28Mar 08
The Cup of Redemption
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Prior to Resurrection Day, our family had the joy of celebrating two different Jewish Seders from a Christians perspective. Several other families participated with us in this family focused event which centers on 
remembering the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt and the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So many analogies and meaningful insights abound 
through out the course of the two-four hour meal/service that is hard to give it justice in just a few sentences here.
The meal consists of 4 different glasses of grape juice representing Sanctification/Freedom, Deliverance, Redemption, and Thanksgiving/Hope. 
Scattered throughout the meal are symbolic foods ranging from parsley to charoset to 
horse radish 
, lamb, roasted/boiled eggs, and of course Matzah bread.
This year, the element of the Seder meal that inspired our family the most was the relation between the traditional communion services celebrated by churches across the world and the meal. The third cup (cup of Redemption) of the Passover meal accompanied by the broken pieces of Matzah bread (unleavened) are the elements spoken of 
in each Gospel and are what churches partake of during communion.
In Luke 22:15 Christ said, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Why such passion? Filled with the spirit of God (true enthusiasm), Christ was 
looking forward to fulfilling the message of the Passover. For hundreds of years, the Israelites had performed this ceremony in expectation of future deliverance. Christ had come with the gift of salvation and so culminated the message of the Passover.
According to Jewish tradition when a young man prepared to marry a young lady, both 
fathers and the son would gather together to discuss the bride price. Once agreed upon (often rivaling the price of a house), the young man would take a cup full of wine and offer it to the young lady. At this moment, she could either reject or accept the proposal. Acceptance would 
solidify the betrothal. In like manner during the Passover meal (the cup we drink of during traditional communion), when Christ offered the third cup the night before His betrayal, He was in a sense inviting the disciples to become His Spiritual bride. Thus when we, as the Spiritual bride of Christ, partake in communion and drink the fruit of the vine we are once 
again acknowledging our acceptance of Christs marriage proposal. Furthermore, we accept all He has to offer, good or bad in our eyes. He will only allow that which is necessary to sustain us.
The Seder or Passover meal abounds with so many other meaningful analogies. Our family would highly recommend participating in a Seder meal from a Christian perspective and would love to do so with your family. Should this not work out, we have provided a script compiled and edited by Dad as a result of researching several different sources. This tool will be available in our Project Remember section. May the Lord bless each one of you as you seek to learn more of our meek and lowly Savior.
Wow! That’s a great idea. I would love to know more about the symbolizm in these special Jewish traditions. Way to dig deep into the true meaning of Easter!
What a wonderful family affair! I loved all the analogies that were shared throughout the meal. It sure kept your mind busy thinking about how things related to your own relationship with Christ.
Powerful!
An encouraging aspect of the day was the excitement each member of every family exhibited in learning the true meaning behind the Jewish Passover (even though it took well nigh 3 hours). Hearing the fathers share their thoughts afterwards was testimony enough of God at work in each family during the meal.