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In the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament), the Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12) was the birth of the people of Israel. Their deliverance from slavery confirmed God's earlier promises to Abraham to make him into a great people or goy gadol (Genesis 12:2). Passover [Hebrew, pesach, "to pass over"] became the most important festival in later Hebrew history. It often sparked spiritual renewal when national vision needed revival (Joshua 5; 2 Chronicles 30 and 35; Ezra 6). In later Judaism, it became the focus of messianic expectation. Even today in Jewish homes, a table setting is placed for Elijah, the Messiah's forerunner, which testifies to the enduring hope that the Mashiach will come at Pesach. In the New Testament, Passover pictured the spiritual liberation and new life created by Yeshua's death (as a sacrificial lamb provided by God) and his resurrection (coming up from the tomb of death-slavery). The so-called "Lord's Supper" (1 Corinthians 11:20) was a Passover meal led by Yeshua in a Jerusalem home. This historical nexus between Yeshua and the ancient faith of Israel was never abandoned or lost, at least among his Jewish disciples. [Top] Years afterward, Yeshua's primary emissary to the non-Jews would tell a congregation of Gentile believers that "Messiah our Passover has been sacrificed" (1 Cor 5:7). Their celebration of Messiah's death involved eating Bread and drinking the memorial "Cup of Blessing" (the third of four traditional cups at a Seder; 1 Cor 10:16). Paul's declaration is unequivocal: "Let us celebrate the Feast" (1 Cor 5:8). In the early centuries, many followers of Yeshua (both Jew and Gentile) continued to observe Passover as a memorial to him. They did so in spite of opposition from the Church of Rome, which finally put a stop to it in most places after AD 400. Only in the latter decades of the 20th century has Passover's significance and its ancient place of honor been revived among Christians, largely due to the efforts of Jesus-believing, Messianic Jews. The Passover imagery, with its deeply embedded spiritual principles, links the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua to the ancient Covenant that God made with Abraham. Yeshua's Last Passover confirmed that Covenant as being "eternal" (Hebrews 13:20). And Passover will be the final meal the Messiah shares one day with all his people, Jew and Gentile — a seder that will include, in his words, "Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets" (Luke 13:28). [Top] Joseph Shulam, founder of Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry in Jerusalem, has an bold, instructive message on why (most) Christians don't observe the ancient holidays mentioned in the Tanakh (OT) and New Testament. His YouTube video runs 36 minutes:        "Why Don't Christians Celebrate the Feasts of the Lord?" Passover begins at Sundown in: 2025 — 5785 on Saturday, April 12 2026 — 5786 on Wednesday, April 1 2027 — 5787 on Wednesday, April 21 2028 — 5788 on Monday, April 10 2029 — 5789 on Friday, March 30 2030 — 5790 on Wednesday, April 17 [Top] Related Articles Ancient Passover Seder compared with Gospel Accounts of Yeshua's Last Passover This outline shows how the NT accounts of Yeshua's final Pesach meal with his disciples closely follows the traditional pattern celebrated by Jews in the first century. [2 PDF pages] God Raised the Lord The NT has a consistent and widely unnoticed witness about the resurrection. [4 HTML pages] He Who is Coming: The Hidden Afikoman The dessert matzah of the Passover Seder once had messianic connotations. But over time they were apparently suppressed. This article discusses the meaning of afikoman and the light it sheds on the Last Passover of Yeshua. [3 HTML pages] The Last Passover of Yeshua Based on historical documents, this is a reconstruction of what the Seder may have been like when Yeshua and his disciples observed it for the last time. It is now updated to include readings favorable to non-Jewish followers of Yeshua. [18 PDF pages] A Messianic Kiddush A Hebrew-English kiddush that honors God, Yeshua Messiah, and the ancient blessing. [1 HTML page] A Passover Prayer For Messianic followers of Yeshua. [1 PDF page] Saturday Night: The First Day of the Week When the first Jewish and Gentile believers gathered for fellowship, the evidence in Acts 20 is that they met on Saturday night, after Shabbat ended — not on Sunday morning. [5 HTML pages] The Third Day: Resurrection Patterns in the Hebrew Bible Paul says Yeshua Messiah was raised from the dead "on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:4). But there's no passage in the Hebrew Bible explicitly making this prophecy. So where did this well-versed rabbi, educated under Gamaliel of the House of Hillel, see such a prediction in the "Scriptures"? [6 HTML pages] Who Killed Yeshua? The NT puts the blame for the death of Yeshua on three sources: Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, Gentile leaders from Rome, and God himself. [3 HTML pages] Yeshua bar Abba There is a play on the names of Jesus and Barabbas which is invisible in English Bibles. Only knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic (and some textual analysis) reveals this spiritually rich irony in the gospel story of Yeshua's last day. [2 HTML pages] Yeshua Made Them Breakfast At dawn, on the beach of Kinneret, he welcomed his weary disciples. [3 HTML pages] [Top]

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