Aimee
Foreword
This is a presentation that I share with my children annually at Passover. The scripture verses below are in the KJV and LDS edition format to make it more palatable for them.
Each year I’ve added some new visual aid, text or detail in understanding. The presentation has grown to over 30 pages when printed and now cannot be shared in one sitting without cutting significant portions in order to keep the short attention spans of children.
This year, I’ve decided to break the lesson up into smaller parts on days that coordinate with the last week of Christ so that the children have more time to enjoy and contemplate on all of the significance of the Lord’s final week in mortality.
Continued from The Last Mortal Day – Nisan 14, Holy Week Part 2
Each year on the Day of Passover I’ve continued a tradition started by my parents where we read “Passover Promises Fulfilled in the Last Supper”, By Terry W. Treseder, Ensign April 1990
I’ve re-written the article for publishing here and added my own thoughts.
Nisan 15 - Gobsmacked
On Thursday evening as the day of Nisan 14 fell into sunset on Nisan 15, the people would have been gathering to their Passover observances.
How things unfolded was a complete shock to the Lord’s disciples. They were fully anticipating that He was going to usher in His Kingdom. The victory everyone was expecting was a temporal victory over Rome.
When Christ saw the betrayal through to the end and closed the day lying dead in a tomb, Judas was distraught. He cast away both the money and his own life. Strange behavior if his intent was to sell the Lord and make a profit on his death.
Then Judas, who had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, regretted it and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said unto him, What is that to us? You see to it; your sins be upon you.
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself on a tree. And immediately he fell down, and his bowels gushed out, and he died.
Matthew 12:18 (RE), Matt. 27:3-5 (KJV)
I really believe that Judas expected Jesus to whisk himself safely away, as he had done many times before this fateful week.
Now as Thursday was ending the Master was dead and he carried the blame squarely on his shoulders. Judas was deceived, or self deceived, or both. I don’t contradict that he played the villain here, but I’m not sure that it was done with full intention. When the drama played out to it’s horrible completion, Judas too was left dead.
Perhaps his should be a cautionary tale that money is deceitful when our hearts are set upon it. Things will not turn out how we think.
And these are they who receive the word among thorns: such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, entering in, choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 2:14 (RE), Mark 4:13-20 (KJV)
What of the High Priests?
Ciaphus, the high priest, whose order led directly to the sprinkling of Christ’s blood on the Mercy Seat under the cross at Golgotha left the crucifixion deeply unsatisfied. Despite his best efforts to rid himself of a rival and break the bones of the Pascal Lamb, he was unsuccessful. Jesus of Nazarath, was indeed dead, but his bones were unbroken. Ciaphus would have proceeded to his Passover meal where all of the symbols pointing to the Messiah’s life, mission and sacrifice were on full display.
Thursday after Sunset, Nisan 15
As the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah specifically commanded His newly-freed children to remember their deliverance from Egypt. By instituting the Passover service, the Lord ensured that His children, who were prone to idolatry, would be better prepared for their spiritual journey.
The Passover commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Through His prophet Moses, the Lord displayed His power through a series of plagues. To prepare for the last and most devastating plague, the death of every unprotected firstborn in every household, the Lord commanded each family to sacrifice a perfect, unblemished lamb. During that fateful night of deliverance, Israelite families feasted on the sacrificial lamb and unleavened bread. In their haste to leave Egypt, there was no time to wait for leavened bread to rise.
The Passover ceremony has undergone very little change over the past 3,000 years. The basic symbols present in the biblical Passover service remain to this day, and the order of service and the meaning of the symbolic menu are the same. Only speaking parts for the children have been added to the Haggadah (the Passover script) to help teach them about the Exodus, and two extra symbolic foods were included in the Seder plate after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. By keeping in mind that the Lord Himself established this sacred observance and later fulfilled and reestablished it as the sacrament, we can ponder the Last Supper in the context of the Passover tradition.
A Clean House
According to Mark 14:12-15, on the first day of Passover, the Lord sent two of his disciples to find and prepare a place for him and his disciples to celebrate the Passover. The two disciples were directed to an upper chamber, where they likely inspected the room to ensure it was thoroughly clean. This tradition of spring-cleaning in preparation for Passover is still observed today as part of the faithful Jewish religious practice.
It is possible that Jesus carried this tradition to the temple, as he began his public ministry during a Passover celebration by cleansing the temple of money-changers and thieves, as described in John 2:15. He also ended his ministry in a similar fashion by clearing the temple of non-sacred activities after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as mentioned in Matthew 21:12. On both occasions, Jesus invited spiritually hungry crowds into the now-clean sanctuary, where he healed the sick, preached the gospel, and prophesied of his death, resurrection, and second coming.
