Jesus: The Passover
“It is hard to fully appreciate all that Jesus is to us unless we understand what He said and did within the context of the Old Testament.” – Tony Walliser
Read Luke 22:7-20
Jesus: The Passover
When you hear the word “Passover,” what comes to your mind? You might think of it as some kind of Jewish tradition. Or the time once a year when Jews commemorate the angel of death mercifully passing over their homes just before they were freed from 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
Many of us haven’t felt it necessary to pay much attention to it. Because we’re not Jewish, we’re Christians. Right?
On the other hand, you’re familiar with taking communion, aren’t you? It’s a centuries-old sacrament observed in many churches and Christian denominations. We also refer to it as a celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ final meal before the events that led up to His crucifixion.
But did you know that every time we take part in communion – eating the unleavened bread and drinking the fruit of the vine (juice or wine) – we’re symbolically remembering the Passover? It’s far more than a periodic ritual. It provides us with crucial context, bringing us back to our Jewish roots, and showing how Jesus became the ultimate fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
That last supper Jesus had with His disciples was the Passover Seder, a solemn and sacred remembrance that Jews faithfully observed. As He shared this meal with them, He not only celebrated the end of Jewish captivity, but also demonstrated what He would be doing over the next several days – for Jews and Gentiles alike.
When Jesus broke the unleavened bread, He said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Although His disciples did not understand it at the time, the Lord was referring to an Old Testament prophecy. “He was pierced through for our transgressions…. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:5-7).
In the Old Testament the people of Israel sacrificed unblemished lambs as symbolic atonement for their sins. By shedding His own blood on the cross, Jesus became actual atonement for our sins. As 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Then He shared with the disciples the cup of redemption, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). In so doing, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy from Jeremiah 31:31-34, which many Jews knew by heart: “I will make a new covenant. With the house of Israel…. I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people…. For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.”
In a real sense, in taking communion we have the privilege of celebrating the fulfillment of Passover, joining with Jews around the world who have observed this for thousands of years. It represents forgiveness, redemption, and the promise of eternal life for all who place their trust in Christ.