Broken for You – Passover Seder Walk-Through

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

My name is Matthew Vandrells and I will be your host for this evening. Our hope is that this video will be a tool, a resource for yourself, for your family, and for your friends to engage in one of the most intimate biblical celebrations, the Passover. Now, many people know the Passover as a Jewish celebration pertaining to Jewish traditions. And while this is true, as Christians, as believers in Yeshua, or Jesus, Passover takes on a whole new meaning. For us, Passover represents freedom from slavery to sin, defeat of the forces of evil, and the literal birth of new creation as prophesied in Isaiah.

It was on Passover that the Messiah, Yeshua, passed the bread to his followers and said, "Eat of it. This is my body broken for you." Why would Yeshua ask his disciples to eat his body? Well, because Yeshua is the ultimate Passover lamb, the ultimate sacrifice that produced freedom from slavery and ends the exile from God. He is asking them to partake in this sacrifice. He then passed a cup to them and He said, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is the blood of the new covenant." As we will discuss in just a moment, the blood of the Passover lamb was originally a sign that swayed death and provoked the redemption from Egypt.

There, 2000 years ago, Yeshua sat and boldly declared that His blood was going to usher in an even greater Passover, an even greater Exodus. One that would proclaim redemption not from a physical Egypt or a physical Pharaoh, no. His blood would defeat death and overtake the powers of the world that separates us from God. Sin. Sin with a capital S would be defeated. So, as we continue, I want to encourage you to follow along in the free Haggadah available on our website under the resource tab, foundedintruth.com, as we go through it. So, if you'll turn with me to page 1 on the Haggadah, or in the Haggadah, we will begin.

What is Passover? Exodus says, "This day shall be for you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout all of your generations. As a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast." So Passover is a day that memorializes God's redemptive power and victory over the forces of oppression. The story of Passover starts a long time ago in ancient Egypt. The Bible tells us in the book of Exodus that the Israelites found themselves enslaved under the oppressive regime of Pharaoh and they cried out to God for redemption. God responds by sending numerous plagues that crush the Egyptian empire.

He then commands the Israelites to participate in a very strange ceremony that involves taking a lamb, preparing it, and then killing it. The lamb must die and the Israelites must eat its flesh and put its blood on the doorposts of their homes. The blood is a symbol of the covenant with God and it protects them from the final plague sent upon Egypt, which is, of course, the messenger of death. The blood saves and it provides freedom, it grants them freedom. The Israelites leave Egypt, they travel three days into the wilderness, and there Their God splits the Red Sea for them to cross through safely.

The Apostle Paul calls this event the baptism of Moses in 1 Corinthians 10:2. The moment they walked through the waters, they were no longer slaves but became a nation birthed out of God's victorious redemption. Jesus, or Yeshua, speaks of this event during the Last Supper with His disciples when He uses the symbols and the history of this story to explain how His death is going to change the world. He picks up the bread and He says, "Eat of it. This is My flesh." And He picks up the wine and He says, "Drink of this. This is the blood of the new covenant." Something big is about to happen. Something bigger than ever before.

Redemption is coming in a way that will be similar to the first Passover. But its impact will be far greater. This new, greater Exodus won't produce redemption from slavery to Egypt or freedom from the oppressive powers of Pharaoh. No, this Exodus through Yeshua will produce redemption from slavery to sin and freedom from the oppressive forces of death, the things that hold our hearts captive and separate us from God.

A Festival of Freedom

Passover is a festival of freedom. And for Christians, it is not simply a story about a people a long time ago who made their exodus from Egypt. For Christians, it's a story about a people making a greater exodus from the oppressive powers of death and slavery to sin. It is the story of a lamb that entered the battle against the greatest evil and was victorious as if a lion has entered the battlefield. It's what John says in Revelation 5:5-6. So, where do we start? Well, as we prepare for this memorial of the true Passover lamb, Yeshua, we also prepare our hearts and our homes. That's right, we prepare our homes too.

Passover kicks off a week-long festival known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread. It's a week where you are to refrain from eating any leavened bread. The Bible says, Exodus -17 Why do we need to get the leaven out of our homes? Well, leavening represents the things that give rise to a life without God. Sin and pride and those things within the human heart that distance us from God. God is giving us a clear picture of how transforming and life-changing His redemption is. The way we lived before has died, for we are now a new creation. The Apostle Paul says, "Your boasting is not good." Don't you know that a little bit of leavening leavens the whole batch of dough?