Sacrificial Lamb
According to Mark’s gospel, the Passover lamb was killed on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Mark 14:12). During the afternoon of that day, a member of each household brought an unblemished lamb to the temple as an offering. The lamb was killed by a priest and then returned to the bearer for the Passover meal. To be fit for the Seder, a priest had to sacrifice the animal in the temple.
This requirement explains why so many people traveled to Jerusalem during Passover week, as reported by historians such as Josephus (who recorded 256,500 people for a single Passover). These crowds came to Jerusalem to have their lambs sacrificed in the temple. By law, the lambs had to be killed within a two-hour period, approximately from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M.
If Jesus ate his last meal on after Sundown which began Nisan 14, as Mark’s chronology suggests, then on the following day, “our Lord, the real sacrifice of which all earlier altar victims had been but prototypes, died on the cross while the Passover lambs were being slain at the temple.”
The identity of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb is extensively verified throughout scripture, both ancient and modern. Isaiah prophesied, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). Peter proclaimed that believers “were not redeemed with corruptible things … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:18-20).
Mormon also testified of Jesus as the Lamb of God, saying, “O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day” (Mormon 9:6).
Only the sinless and unblemished Messiah could redeem us from our sins and satisfy the demands of justice. Like the children of Israel, we too can be saved from destruction by the blood of the Lamb through repentance.
The Fruit of the Vine
The use of wine or grape juice during the ancient Seder service had two separate purposes, as it still does today. The first cup symbolizes rejoicing for freedom won, and a blessing is pronounced on the wine or grape juice:
“Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who created the produce of the vine. Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has … sanctified us with His Commandments. And Thou hast given us, O Lord our God, in love, … the Festival of Matzot [unleavened bread], the season of our freedom … and hast given us for our inheritance Your appointed holy times in rejoicing and gladness.” (The Yeshiva University Haggadah, p. 1.)
However, the Messiah did not bless this first cup in the traditional manner. Instead, 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 of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” (Luke 22:17–18.)
By abstaining from this cup, the Savior made a solemn covenant to refrain from partaking of the fruit of the vine until after the Atonement was accomplished. He did not want to partake of the joy of the world until after his mission on earth was completed, and he could return a glorified, resurrected being who had conquered all things on behalf of his sin-bound brothers and sisters. This act symbolized the great sacrifice he was about to undertake and the magnitude of his love for all mankind.
Unleavened Bread
As part of the Passover preparation, the upper chamber would have been cleared of leaven (yeast). No products containing leaven could be present anywhere in the house. The eating of unleavened bread, or matza, has always been a distinguishing feature of the Passover. In fact, the scripture often calls the celebration the “Feast of Unleavened Bread.” (See Ex. 12:17; Matt. 26:17.) Today, as in ancient times, members of the household search the entire house the evening before the Seder, looking for any crumbs of bread or bottles of yeast-fermented beverage. The pile of leavened products is then taken from the home and burned. For an entire week, the only bread that can be eaten is matza.
The Lord expressly commanded this part of the Passover:
“Seven days … ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.” (Ex. 12:19–20.)
Paul elaborated on the meaning of leaven in the Passover when he wrote: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
“Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:6–8.)
During the Last Supper, did the Lord break unleavened or leavened bread when he introduced the sacrament? In the Greek manuscripts, the word azumos is used when speaking of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the word artos is used when describing the bread used in the Last Supper. The use of either type of bread would have been consistent with the Master’s teaching style of traditional Hebrew observance and symbolic innovation. Had he broken matza, he would have conformed to Passover ritual yet imbued matza with a new meaning. Had he broken a new loaf of leavened bread, he would have dramatically illustrated the new leaven of salvation, which he introduced into the world:
“Another parable spake he unto them; the Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” (Matt. 13:33.)
Just as the bread represented Christ and his atoning sacrifice, his disciples were to spread his message of salvation. They were to act as leavening agents, themselves empowered by the new leaven of the gospel.
As he does today after cleansing his hands, the Seder leader anciently gave thanks to God, blessed the matza, and passed it around for others to eat. Matza was the symbol of freedom, the Israelites having left Egypt so hurriedly that bread could not properly rise.
The Lord added new meaning to the symbolic bread when he “took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.’” (Luke 22:19.)
The bread still represents freedom—freedom from death and sin—but it also represents the medium through which that freedom is won. Likewise, when we take the sacramental bread, we are symbolically making the Savior a part of us, of our lives. Jesus is the bread of our lives, the only means of redemption. Jesus often referred to himself as the bread of life
Again, the Fruit of the Vine
During the Passover Seder, participants traditionally eat a portion of matza, and the Seder leader tells the story of the Exodus, pausing four times during the narrative to bless the fruit of the vine and to pray for divine fulfillment of promises. As part of this tradition, the leader prays:
“Save us, O Lord, we pray thee. We pray thee, O Lord, prosper us … May the All-Merciful make us worthy to see the days of the Messiah, and the life of the World to come. ‘He is a tower of salvation to His King and shows kindness to His anointed, to David and to his seed forever.’ He who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace for all of us and for all Israel. And say, Amen!” (See The Yeshiva University Haggadah, pp. 2, 29.)
