**Disclaimer, this blog was created in no place of judgement of others or their beliefs. It was written to share how our family celebrates Passover and the other things written in scripture.
Our family has celebrated the biblical feast of Passover for the last several years. The longer we’ve celebrated it the more questions we’ve received about it. Dylan or I didn’t grow up celebrating some of the things that are references in scripture. The older we’ve gotten and stronger we’ve grown in our faith; we feel there are things mentioned in scripture that are still relevant today. This post will be sharing how our family celebrates Passover in a way that honors Yeshua/Jesus as our ultimate sacrifice.
What is Passover?
Passover is a very meaningful and ancient Jewish festival, which is celebrated as a commemoration of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago.
We first find the mention of Passover in Exodus 12. God/Yahweh gives Moses the commands of how Passover will be kept and who it applies too.
It begins talking about the Passover lamb and the requirements that the lamb would need to have. We now have Yeshua/Jesus as our Passover lamb. Isaiah 53 does a beautiful job at explaining everything Yeshua/Jesus went through as our savior.
We are all sinners and in need of salvation. However, God/Yahweh sent Yeshua/Jesus, his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins, and through belief in Yeshua/Jesus, we can be saved and spend eternity with God/Yahweh in heaven. This salvation is not earned through good works or personal righteousness but is a free gift from God/Yahweh.
Yeshua/Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. We no longer need to make physical offerings for Passover. Paul talks in Hebrews about how the blood of other animals wasn’t enough to cleanse us from our sins. He goes on to say, “he takes away the first system in order to set up the second. It is in connection with this will that we have been separated for God and made holy, once and for all, through the offering of Yeshua the Messiah’s body.“
The blood of Yeshua/Jesus is our covering now. Much like the way the Israelites would cover their door frames. The blood of Yeshua/Jesus now covers our hearts. Our hearts have now been made new and we’ve been given the Holy Spirit to guide us to follow God/Yahweh’s ways and his torah. Jeremiah 31:31-33 & Ezekiel 36:26-27 shares this concept known as the New Covenant.
What Parts of Passover can be Applied today?
You might ask, “How is it relevant now to us today?” We can look at Leviticus 23:14 “this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.” & Exodus 12:24 “You are to observe this as a law, you and your descendants forever. ” The word ‘forever’ is Strong’s H5769 – ʿôlām it means everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity. So, it means celebrating Passover is a never-ending law given by God/Yahweh to HIS people. We can read in the prophet section of scripture (Ezekiel) and see how the biblical feasts, including Passover will be celebrated in the millennium. The biblical feasts, including Passover are forever – then, now and in the future.
You might say, “Those feasts were for Israel and not for us.” We can read the beautiful words from Paul in Romans 11. Paul goes into great detail to describe a wild olive tree with its many branches and a strong root. He does a beautiful job detailing how Gentile believers are “grafted into the house of Israel.” We can also simply read scripture and see how God/Yahweh always makes a way for Gentile believers to join HIS chosen people. Ruth and Rahab always immediately come to mind. Those Gentile women even fall in the lineage of our Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.
Parts of Passover that are Relevant Today:
1) Remove leaven from the home first. – For our family this is both physical leavening agents (found in food) and spiritually. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. During this feast we look at the spiritual leaven in our lives. Such as the entertainment that catches our attention, the relationships we’re in and event possible matters that might need to be resolved, etc.
2) Eat the Passover meal on the 14th day at twilight. (Some call this the beginning of the 15th day. It’s at sunset.) This year it begins Monday, April 22, 2024. After Passover beings the Feast of Unleavened Bread which ends Tuesday, April 30th, 2024.
3) Eat unleavened bread with the meal. We make homemade unleavened bread otherwise known as matzah. You can purchase this from the store. The closer you get to Passover the harder it is to find.
4) We should teach the children and tell them the story of the Exodus. Our family likes to watch ‘The Prince of Egypt’.
5) Eat bitter herbs.
6) Drink wine (or grape juice).
7) Remember the redemption and salvation given to us by Yeshua/Jesus’s death with the matzah and the wine.
