Passover Celebration

This past Sunday our church family celebrated a Passover Seder together. It was a wonderful experience. I've read and heard about the Passover all my life, but I've never participated in one until now. We were led by Stephen Fenchel, a Messianic Jew who serves with Chosen People Ministries. Stephen and his wife Carol (read their fascinating bio here) serve as missionaries to the largely unreached Jewish population in this country. According to Stephen, the Jewish race is only .01% Christian.

As far as the feast was concerned, the best part was the way Stephen illustrated how this meal points directly to Jesus Christ. Numerous aspects of the Passover, even those practiced by secular Jews, clearly point to one person: Jesus.

Below are some photos from the feast. I wish we could have taken more, but we were all too busy listening and eating.

The Haggadah is a text that tells the order of the Passover Seder.

Here we see the calm before the storm.

This is the head table, where Stephen led the seder. The cushioned-chair is for Elijah.

Stephen Fenchel in action. Yes, that's me behind Stephen adroitly holding a cup.

Our church family enjoying the seder together

Participating in a Passover Meal

I am looking forward to this Sunday night because our church family is going to get to do something that most of us have never done before: participate in a real Passover meal.

Stephen Fenchel of Chosen People Ministries is going to spend Sunday with our church family. Stephen is a Messianic Jew who lives in New York City. Since it is Pentecost Sunday, Stephen will speak about the significance of Pentecost during our morning gathering.

The real excitement, however, is about what is going to happen in the evening. Stephen is going to lead our church family through a Passover Seder. However, he will do more than that. Stephen will also point out the many ways Jesus Christ, the Messiah, can be seen in the Passover and ultimately fulfills the Passover.

I have been looking forward to this time for several months. The main reason for this is that we are actually going to participate in the meal. We are not going to just sit watching Stephen tell us what happens during the Passover. We are actually going to all partake of the meal together.

Over the past several days I have found out that putting together a Passover meal requires quite a bit of preparation. There are many different symbols that I want to be certain to get right. Also, I hope we don't accidentally do something wrong like somehow add leaven or pig to the meal. We'll do the best we can and hope for the best.

My real hope is for our church family. By participating in this meal together, my hope is that we will all cherish Jesus Christ a little more deeply. My desire is that we gain an even richer understanding of what He has accomplished for us. In addition, I hope that participating in this way will inform our future celebrations of the Lord's Supper.

We may make some mistakes in the Passover meal preparation, but that is really not the main issue. The issue is seeing Christ in the midst of this wonderful feast.