These are unofficial notes taken by an attendee at the teaching by Rabbi Ted Simon. If you want a transcript of this teaching you are encouraged to order either an audio or video tape of the session.

Passover Seder and Holy Communion

By Rabbi Ted Simon

Today we are going to celebrate a Passover seder and talk about how it relates to communion. To start with, the word seder means order. When we participate in a seder we use a particular order. As we participate in the seder today, we are not going to include all the things because of time restraints... but we will include the parts that relate to the last supper.

To start, the home needs to be cleaned. There should be no leaven in the house. Leaven is symbolic of sin. The apostle Paul said to get rid of the leaven in our lives because a little bit of leaven ruins the whole loaf. So the cleansing of the house needs to be accomplished before Passover. The father is responsible to make sure this happens -- although often much of the work is done by the mother! This, of course, parallels the need for us to examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink of the cup of communion.

At the beginning of the Passover the candles are lit and the seder can start. We start by drinking from the cup. This is the fist of four times we drink from it. The four times represent

• Sanctification
• Judgment
• Redemption, and
• Praise

The ceremonial washing of the hands. At the last supper Jesus girded himself and washed the disciples feet. When we come to the Lord He washes us and cleanses us of our sins.

The the parsley dipped to the salt water.
Israel cried out to God because of the slavery they were under. The Bible says that the Pharaoh at this time did not know Joseph (who saved Egypt in previous times).
Keep in mind that the Jews were the descendants of Jacob (the supplanter). God did not choose the Hebrews because of how good they were. On the contrary, He chose them because He could demonstrate His power and His faithfulness. God is faithful. His people came to Egypt at the request of Pharaoh At the time of the Exodus the Pharaoh became fearful of the Hebrews because they were different and so he ordered that all the male children should be murdered by their midwives. And we all know the story about how Moses came to serve in Pharaoh's court... and the despair and hardships the Jews underwent during this time when Moses returned.

In some seders, there is a hard-boiled egg on the plate. Some have said that this represents the sacrifice of the Jewish people. Others have said that it represents the hardness of heart on the part of Pharaoh. Now I don't think what I am about to say has a Biblical basis, so you can take it or leave it, but I think the hard-boiled egg jumped into the seder kind of like the Easter bunny comes at Easter!

The breaking of the matzohs (bread).
Next let's talk about the three matzohs. They represent unity. The middle of the three is taken out and broken in half. One half is placed back and the other half is placed in a cloth and hidden away. Now most Jewish Rabbis cannot tell us why this is done other than it is tradition; but at the end of the meal we will shed some more light on this. Keep in mind that the matzoh represents the bread that they took with them... bread that was baked on the run and it represented affliction to them.

The cup of judgment: Next, before we drink of the cup of Judgment, dip your little finger into the cup and take out ten droplets and place them on your plate. These symbolize the ten plagues that the people of Egypt had to endure. God's mighty arm was going to save His people but there was suffering on the part of both the Jews and the Egyptians in the process. OK, go ahead and drink of the second cup, the cup of Judgment.

The mortar: The mortar (the apple and nut mixture on your plate) represents the mortar the Jews used to form bricks. Now keep in mind at the last supper Jesus and the disciples were all eating out of communal cups. They were reaching from all sides of the table and their hands were intermingled with each others as they ate from the one bowl. It was at this time that Jesus said, one of you will betray me.

The bitter herbs: This represents the bitter hardships the Hebrews had to endure because of their slavery. What made it worse was that they not only were slaves, but they were forced to make temples to idols and gods they did not believe in. Now before we met Messiah we were all enslaved to sin but because of Messiah, we have been redeemed by his blood, the blood of the lamb.

The blood of the lamb on the door posts in Egypt: Do you remember the story about how God told the Hebrews to put the blood of a lamb on their door posts? He gave specific instructions. If you look closely you will see that they were placing a cross of blood on their door posts and God told them, "Where I see the blood I will pass over it." Each house had to do this in order to avoid the tenth plague. It was not enough to know what to do... they had to take an action in order to be saved. The same is true of us today. In order for us to be saved we have to act. We have to personally receive it. Nobody else can do it for you.

Jesus - The Lamb of God: Now, remember when Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist (no, his last name was not Baptist! It was probably Cohen since he came from a line of priests)? John said "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." All those who were within his hearing knew what lambs were raised for... sacrifice in the temple. It was not a random act that he used this language.

So what did the Hebrews in Egypt do? They did the only thing they could do. They cried out to God. And the mighty arm of God delivered them. One day they were slaves. The next they were free and wealthy (because they took with them the wealth of Egypt]. This was repeated in 1948. One day they were not a nation and then the next day the nation of Israel was established. Now when the Hebrews left Egypt they also took some Egyptians who wanted to follow the Jewish God. In addition, many of these Jews had Egyptian blood in them because of Joseph's marriage to an Egyptian.

Look what happens when you reject God's People.

• Egypt was a mighty nation when the Jews were there... starting with Joseph and until the time of the exodus. Egypt is still here today but it has never been of the same stature, power or strength as when God's people left.
  
  
• The same thing happened in Spain in 1492. At that time Spain ejected all the Jewish people from the country. Within 100 years from that date this once powerful nation was defeated when its armada was destroyed by the British. And, although Spain is still a nation today, it too is not the powerful nation it once was.
  
  
• In 1923 the United Kingdom turned 80% of the area of Palestine over to become a Palestinian state (Jordan) and 20% of the region to become what we know today as Israel. Between 1923 and 1948 the U.K. did everything it could to thwart the birth of the nation of Israel. Within five years of doing this the United Kingdom went from being an empire that the sun never set upon to a second ranked power.

Isaiah 60:12 says: "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you in that day (Jerusalem) shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly laid waste." (Amplified)
Our prayer is that our country would not be a nation that fails to live up to the Biblical standard of being a major power.

At this point in the seder a meal was held...

The Matzohs: After the seder meal Jesus took the matzoh (bread) that was broken and hidden and remove it from the white burial cloth and said this is my body. Note the characteristics of the body mentioned in Isaiah 53 and in Zecharia. It would be bruised and pierced. By its stripes we will be healed. Then look at the matzoh It has striping and appears bruised and it has holes in it. But this bread will no longer be the bread of affliction but of my body (Jesus said). Jesus was born in Bethlehem the city of bread and His body was broken for us just as the middle matzoh is broken. Jesus is the first fruit. The one to bring back bread from the earth (that is to be raised from the dead)

The Cup: Then Jesus took the Cup of redemption and said this is the blood of the new covenant. It was a sign that we will be redeemed out of the bondage of our slavery and by redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Following dinner, the Jewish people say grace. After they have eaten and been satisfied they give thanks. Often they do this at a seder by singing songs of praise from the psalms (113-118 are praise songs) After Jesus rejoiced with his disciples he went to the garden where he prayed. He knew throughout this last super (Passover seder) what was to happen to him the the days ahead.