reflect on the fact that Jesus is our sanctifier who unburdened us, our deliverer who unchained us, our redeemer who paid for us with His own blood and our blessed hope that He is returning SOON!

Sources:

Youtube “America’s Occult Holidays” By Doc Marquis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMWaX7sLakU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm_7DAlcgRY

“The Pagan Origins of Easter,” by David J. Meyer, www.Lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html

“The Four Cups,” by Tim Hegg https://torahresource.com/EnglishArticles/Four%20Cups.pdf

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Jesus Our Unleavened Bread

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Bill Cloud, Exodus 12, Feast of Unleavened Bread, God's calendar, God's Feast Days, Isaiah 53:5, Jeremiah 7:1, Jesus and the Moneychangers, John 2:13-16, LUke 19:45-46, Mark 11:15-17, Matthew 21:12-13, Nehemiah 13, Passover, Perry Stone

God has a schedule that He keeps in great detail. The example of Algebra can be used to explain God’s schedule, because with Algebra the whole formula is important, every step is significant and not just the answer. In fact, even if the final result is the correct number, if the steps of the equation are not met, then the entire answer is considered wrong. That is how detailed God is with his schedule.

On His schedule are seven holidays, three fall holidays and four spring holidays. These were kept by the Jews as meticulous dress rehearsals, but though the Jews observed these holidays they are not technically Jewish holidays. They are God’s (Leviticus 23:1). In Bible study last September, we discovered the three fall holidays, and last week we learned about the first of the four spring holidays, namely the Lord’s Passover and how Jesus is the fulfillment of every minute detail of Passover, from the selection and inspection of the lamb, to the very songs that were sung, the exact timing of events, and the very words that were spoken.

Here are just a few of the Passover details that Jesus fulfilled:

Four days before Passover a lamb was selected and taken into the family’s house to be inspected to make sure it was without blemish. In Jesus’ day the lambs were escorted into Jerusalem by the High Priest with songs (from the Hallel, namely Psalms 113-118, and even more specifically Psalm 118 was sung while ascending to Jerusalem) of “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118) up into the Temple precincts four days before Passover. Even so, four days before Passover, Jesus was selected and ushered by a large crowd up into the Temple precincts to the tune of “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” He was then inspected with questions for four days and found to be blameless, without blemish, The perfect Lamb of God.

Year after year since the first Exodus, the lambs had been slain “between the evenings” at 3pm (Exodus 12). In Jesus’ day the High Priest would slay the lamb at 3pm then stretch out his arms and say, “It is finished.” Even so, Jesus on the cross had his arms stretched out, and his final words (John 19:30) were, “It is finished” as he died at 3pm.

These are just a few ways in which Jesus fulfilled Passover. And that’s just scratching the surface! Incredibly, God planned it all in every microscopic facet, marked it on His calendar, and brought it to pass on the exact day and at the precise time it was to happen. God inspired the particular songs that would be sung as Jesus entered Jerusalem; He chose the very day and even the very second that Jesus would die; even Jesus’ words said from the cross were a script from the Father and in fulfillment of the minutest detail of the law.

The Feasts/Appointments of the Lord

There are four spring feasts altogether. Passover is the first one. Unleavened Bread is the second in that series, and overlaps with Passover. Just as God wove an amazing set of details into the feast of Passover, He also interlaced Unleavened Bread with its own elements that Jesus fulfilled perfectly.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Now, what is unleavened bread? It is bread made without any rising agent in it, in other words, no yeast, no baking powder. In Hebrew the word for leaven actually means “sour”. It might bring to mind sourdough bread.

Here is what it looks like (hold up/pass out example Matzah). It has holes in it because they would pierce it to keep it from rising/bubbling which is yeast-like behavior. It has lines on it because it is grilled. It has dark marks on it too because of the fire.

