Episode 35: Should Christians Celebrate the Passover Seder?

Seder: from the Hebrew for Order. Refers to the service of Passover.

Haggadah: From the Hebrew for telling forth. Exodus 13:8: You shall tell your sons on that day…

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-haggadah

“The Haggadah , which means “telling” in Hebrew, is a written guide to the Passover seder, which commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah includes various prayers, blessings, rituals, fables, songs and information for how the seder should be performed. Although modern Haggadot (the plural of Haggadah) can vary widely, the tradition of reading a book to guide the seder dates back to the Middle Ages, and some of the elements that make up contemporary Haggadot were used 2,000 years ago.”
“include rituals like the blessings over the four cups of wine that will be consumed, the custom of washing one’s hands, and an explanation for various traditional items on the seder table including the seder plate, which contains the bitter herbs and other symbolic foods.”
- Even if some of these customs go back to Jesus’ day, it is difficult to assume that Jesus would have followed them. The Pharisees were offended that Jesus did not wash before dinner (Luke 11:38ff), referring to ceremonial washing. And Jesus’ disciples followed in His practice of not ceremonially washing before a meal (Matthew 15; Mark 7), which caused the Pharisees to condemn His disciples, to which Jesus responded by condemning their traditions. Even Jesus’ first miracle was to desecrate six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification by turning the water into wine. While Jesus never broke the Commandments of God, He readily broke the traditions of the Jews, which He found hypocritical. It is hard to imagine that Jesus would have followed extra Biblical Jewish traditions concerning the Passover, even if they were practiced when He instituted the Sacrament.
“In 1969, the political activist and rabbi Arthur Waskow published the “Freedom Seder” Haggadah, which drew comparisons between the slavery and liberation of the ancient Jews to contemporary struggles such as the civil rights movement and women’s movement. The Stonewall Seder is an LGBTQ Haggadah that began as a seder celebrated by the Berkeley Queer Minyan for Gay Pride Weekend. It has been updated and expanded by members of the B’nai Jeshurun synagogue in New York. And because many modern Jews connect the themes of Passover with social justice, a number of social justice Haggadot or supplements speak to various communities and causes that might lie outside the Jewish community like the Black Lives Matter movement, hunger, and labor justice issues.”

https://www.sefaria.org/Pesach_Haggadah%2C_Magid%2C_In_the_Beginning_Our_Fathers_Were_Idol_Worshipers.2?lang=bi

Introduction to Christian Seder

https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/easter/how-the-symbolism-of-the-passover-seder-meal-can-enrich-your-easter-celebration.html
- “What Is the Seder Meal? Elements and Symbolism The Seder meal is celebrated today through a 15-step communal feast. During the feast, participants eat ceremonial foods that are arranged on a Seder plate. Each food item is eaten in a choreographed order that accompanies sacred readings, ritual handwashing, and a series of interactive questions. Participants also partake in four cups of wine. Each step of the Seder is symbolic of some element of the Exodus, with the purpose of remembering God’s deliverance. When we look at the Seder elements through the fresh lens of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, it adds an intricate tapestry of symbolism that highlights God’s masterplan for all mankind.”
- Elements of Seder:
  - Four cups: Exodus 6:6-7:
    - “I will bring you out”;
    - “I will deliver you”;
    - “I will redeem you”;
    - “I will take you to me for a people.”
  - Washings
  - Karpas-The Raw Vegetables
  - Yachatz- Breaking of matzah

https://www.crivoice.org/seder.html

Prof. Daniel Gard on the Christian Seder

https://lutherorthodoxy.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-passover-seder-and-lutheran.html

A Jewish Rabbi on Christians Practicing the Sedar

Passover seders are out of place in churches

Next Saturday night, Jews will gather in our homes to celebrate the Passover Seder. This ancient ritual — involving song, ceremony and copious amounts of food — will allow us to recall and relive our ancestors’ exodus from Egyptian slavery, and to renew our pledge to work as God’s partners in building a world of freedom and peace for all people.

The Seder, of course, is a Jewish event — an expression and celebration of the relationship between God and our people. This is why I find it so baffling that so many churches conduct “Seders” at this time of year. And as Christian events, no less!

