Good Afternoon!
As you know today is Good Friday and the Lord led me to write the other day about Passover. I have celebrated Passover for two years now and I look forward to it every year. I do the full Passover supper which is the grape juice, the matzo or cracker, the bitter herbs which is horseradish, the charoset, a very delicious concoction of apple, cranberries, raisins, nuts, a little grape juice, and cinnamon! Also I use lettuce leaves to dip in the salt water or you can use parsley. I also like to light a candle as a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and I am supposed to reflect His light. This is very basic I know, but I enjoy it and always pray right before I partake in the feast. As a Christian, Passover is for everyone, Jews and Christians, whoever has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, Passover is for you! So without further a do, lets dig into the feast of Passover!
Passover was first established in the Old Testament when the Jews were slaves under the Egyptians. They were under a cruel government where the Jews were to work under some hard conditions and hard labor. After a while, they had come to a point where they had enough of the extreme working conditions so they began crying out to God for help. Now God knew what they were suffering, He saw everything, but it wasn't until they cried out that God began to move on their behalf. So He sent a man named Moses or Moshe (Hebrew name) to help them. The entire story is in Exodus chapter 12. The Egyptians suffered 10 plagues, the last one was the death angel and this is when God commanded the Jewish people to kill an unblemished lamb and put the blood on their door posts so that the death angel would pass over them.
So now we get to meaning of the different foods: matzo represents no sin, bread has leaven in it except for this type of bread or cracker. The Jews had to get rid of all leaven in their homes, all sin. Grape juice represents the blood of the Lamb, no disease, evil, harm, pain would come near the Jewish people. The bitter herbs represents the bitterness of their suffering under the Egyptians. The charoset represents mortar that they used to make bricks for the Egyptian monuments. The salt water represents their tears of suffering. Also there is a hidden mystery of the Matzo, there are three matzos used for Passover, one of them you break apart and hide one half. This represents the Messiah's body being risen from the grave. Interesting isn't it that this has been going on for thousands of years and it was a foreshadow of the things to come!
Now we fast forward to the New Testament when another Lamb came, but He came as a man and was completely perfect. No spot nor blemish. Heaven was brought down to us to save us from not only death, but from hell because of our sins. God had provided yet again salvation, but this time it was for all who believed! First time, it was for the Jews to save them from bondage in Egypt and this time it was for all from eternal destruction from our sinful nature. God called out Moses the first time, but the second time, He brought a Child all the way down the Jewish bloodline to give us salvation. Only God can do something like that! God performed miracles in the Old Testament and He performed another in the New Testament. The prophets spoke of a Messiah who was coming to take away the sin of the world and bring it upon Himself. He did that on the way to the cross, on the cross, and then rose from the grave. "The Lord watches over His word to perform it." Jeremiah 1:12 "God is not a man that He should lie." Numbers 23:19 Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice so that we wouldn't have to depend on sacrificing animals anymore. God made a way for you and I and it was because He loved us so much! Love is what propelled Jesus to become a sacrifice for us. He thought of us while He was on the cross. Every drop of blood was shed for you and I, none of it was wasted.
Friends, this is why it is so important to celebrate Passover, to remember what He did for us. To remember the cost that can never be repaid. He loved us that much and I pray that you will take a moment to remember all that He has done for your life. Let us not take our freedom in Christ for granted. Let us take time to remember the costly sacrifice. Happy Passover, Happy Good Friday, and Happy Resurrection Day! May God bless and keep you friends!
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