Get rid of the old leavening so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the festival. Not with old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8

Purging Our Hearts

This practice is a ritual that depicts the purging of leavening from our homes, but it should also reflect, more importantly, the purging of our hearts and the auditing of who we are and what our character is in light of what Jesus has done for us. As we prepare our homes and our hearts for Passover, the week of unleavened bread, and the day of first fruits, or resurrection day, we need to remember that this is not about a lamb that was sacrificed in Egypt. This is not about bunnies or eggs or baskets full of candy either. No. As believers, this practice revolves around who this person of Yeshua is in our lives and it should orbit His eternal redemptive love.

This should be a time of celebration, of fun and excitement. Why? Because Passover is a festival of freedom! Not from slavery in Egypt or the oppressive powers of Pharaoh, but it's freedom from the slavery to sin and the oppressive powers of death in this present evil age. We celebrate the victory through God's supreme love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. That's what Passover represents. So how do we get the leavening out of our homes? Well that's a great question because it is not as easy as you would think. Most people think of leavening as being in bread only and while bread is typically where you find leavening, you find it in a lot of unlikely places too.

See, the Hebrew word that is translated as "leavening" in the Bible is "seor," which actually means "starter dough." That is flour and water that's been made into dough and left out for the natural yeast or synthetic yeast in the air to let it rise. This dough is then added to a larger batch of dough to leaven it. So bread, pancakes, cake, cookies, most pastas all must be removed from the home for the week.

Getting the Leaven Out

The kitchen is not the only place that you will find crumbs or unleavened bread hiding in your home. We also find it in our air vents, in our couch cushions, in that corner of your room that we always never vacuum. It's everywhere and it's just like the desires in our hearts to pursue the things that are outside of God's reign, such as sin. For Christians, cleaning out our homes of leavened products is a truly deep time of reflection, as well as a teaching moment for our children. The point is not to simply get everything out of your home. If we got every single ounce or crumb of bread and leavening out of our homes, and we still have arrogance and malice and unforgiveness in your heart, then you've achieved nothing.

This practice needs to reflect what is happening in your heart. Not simply in your home. So, moving forward, I want to discuss the preparation of the table. Passover is a special time and as much special preparation is encouraged for the table and the atmosphere. So lay out the tablecloth, find the nicer dishes, light some candles, show the family that tonight will be different, that tonight is set apart from all other nights in the year. We're talking about something special this evening.

The Seder Plate

Traditionally, you'll see a special plate known as a Seder plate on the table. This plate holds five symbolic items that help us remember why Passover is so important. If you do not own a special, cool Seder plate, you can simply use a regular plate. It's not that big of a deal. Now, we're gonna go through the items. The first item that you'll see on a Seder plate is the roasted lamb shank bone or ziura in Hebrew. The shank bone represents the Passover lamb peace offering, the shalemim offering that took place in the Holy Temple. It reminds us of the Pesach, of the offering that everything revolves around on this celebration.

The second thing that you'll see on the table is this funny looking roasted egg, the beitza in Hebrew. The roasted egg represents the Hagigah or the festival offerings that were roasted with the Passover offering. See, after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, symbols for the Passover offering and Hagigah offerings were used on the Seder plate. An egg was specifically chosen to make a stark distinction from the Passover symbol of the shank bone. They wanted to make sure that you don't get these two things mixed up, in other words. And so you have a shank bone here of a lamb, and then you have Haggai offerings.

Well, we could use some other kind of bone and stick that on the Seder plate, but then you have two bones on the Seder plate, and your children who you're trying to teach are not going to be able to realize the difference between them. They're going to get them mixed up. You don't want to get them mixed up because you want the Passover to always be recognizable no matter what. So the discussion broke out. What are we going to choose to symbolize the Haggai offerings?

Something that's simple, something that everybody can have access to, but something that has a stark difference and distinction from the Passover bone: the egg, the roasted egg. I love it. I think it's genius—that's the history of the egg. That's brilliant, right?

The Elements of the Seder Plate

Another thing on the Seder plate that you will see are the karpas, or the green herbs, the green vegetables if you will, and this is usually either parsley or celery. It represents the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers when we dip it into the vinegar or the salt water. You also find charoset on the Seder plate. That's probably everybody's favorite item. Charoset is a mixture of nuts and apples and wine and spices that represent the mortar used by the Israelites to build the cities of Egypt. The last item on our Seder plate is the bitter herbs, the maror in Hebrew. Now, bitter herbs are usually horseradish or romaine lettuce.

