The Family Ministries Staff
would like to invite your family to join with our families in creating an
Easter memory. We are offering you an opportunity to lead your family in a meal
time Faith Talk. This year, for Jewish families, the Passover Seders fall on
Sunday and Monday nights, the 14th and 15th of April, 2014. We encourage you to have this meal sometime during Holy
Week April 14 -19, 2013. Each day during Holy week you can read about what
happen during this Faith Talk in the homes of our Family Pastors here.
This meal time Faith Talk is
a simple meal patterned after a highbred of the Jewish Passover Meal, or Seder,
and the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples.
The Passover/Seder/Last
Supper is a meal that tells a story about freedom. It should be fun for the
whole family and also tell the story of freedom because of Jesus’ sacrifice on
the cross.
An actual Jewish Passover
Seder has 15 symbolic steps. If you would like to include all 15 steps in your Passover/Seder/Last Supper you can discover all 15 steps here.
Below are a
few ideas you can incorporate into your families Faith Talk. You can
incorporate them all or just a few (remember to include the story, the bread,
and the juice).
- Wash Your Hands together as a family. This is symbolic of preparing for a special night or worship and learning. The Jewish Passover involved 2 washing of the hands. The second washing includes a blessing.
- Recline on the floor as a family while you eat the Passover/Seder/Last Supper. When the Jews were slaves in Egypt only people who were free could recline to eat. Slaves could never recline, but tonight we are like royalty, so lay back and lean to the left in the manner of kings and queens!
- The Appetizer. Take a small piece of vegetable (parsley, onion or potato) and dip it in salt water to remember the many tears the Jews shed when they were slaves in Egypt. Talk about salty tears and the slaves may have cried.
- Bitter Herbs. Take the bitter herbs and Romaine lettuce which reminds us of the bitter times in Egypt, dip them into a sweet sauce and start chewing. The sweet taste quickly becomes bitter to remind us of the bitterness of slavery.
- Break the Unleavened Bread (Matzah). Take the Matzah and break it in two. Tell why the Matzah bread is thin and dry. The Unleavened was to remind the Jews that when Moses commanded the Jewish slaves to leave Egypt there would not be time for the bread to rise.
- Pour the Juice (Wine) Pour a small amount into each cup. During the story stop and ask every to finish their entire cup of juice. In the Jewish Passover there are 4 symbolic cups. Each time the cup in completely finished.
Tell the Story
PASSOVER MEAL
- Over two and a half thousand years ago, God saved the Jewish people and took them out of slavery in Egypt, leading them through the Split Sea and into the land of Israel.
- Each year we celebrate our redemption from Egypt by reading the story of Passover out loud during the Passover Seder. Here’s how it all began...
- For a long time, Pharaoh’s advisors had been warning him as to the growing threat of the Jewish nation. His sorcerers had seen in the stars that a Jewish boy would be born who would grow up, overturn the entire Egyptian empire and lead his people to freedom.
- “All Jews must work from sunrise to sunset...without pay!” Pharaoh declared.
- “Children must work as hard as adults. No parents are allowed to spend time with their kids. Egyptians may use a Jewish slave to do whatever they need.”
- And worst of all: “All Jewish baby boys are to be thrown into the Nile!”
- A Jewish woman called Jochebed had a baby boy. Desperately trying to save his life, she hid him until he was three months old, then placed him in a basket and sent him floating down the Nile river. His sister Miriam watched him float, hiding amongst the reeds on the banks of the river. The floating basket was picked up by the Princess of Egypt – Pharaoh’s own daughter! Discovering the beautiful infant inside, she named him Moses and took him to the palace where he grew up in the lap of luxury. MOSES IS SAVED (Finish the 1st Cup and pour the 2nd Cup)
- Despite the fact that he grew up in the palace, Moses could not bear to see the suffering of the Jewish people. One day, Moses saw an Egyptian slave owner, savagely whipping a Jewish slave to death. Furious, Moses defended the slave with violence and the slaveowner died. Certain that Pharaoh’s officers would be after him, Moses fled to a place called Midian.
- Moses lived in Midian for a number of years, and was a shepherd for his father-in-law, Jethro. One day, a lamb ran away from the rest of the flock. Moses chased after it and saw a strange sight: a bush covered in fire, yet the bush was not being burnt by the flames! Amazed Moses drew even nearer, and all of a sudden heard the voice of God speaking to him. “Go down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let My people go!” God is go into to free His people from slavery! (Finish the 2nd Cup and pour the 3rd Cup)
- Moses and his brother Aaron came before Pharaoh. “Let my people go!” they declared. But Pharaoh just laughed. They threatened Pharaoh with 10 terrible plagues if he did not listen to God, but he did not believe them. Plague after plague soon struck the Egyptians, each one more shocking than the next. Blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, sick animals, boils, hail, locusts, darkness – and the worst plague of all – death of the firstborn.
- Finally, Pharaoh had enough. He ran frantically through the streets of Egypt searching for Moses. “Go!” He yelled, “And take all the Jews with you!
- Moses sent word to all the Jews. “The time has come” he told them, “grab your bags and get ready to leave at once. Don’t wait for your bread to rise, just go!” The Jews left Egypt with sacks on their backs, and faith in their hearts.
- The Jews walked until they reached the sea. And there they stopped. They were trapped! They could see the Egyptian army chasing after them, they were ready to fight to the death. Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was chasing after his slaves, trying to recapture them. God told Moses to stretch his arm out over the waters, and all at once, the sea split! Miraculously, the Jews were able to walk through on dry land, but as soon as the Egyptians stepped foot in the sea, the walls of water came crashing down on them. The Jews were free! (Finish the 3rd Cup and pour the 4th Cup)
- Jesus arranged for His disciples to have a secret, private Passover meal. Every part of the meal was highly symbolic - yet it had no meaning without the lamb. The Passover lamb was a symbold that pointed to Jesus.
- Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb is for each household
- Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb is to be a first born male, without blemish - Jesus is a first born male, without blemish.
- Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed at twilight.
- The Passover lamb's offering stops work - Jesus' complete work on the cross allows us to rest from our own works and rest in the finished work of Christ.
- The Passover lamb's blood must be applied to the door - Jesus is the only door for God.
- The Passover lamb is a memorial - We remember God; He remembers us.
- The sacrifice is to be explained to future generations. Jesus' Supper is a memorial too.
- During the meal He warned them that things were about to become very difficult. One of the disciples was going to betray Him. Jesus knew that following Him during the cross would be very scary.
- Then Jesus explained how the bread was like His body (break the Unleavened Matzah bread again) and the wine was like His blood. Jesus was saying that he was going to give His life, lay down His body, and spill His blood on the cross 3␣ so that He could give us freedom. (Finish the 4th Cup)
- Pray as a family and be thankful.
Scriptures:
Exodus 2:2-4 "The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was
beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide
him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She
placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4
Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him. 5
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls
walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her
slave girl to get it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy,
crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”
Exodus 3:3-7 "So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up? 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. 5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 7 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey."
Exodus 12:1-27 “When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people bowed down and worshiped."
John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Luke 4:14-20 [Jesus said,] “He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives”
Mark 14:12-25 "As they were eating, He took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, and so they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many.”
Philippians 2:5-11 "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Exodus 3:3-7 "So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up? 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. 5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 7 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey."
Exodus 12:1-27 “When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people bowed down and worshiped."
John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Luke 4:14-20 [Jesus said,] “He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives”
Mark 14:12-25 "As they were eating, He took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, and so they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many.”
Philippians 2:5-11 "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
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