“The Last Supper” was a Passover Seder, they argue, “so our church Seder is a celebration of an event in the life of Christ.”

“The Seder celebrates God’s salvation,” they add, “and pursuing salvation lies at the very heart of Christianity. Our church Seder is therefore perfectly appropriate.”

Neither argument works. For starters, the Last Supper couldn’t have been a Passover Seder, because the Passover Seder didn’t exist until several decades after Jesus’ death. There were Passover celebrations during his day, of course, but the particular liturgy and ritual of the Seder was a response to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in the year 70, and it wasn’t finalized until sometime during the third century.

What’s more — and to be perfectly honest — the Seder developed, in part, as an anti-Christian polemic — a “slam” on the then-new and growing religion called Christianity. Such religious critique is all but absent from contemporary Seders, but the anti-Christian roots of the event are unmistakable.

A church Seder is thus a Christian event rooted in anti-Christianity. It makes about as much sense as a GOP rally for Barack Obama or a symphony boosters fundraiser for punk rock.

Furthermore, while it is true that the Seder celebrates salvation, it celebrates salvation as Jews understand it, which is quite different from the Christian concept.

In Judaism, salvation happens here in this world, not in heaven; in Judaism, we achieve salvation through the performance of the sacred acts God commanded of us, not through belief; in Judaism, salvation is always collective and never individual. And it is this Jewish notion of salvation that the Seder celebrates — not the Christian one.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so critical. After all, Christianity was founded on a repackaging of Judaism — on new understandings of Jewish scripture and values. Christians turn to the Hebrew Bible as their “Old Testament,” after all. And while I disagree with many Christian understandings of the Bible, I can certainly live with, and even celebrate, their embrace of it as a sacred text.

But the Seder is different. It’s one thing for Jews and Christians to diverge in our understanding of certain elements of our shared past, as we do with the Bible. But, having chosen to leave the Jewish fold, it strikes me as disingenuous for Christianity to reach back into Judaism to co-opt Jewish rituals that developed only after we split.

The Passover Seder is a delightful celebration. To see for yourself, ask a Jewish friend if they or someone they know might have an extra place at their Seder table this year. In all likelihood, there will be great food, terrific music and a warm, lively spirit around the table. Plus, unlike Christian events that go by the same name, this celebration will be a real Seder, a sacred Jewish celebration of our past and future journeys toward redemption.

Rabbi Mark S. Glickman leads Congregation Kol Shalom on Bainbridge Island and Congregation Kol Ami in Woodinville. Readers may send feedback to faithcolumns@seattletimes.com

By Rabbi Mark Glickman

Special to The Seattle Times

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20080412&slug=glickman12m

1 Corinthians 5:7: Christ is our Passover Lamb!

Does this mean that we should try to celebrate the Passover as the Jews, who rejected Christ did to learn about Christ? Or does this mean that we should learn from Christ what the Passover really was about? If we learn from Christ, we ought to do what Christ tells us to do in remembrance of Him.

Place of Sacrifice: ²And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose, to make his name dwell there. … ⁵You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, ⁶but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 16:2, 5-6

Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, chapter 12: The Paschal Feast and the Lord’s Supper