It represents the bitterness of slavery. Later on in the Seder, when we eat some of this, you'll make that face and remember what it represents —the bitterness of slavery. So remember to place small portions of this on the Seder plate for display purposes. Make sure that everyone has enough access to charoset, so that everyone gets some horseradish and the green vegetables and matzah, specifically. Those are the items that everyone needs a little bit of their own for.

Matzah and Wine

Okay, the next item that you'll see on the Passover table is matzah. Matzah is a piece of crispy unleavened bread. Each participant needs to have about two pieces of these during the Seder. Yes, they do make gluten-free matzah bread. Traditionally, leaders or hosts just take three extra pieces of matzah and we're going to do something later—put one in a special bag. Just go ahead and take three pieces of matzah out now and put them to the side. So you guys are going to be using those later. The next element that you will likely see on a Passover Seder that we're going to be using tonight is wine—the four cups of wine that every participant will be drinking from tonight.

Wine has been a traditional aspect of the Passover Seder for thousands of years. Matthew, Mark, and Luke seem to indicate that the Last Supper was a Passover meal that Jesus had with his disciples. And during this meal, wine took on a symbolism of Yeshua's own covenant blood. So at a traditional Passover Seder, each participant drinks four cups of wine or grape juice. I know everyone's thinking about four cups of wine—that's a lot of wine for most people, hopefully for all people at the table. A cup of wine is relative. The size of a cup is relative. So for some of you that's a relief, for others it might be a bit of a downer.

Be responsible. Most of the time, people take just four large sips of wine and each sip counts as a cup. You'll get the hang of it as we go through the Seder, so don't worry. In the ancient world, Passover was definitely a time of celebration, which is why wine is served traditionally. It was served at the Last Supper as well. Use discretion. Be responsible. The four cups of wine that we will sip from during the Seder represent the four expressions of redemption mentioned in Exodus 6, 6-7. The first one is "I will bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians." The second cup: "I will deliver you from slavery to them."

The third cup is "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment." And the fourth cup represents "I will take you to be my people."

Hand Washing and Salt Water

Another aspect of the Seder that we will partake in is hand washing. It's always customary to begin the Seder with hand washing. This reminds us of the purity of God's temple and how the priest washed before approaching God. So hosts, prepare by having a large bowl of water available for participants to dip their hands in or their fingertips in and perhaps a towel to help them dry. Another aspect of the Seder is the small bowl of salt water that we will be dipping the green vegetables in at the beginning of the Seder. So make sure you have a small bowl filled with salt water.

Every Symbol Opens the Story

Guys, I know it seems like a lot to go over all of this stuff and it seems a bit redundant. I probably said the same thing over and over again. This is part of the Seder. And the reason why we go over things over and over again every single year is not only to remind and teach ourselves, but more importantly, to remind and teach our children. Every single item on this table is a symbol. And a symbol—think of a symbol as a hyperlink, you know, something like a website you click on. When you click a little hyperlink, a little symbol, it opens up a huge webpage full of information. And so when your children learn about this—it represents the Passover lamb.

In their minds, it opens up the hyperlink of the entire Passover story. When they see it every single year, they think of the lamb that was killed. They think of the blood that was put on the doorpost. They think of the messenger of death coming and seeing the blood on the door, all because of this lamb that was sacrificed. When they see the bitter herbs, think of the bitterness of slavery and the abuse of the Egyptian system towards the Israelites. So everything has a purpose and everything needs to be redundant and symbolic so that the children can learn, okay? So the elements of the Seder are meant to be reminders.

They're not meant to be the main course. So if you're looking at these little small patches of food wondering if that's really all we're going to eat, hopefully not. Hopefully your hosts have prepared a larger meal. Just make sure you have a nice meal for everyone to celebrate together.

The Main Course

Beef brisket and chicken are popular meals served during the Seder. You will not see lamb typically served at a Passover Seder. The Passover lamb was a sacrifice that was allowed to be slaughtered and eaten only in Jerusalem when the temple was standing. So most do not serve lamb as the main course due to not wanting to appear like they're eating the actual Passover Shalemim offering, the actual sacrifice, which would be an encroachment of the commandment of God.

