Community on Columbia

The Passover was a major sacrifice, yet one distinct from all others. It did not originate in the Law, for it was instituted before the Law had been given or before the Covenant had been ratified by blood. It looked back to God’s rescue of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt and their Exodus toward the Promised Land. Jesus revealed at His Last Supper that the third cup and the afikomen consumed in the ceremony were pictures of his body and blood.

Notes on Passover

The Jews were commanded to rid their homes of anything leavened before Passover, and eat only unleavened bread during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus expounded on the meaning of this symbol: “…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6) “… and of Herod” (Mark 8:15). The pre-Passover elimination of leaven shows the importance of sweeping out from our lives anything that “puffs us up” in these different ways.

Notes on the Search for Leaven and the Meaning of the Afikomen

Purim is observed a month before Passover, and the focus is simply reading the Book of Esther. This feast is probably the original “morality play” with audience participation. A mysterious part of the Purim feast is the rabbinical command to drink enough wine so that you can’t distinguish between “Yay, Mordechai!” and “Boo, Haman!” – and the fact that God is never mentioned.

Notes on Purim

… Even More Notes on Purim

The Connection Between Purim and Yom Kippur