Passover in the cross
By Paul Bawden
I recently received an email which encouraged me to take a quiz about Passover.
But why talk about the Passover? Passover (Pesach) is commemorated and celebrated from April 12 to April 19, 2025. It’s the Jewish spring festival that commemorates God’s redemption of Israel from its 400-year enslavement in Egypt.
“Over 3,000 years ago, the Children of Israel suffered under the severe oppression of the Pharaoh. As the Book of Exodus records, God sent Moses to deliver them from the Egyptians, but Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt for the Promised Land.
“Due to the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart, God proceeded to pour out a series of ten plagues upon the Egyptians, culminating in the final plague, the slaying of firstborn sons of Egypt. God protected the Israelite children with the marking of the doorposts and the lintels of their homes with the blood of a lamb (Ex. 12:1-30).
“The Jewish people commemorate this event every year through a ceremonial meal known as the Passover Seder. Throughout the world, Jewish families gather to remember the events of the Exodus and to celebrate the faithfulness of the God of Israel.
The word “seder,” which in this instance means order or procedure, refers to the retelling of the account through a special book known as the “haggadah” (telling of the story). One of the most important purposes of the Passover Seder is to teach the sacred history of the Jewish people to the children of each emerging Jewish generation.
“There is an added dimension of celebration for Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus the Messiah, for Jesus celebrated this meal with His disciples on the evening before His death. Known in Christian faith as the Last Supper (Mat. 26:17-30), the New Testament records how the Passover elements of the unleavened bread and the wine have become the basis of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion.
“As Jesus and the disciples celebrated God’s redemption of Israel, Jesus foretold how His death would provide redemption from sin (Mat. 26:26-29). The themes of Passover prepared the nation for the redemption God provides through Jesus’ death and resurrection.” (From Chosen People Website).
This is the amazing reality of the Passover. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples the evening before His death. In so doing, He took two elements of the Passover, the unleavened bread and a cup of wine and said that they pointed to Him – representing His body in the bread, and His blood in the cup – the blood of the new covenant (Luke 22:20).
In so doing, Jesus was saying that the Passover looked forward to Him and what He would do through His death, burial, and bodily resurrection – fulfill the Passover and in so doing provide Himself as the eternal Passover for sins forgiven and eternal life won for any who would believe in Him as personal Savior (I Cor. 5:7).
Passover will be celebrated by many this month, and Easter will be celebrated by many as well. But it’s only the Passover in the cross that provides forgiveness and eternal life for the believer in Christ. It’s only the eternal Passover, the resurrected Christ, who has changed history and offers to the world a supernatural change from hate to love, from anger to forgiveness, and from hopelessness to hope. Have you made your decision to accept the eternal Passover and live for Him? If not, make that decision for Him. If you know the eternal Passover personally, celebrate Easter with joy and hope. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Paul Bawden is married and served in the pastoral ministry for 45 years, retiring in 2011. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Speech and attended Dallas Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology. He has taken counseling courses at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois. Paul is a lifetime member of the Evangelical Free Church of America, as well as being a member of Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM), which serves churches during their time of transition in searching for a new pastor. He writes for Union Gospel Press, as well as being a volunteer writer for GotQuestions.org. Paul likes to write, read, bike, and work in the yard. The Bawdens have had the privilege to travel to Mexico and Romania on mission trips and visited various countries in Europe.