The Order of the Seder

So we're going to jump into the order—the summary of the Seder. So if you can keep up for just a little bit longer. The first part of the workflow for the evening that we're about to jump into, the action part of the Seder is Kaddish. We're going to open with prayer. We're then going to move on to the Yachetz, the hand washing, followed by the Karpas, dipping the parsley in the salt water. The Yakats, breaking of the matzah, the Medid, the telling of the exodus story, and for believers, the story of Yeshua. The Motzi, the blessing over the bread. Step 7 is the matzah, eating the matzah. Step 8, everybody's favorite aspect or at least mine, is the Movor, the eating of the bitter herbs.

Step 9 is the Korek, eating the matzah with the bitter herbs together. And then step 10 is the Shalkanarek, the serving of the main meal. Step 11 is actually extremely significant for believers in Yeshua. It's when we eat the hidden matzah. Step 12 is the Berek, to give thanks to God. Step 13 is the Halel, sing songs together. And then step 14, the final step, is the conclusion, the Nertzah. Scripture says: "Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? He said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The teacher says, 'My time is at hand.

I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.' So, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover." Matthew -19 How to Lead the Seder We're going to start with opening prayer, the Kaddish. Now, in this section of the Haggadah, leaders, you'll see a section for leader. Because you're watching this video, I will be the leader and I will read all of the leader sections for the Haggadah. One thing that I need everybody who's watching to do: when a section asks for everybody to join in—when it says "all" in bold— guess what I would like for everybody to do? Join in.

And most of the time this will simply mean declaring with might an amen in the name of Yeshua. Okay, so everybody got it? Alright, we're going to start the Seder. I will read the leader portions. Hopefully, if this is your first time watching this video, next year this will be the last time you watch this video. And the reason I say that is: hopefully next year it will be you reading the leader sections of the Haggadah and you will have no more need for me. So this is hopefully a tool that will encourage you, show you how easy it is to just keep doing this every year. It's not too difficult. Just read the leader sections, alright?

So let's continue. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. Luke 22, 17-18

The Blessing and First Cup

Father, on this day we give thanks to You, God of creation, for You have redeemed us from the oppressive powers of death and freed us from the slavery to sin. You have provided the greatest exodus through the blood of the Passover, Yeshua. At this moment, we're going to pour our first cup of wine or grape juice. Everyone needs to take their cup with wine or grape juice. I have Manischewitz here, kosher for Passover, and as I said before, I would rather have Welch's. If you want to drink Manischewitz, you go right ahead, good for you. I prefer Welch's because I would rather not. We're going to pour our first cup of grape juice or wine. I would recommend just a large sip. You don't want to get too zealous. Everyone has their first cup of grape juice. It's very modest. Everyone holds their cup up, and the leader says, "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who gives forth the fruit of the vine." Or in Hebrew, "Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu, melech ha-olam borei pri ha-gafem." Then everybody in unison says, "Amen in the name of Yeshua."

"Blessed are you, King of creation, who has sanctified us through your living word, who has appointed times of remembrance and celebration. Be with us as we join you in celebrating your redemptive love through the Passover Seder, as we recall the time in ancient Egypt where the Israelites were slaves, but also as we recall our own exodus from slavery to sin." Everybody, all together in unison, Amen in the name of Yeshua. Now we drink the first cup of wine. If you've poured too much, everyone's probably staring at you as you're trying to drink it to move on.

Leaning to the Left

During the time of Jesus, participants would lean to their left due to a Romanized table tradition. At the symposia, everyone would lean down because that's how the tables were set up. The tradition of leaning to your left while eating symbolizes being at ease and at joy. That's a tradition that continues today and has for thousands of years throughout Judaism. If you would take a moment, go ahead and lean to your left a little bit. Just chill out. Be joyful. Be relaxed. Don't be anxious. Don't be fearful. Why, Matt? Why are we doing this? Because this is a festival of freedom. Our king reigns. We are not anxious about the enemy. We are not scared about what this world is bringing to us. No, our king reigns and we are at rest and we reside in his shalom and his eternal peace. Yes, this is not a time for us to be anxious or fearful. Victory has been claimed. So we lean and we smile at each other because we know who our God is and we know the power of our God— because the power of our God has saved us. Amen? Amen.

Washing Our Hands

The next step of the Seder is the Orchatz—the hand washing. Go ahead and pass the large bowl of water around the table, allowing each participant to dip their hands in the water. If you don't have a large bowl, you can just do your fingertips. Go ahead and dry them with the towel and continue passing the bowl around. If you have a larger party, feel free to pause the video now. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. Psalm 24, 3-4.

