Passover

This year our family celebrated a Passover feast for the first time. I have always been fascinated by Jewish traditions and this year felt inspired to make Jesus' gift on the cross come alive to us in a new way. My desire is that my kids would grow a faith that intersects with daily life. That Jesus' presence in their lives would guide their decisions, their "coming and going" and that their eyes would begin to see Him in everything. This meal was one way to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9

The Passover meal was originally intended to celebrate God's deliverance of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Without books to record these events God gave them a meal to celebrate that was rich with symbolism. As we prepared for our family's Passover dinner we had wonderful conversations about Jewish history, Pharoah's hard heart, God's salvation, the blood of a lamb and how Jesus became our Passover Lamb when he died on the cross. We looked at the blood that surrounded the lamb's leg we bought from the store and compared it to grape juice. We talked about Jesus' last supper and what he meant when he broke unleavened bread and drank blood-red wine.

Then we went to work preparing the dinner. We talked about the conveniences we have, like a blender and a grocery store, and how much harder the people in ancient times would have had to work to prepare the meal. We set a table with our best china and even got dressed up for the occasion.

Then it was time to sit down and enjoy our celebration. Each of the kids and myself asked Ryan an age old question that walked us through the story of Passover and Jesus' fulfillment of the new covenant.

Hallie..."Why do we eat unleavened bread?" It reminds us that Jesus was without sin, like bread without yeast. His sinless body was broken for our sin.

Jacob..."Why do we eat bitter herbs?" It reminds us of the bitterness of sin. The Jews were slaves in Egypt just like we are slaves to sin. (The looks on their faces after trying horseradish sauce agreed that sin is BAD).

Zachary..."Why do we dip the parsley herb twice?" The parsley represents our new life in Christ and the new life of the Jews as they left Egyptian slavery. We dip it in salt water to remind us of the sadness of slavery and the sorrow of Jesus' death. We dip it in the sweet haroset to remind us of the sweet, new life we have because Jesus overcame death with his resurrection.

Me..."Why do we eat reclining?" Royalty gets to relax and eat reclined at the table. We are no longer slaves to sin when we believe in Jesus, we are part of the King's family!

Then, with a toast of grape juice remembering his blood shed for us we celebrated with a feast. To end our dinner we sang a hymn we all knew well (Jesus Loves Me).

Here are glimpses of our Passover meal...to God be the Glory!

266. Seven year old hands excitedly kneading dough.
267. Rolling out the dough, making a mess, doing it all to celebrate Jesus.
268. Making the Haroset. The sweetness reminding us of how sweet it is to have the love of Jesus in our hearts.


269. His sinless body broken for my transgressions, for my sin.
270. Preparing the lamb, remembering the sacrifice.
271. Preparing a table of beauty. Candles reminding us of God's presence.