Passover to Easter

In recent years I have chosen to include elements of the Passover Seder in my Easter celebration.  I now can't imagine Easter without the matzo. There are many foods which symbolize the story of Passover but none more so than the matzo.  The bread with no leavening agent could be quickly prepared and eaten as God's plan for the Jewish people was dramatically coming into fruition. If you would like to know more about Passover, read Exodus, the second book in the Bible. Exodus 12:14 tells us : Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.  On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.  For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.  Leaven throughout the Bible is symbolic of sin.  As I eat the matzo, I recall 1Corinthians 5:7 which says : "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.  For indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us."

Another Passover tradition that points to Jesus is the hiding of the matzo at the beginning of the Seder.  A matzo is broken in half and a piece of it is wrapped in linen or a napkin and hidden until the end of the meal.  There are many traditions and explanations concerning why this is done.  But, it most definitely represents the Moshiach or Messiah to come.  In essence, as the first redemption of the Jewish people is celebrated during Passover, there is another hidden redemption yet to come.  This broken matzo so clearly represents Jesus being broken for us.  The sinless or leaven-free bread is symbolic of our sinless Lord.  The linen or cloth is like the funeral garb that Jesus wore.  Further, the matzo is hidden as Jesus was hidden behind the stone.  And just as Jesus was resurrected, this matzo reappears at meals end.

God had chosen the Jewish people for a very unique role in history.  He had chosen them to be separate and different from those around them and to enter into a special relationship with Him.  A relationship that still exists today.  Being in a relationship with God gave them: rights, responsibilities and protection.  That relationship would come to include circumcision, a miraculous escape from Egypt, and the gift of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. As the time of Passover came for the enslaved Jews of Egypt, the long-awaited promise that God had made to Abraham, of a homeland for his people, had finally arrived.

For the past two years, I have bought matzo shmurah which is made by hand at the Lubavitch Matzoh Bakery in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Shmurah is from the Hebrew word meaning watched.  This Word refers to the responsibility that God gave the Jewish people to tell the story of Passover.  It means that the special Passover bread is watched, throughout its entire production from crops to final production, to ensure that no chametz (leaven) is present.  I find immense meaning in this.  The message of the Bible is to tell the story and in doing so, we continue in it and give others a chance to know the Lord God almighty.  A profound connection exists between Passover and Easter, including the fact that Jesus' last supper was a Passover Seder.  Adding elements of the Passover Seder in my Easter celebration has helped me be ever mindful of how God's redemption of the Jewish people preshadowed His ultimate plan of salvation for all mankind.