Passover
Passover starts this evening, and this is one of those things I feel like most people don’t fully realize the weight of.
These feasts aren’t just old Jewish traditions.
They tell a story and reveal a pattern. A blueprint of what God was going to do through Jesus long before it ever happened.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, people were shouting “Hosanna” and laying down palm branches.
This was prophecy being fulfilled
“Behold, your King is coming to you… humble and mounted on a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, it was already written how He would enter the city.
At the same time, families were bringing their Passover lambs into the city. Lambs that would be examined for days to make sure they were spotless and without blemish before being sacrificed.
Like the Passover lambs Jesus wasn’t just entering the city, He was being presented.
And just like the lambs, He was examined.
Questioned by religious leaders (Matthew 22:15–46). Tested, accused and yet, no fault was found in Him. “I find no guilt in Him.” (John 19:6)
Not a coincidence. A Pattern and a Prophecy unfolding.
When John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) that wasn’t poetic language, that was a declaration. He understood what the others didn’t yet see.
The very thing Israel had been doing every single year, generation after generation. Selecting a lamb, examining it, sacrificing it. Its blood marked the difference between life and death. But it was always pointing to Jesus The Lamb whose blood doesn’t just cover a doorway, but covers us so that death passes over us too.
Then comes the Seder meal.
The Last Supper wasn’t random. It was a Passover (seder) meal (Luke 22:7–8) something practiced every year, the same way, for generations since God led them out of Egypt.
A set table. A set order. A story retold over and over again.
And this is why I believe understanding Jewish culture and tradition matters. Because when you see the context, you see in Scripture how intentional our God is.
During the Passover meal, unleavened bread was always eaten to remember the haste in which Israel left Egypt, no time for the dough to rise (Exodus 12:8, 39).
But it also carried deeper meaning.
In Scripture, leaven often represents sin or corruption.
So when Jesus took that bread, broke it, and said, “This is My body given for you” (Luke 22:19),
He was identifying Himself as the true unleavened bread, without sin, without corruption. Given for us.
Even the bread itself paints a picture.
It was pierced and striped just like the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.
During the meal, there were traditionally four cups of wine each tied to God’s promises in Exodus 6:6–7
“I will bring you out…” “I will deliver you…” “I will redeem you…” “I will take you as My people…”
The third cup is called the cup of redemption.
This would have been the cup Jesus lifted after supper and said,
“And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Luke 22:20 ESV
And the promise connected to that cup?
“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm…” (Exodus 6:6)
A picture of Jesus arms stretched wide on the cross becoming our redemption.
And then “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out… and yielded up His spirit.” (Matthew 27:46, 50)
That is 3 PM, traditionally the same time the Passover lambs were being slaughtered for the sacrifice. This isn’t just random symbolism. This is a story God was writing from the beginning.
Passover wasn’t just a tradition. It was a shadow of what’s to come. (Colossians 2:17).
And Jesus didn’t just celebrate it, He fulfilled it.
If you’ve never looked into the Passover Seder meal or the meanings behind the spring feasts, I would really encourage you to. There is so much depth in Scripture that we miss when we don’t understand the culture and history behind it. These feasts weren’t random. They were given by God for a reason.
So don’t ignore them. Don’t skip over them. Search the Scriptures. Learn the history. Dig deeper.
Because the more you understand them, the more clearly you’ll see Jesus.
Don’t just take my word for it, search the scripture yourself. 💜 I’m gonna leave my personal notes in the comments for anyone interested.