Passover Seder

The Seder Dinner isn’t as much a teaching about Christ as an experience of Christ. And when we experience Christ, we not only change, we have the power to help others change.

The Passover meal is integral to our understanding of Christianity and the Church, as it was the ceremony that the early Church celebrated when it gathered.

In 1999, we at Northway Christian Church in Dallas held our first Christian Seder Dinner. We surprised ourselves by hosting over 180 people. This year we hosted two Seder Dinners for well over 200 people. And we are already doing some planning for next year.

Easter week is the most joyous time of the year for those in the five fold ministry. But it is also a very busy time. So what could I say to convince an already overworked pastor and/or pastoral staff to add an additional ceremony to their already full Holy week?

A week after Easter, my teenage daughter dropped a copy of her school newspaper on my desk. She attends a Catholic High School and has been writing a viewpoints column for each edition focusing on the current holiday. The paper on my desk contained the following article:

“Every Sunday at church, the priest recites words from Jesus' last evening with his disciples.  "When supper was ended, he took the cup...."

 The Last Supper plays an indispensable part in Christian tradition, but how many of us really understand it?  Even though we intellectually know that the Last Supper took place during Passover, few of us know enough about that event to make sense of the connection.

First of all, Jesus' choice of last days was no accident.  He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, knowing the risks because, as he told his disciples, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."  (Luke 22:15) 

Passover has been celebrated annually for over 3500 years, making it the oldest continuous celebration in the world.  It began at the time of the Egyptian captivity, when God commanded the ancient Israelites to observe the ceremony, remind themselves of it and tell their children why it is important.  The purpose of this meal is to remind the faithful people of God that He has delivered them from Egypt and given them their own land. 

But the best part is that the story is not merely heard.  It is seen, felt and tasted throughout the evening.

How can a person taste a story?  Every part of the meal is ceremonial, imbued with meaning.  Parsley dipped in salt water represents the newness of spring, as well as the tears of those in exile.  The bread used is unleavened, both because the Bible likens leavening to sin and because our Jewish ancestors could not wait for their bread to rise before departure from Egypt. 

One piece of unleavened bread is broken, and half of it is wrapped in a white cloth and hidden until the end of the meal.  This piece is called the afikomen, or the coming one.  The rest is divided among the participants three times: first it is eaten alone, then with horseradish to symbolize the bitterness of slavery, and finally with horseradish as well as kharoset, a sweet mixture of apples, honey and nuts that covers the bitterness of slavery with the sweetness of God's promise.

Through the course of the evening, everyone drinks four glasses of wine.  The first, the cup of freedom, starts the evening and represents God's promise to save the Israelites from slavery.  The next, the cup of plagues, is filled-but a full cup is a symbol of joy, and God's punishment of the Egyptians was a solemn thing which we should never rejoice in.  Because of this, each participant must flick out ten drops of wine; one for each plague.  In this way, we show that we do not exalt in the suffering of any people, not even those who harm us.

After supper, the table leader brings the afikomen back to the table, where it is divided and distributed.  The bread was broken for our transgressions and was the bread Jesus used when he said, "This is my body." 

The cup of redemption, the third of the evening, is the one most theologians believe that Jesus called the cup of his blood, "the cup of the new and everlasting covenant."  Just as the blood of the lamb at the first Passover brought salvation to the people of God, the blood of our lamb, the Christ, "shall be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven." 

After the cup of redemption comes the cup of praise, called the Hallel.  It is drunk in thanks to God for all that He has done and for the saving grace that has been given to us.  After the Hallel, the dinner is over and is often closed with the traditional words, "Next year in Jerusalem!"

The Passover meal is integral to our understanding of Christianity and the Church, as it was the ceremony that the early Church celebrated when it gathered.  It enriches and supports so much of our knowledge of the things we do every Sunday and offers insight into one of the greatest Mysteries of the Church.”

You see, our Seder Diner was a falling domino. And it fell against, and toppled another domino, my daughter who wrote an article which teaches Christ. That article was read by about 500 students plus their friends and parents. And that was only one of the dominos we toppled that evening.

The Seder Dinner isn’t as much a teaching about Christ as an experience of Christ. And when we experience Christ, we not only change, we have the power to help others change.

Do we have time during this busy week for a Seder Dinner?

We at Northway Christian Church do.

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