Passover Haggadah

You will notice that when we start our Seder, there are a few things missing. There are several changes that will be made through the Seder that were influenced by Yeshua’s statement that the Passover is representative of His death on the cross. Our Messiah gave forgiveness of sin and permanent deliverance from the bondage of sin through His death on the cross. On Passover, Jesus changed the meaning from just remembering deliverance from Egypt to include deliverance from sin.

Lighting the Festival Candles

On Friday evening the Jewish people light two candles just prior to dusk to celebrate the Sabbath. Traditionally the mother of the house will say the following blessing when lighting these candles:

Blessed are You, Oh Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by giving us Your Torah and granting us the privilege of lighting these holiday candles.

Candles carry special meaning because Yeshua commanded us to let our light shine:

Matthew 5:14–16 (NLT) ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

We are Commanded

Exodus 12:21–27 (NASB95) ²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. ²² “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. ²³ “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. ²⁴ “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. ²⁵ “When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. ²⁶ “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ ” And the people bowed low and worshiped.

Many Christians will say that we are under the blood of Jesus. They do not understand that being under the blood means that His blood was shed. His blood was figuratively applied to the upright pieces of the doorpost and the top of the frame. This is symbolized in the upright piece of the cross and the horizontal piece. Being “under the blood” of Jesus refers to the Passover. Jesus’ shed blood was painted over the lintel of our door and on the doorposts. We are saved from the angel of death and delivered to eternal life. Since we have been saved through Jesus’ shed blood, we have joined the Jewish people by becoming included with God’s chosen people.

Romans 5:8–10 (NASB95) ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Galatians 3:27–29 (CJB) ²⁷ because as many of you as were immersed into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah, in whom ²⁸ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one. ²⁹ Also, if you belong to the Messiah, you are seed of Avraham and heirs according to the promise.

The First of five Cups of Wine[1]

Exodus 6:6–8 (NLT) ⁶ “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. (First Cup) I will free you from your oppression and (Second Cup) will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. (Third cup) I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. ⁷  (Fourth Cup)I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. ⁸ (Fifth Cup) I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’ ”

With that summary of the cups, Let’s drink the first cup of wine. This is the cup of freedom. God will free us from our oppression. Yeshua’s name literally means “salvation”. He came to free us from bondage.

Let’s say the blessing over the wine: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has created the fruit of the vine!

Let us now drink the wine.

Foot Washing

Yeshua switched the first hand washing to foot washing in His Passover meal:

John 13:1-6, 11-17 (NLT)

¹ Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. ² It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… ¹² After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Take a basin and a pitcher of water: The leader of the table will wash each of the people’s feet at the table. This is a symbol of what Yeshua did for the disciples. Leaders are to be the servants of the people.

Bitter Tears

Each person take a piece of parsley and dip it into the salt water on the table. This symbolizes the bitter tears of slavery for the Jewish people. It also symbolizes the bitterness of life without redemption through our Messiah Yeshua. Before we knew Him, we dealt with life through the bitterness of slavery to sin.

Dip the parsley in the salt water and sprinkle it. We are redeemed. As a reminder of the bitterness you can taste the parsley.

Breaking the Afikomen

Matzah is unleavened bread. It is a cracker that has been created in modern times from flour and water. It is processed quickly so that there is no chance that yeast will cause the bread to start rising. Matzah bread is pierced with many holes and rolled out flat.

There are three pieces of Matza bread that are in a special napkin on the table. We will remove the center piece and break it in half. This unleavened bread symbolized the bread of affliction that was given during enslavement to Egypt. It also reminds us of the flight from Egypt. The people had to run for their lives without the possibility of waiting for the bread to rise. This bread is about deliverance.

The broken piece is called the Afikomen, it will be wrapped carefully in a cloth and hidden in another room.  This symbolizes Yeshua being broken and buried in the tomb. He was wrapped in a cloth as His only burial clothes. We also believe that the three pieces of Matza symbolize the three Persons of God’s identity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son came to life as a human being. He was broken for us on the cross and there died for our sin.

