Messianic Seder - A Passover Meal for Christians
Passover – Messianic Seder
Telling the stories of God’s salvation and rejoicing in freedom from slavery.
Did you know that Jesus was a Jew? He too celebrated Passover, like a good Jew would. He kept the laws and was blameless and perfect.
In Luke 22.7, Jesus asked his disciples do go ahead and prepare the Passover meal.
Jewish people in Bible time, as well as Jews today all over the world, celebrate the Passover meal every year to remember the story of God saving His people from slavery, using Moses to bring them out of Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders.
We celebrate this story as well as a new one. We celebrate God making a way for us to be blameless and free from the slavery of our own sin, sending His very own son, Jesus to earth to die as the lamb offering and opening up the way to Heaven for all who believe.
Prepare for the meal
A week before, clear your whole house free of any bread with leavening (yeast, etc) in it and do not eat any leaven bread for the week leading up to your Passover meal. Have you ever seen yeast grow to double the size of a loaf of bread when it is rising? Leaven represents what sin can do in our lives, while the matzah represents purity. Use this time to reflect on the sin in you that needs cleansing. (For the sake of symbolism, you can spend the day before or the day of your Passover meal cleaning, the Chametz.)
Meal checklist:
☐ Matzah (or any bread/cracker without leaven)
☐ Kosher Wine and/or grape juice (enough for each person to pour four 4 oz glasses)
☐ a leafy green vegetable (like parsley, lettuce, or arugula)
☐ Bitter herbs (like a raw horseradish)
☐ Charoset (a mixture of nuts fruit, wine and spices to the consistency of mortar; ex: finely chopped apples and nuts with raisins, cinnamon and a little grape juice)
☐ Bitter root (leek, onion or roast garlic)
☐ Boiled egg for each plate
☐ Shank bone (lamb, chicken or turkey leg)
☐ Bowl of salt water
☐ Anything else you’d like to make that your family likes to round out the meal, but make sure it is Kosher. Potato pancakes, roast chicken, green salad or rice are great options.
☐ Two candles for the table, you may have a crown in the center of the table
☐ Tablecloth and napkins, you will probably eat most of the meal with your hands
☐ Two glasses for each person (water and wine), plus an extra place for the Prophet Elijah
Hagadah = The Telling
After the table is set have everyone gather, standing with their shoes on (as if to leave at a moments notice). Wash hands (Mikvah) and go over the rules of the meal: Each person pours the drink for the person next to them, so that we are all servants at the table. We will pour the fruit of the vine 4 times for each part of the Seder.
- The seder begins with the matriarch of the family (or the oldest female) lighting the candles and opening with a blessing prayer:
“Blessed are you of Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us through Jesus, the light of the world”
Cup #1 (Kaddessh) “Blessed are you, oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine”
- Hide the Afikomen (that which comes after) for later. Take out a piece of Matzah, break it, wrap it in cloth and hide it for the children to find at the end of the meal.
- Tell the story of God’s people in exile in Egypt. Remember how Moses asked Pharaoh to set God’s people free? Ask the children to recount what they know of the story. What did Pharaoh say? What did God do?
- READ Ex 12:11-14
- Explain the symbols of the seder plate:
Wine or grape juice for everyone at the table, poured by the person next to them
Matzah – represents purity. Leaven is a symbol of sin in our lives, as well as the fact that the Hebrew people had to leave so quickly that they didn’t have time for their bread to rise.
Greens (Karpas) – Symbolize life
Dip in salt water to symbolize tears of slavery. A life without redemption is a life of tears.
Onion or Garlic (chazert) – bitter root of life. Sits on our plate to remind ups that life can be bitter and painful. Through pain we enter the world.
Horseradish (maror) – bitter herb, tears remind us of the bitterness of slavery, taste it with the matzo
Apple Mixture (charoset) – symbolizes the mortar use to make bricks, make a sandwich with it in the middle, even the bitterest of labors became sweet as redemption drew near.
Roasted Egg (Chigigah) – represents the temple sacrifices that we no longer need to make because of Jesus (dip in saltwater to eat)
Lamb shank or Chicken leg – What were sacrifices made for? Remember the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
Cup #2 (Cup of plagues)
Remember the plagues: blood in the Nile, frogs, lice, flies, disease of cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and finally, death of the firstborn. Sip for each one. A full cup represents complete joy and we do not rejoice in the fact that the Egyptians had to suffer.
EAT meal
Cup #3 (cup of redemption) Have one of the adults lead communion
Have kids go look for the Afikomen, then bring it back, pass it around the table breaking off pieces for communion.
Remember, God’s people were redeemed out of Egypt. We give thanks.
On the night that Jesus was betrayed he was celebrating Passover with his disciples.
Read Matthew 26:26-29:
- After their meal Jesus gave thanks and said, “this is my body given for you” and they ate of the bread. Just as this bread is without leaven, Jesus was without sin.
- Then Jesus took the cup after the meal (the cup of redemption) the most important cup. And after giving thanks he said “take and drink, as this is the new covenant in my blood that has been shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”
- Communion was instituted in the middle of Passover and set clearly that I am the messiah that will take away your sins forever
Cup #4 (Halligh) Cup of praise for Gods gift. Sing a song of praise and joy together. Suggestion: “God is so good”
Psalm 113…Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore
The Akifikomen communion is the last bread we eat that night. You may finish with a kosher dessert, but not anything with wheat.