The history behind this day takes us all the way back to the Exodus of the Jews out of Egypt. They had prepared in haste, eaten in a rush, and in all the hurry and flurry they did not have time to let their bread rise. It’s not like today when you can just stop at a grocery store and pick up what you need to eat. They had to make everything from scratch. And on this hectic day of the Exodus, they did not have time to leaven their dough.

God had them continue this tradition of eating unleavened bread every year, in order that they remember that significant day that changed their lives forever, the day in which God lifted the burden from their shoulders, released them from their chains, ransomed them from Pharaoh, and promised them a new life of liberty. On top of this, leaven in the Bible refers to sin, because sin just like leaven, spreads through the entire lump of dough or body of believers and causes it to become puffed up (like the rising of leavened dough), to become proud and hardhearted because of sin. God wanted to remind them through the eating of unleavened bread the importance of living sinless lives. They were not liberated by God in order that they might sin, but instead were liberated from sin that they might live unbound by the cruel taskmaster of sin.

Thus, for years and years, even in the time of Jesus, the Jews would make sure that all the leaven was out of their houses. It was not enough to simply have it out of their bread, but it was not to be found in their home. First the mother would clean until all was spotless, but she would intentionally leave a small cake of yeast hidden somewhere. It was then that the father of the household would enlist the help of the kids as sort of search party. “Yeast: Wanted Dead or Alive”. And they would do this at night. The father would hold a torch or candle, and one child would hold a wooden spoon while another held a feather, and the group would look for the hidden yeast. Once it was found, the feather would dust the yeast into the spoon and they would take it outside where they would burn it. The Orthodox and some traditional Jews still perform this search today.

Jesus: Our Unleavened Bread

Jesus fulfills all of this, down to the last detail. Let’s take a look!

Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; John 2:13-16 all give a similar account of a particular event. Matthew’s account reads as follows: “And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Jeremiah 7:11).

Have you ever wondered what on earth this was about? It’s a zealous action, and makes me think of Nehemiah’s zeal. Nehemiah had been so zealous for God and His word and purity that he took men by their beards and pulled out the hair to get them to listen. We catch a glimpse of God’s heart concerning sin through Nehemiah 13. It says, speaking of what Nehemiah did to the leadership of Israel, “25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”

Well, in Jesus’ day it was nearly Passover, a day of holiness and purification and corruption was being allowed by the religious leadership to thrive in the House of God. But, there’s more to it than holy zeal. Remember, God is a God of details.

Jesus had just entered Jerusalem to the tune of children and throngs of people shouting and singing, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” And had thus been selected as the Passover Lamb. He then entered the Temple, the house of His Father, and just as the mother, father and children had been taught by God to cleanse their home of all leaven before Passover, Jesus carefully cleansed His Father’s house of sin by forcefully extracting the greedy moneychangers out of the Temple.

Remember, leaven symbolizes sin. So, Jesus like the unleavened bread, otherwise known as matzah, was without sin. As 1 Peter 2:22 says, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth…” and 1 John 3:5, “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.”

Furthermore, Jesus just like a piece of matzah was pierced, striped and bruised. As it states in Isaiah 53:5, “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” And in Psalm 22:16b it states of the future dying Messiah, “they pierced my hands and my feet.” Indeed, Jesus was beaten with many stripes by the Roman soldiers (Matthew 20:19, 27:26; Luke 18:33; John 19:1), was pierced in His hands and feet and in His side by a sword (John 19:34), and bruised with the fists of angry and cruel Jewish leadership (Matthew 26:67-68; Mark 14:65; John 18:22).

Conclusion

As we move into this holiest season of the year, let us remember Jesus our Passover Lamb and Unleavened Bread. God, who is a God of details, fulfilled in specific detail those two feast days through the death of Jesus. Jesus was the Lamb without blemish. Jesus was the sinless bread. Jesus was pierced. Jesus was bruised. Jesus was striped. Jesus was indeed, the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus was the Lamb, who God had prepared for Himself to be our perfect sacrifice, once for all. Jesus cleansed His Father’s house of leaven.