Everyone speak the following blessing after we have broken the Afikomen: Praise You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has made redemption available to all men through Jesus our Messiah.

Refill the Wine Glasses.[2]

The Second Cup of Wine

Everyone will raise their cup of wine. But will not drink from it.

This is the cup of slavery. God will rescue us. Here is the story behind the cup. Israel was in bondage in Egypt. God sent Moses to deliver the people from bondage. Pharaoh was not buying the demand to release the people from bondage. Instead, with each judgment that God delivered on Egypt, Pharaoh increased the pain and difficulty of the people.

We will all notice that God allowed the Jews to go through the judgments until they recognized that He was the only God. This separated them from the Egyptians and from the point of recognition were exempted from going through the judgments. They went through three of the judgments up to the plague of the lice/gnats. Then the Egyptians declared that this could only be from the Hand of God.

Exodus 8:19 (NLT) ¹⁹ “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

We will see this happen again during the Tribulation. In Egypt we saw the Jews go through three plagues before they realized that God was the only God. During the seal judgments in the tribulation, God’s people will go through six of the seven bowl judgments before making this declaration.

Revelation 6:15–17 (NLT) ¹⁵ Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”

After this there is an interlude where all the children of God are marked (Revelation 7). No plagues will affect them again through the judgments that follow.

At this point we will dip our finger into the wine and sprinkle a drop onto our plate to symbolize the blood of affliction. These drops represent the plagues that took place while God was rescuing the people from slavery. Sprinkle a drop at the title of each of the following plagues to represent blood spilt.

Ten plagues of Passover:

1. Blood: All the water in the land turned to blood. This plague was universal and affected water in the rivers, streams, lakes and in the homes. The only way to get water was to dig holes in the ground after the plague started and wait for water to seep into the hole (Ex 7:14-25).
2. Frogs: Frogs covered the land. There were so many frogs that when the plague was over, mounds of frogs were made in the streets (Ex 8:1-15.)
3. Lice or Gnats: The plague was very severe because of the bites and irritation. This was the turning point of the plagues. The Jewish people and the Egyptians recognized that God was the only true God. After this plague the Jewish people were exempt from the plagues (Ex 8:16-19).
4. Flies: Swarms of flies covered everything. They bit people on every part of exposed skin. They were a constant pestering annoyance. The Flies did not affect the Hebrew people (Ex 8:20-32).
5. Death of livestock: All livestock in the land except for the Hebrew livestock died in this plague (Ex 9:1-7).
6. Boils: Both the Egyptians and their livestock were covered by boils. Where did the livestock come from? Remember, they were slaves. The Egyptians probably confiscated the Hebrew livestock to replace their lost stock. The Hebrew people were not affected (Ex 9:8-17).
7. Hail: Hail rained from the sky so that every green thing as destroyed. If people or livestock were outside, they also died. The hail did not fall on the land of the Hebrews (Ex 9:18-35).
8. Locusts: Locusts (grasshoppers) swarmed the land and ate every green thing that managed to survive the hail. There were so many the skies were dark with them. The Hebrew land was spared (Ex 10:1-20).
9. Darkness: Every single place was dark as midnight. The darkness was like darkness in a deep cave. Israelites had light in their homes (Ex 10:21-29).
10. Death of the first born: This is where the Passover got its name. Jewish homes and homes of people who followed the Jewish commands were spared of the death of the first born because of the blood over the doorpost and lintels. This was the final plague (Ex 11-12).

Although we as Christians did not have to go through the Ten Plagues to be delivered from sin through Yeshua our Messiah. Many of us did go through plagues in our lives that drove us to the Messiah. Many Christians have their own stories or testimonies about their lives before and after Messiah. Let’s take a minute each to share our testimony of how we came to know Yeshua as our Savior.