https://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf

The Modern Ceremonies At present and for many centuries back the Paschal Supper has been thus laid out: three large unleavened cakes, wrapped in the folds of a napkin, are placed on a salver, and on them the seven articles necessary for the ‘Passover Supper’ are ranged in this manner: A roasted Egg Roasted Shankbone of a Lamb (Instead of the 14th day Chagigah) (Instead of the Paschal Lamb) Charoseth Bitter Lettuce (To represent the mortar of Egypt) Herbs Salt Water, Chervil and Parsley
Present Ritual not the Same as the New Testament Times But, unfortunately, the analogy does not hold good. As the present Passover liturgy contains comparatively very few relics from New Testament times, so also the present arrangement of the Paschal table evidently dates from a time when sacrifices had ceased. On the other hand, however, by far the greater number of the usages observed in our own days are precisely the same as eighteen hundred years ago. A feeling, not of gratified curiosity, but of holy awe, comes over us, as thus we are able to pass back through those many centuries into the upper chamber where the Lord Jesus partook of that Passover which, with the loving desire of a Saviour’s heart, He had desired to eat with His disciples. The leading incidents of the feast are all vividly before us—the handling of ‘the sop dipped in the dish,’ ‘the breaking of bread,’ ‘the giving thanks,’ ‘the distributing of the cup,’ and ‘the concluding hymn.’ Even the exact posture at the Supper is known to us. But the words associated with those sacred memories come with a strange sound when we find in Rabbinical writings the ‘Passover lamb’ * designated as ‘His body,’ or when our special attention is called to the cup known as ‘the cup of blessing, which we bless’; nay, when the very term for the Passover liturgy itself, the ‘Haggadah,’ ** which means ‘showing forth,’ is exactly the same as that used by St. Paul in describing the service of the Lord’s Supper! (1 Cor 11:23-29) * The words of the Mishnah (Pes. x. 3) are: ‘While the Sanctuary stood, they brought before him his body of (or for) the Passover.’ The term ‘body’ also sometimes means ‘substance.’ ** The same root as employed in Exodus 13:8—’And thou shalt show thy son in that day,’ and from this the term ‘Haggadah’ has unquestionably been derived.
Concerning the 4 cups of wine: The same authority variously accounts for the number four as either corresponding to the four words used about Israel’s redemption (bringing out, delivering, redeeming, taking), or to the fourfold mention of the cup in connection with the chief butler’s dream (Gen 40:9-15), or to the four cups of vengeance which God would in the future give the nations to drink (Jer 25:15; 51:7; Psa 75:8; 11:6), while four cups of consolation would be handed to Israel, as it is written: ‘The Lord is the portion of my cup’ (Psa 16:5); ‘My cup runneth over’ (Psa 23:5); ‘I will take the cup of salvation’ (Psa 116:13), ‘which,’ it is added, ‘was two’—perhaps from a second allusion to it in verse 17. In connection with this the following parabolic story from the Talmud may possess some interest: ‘The holy and blessed God will make a feast for the righteous in the day that His mercy shall be shown to the seed of Israel. After they have eaten and drunk, they give the cup of blessing to Abraham our father. But he saith: I cannot bless it, because Ishmael came from me. Then he gives it to Isaac. But he saith: I cannot bless it, because Esau came from me. Then he hands it to Jacob. But he saith: I cannot take it, because I married two sisters, which is forbidden in the Law. He saith to Moses: Take it and bless it. But he replies: I cannot, because I was not counted worthy to come into the land of Israel, either alive or dead. He saith to Joshua: Take it and bless it. But he answers: I cannot, because I have no son. He saith to David: Take it and bless it. And he replies: I will bless it, and it is fit for me so to do, as it is written, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.”’
The Mishnah Account: Rabbi Gamaliel, the teacher of St. Paul, said (Pes. x. 15): ‘Whoever does not explain three things in the Passover has not fulfilled the duty incumbent on him. These three things are: the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The Passover lamb means that God passed over the blood-sprinkled place on the houses of our fathers in Egypt; the unleavened bread means that our fathers were delivered out of Egypt (in haste); and the bitter herbs mean that the Egyptians made bitter the lives of our fathers in Egypt.’
The Herbs: A very interesting ceremony now took place (after the eating of bitter herbs and filling of the second cup),It had been enjoined in the law that at each Paschal Supper the father was to show his son the import of this festival. By way of carrying out this duty, the son (or else the youngest) was directed at this particular part of the service to make inquiry; and, if the child were too young or incapable, the father would do it for him.