Now, as Christians we have all been cleansed by the blood of Jesus the perfect Lamb; we have been made new creations in Christ. The old has passed away, and all has been made new. He has therefore, called us to live “unleavened” sinless lives. So, as we enter more deeply into this special time of year, may we examine our lives and hearts and thoughts, and may we allow God’s Holy Spirit to convict us. When we are alone with God, may we be still and allow Him to show us. For we are God’s His Temple, each of us individually, as well as all of us together (1 Corinthians 3 and 6). And we have seen through the example of the Jewish families how important it was for the leaven to be cleansed from their homes. Nehemiah also exemplified this. We have also seen through Jesus’ example of zeal how important it was for His Temple, His Father’s house to be purified. We are that house; we are that Temple. (1 Corinthians 3 and 6). We want to be without spot and without blemish as the Day of Jesus’ return approaches.

Let us say with David in Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Let us also in agreement with David say with Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit [and renew a right spirit within me].”

How To Celebrate Passover by Messianic Rabbi  Zev Porat from Jerusalem, Israel:

Sources:

Bill Cloud and Perry Stone video, “The Seven Feasts of Israel.”

Mark Biltz DVD series, “The Feasts of the Lord.”

Jesus Our Passover

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Bill Cloud, Christians and passover, Communion, Exodus 12, God's calendar, God's Holidays, Hallel, How to celabrate passover as a christian, It is Finished, Jesus and Passover, Jesus fulfilled passover, Jewish roots movement, Mark Biltz, Matthew 21, Messiah of Israel Ministries, Passover, Passover and Christians, Passover prophecies, Pastor Zev Porat, Perry Stone, Psalm 118, Rabbi Zev Porat, rabbinic tradition, The Lamb of God, The Seven Feasts of Israel, Zev Porat

We are in the most amazing season of the year, for it is both the soberest and the most incredibly exuberant time. It is the soberest because it is the season wherein Jesus, the eternal King of Glory, was arrested, tried illegally, falsely accused, beaten mercilessly, drug before a jeering crowd, unjustly condemned to die the death of a criminal, namely the death of a thief, was cruelly crucified, and then was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. It is the most incredibly exuberant time of the year because Jesus released the captives in Paradise (Ephesians 4:8-10), preached to the fallen angels in the deepest, darkest prison of Hell (1 Peter 3:19), took back the keys of Death, Hell and the Grave (Revelation 1:18), openly shamed principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15), and defied death by rising bodily from the dead.

We know that this time of year Jesus came and died for our sins and to then rose again. But, have you ever thought about why He died this time of year? Why didn’t he die in June or January, August or November? Why did He rise again on the third day and not the fourth or seventh day?

Why? Because Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets and within the law and prophets is a calendar. God’s calendar. And His calendar is filled with appointments otherwise known as festivals that He has kept and will keep.

God’s Schedule

God’s schedule is exact. It is as exact as a mathematical, algebraic equation.

I took 2 years of high school Algebra and then 2 years of Algebra in college. Number one, when it comes to me and math, I always make simple problems extremely complex. On top of that, when I would think that I had gotten an answer correct, I would realize that I had the formula wrong, and thus, I would not get credit for the answer. You see, in Algebra, it’s not the conclusion that matters most, but rather, it is the process, the steps, the details that matter most.

It is the same with God’s schedule. He is precise in every minute detail. Every detail, not just the answer. It therefore, was not enough that Jesus die on a certain holiday, but that Jesus would fulfill ALL the other details in the formula first. The formula had to be right.

On God’s calendar there are seven specific appointments of God, also referred to as holidays. We learned about the three Fall holidays back in September, namely: The Day of Blowing (often referred to as Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah), The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Day of Tabernacles (Sukkot). We learned that these are not Jewish holidays but are God’s holidays (Leviticus 23:1).

