Remembering and Telling

​Passover is all about remembrance of God's faithfulness and beginning a new life cycle. As slaves, the children of Israel had no relationship with time because one day was the same as the other. With the Passover, God was marking time and redeeming His people so that they could begin their year with encouragement as they recalled how He gave them new life. It is through remembering the victories of the past that we have hope for the future. Deuteronomy 32:7 tells us, "Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and He will tell you, your elders and they will explain to you." 
 
The yearly tradition of sitting at a table to share a meal and tell the story of freedom for God's people was instituted by the Lord. He said, "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance...Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt." (Exodus 12:14, 17) The Hebrew meaning of the Passover meal, called "Seder," is "order." It is written in a book called the "Haggadah," meaning "telling," that includes the story from the book of Exodus, an explanation of the meal courses, and songs and blessings. The gathering at the table is for all generations.
 
Asaph, the writer of Psalm 78, tells of our responsibility to bring up the next generation in the knowledge of the truth. Psalm 78:2-7 says, "...I will utter hidden things, things from of old...What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us, we will not hide from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob (The King James Version says, "He established a testimony.") and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands."
 
This year the Passover began on April 12 (Nisan 14 on the Hebrew calendar). Many families sat around the Seder table for the retelling of the story of the exodus and the journey to the Promised Land. We can read how Jesus also celebrated a Seder with His disciples. It would be His "last supper" before going to the Cross. Imagine how he felt knowing that He was destined to be the Passover Lamb in the future and for all eternity. He told His disciples, “’I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.' After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'" (Luke 22:14-17)
 
Many Christian communities do not celebrate the Passover. Long ago Emperor Constantine tried to merge Christianity with paganism by changing the calendar. With the Council of Nicaea, he outlawed Passover and changed the date for celebrating Christ's death and resurrection to correspond with the spring festival of the pagan goddess Ishtar, also known as Easter. Those who refused to stop celebrating Passover were persecuted and murdered. Falling into the hand of Satan, the Church agreed to pronounce a curse on Christians who celebrated the Passover. Satan is still at the forefront of the battle to stop the Passover and taking Communion because he knows that the power is in the blood of Jesus.
 
The blood of Jesus was shed to redeem us from the enemy. Our deliverance comes through the blood of the Lamb on the Cross of Calvary. Every time Christians take communion, we celebrate the Passover Lamb. However, communion celebrates more than freedom from bondage in Egypt; it celebrates our release from the bondage of sin. We can take communion as often as we desire. 1 Corinthians 11:26 says, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." Father God is the one who connected the sacrifice of Jesus to the Passover and why He is called the Passover Lamb. For generations to come we must share the power of His shed blood.