How Our Family Celebrates Passover
The celebration of Passover can involve different steps and traditions depending on your family as well as religious beliefs. There are Rabbinical traditions, our family doesn’t follow those. We stick specifically to scripture and celebrate in a way that God/Yahweh has called us too. Passover tends to be our intimate family celebration as well. The other feasts we open our homestead and invite fellow believers to celebrate with us.
> On the 10th of Nissan (April 18, 2024), we have this little lamb stuffed animal that we pull out and bring into our home. Our children take turns caring for the little lamb. Ellie will have it one day and Easton will have it another day. They take it outside to play, have a tea party, build a fort and sleep with it. All the while they have to maintain it and make sure stays clean. Then during our Passover dinner, he gets brought out and placed on the table. We talk about what sacrifice would look like. As homestead kids they have attachment to our different livestock animals and have participated in the dispatching process. We share that we no longer have to bring physical sacrifice to the temple and that Yeshua/Jesus paid it all. It’s always a moment filled with great emotion.
> We purchased several yards of solid red fabric which we fold and drape over the front door. (Pictured above) This tradition is more for our children to have a visual representation of what is mentioned in scripture. It also sets our home apart during this season.
> We acquire lamb from a local butcher. Passover was the first time our family had ever eaten lamb before. It’s delicious and so tender! We follow what scripture says about cooking it over an open fire (Exodus 12:8-9), so Dylan cooks it on the grill. We tend to marinate it with bitter herbs and seasonings.
> We make homemade Matzah bread. Matzah is unleavened bread, meaning it has no yeast. We will continue to make matzah every day during the continuation of the week as the Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows Passover. Our family works together and decorates the dining room table. Some people like to decorate as if attending a formal banquet. Our family tends to make it more informal and kid friendly. If you watch the TikTok linked below you catch a glimpse of our table decorations. It is basically a representation of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. I bought little wooden peg men from Hobby Lobby that the kids decorated to look like people. There is one specific peg that represents Moses. It has a beard and a wooden staff (twig) glued to him. He stands in front of all the other people. Easton added Lego people and animals last year to represent the “mixed multitude” coming up out of Egypt.
> We gather together as a family around the table, discuss sacrifice and our little stuffed lamb (kid visual). We read the Exodus 12 story, pray and eat together.
> Once dinner is done and put away, we come together in the living room and read the story of “Last Supper” and wash each other’s feet. Then we snuggle up on the couch and watch the Prince of Egypt with our kids.
> We keep it simple, and our focus STAYS on the fulfillment of this feast by Yeshua/Jesus. The more you study this feast and the others the more you’ll be blown away by the details and how Yeshua/Jesus completed every single one. We learn more each year and it’s amazing!
Homemade Matzah
The Fulfillment of Passover with Yeshua/Jesus!
Other Teachings on Passover
These videos below are taught by Rabbi Greg Hershberg. He teaches from Beth Yeshua International in Macon, GA. It’s our (online) synagogue we tend to call home. He has many more teaching on Passover and the other Biblical Feasts. There are many more videos on this topic and many others.
As you study deeper, we encourage you to look at the original text. Today ‘Easter’; is often celebrated around the same time of Passover. Easter is something that is mentioned in Acts 12:4. What is Easter? Where did it come from? What does it represent?
The word ‘Easter’ is NOT in the original biblical script. Your bible most likely reads this (KJV) Acts 12:4 “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” Study it out with other transitions, the CJB – Complete Jewish Bible is my personal favorite. It reads“so when Herod seized him, he threw him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, with the intention of bringing him to public trial after Pesach.”
The word Easter is actually Strong’s G3957 – pascha meaning the paschal feast, the feast of the Passover, extending from the 14th to the 20th day of the month Nisan. It’s Passover the eating of lamb and matzah, not ham and leavened rolls.
We pray that if you are choosing to celebrate Passover for the first time you take simple steps and not get overwhelmed. Keep your focus on Yahweh/God and Yeshua/Jesus not on all the traditions. He knows your intentions. If you have any questions feel free to drop a comment below or shoot us an email. We pray blessings over you and your family.
“I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
– Jeremiah 31:33
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