The Bitter Herbs

The next section of the Seder ceremony is the Carpus. I need everybody to take a small piece of celery or parsley, take that very special bowl of salt water, dip the parsley in the salt water, shake it off, pass the bowl, and hold your parsley or celery up like this. I already know the face some of you are making—it's not going to be that bad. Don't worry. This will not be the most memorable part of the Seder. I promise. Hold the parsley up and continue passing the bowl around. We'll wait on everyone to do that. Hopefully everyone has their parsley up at this point. The leader says in the Haggadah, "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth."

Or in Hebrew, "Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam borei pri cha'adama." Everybody in unison says together, "Amen in the name of Yeshua," and we eat the parsley. See? It's not that bad. It's totally fine. The salt reminds us of the betrayal, the saltiness, and the betrayal of Joseph with his brothers. It also reminds us of the tears that fell from the eyes of the Israelites as they were enslaved in Egypt. It also reminds us of the tears that we cried when we were enslaved to sin.

Breaking the Matzah

The next step in the Seder is "yachatz," or the breaking of the matzah. I need the leader to take those three pieces of matzah that were set aside at the beginning of the Seder. I want you to remove the middle piece of matzah. Place the other two pieces over here. I want you to take that middle piece of matzah, hold it up, and try your hardest to break it into two pieces—just very gently. Okay, I did it. Here we go. You now have two pieces. Take the smaller piece and put it down. Take the larger piece, take a napkin or towel or any type of cloth, place the broken piece of matzah in it like so, and wrap it up very gently. You want it to look nice and neat, okay? And we're going to set it aside. Another tradition you may see is instead of just setting it aside, having all the kids close their eyes while you hide it, and then later after dinner the children go and find it to get a prize. Either one works. We're going to set it aside for now.

This piece of matzah that we just set aside will now be known as the afi chomen. Everybody say afi chomen. Good. Afikomen is not a Hebrew word; it's actually a Greek word. It means something special, something that comes after, something that's joyful. Just like Yeshua was broken, wrapped, and buried, we take this special piece of matzah that was broken, wrap it up, and hide it away, okay? For a second coming, I guess you could say.

Recounting God's Redemption

Now is the time to tell the story of Passover. Generally, this is summed up because of the purpose of teaching children. Guys, you can always retell the story with as many details as you like. Maybe you have someone around the table right now who is an amazing storyteller—the one who will make a short story long with many details. I feel you. I'm the same kind of person. You could let them tell the story or sum it up more. This story that we're about to tell has been intentionally simplified for younger children. The reason it's simplified is because the point of Passover is to tell it to our children—to pass it on from generation to generation.

And for us as believers, it's to emphasize who the Christ is, who the King is, who the Messiah is through this story. Let's start. I need every participant to pick up a piece of matzah and hold it up just like this. The leader says, "This is the bread of affliction that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt. This is a bread that is absent of leavening representing the absence of Egypt in our lives. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy come and celebrate God's redemption. We are no longer slaves, but we are free." Go ahead and set the matzah down. I need everyone to pour themselves their second cup of wine or grape juice, but we're not going to drink it quite yet.

I'm going to get my Welch's and we'll pour it. Maybe some of you learned that your last one was a little bit too much, so we make it smaller. Happens to the best of us. No big deal. All right, you have your second cup, and we're going to set it down.

The Four Questions

Now we're at a point that's actually the most important part of the Seder. A lot of people debate this. I say it's the most important part of the Seder—the four questions. The point of Passover is to pass on the knowledge and the stories and the ways of God to the next generation. Learning these things as an adult is great, but sometimes we're selfish and we forget that theirs is the kingdom. So our job is to pour into them. At this point in the Seder, I want you to find the youngest child who is able to read this part of the Haggadah—the four questions. If you don't have children at the table, that's fine; the youngest person at the table can read these. It's just four questions. At this point, pause this video and ask the youngest person at the table if they're able to read these four questions from the Haggadah you downloaded from the website. And once they're done, just go ahead and hit play. Once everyone's finished reading the questions, and I'll continue with the leader portion here. Okay?