Everyone share their testimony, set a time limit, one minute is suggested.[3]

We will now raise our cups and drink from the second cup of wine. We celebrate the fact that God delivered His people from bondage in Egypt. God brought the Children of Israel through all the plagues to freedom. As Christians we celebrate that Jesus delivered us from the bondage that we had to sin. He used whatever methods He deemed necessary to deliver us from Sin.

Lamb Shank Bone

We do not have a shank bone on our plate as the Jewish people do in their Seders. The reason for this is because Jesus was the final Passover sacrifice. We do remember that the Jewish people sacrificed a lamb at the Passover. They continued this tradition until the time that the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. The Talmud records that up until the time Jesus was crucified on the cross a scarlet thread was displayed until the time of the Passover lamb. When the lamb was slain, the thread would turn white. After Yeshua died on the cross and rose from the dead the thread never turned white again.  Redemption had already taken place and no other sacrifice would offer redemption for sin again. We stand free today because of the shed blood of our Passover Lamb Yeshua. He finished the work of the Passover delivering permanent salvation to all men. Yeshua stated clearly that the Passover sacrifice was completed in remembrance of His work on the cross.

Washing of the Hands

At this time a basin and a pitcher of water is passed around. Pour water over the hands and dry them to symbolize that God has washed us pure with His Torah. He has given us His water of life to wash us pure from sin.

John 3:1–8 (NLT) ¹ There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” ³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” ⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” ⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

Maror

Each of us will dip our Matza into the horseradish and eat it. This symbolizes the mortar of the bricks during slavery. It also symbolizes the control that sin had on our lives before we met the Messiah.

Dip a piece of Matza into horseradish and taste it.

Second dipping. Now we will dip the matzah into the horseradish and then dip it in the haroset. This symbolizes that after redemption our bitter lives have been made sweet through the Messiah. It does not matter now what bitterness comes our way since we have the Messiah who stands for us.

Maror is the bitter herbs (horseradish) that we eat during the Passover. These herbs represent the slavery of the time of Passover. The herbs represent the mortar of the bricks that were used to build for Pharaoh. There is an interesting twist to this story. During the Last Supper Yeshua confronted Judas at this point during the Seder. He dipped his matzah into the bitter herbs and Jesus responded:

John 13:21–30 (NLT) ²¹ Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” ²² The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. ²³ The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” ²⁵ So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” ²⁸ None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. ²⁹ Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. ³⁰ So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

Judas was no longer able to continue with the Passover Seder since he was in bondage to the thirty pieces of silver that he had received for betraying Jesus.

Short discussion: What does it mean to be “born again”?[4]

Passover Meal is now Served.

Serve the Meal.

Everyone: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Search for the Afikomen

Small children or the youngest present is sent to find the missing piece of the Matzah, the Afikomen. Once it is found a reward is given to the one finding it. Jewish custom says that this reward will be held until the fiftieth day when it will be redeemed for a greater gift. We see this take place in the New Testament when the disciples waited expectantly for fifty days in the upper room. They were given the gift of the Holy Spirit at that time. From that time on they were empowered to teach and preach and moved forward with their ministry.

Breaking Bread

Everyone will break off a piece of the middle Matzah and share it around the table. This bread represents Yeshua the Messiah. He instructed us that when we have a Passover Seder to eat the bread in remembrance of Him.

The Afikomen is broken and distributed to all people at the table. We eat this Afikomen in remembrance that Yeshua had died on the cross. This piece of Afikomen represents His resurrection. He was dead and now has risen from the grave. We are remembering that He is the resurrection of life.

Matthew 26:26–29 (NLT) ²⁶ As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” ²⁷ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, ²⁸ for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. ²⁹ Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

Third cup of Wine

We now drink the third cup of wine. This is the cup of redemption.

We celebrate that we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus. He instructed us to drink this cup to remember the blood that He had shed for the redemption of men. All drink.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (NLT) ²³ For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread ²⁴ and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” ²⁶ For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

Elijah

During a Jewish Seder a small child is sent to the door to see if Elijah has arrived. A cup of wine is symbolically filled and set in the center of the table for Elijah. The child comes back to the table disappointed; Elijah is not there.