Breaking of the Bread: Pieces of the broken cake with ‘bitter herbs’ between them, and ‘dipped’ in the Charoseth, were next handed to each in the company. This, in all probability, was ‘the sop’ which, in answer to John’s inquiry about the betrayer, the Lord ‘gave’ to Judas (John 13:25, etc.; compare Matt 26:21, etc.; Mark 14:18, etc.). The unleavened bread with bitter herbs constituted, in reality, the beginning of the Paschal Supper, to which the first part of the service had only served as a kind of introduction. But as Judas, after ‘having received the sop, went immediately out,’ he could not even have partaken of the Paschal lamb, far less of the Lord’s Supper. The solemn discourses of the Lord recorded by St. John (John 13:31; 16) may therefore be regarded as His last ‘table-talk,’ and the intercessory prayer that followed (John 17) as His ‘grace after meat.’
The Third Cup: Immediately afterwards the third cup was drunk, a special blessing having been spoken over it. There cannot be any reasonable doubt that this was the cup which our Lord connected with His own Supper. It is called in Jewish writings, just as by St. Paul (1 Cor 10:16), ‘the cup of blessing,’ partly because it and the first cup required a special ‘blessing,’ and partly because it followed on the ‘grace after meat.’
The service concluded with the fourth cup, over which the second portion of the ‘Hallel’ was sung, consisting of Psalms 115, 116, 117, and 118, the whole ending with the so-called ‘blessing of the song,’ which comprised these two brief prayers.
The Supper in Our Lord’s Time: ‘When the hour was come’ for the commencement of the Paschal Supper, Jesus ‘sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him,’ all, as usual at the feast, ‘leaning’ (John 13:23), John on ‘Jesus’ bosom,’ being placed next before Him, and Judas apparently next behind, while Simon Peter faced John, and was thus able to ‘beckon unto him’ when he wished inquiry to be made of the Lord. The disciples being thus ranged, the Lord Jesus ‘took the cup and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves’ (Luke 22:17). This was the first cup, over which the first prayer in the service was spoken. Next, as in duty bound, all washed their hands, only that the Lord here also gave meaning to the observance, when, expanding the service into Christian fellowship over His broken body, He ‘riseth from Supper,’ ‘and began to wash the disciples’ feet’ (John 13:4,5). It is thus we explain how this ministry, though calling forth Peter’s resistance to the position which the Master took, did not evoke any question as to its singularity. As the service proceeded, the Lord mingled teaching for the present with the customary lessons of the past (John 13:12-20); for, as we have seen considerable freedom was allowed, provided the instruction proper at the feast were given. The first part of the ‘Hallel’ had been sung, and in due order He had taken the ‘bread of poverty’ and the ‘bitter herbs,’ commemorative of the sorrow and the bitterness of Egypt, when ‘He was troubled in spirit’ about ‘the root of bitterness’ about to spring up among, and to ‘trouble’ them, by which ‘many would be defiled.’ The general concern of the disciples as to which of their number should betray Him, found expression in the gesture of Peter. His friend John understood its meaning, and ‘lying back on Jesus’ breast,’ he put the whispered question, to which the Lord replied by giving ‘the sop’ of unleavened bread with bitter herbs, ‘when He had dipped’ it, to Judas Iscariot.
Judas Iscariot: And then it was, after the regular Paschal meal, that the Lord instituted His own Supper, for the first time using the Aphikomen ‘when He had given thanks’ (after meat), to symbolise His body, and the third cup, or ‘cup of blessing which we bless’ (1 Cor 10:16)—being ‘the cup after supper’ (Luke 22:20)—to symbolise His blood. ‘And when they had sung an hymn’ (Psa 115-118) ‘they went out into the mount of Olives’ (Matt 26:30).

Final Takeaways

No Haggadah text for Seder known today older than tenth century.
Even if we were to know the actual Haggadah used at the time of Christ, it is very questionable that Christ would have used it.
In the institution of the Sacrament, Jesus calls the cup the “New Testament” in His blood, signaling the end of the “Old Covenant.” Hebrews 8:13: “In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
When Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He speaks of the Sacrament of the Altar, not a seder.
It makes no more sense to celebrate a Seder than it does to perform any other animal sacrifice.
Because of the destruction of the temple, no Seder today is a replication of what Jesus did. The Jews reinvented the Seder in reaction to two historical events. 1. The destruction of the Temple, which significantly changed how the Seder was carried out. 2. The claim of Christ and His Christians that Christ is the true Passover Lamb. The foci of Jewish Haggadoth purposefully avoid Christ’s fulfillment of the Passover.
Celebrating a Seder gives the false impression that a person is learning the historical context of the first Lord’s Supper.
Celebrating a Seder does not bridge a gap with the Jewish community, but at best offends them, at worse, practices syncretism.
The best way to learn the great significance of the Passover is to hear the Gospel of Christ Jesus, the true and final Passover Lamb and to receive His body and the New Testament in His blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.