The Story of Exodus and God's Redemption

Leader portion. Those are great questions, and I'm so glad that you asked. Tonight is special because we remember the power of God's redemption. We will now retell the story of the Exodus. The Israelites were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Taskmasters were set over them and they were forced to do heavy, heavy work. They were oppressed daily. They cried out to God and He answered. God sent ten mighty plagues against Egypt, defeating the evil Pharaoh and oppressive powers of Egypt that lorded over them.

The Ten Plagues

These are the ten plagues that God sent. Now at this point in the Seder, I need everyone to get their cup of wine. I need everyone to get a piece of matzah or a napkin. And we're going to name out each of the plagues, the ten plagues that God sent in Hebrew and in English. And every single time I mention a plague, I want you to dip your finger in the wine and just tap your finger. And we are going to remember the plagues through this physical activity. It's fun for the children to get involved if they're able to be coordinated with it and so on and so forth. Everybody ready? All right. So, every time I say a plague, we're going to dip it in. Okay. The first plague that came to Egypt was Dom, blood. The second plague, Svardiya, frogs. The third plague, Canin, lice. The fourth plague was Erov, wild animals. The next plague, Dvor, disease on livestock. The next plague was Shekin, boils. The next plague was Barad, hail. The next plague was Arbeh, locusts. The next plague was Koshek, darkness. And the final plague that came upon Egypt was Makhat Bekarot, the death of the firstborn.

Before the final plague, God told the Israelites to do something very, very important. They were to sacrifice a lamb, take its blood, and put it on their doorposts of their homes. Then they were to eat its flesh. The Bible tells us that the Lord passed over the homes when He saw the blood, protecting them from the angel of death that had come upon the firstborns of Egypt. It was through the blood of the Lamb that the Israelites were redeemed from a life of slavery and the plague of death.

A Greater Exodus

After the ten plagues, the Israelites fled Egypt. They came to a huge sea, but the Lord split the Red Sea in half, which allowed the Israelites to cross on dry land, entering a new life of liberty and freedom. They were given the Torah at Mount Sinai, representing a new way of living as God's people. This was the first Exodus, but it was not the last. The prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 23:5-8 tells us of a coming king that God will establish as a new Moses that will conquer the oppressive powers governing God's people. This will be a greater Exodus that will result in all of God's people being reconciled back to Him, ending the exile from God's presence.

As believers, we know this king to be Yeshua, the true Son of God. Yeshua taught us what it means to truly follow God with our hearts. He proclaimed the birth of God's kingdom on earth, performed miracles, and birthed the promises of God that were prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah and Malachi. When Passover came and the Lamb was to be slain to remind us of God's redemption, it was Yeshua that died, birthing a new type of Passover, a greater Passover, just as Jeremiah 23:7 says.

The New Passover

The story of Yeshua does not end there though. After Yeshua was crucified for the sins of the world, He was taken off the cross and He was buried. The world thought it had lost the appointed Son of God, but three days later, something amazing happened. The grave that held His body broke open and Yeshua walked out. By God's power, Yeshua had conquered death and He invited everybody to follow Him and share that same life-giving power. This is the Passover meaning to Christians. It means celebrating the power of our God and the life-giving presence of Yeshua. Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Passover is a festival of freedom. Freedom from sin, death, and the oppressive powers of this present evil age.

This, this is the story. This is the story of Passover.

The Matzah

So the next section of the Passover Seder is Matzah. When God redeemed Israel from Egypt, they left in haste. This did not give them enough time to let any dough rise to make unleavened bread. Because of this, God commanded His people to remove all leavened bread from their lives during Passover and the week of unleavened bread. Instead, we are to eat unleavened bread. Matzah. So too, we remember Yeshua, who was not leavened with sin, but bore our sins in order to redeem us, just as 1 Peter says. So everybody, hold up a piece of matzah. Everybody holding it up? Leader says, "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth the bread of the earth." In Hebrew: [untranscribed] Put matzah down.

The Bitter Herbs

Now is the time for the moror, the bitter herbs. Possibly the most exciting time of the entire Seder, okay? So I need everyone to raise your bitter herbs, if you have them. The bitter herbs remind us of the bitterness of slavery as well as the oppressive powers of sin in our own lives. God commanded His people to eat the bitter herbs every year at Passover along with the matzah and Passover lamb in Numbers . Go ahead and put the bitter herbs down. Scripture says, "You should tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" Exodus 13:8. And every generation, everyone should try to imagine that it was they themselves that were brought out of Egypt.