There are also four Spring holidays: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). These were four appointments of God on His own calendar. Each one was initially lived out in the Exodus of the Jews out of Egypt, but that was only a foreshadow, a dress rehearsal of better things to come. Unbeknownst to the Jews, each of these Spring feast days not only pointed back to their awe-inspiring, miraculous Exodus, but pointed to the ultimate fulfillment in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Today, we’re going to take of look at God’s first appointment on His calendar. The Passover. In so doing, we will barely begin to scratch the surface of God’s incredible accuracy and precision.

The First Passover

Four days before the first Passover, each household picked out a perfect yearling lamb. This lamb they took into their house in order to inspect it thoroughly to make sure it truly was without blemish. For four days the lamb became a part of the family, even a family pet while the children of the house would play with it and probably even name it.

Then, on the fourth day, the little, perfect and very beloved lamb would be led by the father of the household to the threshold of the front door under which was a trench (to keep water from getting into the house), and there he would kill the lamb specifically between the evenings, that is between the times of 3 and 6 o’clock pm.

“It was a night unlike any other night,” the saying goes when speaking of the very first Passover in Egypt. Everyone was huddled in their homes, approximately ten people per house. The silence of the evening was probably deafening as they hastily ate their roasted lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread, perhaps the children even cried over their pet lamb, and they all tensely waited.

Then, they would begin to hear it. Blood curdling screams. Frightened shouts. Gut wrenching wailing. Until fear filled the air as up and down the streets the death angel walked, taking with him the first born out of every household that had not been anointed with the blood of a lamb.

Breathlessly, they waited until everyone’s door was suddenly pounded upon and word spread that they were to leave Egypt immediately. The Egyptians themselves approached the Jewish slaves, frantically begging them to leave and leave now. The Egyptians even gave them gold, silver, precious stones and beautiful clothing just to get them to go.

It was a night of both darkness and deliverance, death and redemption.

Psalm 118

In the time of Jesus, the Jews continued to celebrate the Passover. After all, God said they would celebrate it forever (Exodus 12). And when God says forever He means forever. Thus, every year they would pick out a lamb for their family, and every year they would sacrifice it, sing certain songs, and continue to rehearse the details of Passover.

In Jesus’ day, around 3 million Jews would ascend every year up to Jerusalem for the Passover, and they would sing certain songs, just like we have certain hymns we sing for certain occasions, like “Up From the Grave He Arose” every Resurrection Sunday and “Silent Night” each Christmas. Even so, they sang certain Psalms, namely Psalm 113-118 (referred to as the Hallel).

Jerusalem had four gates: north, south, east and west. Four days before Passover, the High Priest would enter Jerusalem through the north gate leading the national lamb, along with all the other lambs. Each family picked out their own lamb for their family, and then there was the one lamb that would die for all the people. While the High Priest led the little lamb, a crowd would follow behind and the High Priest singing Psalm 118.

Some of the lyrics/verses of Psalm 118 read (25-26), “Save now (the word here is Hosanna), I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD.” These are the words that the High Priest would be singing as he entered town with the national lamb that was to be inspected for four days.

Even so, four days before Passover, Jesus in Matthew 21:1-11 entered Jerusalem. It reads, “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

As the High Priest with a crowd and a lamb was entering the northern gate singing from Psalm 118, saying “Hosanna…blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD…” Jesus entered the eastern gate with a crowd to the tune of the shouts of the people who said, “Hosanna…blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” And even as the lamb was inspected for four days in the Temple, Jesus, the Lamb of God, was inspected in the Temple with questions and found to be without blemish time after time after time. As it says in Matthew 26:59-60, “Now the chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death, but found none…” Even Pontius Pilate said in Matthew 27:24, “…I am innocent of the blood of this just person…” Thus, Jesus was declared to be spotless, and therefore, worthy to be the Passover Lamb.

It Is Finished

Each Synoptic Gospel specifically notes that at 3pm, Jesus drank of the vinegar, commended His spirit to God, and then breathed His last. To begin with, 3pm is exactly the “between the evenings” mentioned in Exodus 12.

