First, the disclaimer.

I realize that my posts are few and far between and I apologize for this. I never really considered myself to be much of a writer, even though I’d love to author a book one day. I’ve always felt like I’ve communicated better through speaking. However, I do enjoy writing and trying to form my thoughts into digital ink to be distributed into a sea of faceless names. It’s also exciting to see when you guys comment on something I’ve written. I really appreciate it and it warms my heart (and probably boosts my ego) to see that I’ve connected with someone I’ve never met.

All this to say, please forgive me and I’ll try my best to write more regularly.

On to the Seder.

If you’re a Christian and you’ve never participated in a Seder dinner you’re really missing out (not that I’ve been doing it for years – we just had our first one on Wednesday). If you’re not sure what it is, it’s just a fancy name for the Passover dinner. For a more thorough description, head over to Wikipedia and read their brief article.

I’d like to share just a few of the symbols that excited me and their relevance to us as Christians.

Candle
At the beginning of the dinner, a woman is asked to light the two candles. The rabbi’s believe that since sin and darkness entered the world through a woman (Eve), then it follows that through a woman the hope of salvation and light would come. This is such a fitting description and prophecy of Mary. Where Eve was disobedient, Mary was obedient and glorified God. Where Eve was the Mother of the human creation, Mary was the mother of Christ, and He has called us to be a new creation. Eve was cursed with childbirth, Mary was blessed because she was chosen by God to give birth to His Son – our Savior and King.

Matzah-Tash
This is a bag that’s used to hold the Matzah (unleavened bread) during the ceremony. The really interesting part about it is that it is a single bag, with three dividers on the inside. The bag is also known as “Unity” and it holds three pieces of Matzah. At one point during the dinner, you remove the middle Matzah, break it in half, then wrap one of the halves in a cloth and “bury” it. The piece you hide is know as the Afikomen which roughly translates to “He came.” Then, later on during the dinner, you uncover the Afikomen and reunite it with it’s other half. Holding up the two pieces as one, you say, “What was broken has now been made whole.” It’s at this point that you break the Afikomen into pieces and pass them around to everyone at the table to eat. Following me so far?

Here’s the amazing part…this was all built into the Seder dinner before Christ. Although there are several theories as to why this is part of the ritual, there is no definitive or unified reason. For us as Christians, we see it as a beautiful symbol of the Trinity, who’s second person (Christ) was separated from the unity, broken, buried, and restored. Not to mention the fact that His body was offered up to us and we are commanded to eat of it in remembrance of Him! If you go back and read the Gospels, you’ll see that it was at this part of the Passover dinner that Christ was speaking to His disciples about eating His body and drinking His blood.

Cup of Redemption
During the course of the dinner, there are four cups of wine that each carry meaning. They are the cup of Sanctification, Judgment, Redemption, and Blessing. What’s interesting is that the cup that is offered up right after eating the Afikomen is the cup of Redemption. This is the same cup that Christ offered to His disciples for them to drink in remembrance of Him. In Christ, we have atonement and it’s by His blood that we are saved and cleansed. I don’t think it’s coincidence that these symbols of the Messiah were built into the Passover dinner and then used by Christ to illustrate deeper truths to his disciples.

I love the fact that God uses props to teach His people. It’s not that we’re dumb or that He’s unable to speak plainly to us. I happen to think that there are times when a prop or story or analogy can speak on a much more profound and deeper level than a mere bullet-point answer ever could. There is so much beauty and symbolism contained within the Bible and our history that you could peel back the layers of meaning and still find more underneath. God is amazing like that. He’s the ultimate storyteller, the ultimate teacher, the ultimate plot-weaver.

Hopefully I’ll share more insights about the Seder dinner in another post, but for now be encouraged to examine and embrace our rich heritage and story. After all, as Michael Crichton once said, “If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.”

Peace.