Now this is something that many people struggle with as the events told in the book of Exodus were so long ago. As believers, we have experienced an Exodus event within our own lifetime. We have experienced the power of the blood of the Lamb, the power of God's strength, the defeat of principalities, and we have experienced God's complete redemptive work through Yeshua. We are no longer slaves to sin, just as Romans -18 says.

Giving Praise

The next step of the Seder is to give praise. And so I need everyone to lift your second cup of wine. For this reason, we give honor, we give praise, we give gratitude and blessing to elevate the name of our King above all names and to give complete glory to the one who not only performed the miracles of our forefathers in Egypt, but also saved us. Let it be known that our God keeps his promises and our God is a savior of all. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu, melech ha'olam hamotzi lech ha'min ha'aretz. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth the fruit of the vine in this cup. Everybody together says, "Amen in the name of Yeshua." And we drink the second cup.

Eating the Matzah and Bitter Herbs

I need everyone to take a piece of their matzah and go ahead. You can break a piece off or you can just eat it traditionally and eat a piece of your matzah at this point. The leader says, "Now it's time to eat the bitter herbs." I need everyone to hold a piece of matzah and go ahead and get your bitter herbs in front of you. Okay? So ready to spoon out on a piece of matzah. The leader says, "Blessed are you, Lord our God, who has commanded us to eat the bitter herbs." Everybody together says, "Amen in the name of Yeshua." So I need everybody to place a generous amount of horseradish on the matzah and eat it.

Okay? So for me, we're just going to go ahead and scoop in. And don't skimp out on this. It is an honorable pursuit. If this is going to represent the bitterness of slavery, it is an honorable pursuit to bring a tear to your eye as a result of the bitter herb. So, generous helpings. Come on. Men, man up. Come on. Generous helpings. Generous helpings. Okay? All right. Go ahead and partake. Eat it. Oh, and it gets in your— The bitter herbs are to remind us of what? The bitterness of slavery. This is how powerful symbols are. The next step in the Seder is the matzah sandwich. So, I want you to go ahead and place the bitter herbs on one piece of matzah, and then place some of the haroset on the other and combine them as a sandwich and enjoy.

Okay? This don't be scared of this. If you're still crying, don't be scared of this. So the haroset does a great job in reflecting and offsetting the flavor of the actual bitter herbs. And yeah, it's meant to be messy. It is what it is. Mmm. Here we go. A little bit better? Okay. It's a holy sandwich. So, I love Passover. So, you can eat as much bitter herbs and haroset freely from this point forward in the Seder. Just go for it. Okay?

The Main Course and Fellowship

So, the next step in the Passover Seder is the Shulchan Orek, which the main course is served. So hosts, go ahead and serve, eat the main course, enjoy the fellowship with your family and friends. Leader says, "Father, we thank you for this time together as your family. We thank you for this opportunity to reflect on your redemptive love, and we thank you for the food we have here before us. Please allow your spirit of peace, love, and joy to overtake our hearts as we remember the true Passover, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah." Everybody together, all say, "Amen, in the name of Yeshua." Okay, guys, you can go ahead and break for a meal. Return when everybody's finished eating. Go ahead and enjoy. This is fellowship time. It's great. You can go ahead and pause the video. I hope you enjoy your meal. And make sure that joy engulfs your fellowship. Smile often. Laugh with each other as if you have been redeemed. That's what this whole day is all about. As if you are no longer slaves. Okay? So go ahead and pause the video, and we'll see you shortly.

The Afikomen and Third Cup

Okay, so I hope everybody enjoyed their meal. We've had a lot of fun during this Seder, and you saw me laugh. I love the celebration. I love the joy. I love everything it represents. I repeat myself so many times in this, talking about the freedom from sin and the oppression from death, the redemption. That's what this is about. But at this point in the Seder, I'd like to turn the knob to a more serious note and we're going to eat the hidden matzah and participate in drinking the third cup of wine. So go ahead and just prepare yourself for that. In the Haggadah, a leader says, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.

The Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way, after Passover, He took the cup, saying, 'This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood; do this whenever you drink of it in remembrance of Me. For whenever you eat the bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 1 Corinthians -26." Take a piece of matzah, leaders, that you wrapped up in the napkin at the beginning of the Seder, and go ahead and carefully unwrap it. Okay? And what I want you to do is I want you to take this piece of matzah, the afikomen, and I want you to break off a piece for every believer at the table.