As Jesus was dying on the cross at 3pm, between the evenings, the High Priest back in the Temple was preparing to slay the national Passover lamb. When he had completed the task, he would stretch out his arms from side to side and say, “It is finished.” And thus, Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world and as our Great High Priest, with his arms stretched out said from the cross the very same words, “It is finished.” And because of God’s exactness, the High Priest and Jesus said the words at the exact same time. John 19, unlike the other three Gospels, quotes Jesus as saying that very important phrase, “It is finished.”

Conclusion

These are only a few ways in which Jesus fulfilled the Passover. There are so many other ways in which Jesus in minute detail fulfilled the law and the prophets, but to cover them all would take us an indeterminate amount of time.

God is a God of order and details. As it says in Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” A jot is both the smallest Greek and Hebrew letter (the iota and the yod), and a tittle is kind of like the dot on our “i”. In other words, a tittle is smaller than the smallest letter. God did not say every word will be fulfilled. No. Notice it is every smallest letter and smallest stroke of a pen that will be fulfilled. Now that is detail! Some say that the devil is in the details. But, really, it is God who is in the details!

Just think, God planned it all in every microscopic facet, marked it on His calendar, and brought it to pass on the exact day and at the precise time it was to happen. God inspired the exact songs that would be sung as Jesus entered Jerusalem; He chose the very day and even the very second that Jesus would die; even Jesus’ words said from the cross were a script from the Father and in fulfillment of the minutest detail of the law.

For years, the Jews had rehearsed the very steps up until the time of Christ, and somehow, just as we all do, got so lost in those details of the day that they missed the awe inspiring, miraculous handiwork of God. After Christ’s death, the dispersed Jews became so immersed in the blinded, man-made, rabbinic tradition of the “sedar” (meaning “order”) that the simple Biblical truth and Jesus’ fulfillment of Passover became eclipsed. And now, many in the Jewish roots movement have become so involved in following the man-made order of the rabbinic Passover, that they too have lost sight of the Biblical Passover laid out simply in Scripture that Jesus fulfilled in every facet over 2000 years ago.

Since we do not want to get caught up in a rabbinic tradition, we may not want to celebrate it with special plates, portions of odd foods, four cups of wine, and certain readings. Some of you, however, may have been doing this already and think it would not be Passover without it. But, I must remind you that no where in Scripture is this “sedar” or “order” prescribed nor commanded of the Lord. It might be fun, but it is not what God laid out. It might be tradition, but it is not God’s tradition. And though you may still opt to celebrate it according to the rabbis, please, keep in mind that you are following the traditions of men and not God.

Jesus said in Mark 7, “6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.”

Please understand, it’s not that the rabbinic Passover traditions in and of themselves are wrong. But, if you want to keep these traditions, just keep in mind that these are not Biblical, but are created by rabbis who rejected their own Messiah.

Jesus, however, did share with us how He would like it commemorated in every Gospel when He took the bread and broke it and passed around the cup of wine (Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20; and John 13:1-30). What He desired is that we would remember that the bread of Passover represented His body which was pierced and striped and bruised and ultimately crucified for us at Passover, and that the cup of wine represented His blood of a new covenant shed for the remission of our sins. What He desired is that we fellowship with one another, love one another, eat supper with one another, read and hear the Word of God with one another, and partake of the Passover bread and wine in communion with each other and in remembrance of Him.

So, this holiday season, I encourage us all not to just go through the motions of the incredible holidays of God nor avoid them altogether. Let’s instead think on each intricate part of the Biblical story that is read, because even the smallest detail is significant. Let’s reflect on our own great need for a Savior and how Jesus fulfilled the smallest details in God’s salvation plan for us. Let’s stand in awe of the Lamb of God sent to take away the sin of the world, and not miss God’s perfect, meticulous fulfillment of Passover through Jesus.

Helpful Resources:

“How Should Believers In Yeshua (Jesus) Celebrate Passover?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax6dEaNFhCc

Bill Cloud and Perry Stone video, “The Seven Feasts of Israel.”

Mark Biltz DVD series, “The Feasts of the Lord.”