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As I write this post, Easter weekend is in just a few days’ time and I am busy preparing for a simple Passover re-creation we are doing on Thursday night. I don’t like the word ‘Easter’ at all as it evokes pagan images of bunnies and hot-cross buns and tends to undermine the powerful truths of Passover. I would rather call Good Friday ‘Crucifixion Friday’ and Easter Sunday ‘Resurrection Sunday’.

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In ancient Jewish tradition, each day started the previous evening at 6 pm, so Crucifixion Friday starts on Thursday evening. Most scholars believe, as I do, that the Last Supper was an adaptation of the usual Passover meal celebrated from 6 pm on Thursday evening – so this is why we have our re-creation service at that time on that day.

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The Passover meal was a happy occasion as families gathered together to remember with joy and gratitude how God had saved their ancestors from Pharaoh so long ago. They ate lamb, drank red wine, sang, and celebrated. Yet, in the midst of all the merriment were solemn remembrances enshrined in time-honored traditions.

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The five cups of wine they drank had significant names – the Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Instruction, the Cup of Praise, and lastly, Elijah’s Cup. Yes I know, that’s only four cups – the third cup drunk was the most significant of all, the Cup of Redemption. This was shared among the gathered family just after a special piece of unleavened bread called the Afikoman was eaten. The Afikoman and the Cup of Redemption; the two elements of what we now know as Communion, the Lords Supper, or Eucharist.

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Earlier in the Passover meal process the father of the family had picked up three pieces of unleavened bread. He handed out two of these pieces to be eaten, but the middle one received very different treatment. The father took that piece, broke it in half, wrapped it carefully in a linen napkin, and then placed it under a pillow. This broken, swathed, and hidden piece of unleavened bread was known as the Afikoman. Why is the middle piece of three broken? There doesn’t seem to be any reasonable answer to that in Jewish tradition. They regard the three pieces of bread as representing the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – but what have they to do with the original Passover, and why is poor Isaac chosen to be broken, and then buried? Christian doctrine does, of course, have a solution; the three pieces represent the Triune Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the second piece is broken just as the second personage of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, was ‘broken’ on the cross of Calvary and his body wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb.

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When Jesus celebrated Passover for the last time with his disciples, he took the Afikoman, ‘gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”’(Luke 22:19). Luke’s Gospel account continues with the words; ‘In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you”’. The cup that Jesus was holding in his hands was the 3rd cup of Passover, the Cup of Redemption. It is clear from his words that Jesus was fully aware of what he was doing, how he was fulfilling the promises of Passover, and that he would shortly become the sacrificial lamb itself.

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There is so much more to tell concerning this marvelous meal, still celebrated by religious Jews every year, and by Christians as Communion many times during the year. I wrote an article a while ago giving some other insights and you can find it at https://truthistheword.com/the-last-supper/

Be truly blessed this Passover time