And it's very important: when we do this specific rite, if there's anyone that happens to be at the table that is not a believer, I would ask them to forego this rite and this ritual. The entire meal represents a covenantal story. This section of the meal represents the covenantal meal. And so, go ahead and break a piece off for every believer that sits at the table. And I need everyone to go ahead and pour themselves the third cup of wine. Go ahead and do that now, please. It doesn't have to be a lot. There we go. I'll wait for everybody to get ready. Okay, so I want everyone to hold up their piece of matzah.

All the believers at the table, please hold up their piece of matzah. The leader says, "Paul instructs us to partake in a rite set forth by Yeshua Himself at the Last Supper. Yeshua held up the bread and broke it. And He held up the cup of wine and He said, 'Drink it. This is My body. This is My blood.' It was here at the Passover that Yeshua reveals Himself as the ultimate Passover sacrifice: the lamb that was not only slain but consumed in order to give life, just as Exodus 12:8 says. The blood remains a sign of our overpowering death and entering into life. Yeshua said, 'This is my body broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.' Everybody can now partake in eating the piece of matzah and then hold up the third cup of wine that you just poured. Yeshua said, 'This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant, poured out for many. Do this in remembrance of me.' Everybody drink from the third cup of wine or grape juice. The leader said, "Let us remember at this moment that the power of God knows no limits. The salvation of God is manifest through Yeshua, and tonight we celebrate the Passover remembering the ultimate lamb, the lamb that takes away the sins of the world, granting freedom for all. Yeshua our King."

The Psalms of Praise

The next step in the Haggadah is Hallel, the Psalms of Praise. Feel free to include your own favorite songs of praise. In this Haggadah, we have included two traditional Psalms from Scripture, Psalms 118 as well as Psalms 98. I invite you to read these out loud. If you are in a group, read them together in a group and understand that when they were written, they were meant to be read a little dramatically.

This is a solemn time of reflection, and this is a solemn time of remembering the Passover that we as Christians live out daily, the reality that we live out daily. But it also is a time of joy, because we've tasted the same victory that Yeshua has and the same spirit that rose Yeshua to life has raised us to life. And so when you read these Psalms, allow the joy of God's salvation to enter into your lungs when you sing or when you repeat the Psalms. So you can pause the video, read through the suggested Psalms, or sing a number of other traditional songs or songs associated with Passover or Yeshua. Maybe you have your favorite worship songs or praise songs. Now would be a great time to go ahead and pull them up. If everybody knows them, sing along. This is important. And wherever there is intention, there is always praise when it comes to God, so now is the time to pray. So go ahead and pause the video, hit play when you're done, and we will continue this Haggadah.

The Fourth Cup

I hope everybody is in good spirits. Of the weight of the evening and the weight of God's love upon us. We're now going to enter into the fourth cup, so if everybody could go ahead and pour a fourth cup of wine. This is the final cup of the Haggadah or the Seder. Sometimes people are more generous with the fourth than they are the second and third because they know it's the last. Okay, so everybody gets their cup of wine and I'll wait for everybody to pour a cup of wine —just a few more moments. The leader says, "Blessed are You, O Lord, our God, king of the universe, who has created the fruit of the vine." Or in Hebrew: Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam borei pri ha'gafen. Everybody together while holding their wine up says: Amen in the name of Yeshua! So drink the fourth cup of wine or grape juice now. Tonight, as we have remembered the salvation of our God, we have broken the bread, and we have drunk the wine. With four cups of wine, we have remembered the fulfillment of God's promises that we've seen come to fruition because we're believers.

The Proclamation and Blessing

He has brought us out from under the oppression of death. He has delivered us from slavery to sin. He has redeemed us with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. He has taken us to be His. For you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in all that you are.

Everybody, all together, try to sound this out in Hebrew. We're going to end the Seder like this. Okay? Everybody ready? L'shana haba barush alayim. Next year in Jerusalem. Alright, well... Guys, that has been the conclusion of a Messianic Passover Seder. And I hope you enjoyed it. I pray it was edifying. I pray that maybe it has encouraged you to take charge and lead your own Passover next year without the use of this video. I'm sure you could do a better job than me. So always keep your focus on Yeshua. He is our King. He is our Savior. He is the Lamb that took away the sins of the world. The thing that enslaved us. Guys, I pray that this season of freedom, redemption, and forgiveness is a time of joy, worship, and peace for you and all of your household. Shalom.