We are now just over a week out from Easter!

The past few years, Easter has become my favorite holiday. When God really started wrecking my life in the best way, I started to do research into the Last Supper. That led me to the Seder dinner, the first night of Passover!

A Little History:

Traditionally, Passover lasts eight days. The celebration is actually three separate but overlapping convocations: The Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb (Korban Pesach), The festival of Unleavened Bread (Hag Ha’matzot), and The Feast of the First Fruits (Reisheet Katzir).

Seder feasts are celebrated the first and second nights of Passover. Passover was still being celebrated at Jesus’ crucifixion, which is why the Jewish leaders wanted to get things done quickly so they could prepare to celebrate at sundown. They asked the Romans to break the legs of the men on the cross so they would die more quickly. Jesus was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs (to align with OT prophesy), but they pierced His side to make sure He was dead.
Before Passover, houses were to be cleaned and cleared of chametz, or leavened food. Any chametz is to either be burned or sold to a non-Jewish person following specific laws. No one is to eat anything leaven during Passover, and there is a ritual house search that is done on Passover eve, or Erev Pesah, which is ended with an evening prayer, or maariv: "Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe, who by His word brings on evenings. God, living and enduring always, may He reign over us forever and ever. Blessed are You Lord, who brings on evenings.”

All firstborns must fast on Erev Pessah, the evening before Passover, in commemoration of God making a distinction between the firstborns of Egypt and the firstborns of Israel.

At the Seder dinner, participants would recline on couches, leaning on pillows on their left side, and use their right hand for eating. Their feet would stretch behind them; this made it easy for Jesus to wash His disciples feet. Couches were only on three sides of the table.

John’s gospel gives us a good idea of where some people were sitting during the dinner. John was next to Jesus, on His right side (“falling back on breast of Jesus”), Judas Iscariot was on Jesus’ left – which is the place of honor next to the host.

Jesus dipped bread into a common dish and gave it to Judas; in Jewish culture, offering bread during a meal was a gesture of special affection/friendship or an act of reconciliation. Judas should have responded by dipping bread and returning the favor. Even at this late time, Jesus offered Judas an alternative to betraying Him.

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As I said before, Easter is my favorite holiday! After I learned about the Seder, I did research through several Haggadahs (order of ceremony) and compiled one of my own. I’ve had really sweet times with friends the past few years putting on the ceremony. It is a sweet time to walk through the history of God’s people - seeing the loving, sacrificial, redemptive character of God - and looking forward to the ultimate promise of eternal life with God, which Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection purchased for us!

I look forward to getting to do a Seder dinner with my team, SDR! And I have created a pdf linked below if you would also like to gather friends and family for a Seder dinner of your own! (And this gives you a little time in advance to prep! Get to the store soon; the matzot sells out!)

Seder Dinner PDF