Should Christians Celebrate the Passover?

 Passover commemorates God's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. The Passover meal, seder (SAY der) is a ritual meal that symbolizes the night the death angel passed over those homes that had the lamb's blood on the sides and top of the doorframe. There was a process of ten plagues placed upon the Egyptians by the hand of God with Moses as His spokesman. The tenth plague brought death to the firstborn sons of Egypt. Finally, Pharaoh allowed the Jews to leave. Passover was to be a lasting ordinance for generations to come. (see Leviticus 23: 4-5; Exodus 12: 1-4)

Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples stating that He eagerly desired to eat this Passover with them before He was arrested, suffered and crucified (Luke 22: 7-16). Jesus had regularly traveled to Jerusalem, even as a boy, for the Passover celebrations. There were three feasts that required travel to Jerusalem to worship and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread was one of them. Passover was the day before the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23: 6-8; Exodus 12: 15-20). After the meal, they sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26: 30). Most Bibles call this last meal, "The Last Supper." The Lord's Supper is a remembrance of His sacrifice as the perfect Passover Lamb and the fulfilment of the New Covenant between God and man (Luke 22: 20; 1 Corinthians 5: 7; Ephesians 2: 11-13).  

There are two questions:

1. Was the meal Jesus ate with His disciples a Passover seder? There is no consensus of opinion. You may disagree, but do so respectfully.

2. What should we as Christians do to celebrate the Passover holiday?

Regarding the first question, I direct you to an article I wrote on the subject in May, 2010, set forth below:

The Last Supper

By Dr. Barry Jenkins

"Some people think that Jesus was creating something new when He established the “Lord’s Supper.” Most English Bibles will say something like, “The Lord’s Supper Instituted.” Others seeking to establish the Hebraic roots of the faith insist that Yeshua (Jesus) was celebrating a traditional Passover meal. Who is right or, are they both wrong? Scripture and Hebraic customs shed some light.

In 30 A.D., Wednesday was Nisan 13. After sunset, Passover began on Nisan 14, which was a Thursday. Friday was Nisan 15 and was a Sabbath day. Saturday was Nisan 16 and was the seventh day Sabbath. In 30 A.D., there were back to back Sabbaths. It was on Wednesday that Jesus began to make plans for Passover. Later Christian tradition moves the last meal to Thursday night. It appears that Jesus was arrested on Wednesday night, crucified on Thursday, never had the passover meal on Thursday evening, and rose from the dead on Nisan 17, which was early morning on the day after the last Sabbath (what we call Sunday). How can we know this time table is accurate?

John specifies that the Wednesday night “last supper” was “before the festival of Passover (John 13:1).”He also informs us that when Jesus’ accusers appeared before Pilate on Thursday morning, they would not enter Pilate’s courtyard because they would be defiled and would not be able to eat the Passover that evening (John 18:28). I find it convincing proof that Jesus was not celebrating Passover because of the Greek word used for “bread.” It was artos and refers to a loaf of bread, i.e. the bread had leaven and had risen. In the Septuagint, a different Greek word is used to describe the unleavened bread commanded to be used in Exodus 12. It is the word azymos and it means unleavened or unfermented. Jesus used a loaf of bread on the night before His arrest. Have you ever seen a loaf of matzos? No Torah observant Jew would eat leavened bread once Passover began. Further, no Torah observant Jew would encourage others to disobey God’s command to eat unleavened bread. For Jesus to remain Torah observant, the last meal could not be a Passover meal.

Another point of interest is would Jesus choose not to be with His four brothers, two sisters, and mother on such an important celebration as Passover? It would seem that what we call the “Last Supper” occurred on Passover eve. We need to investigate all the things we think we know. We need Biblical truth. It is there, if we will investigate."

Regarding the second question, what should we do? It seems that we should behave and act like the One we claim to follow. If you are a follower of Jesus, you should remember the Passover, commemorate the occasion by reading the Passover story. Read and sing Psalm 118, and spend some time in prayer. I would take the bread (risen) and the wine and do as Jesus instructed us to do so in remembrance of Him. While this approach does not follow the exact pattern of a Jewish Passover seder, it will follow the format that is expressed in the gospels that we read. The modern day Passover ritual has undergone changes by Rabbis since that last meal with Jesus and I am not interested in man's changes. I desire to follow my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. So this year, on Passover, we will take the Lord's Supper. What about you?