The Significance of Passover for Christians

Why should believers in and followers of Yeshua observe the ancient Jewish feast called Pesach or Passover? Is there any scriptural appeal to believers that we perform the Seder of Pesach? The answer to this question can be established with the following three words from Scripture: Doing; Remembering; and Anticipating.

Yeshua asked that we DO the Passover

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, this is My body which is given for you; do this… Luke 22:19

The Bible is a passion play laden with drama. The prophets of Israel used drama. In Kings a prophet insisted that a man strike him to wound him so that he might in using drama expose the heart of Ahab (1 Kings 20:35-43). The prophet Isaiah was instructed to walk naked in bare feet for three years to dramatize Judah’s misplaced trust in Egypt and Cush (Isaiah 20). The prophet Jeremiah used drama and bore bonds and a yoke on his neck to signal Israel’s coming judgment (Jeremiah 27,28). The prophet Ezekiel built replicas of cities, divided hairs from his beard and head, and slept on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 days, so as to teach lessons from God to Israel (Ezekiel 4,5). The prophet Ahijah tore his clothes into twelve pieces (1 Kings 11:30), the prophet Zedekiah made a set of horns, symbolizing the defeat of the Arameans (1 Kings 22:11), and the prophet Agabus portrayed the capture of the Apostle Paul by binding his own hands and feet (Acts 21:10). Paul was warned by drama not to go to Jerusalem.The worship of Israel was full of drama. The slaughter of many oxen and lambs, the priestly robe and vestments and his work within the Holy Place, the veil within the Temple, the Cherubim with their wings spread over the mercy seat, the Tabernacle being carried with Israel on their journey, and the serpent on the pole were all drama to teach divine revelation. The God of Israel performed drama. He appeared in the form of fire to Abraham, wrestled with Jacob, rained down manna from heaven, gave water from the rock, made the bitter water sweet, and His glory filled the Temple. The nation of Israel was to keep dramas: the Sabbath was kept weekly; the new moons kept monthly; the seven feasts kept annually; the Jubilee kept every fifty years.

The messiah of Israel taught lessons of great depth using drama. Y’shua turned the water into wine. Y’shua took the lad’s fishes and bread, multiplied them and fed thousands. Y’shua cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit. Y’shua spit in dirt to make mud for the blind man’s eyes. Y’shua had a fish swallow a coin, swim to the right spot and at the right time to be caught in a net in order to pay taxes. Y’shua’s ascension was even dramatic. He could have simply disappeared into heaven as Enoch who “was not,” but chose to ascend to His father while they beheld the cloud receive Him out of their sight.

Drama comes from the Greek word, dromenon meaning “to do.” Drama is a message clothed with doing. When Y’shua said, this do in remembrance of Me , He was asking us to DO the Passover, to unfold and perform the event. Words in time lose their meaning. The Passover is a drama so that theology may be retained. Passover is theology taught, heard, seen, and eaten. We should DO the Passover!

Yeshua asked that we REMEMBER Him in the Passover (Luke 22:19)

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.

The Passover is about Y’shua. The Pesach candle commemorates His humanity given Him of Mary. The Scriptures required Messiah to be man in order to (1) fulfill the Davidic Covenant (Luke 1:31-33), (2) destroy the works of Satan (1 John 3:8), (3) be a sympathizing High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), and (4) be a substitutionary sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:1-10).

The Pesach Matza commemorates His sinless life. Y’shua was unleavened, pure, and disconnected from Adam. The Pesach lamb commemorates His sacrificial death. The Messiah was to be the divinely instituted provision whereby sin might be covered by the shedding of blood. Messiah Y’shua satisfied the wrath of God.

The Pesach wine commemorates Y’shua’s blood and atonement for sin. Y’shua’s own life was the payment of the price demanded by a Holy God, and His blood was for our redemption. The place for Pesach commemorates His covering of us as our Messiah shelters us in God’s grace, covering us from God’s wrath.

The Pesach afikomen commemorates Y’shua’s resurrection. Y’shua our Messiah is the way, the truth, and the life, and He is life’s desert.

Finally, the Pesach Seder or supper commemorates Y’shua’s promise to return for us. This leads us to the next reason that we are to observe Passover.

