Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?

We had a great turn out for our Passover meal. As our four groups reclined at their tables we learned about how we can see Christ in the Passover.

The children listened as we answered the traditional questions...
"Why on this night do we eat only matzah, which is unleavened bread?
Why on this night do we eat bitter herbs especially?
Why on this night do we dip the parsley in salt water and the bitter herbs in haroseth?
Why on this night do we all recline at the table? "

Our Christian Seder combines The Four Questions with the explanation of the Passover symbols on the Seder plate to answer the questions and tell the Passover story. The words Jesus spoke in the upper room came alive as each Hebraic item was carefully explained.

We learned that Matzah, the unleavened bread symbolizes the haste with which the Israelites had to flee from Egypt. Since they did not have time for the bread to rise in order to have food for the journey, they had to bake it without yeast (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3).

During the Seder three matzahs are put together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The middle matzah, the Afikomen, was broken, wrapped in a white cloth, and hidden, representing the death and burial of Jesus. The matzah itself is designed to represent Jesus, since it is striped (by whips) and pierced (by a soldiers sword). At the end of our Seder meal, the "buried" matzah was "resurrected," when a child found the hidden matzah.

We prepared for the meal by washing each others hands. We dipped our parsley, a sign of new life, in salt water. Salt water represents tears of sorrow shed during the captivity of the Lord's people.

We brought tears to our own eyes (and some funny faces to the kids) by dipping our matzah in bitter herbs (horse radish), and then we dipped again this time adding Haroseth (apples, cinnamon, honey and grape juice), which sweetened the bitterness. Just as our hope in Christ will sweeten the bitterness in our life.

We praised God at the end our Seder by saying "Dayenu", a Hebrew word meaning, "it would have been enough."
"If God had only brought us out of Egypt, but not punished the Egyptians — Dayenu!"

We also enjoyed a taste of lamb as we remember the Lamb of God. The Messiah who has saved us, and who is continually redeeming us through His blood.