Jesus and The Passover... Part 2

by Jean Marlow
(U.S.A.)

"The Crucifixion" - by Jean Marlow

I want to begin the second segment of this article by concentrating on the Passover meal and the Christian Communion. I am using Bible passage quotations here in order for you to see what God has to say about this celebration.

Of The Passover, God tells us: Exodus 12:17-19 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses.

Exodus 12:10-11 10 "Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover." And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” The Lord goes on to tell us that all are welcome to eat this meal, but the men must be circumcised....must be believers in the God of Israel.

Exodus 34:25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning."

Exodus 12:26-27 26 "And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

Exodus 12:21-23 21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.

Deut. 16:5-7 5 "You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you 6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. 7 Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose." ....Exodus 12:8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.

God deems the Passover commemoration so important that He instructs His people to do it even if they are on a journey, or are unclean because of touching a dead body.

Numbers 9:10-11 10 “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, 11 but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. Things don't always go according to plan though. Many years passed without celebrating The Passover. After the Jews crossed into the Land of Canaan, Joshua had to circumcise all of the men in order for them to celebrate the Passover. The boys born while on the forty year trek through the desert had not been circumcised. There were so many circumcisions that a hill was formed from the excised flesh. The hill is called Gibeath Haaraloth .

In reading directions for The Passover, as given by God, we are told some specifics:

The duration of the festival is one week. It is to start on the fourteenth day of the first month at sundown....unless a person is unclean, or on a journey. If that is the case, it is to start on the fourteenth day of the second month.
If a person does not observe The Passover, he or she is ex-communicated from Israel.
All males in attendance must be circumcised.
An unblemished yearling lamb or goat is to be chosen for the sacrifice. The whole animal must be roasted...not boiled. No bones are to be broken, and the meat must be eaten before the next daylight, or burned.
Bitter herbs are to be eaten with the meal.
Unleavened bread must be eaten with the first meal, and on all of the days of that week.
The father of the house must tell the children the meaning of The Passover, when asked.
The people are directed to eat The Passover Meal in the city of God's choice...not any other city. It must be the city of the dwelling of His Name; Jerusalem.
The drinking of wine is not mentioned in connection with the Festival Meal.

I'm not sure how many people follow the instruction given by God on celebrating the Feast of The Passover. If any scholarly Jew will comment on this, there are many people that would be interested. Somewhere along the timeline things changed for the Jews. Things got so bad that we wouldn't recognize this group as Jews. They integrated worship of other gods, and vile practices. Some even sacrificed their children to Molech. Priests were guilty, and will be held to a higher standard of accountability for these grievous sins. God's whole Being must grieve over His chosen ones....but we are to remember that God does not can not change His Mind. His people would get through the many bad years and return to Him....some of them....not all.

I want to make an important point in parallel behavior. Old Testament Jews got off the right track many times. New Testament Jews Christians have done the same thing. It is no coincidence that the World has consistently honored The Sun God, throughout history.

Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

Every SUNday morning! Every Christmas! Every Easter! People with good intentions flock to false churches to listen to false priests and teachers. This has been going on for so long that most of the religious leaders and congregants don't recognize the apostacy of what they are teaching. And, yes, it is apostacy. The sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus has been just as adulterated as the original Passover Feast.

Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples in Jerusalem, as directed by the Father. Jesus gave the first Sacred Communion Supper to the disciples.

Matthew 26:26-29 "26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

When Jesus shared the Matzoh and Wine with His followers it became a mystical event. Just as He turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana, He miraculously changed the Matzoh and Wine into His Body and Blood. He doesn't tell us it represents His Body and Blood. He says it is His Body and Blood. There can be nothing but the Unleavened Bread and the Pure Grape Wine for the Holy Meal....and at His Sacrifice, not a bone was broken. This meal must be partaken in reverence and thanksgiving. After all, the participant is about to receive the miraculous Body and Blood of Jesus.