Passover: A Big Communion Meal

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Passover is coming up on the evening of March 27th. 

Before we get into Passover it is important to remember that these feasts are a gift from God. They are not something we have to do in order to be right with God or earn anything from him. These feasts allow us to remember Jesus, see different aspects of what he has done for us, and learn more about God's rhythm and timing. 

Passover is a reminder that Jesus is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. A traditional Passover meal consists of lamb, red wine/grape juice, matzo crackers, and bitter vegetables. All of these aspects are symbolic for us. The red wine/grape juice is just like the cup we take during communion and the cracker is just like the cracker we take. The only difference is this is an entire meal of communion, it is an enhanced version. The bitter vegetables are a reminder of how bitter life was without God and Jesus in our lives. 

Passover is a reminder that God has released us from the darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son. The word Passover in Hebrew is "Pesach," which means talking mouth. Passover is a time to stir up our gratitude and talk about where God has brought us from in life, to remember that God has released us from darkness and transferred us into the light. The original Passover was the time when the people were released out of bondage and slavery and started their journey to the promised land. The Passover is to be a remembrance of this. 

In the Old Testament, God told the people that when they celebrated the Passover their children would ask them the reason for the feast. And God told them that it would be an opportunity to speak into their children and grandchildren about what God had done in their lives. 

Jesus instituted communion on the night of Passover. That was when he said to take the bread as a symbol of his body and the cup as a symbol of his blood. This started on Passover. Communion is a reminder for us the God poured the cup of his wrath onto the body of Jesus and we now have the cup of Gods blessing. Our sins have been forgiven and we now have a New Covenant in which God is not holding our sins against us and he is continually working for our good. A blood sworn oath in the blood of Jesus that God is going to do everything he can to help us. Passover is an enhanced version of remembering this. 

I believe taking communion regularly is one of the most powerful things we can do to change the trajectory of our lives, and Passover is the big enhanced version of this. If your year is not off to the start you wanted Passover can change the trajectory of your year. 

The Bible tells us that a day with the Lord is like a thousand years. In a year there is a pattern of spring, summer, fall, and winter. The day also has the same pattern with the early morning dew falling being similar to the spring, the day heating up being similar to the summer, the evening time being similar to the fall, and the night being similar to winter.

A day and a year are the exact same pattern, the year is just a bigger version. In our house we take communion every evening with dinner. Passover is the big yearly cycle enhanced version of communion. An entire meal of communion. This is the bigger version to stir this into our minds. 

There is something very powerful about combining spiritual principles, remembrance in the mind and imagination, and something practical that we actually do. This unites our entire spirit, soul and body and becomes very powerful. Remember this is not something we are doing to earn anything with God. These Sabbaths are a gift God has given us to make our lives better.  

Passover also starts the 7 day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was a time to remove all leaven and yeast from the house. We are in a time right now of preparing for this. It is a time of clean out. The most important thing we are supposed to be cleaning out is our old ways. All of the ways we are still doing things our own way rather than resting and trusting in God's grace. What I typically do during the 7 days of Unleavened Bread is replace all starches at every meal for 7 days with matzo crackers. These crackers are a symbolic of the body of Jesus. It is a reminder that Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. Matzo usually has piercings and stripes which is a reminder that the body of Jesus as broken for us and by his stripes we were healed. 

Unleavened bread is referred to as the bread of affliction and the bread of poverty. It is a reminder that Jesus was afflicted for us so that we could be right with God and that he became poor that we might become rich. Unleavened bread is all about remembering that the righteousness of Jesus has been given to us as a gift. This is a whole week of fixing our minds on these principles with something practical that we can do. 

Once we go through this clean out time it makes room for the new things God wants to do this year. As we clean out our old ways of working in our strength, our bad habits, and emotional buttons it frees up the capacity for the new things God wants to do. 

Another way to expand capacity is to pour out. If a tea pot is full the only way to expand the capacity is to pour out. Jesus poured his life out for us and we are supposed to be pouring into others. As we do God expands our capacity. As we rest and God's grace flows it expands our capacity to do more and more good every day.