Yeshua said that John the Baptist was Elijah who was predicted to come before the Messiah arrived.

Matthew 11:7–15 (NLT) ⁷ As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? ⁸ Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. ⁹ Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’ ¹¹ “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! ¹² And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. ¹³ For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. ¹⁵ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

We will not send a child to the door to see if Elijah has arrived since he already has come in the form of John the Baptist.

Fourth Cup of Wine

This is the cup of Praise or the Cup of Hallel. We praise God since He now claims us as His people.

John 15:1–11 (NASB95) ¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ³ “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. ⁹ “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹ “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Romans 6:1–11 (NLT) ¹ Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? ² Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? ³ Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? ⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. ⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. ⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Optional: Read Psalm 118

Fifth Cup of Wine

This cup is consumed at leisure after the Seder is completed. We are celebrating that Yeshua will one day completely restore His people during the Millennial kingdom. He will return and bring wrath upon the world as He ushers in His new Kingdom. This cup is often called “Elijah’s cup” it has to do with deliverance. I believe Elijah will return a third time in Revelation as one of the two prophets. Let’s look at this verse that looks forward to the end of times when God brings warfare on all nations:

Jeremiah 25:15–17 (NLT) ¹⁵ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. ¹⁶ When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.” ¹⁷ So I took the cup of anger from the Lord and made all the nations drink from it—every nation to which the Lord sent me.

During the drinking of this cup we will have a time of fellowship and relaxation where we will relax after the meal. Move to an informal setting, fellowship and people are welcomed to leave at their leisure.

Preparation:

1. Two large candles for candle lighting
2. Prepare Basin and water for foot washing and hand washing. Need a large towel for foot washing and a hand towel for hand washing.
3. Prepare Salt water and Parsley.
4. Horseradish
5. Matzah Bread
6. Have a good meal prepared or buy one
7. Wine or Grape Juice and small glasses or wine glasses
8. Cloth to wrap three pieces of Matzah in. Have one cloth for the broken Afikomen.

[1] There were five cups of wine in the original Haggadah. One was done away with in the first century.

[2]Traditionally in a Jewish Seder, four questions are asked. The young children present ask the question, or the youngest person of the group, the rest read the response:

Four questions:

1. Why do we only eat Matzah bread on Passover and not other breads like other nights?
   1. On the original Passover they were in such a hurry to leave that there was not time to leaven the bread. So, we eat it unleavened in remembrance.
2. Why do we eat bitter herbs at our Passover Meal?
   1. Bitter herbs are eaten to remind us of the bitterness of slavery. Christians are reminded of the bitterness of lives surrounded by sin.
3. Why do we dip parsley in salt water and the bitter herbs in Haroset?
   1. Parsley represents new life while the salt reminds us of the bitterness of the tears shed during slavery. The Haroset masks the flavor of the bitter herbs to show how God can take the bitterness of life and turn it sweet again. The coarseness of the bitter herbs and of the Haroset reminds us of the mortar in the bricks we used to build for Egypt.
4. Why on this night do we eat leaning, while on other nights we sit up straight in our chairs?
   1. Slaves must sit or stand to eat. They must eat quickly so that they can return to work. Tonight, we are celebrating freedom from slavery. Freed people lean on pillows and eat at leisure enjoying the freedom that they have.

[3] Dayenu would normally go here. I did not put in Dayenu because it is really a false statement. The Hebrew people were not convinced that God was truly their God. They had blended their beliefs with the beliefs of the Egyptians. It took three plagues before they agreed with the Egyptians that YHVH was truly their God. Dayenu is simply not true. The word means “it would have been enough”. However, by making this statement they are saying that God went to unnecessary means to deliver His people. This is simply error.

[4] There is a Jewish idiom that tells of the days between the months. When the moon darkens and finally goes black they waited expectantly to see when it would appear again. This cycle took one to two days. When it reappeared, it was said to have been born again. Applying this to the Nicodemus story, being born again means that the old cycle of life has been done away with. Now a new cycle of life begins. Everything becomes new in a new month.