Meaning
According to Blaine Robison, the Passover is full of meaning. He claims that greater knowledge of Passover and the Seder, with assistance from Messianic Jewish congregations, can only strengthen the Body of the Messiah and appreciation for all that the meal symbolizes and prepare Gentile Christians for the religious calendar of the millennial kingdom.
The Epistle to the Hebrews states that the sacrificial killing of animals could not finally take away sin, but awaited the atonement of Christ. (Hebrews 10). It proceeds to explain that Jesus Christ offered the one sacrifice that was acceptable to God, and that he lives forever as the believers' intercessory high priest, replacing the Jewish sacrificial system and its sacerdotal priesthood. Most Christians consider the external ritual of sacrifice instituted in the Old Testament by God to be a precursor of the self-sacrifice offered by Jesus. For this reason, Jesus is called the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29 ).
The main Christian view is that the Passover, as observed by ancient Israel as well as Jews today, was a type of the true Passover Sacrifice of God that was to be made by Jesus. The Israelites' Passover observance was the commemoration of their physical deliverance from bondage in Egypt, whereas Passover represents for most Christians a spiritual deliverance from the slavery of sin (John 8:34) and, since Jesus' death, a memorial of the sacrifice that Jesus has made for mankind.
- Jesus is the innocent lamb of God, slaughtered for the blood that takes away the spiritual death
- The matzoh is pierced and striped, as Jesus' body was striped from the whip, and pierced by the thorns and the sword
- The middle matzoh (the afikoman), held aloft, broken, wrapped, hidden and later redeemed represents Jesus, who likely used that bread when he said "This is my body broken for you."(1 Corinthians 11:24)
- It was probably the third cup, which declares "I will redeem you with a demonstration of my power", that Jesus used when he declared "This is my blood poured out for you." (1 Corinthians 11:25)
- It was probably the fourth cup "I will make you my people" of which Jesus declared '"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20)
These interpretations are also the dominant Messianic viewpoints
In addition, as the Israelites partook of the Passover sacrifice by eating it, most Christians commemorate the Lord's unselfish death by taking part in the Lord's Supper, which ordinance Jesus instituted (1Corinthians 11:15-34,Luke 22:19-20), in which the elements of bread and wine are reverently consumed. Most Protestants see the elements as symbolic of Jesus' body and blood, while Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold that the elements are changed into Jesus' literal body and blood, which they then eat and drink. Lutherans hold a similar belief.
The spiritual theme of Passover is one of salvation by the atoning blood of a perfect, spotless sacrificed lamb. At the very beginning of the Abrahamic Covenant, the promise had been given by the God of Abraham that "God would provide Himself a lamb." (Genesis 22:8) For many Christians, this is the spiritual pattern seen in Passover which gives it its eternal meaning and significance. The theme is carried on and brought to its ultimate New Covenant fulfillment in the sacrificial death of Christ as the promised Sacrificed Lamb
Read more about this topic: Passover (Christian Holiday)
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