The Lord, however, departed from tradition by adding new meaning to the wine or grape juice, stating: “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:20.)
That night, the promises were fulfilled through the shedding of the blood of God’s own beloved Son. The juice no longer represented anticipatory promises but promises that had been faithfully kept.
Bitter Herbs
Exodus 12:8 states, “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”
During the Passover service, it is customary to eat bitter herbs, such as horseradish or green onions, representing the bitterness of bondage. Often, crushed herbs (marror) are eaten on matza, along with haroset (a mixture of apples, nuts, and spiced sauce), representing the mortar that the Israelites used for making bricks. This tradition is not specifically mentioned in scripture, but it is possible that Jesus and his disciples followed this well-established pattern.
It is worth noting that, at the time when Jesus and his disciples would have been eating this unpleasant part of the meal—immediately following the blessing on the juice—Jesus became deeply “troubled in spirit.” As they ate, the Savior testified, “Behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table” (Luke 22:21; see Matt. 26:21).
Despite washing the feet of Judas Iscariot as lovingly as he had washed the feet of all the others and offering him the emblems of eternal life, Jesus knew that this Apostle had eaten to his own damnation. Therefore, the Lord probably felt utter sadness as he contemplated the loss and betrayal of one he loved.
Salt Water
During the Passover service, it is customary to eat bitter herbs, such as horseradish or green onions, which represent the bitterness of bondage. Alongside the bitter herbs, dishes of salt water are served, into which diners dip greens (karpas), such as lettuce or onion stems. The salt water represents the tears of slavery.
Although scripture does not explicitly state that Jesus and his disciples followed this custom, there is a hint that they may have. After Jesus declared that a traitor was present, his disciples became exceedingly sorrowful and began to speculate about who among them could be guilty. Jesus responded, “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.” (Matt. 26:22-23.)
The bitterness and tears of spiritual bondage, in contrast with the joyful gladness of freedom, are vividly illustrated in this tradition. Those who choose to follow the Savior partake of the joy and redemption that can come only from the Lord’s atoning sacrifice, represented by the fruit of the vine and life-giving bread. Those who reject Him, on the other hand, partake of misery and spiritual enslavement, as represented by bitter herbs and salt water.
Meal Discourse
On Nisan 14, when Christ had his last meal, there would have been no meat on the table. The next night on Passover (Nisan 15), after his death, the Pascal lamb which Judas, as treasurer arranged for, would have been on the table. And the Lord, conspicuously absent.
Following the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, Jewish families ceased from eating roasted meat to avoid the consumption of unfit meat that could not be prepared in the temple. As a result, a roasted shank-bone was added to the Seder plate to symbolize the Passover lamb.
At this juncture in the Seder, the Passover leader would typically comment on the theme of freedom. In modern times, rabbis often quote rabbinical proverbs or discuss historical events such as the Holocaust, the Russian persecution, or the state of Israel. In contrast, John recorded the most magnificent Passover discourse in history, which began shortly after the feast. (See John 13-17.)
Hymn of Freedom
The scriptures record that after the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn as they went out to the Mount of Olives. (See Mark 14:26.) This is in keeping with the tradition of ending the Passover Seder service with songs of praise and freedom.
The specific hymn that they sang is not mentioned in the scriptures, but it may have been one of the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving traditionally recited during the Passover feast. The Hallel, consisting of Psalms 113-118, was often sung during the feast, as were other hymns reflecting on the Lord’s might and deliverance. Psalm 118 is a messianic hymn that looks forward to the Savior’s redemption of mankind, while Psalm 116 speaks of deliverance from death.
Over the centuries, many Passover hymns have been composed and sung, both biblical and rabbinical, and some by modern psalmists. As Jewish families celebrate Passover, they often sing hymns of joy and gratitude for the Lord’s deliverance from bondage to freedom, darkness to light, and mourning to festivity.
Therefore, let us rejoice
At the wonder of our deliverance
From bondage to freedom,
From agony to joy,
From mourning to festivity,
From darkness to light,
Before God let us ever sing a new song.
Conclusion
And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons for ever. And it shall come to pass when you have come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What do you mean by this service? — that you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.
Exodus 8:4 (RE), Exodus 12:24-28 (KJV)
My family still observes Passover each year, not because we are Jewish, but because there was no expiration date placed on the feasts and festivals that God ordained. Originally, it was pointing Israel forward toward the Messiah while remembering their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt. Now we celebrate it, recognizing the fulfillment of those promises in our Lord and His great and last sacrifice, where He laid down His life on our behalf.
This year there is more than a three week gap between Easter Sunday (March 31) and Passover (April 22). Despite them being so disjointed we’ll observe both and remember again the great victory won by our Lord.