Yeshua preserved the Passover that we ANTICIPATE Him (Matthew 26:29; Luke 12:35 ,37; 22:15 ,16)

Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight… Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.

And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God .

The institution of Passover did not die with Israel in the Old Testament. Y’shua observed the Passover continually, even until His last meal. The institution of the Passover did not expire with Y’shua’s death. The disciples kept it, the first Church kept it, Christendom has kept it, and Y’shua has declared that we will have the Passover with Him in the kingdom.

Why should we observe the Passover? The Passover celebrates (1) who Y’shua is, (2) what Y’shua has done, and (3) where Y’shua has gone and what He is preparing for us, (4) causing us to long for His coming (Luke 22:19). The Passover is a dress rehearsal for the Kingdom, where Y’shua will arise, gird Himself, and wait upon us.

There are other incentives for performing the Passover. The dramatization of Passover is an excellent tool for witnessing, while also causing believers in Y’shua to be enlightened to biblical truths, enriched in their under-standing of scripture, and greatly blessed as they embrace their Jewish roots and heritage.

How YESHUA became JESUS

Before the birth of Yeshua (His Hebraic name) and following His incarnation, Greek was the lingua franca of the known world by way of Alexander the Great and his promotion of Hellenism.  In the Hellenistic world seventy Jewish scholars came together in Alexander Egypt to translate the Hebrew Scriptures (the Torah, Nivim, and Ketuvim or TaNaK what we call the Old Testament) into the vernacular Greek tongue of the day. This was called the Septuagint or “translation of the seventy,” also known as the LXX.

In the Septuagint the Hebrew word mashiach or "messiah" was translated in Greek as christos (see Lev.4:5; 6:15; 21:12; 1 Sam. 24:7, 11; 26:9; 2 Sam. 1:14; 2:5; 23:1; Lam. 4:20; Amos 4:13; Psalm 19:7; 20:6; 88:39; 2 Chron.22:7). Mashiach in Hebrew means  “anointed one;” so does the Greek Christos. Eventually with the evolution of the English language, the Hebrew mashiach became "Messiah" and the Greek Christos became "Christ."

The Hebrew name Yeshua appears myriad times in the Greek LXX in the shortened form of Yehoshua or Joshua (see Neh.8:17). When Miriam (Mary) birthed her child, she and Yoseph the surrogate father named Him as commanded by the angel Gabriel (Mat. 1:21). As a Hebrew the parents and family spoke of and to Him as Yeshua; this was His name. Living in a Greek world He was also for certain -many times- introduced as Iesous (YAY-soos).

In due time the entire world would come under the empire of the British and the English tongue. The English language for reasons of linguistics would render the “Y” sound of Yerushalayim, Yericho, Yacov, Yoseph, Yudah, and Yeshua and many other Hebrew words beginning with "Y" with the English “J.” Thus, the Hebrew Y’hudi became Ioudaios  in the Greek and eventually to the English Judean or Jew.

Does it matter? We must not become Gnostics says John Parsons, author of "Hebrew for Christians." I agree, and let me assert that Yeshua came as YAHshua, that is, in His Father’s name as He Himself said, and to save sinners. Yeshua was YHWHshua, He was  YHWH or Jehovah of the OT as His name declares. Yet, may I contend that it does not matter to our Lord whether we call Him Yeshua (Hebrew), Iesous (Greek), Jesus (English), J’sue (Cajun French), Esous (Swahili), Jesus pronounced Haysus (Spanish), or any other translation or transliterated stem from Y'shua. In fact, should someone be so unforturnate to be mute and unable to speak, it makes not an iota of difference to our Lord, because it is from the heart one acknowledges His Lord and savior as the God of Holy Writ Who came to live for us, die for us, resurrect for us, ascend for us, and does now save us if we cry to Him from our hearts.

Did our lips say Jesus in English or Yeshua in Hebrew the night we heard the Gospel and cried out to Him for salvation? Perhaps, neither, we wept for knowledge of Him and what He had done for us. Let us not get into fruitless debate over any pronunciation of His name, but rather that we know Him -what His name means, that is, "savior." If we must do apologetics let us defend His person and deity; YHWHshua/Jesus has come in flesh and has taken our sins and nailed them to His own body.