Come Follow Me LDS- Easter, Episode 4:- Seder (Passover)

- A Christian approach to the Seder Meal
- Christ as the unleavened bread and the wine
- The Messiah as the focus of the Passover Meal

 

 

Come Follow Me Easter

LDS Mormon

 

all right in this episode we're going to

talk about the Seder which is the

Passover meal also known to Christians

as the Last Supper here we go all right

since there really aren't any events

that are recorded on Wednesday of the

Holy Week what I thought we would do is

take a look at the Seder meal which is

the Passover meal it is the Last Supper

and take a little bit of a Christian

approach to this meal after all again

being that if this is Passover the

primary focus here really is about the

Messiah about Jesus Christ and keep in

mind as we go through this and look at

the symbolism of this tradition what

Jesus and the Apostles may have been

thinking as they went through this

process this Seder which means an order

or a sequence in this meal and look

closely at the symbolism that reflects

Jesus Christ and the doctrine of Christ

now we're not going to cover this in

depth I am certainly no expert of the

Seder meal but there is some symbolism

here that I think is really important

and that ties a lot of things together

for this week and even for the entire

gospel the entire history of Israel and

even going back to the time of

Genesis and so remember that with a

principle of temple imagery and drama

inside of that principle of or that

filter that scriptural filter is also

ritual and that's what we have here with

the Seder meal it is a ritual and

therefore when there are words

sometimes phrases that are given in the

scriptures it could be a direct

reference to a ritual of some sort that

we may not understand in modern times

but this is one of those rituals and

there's a lot that we can glean from

just a simple cursory review of how this

meal works so first of all what would

happen in a Seder meal is that you would

have the women of the house they're

gonna go around and they're going to

remove all of the leaven all of the

yeast out of the house all of it has to

be gone can't be put away

you know today even in a garage or

anywhere you have to get rid of

everything and what they would do is

they would leave just a little bit

somewhere somewhere in the house for the

father to find and he goes around he

finds it he may have like a feather or

something that he would have had and

maybe a wood spoon or something and he

would find that little bit and he would

get that last little bit and put her

onto the spoon and then remove it from

the house so that the entire home in a

sense has been purified

remember what leaven represents Jesus

talks about the leaven of the Pharisees

right at eleven of the Pharisees and the

Sadducees he talks about that being

hypocrisy but overall the sense of what

leaven is sin and think about how

that would apply to the Passover the

original Passover when the Israelites

had to leave Egypt quickly and they

couldn't wait for the bread to rise with

eleven that is a representation of

getting out of sin getting out of

bondage and so you don't wait around for

that you take care of it now it's like

like we're told in the Book of Mormon

right the day of your repentance it's

now it's today it's purification

it's make your decision now get out of

bondage get out away from sin and do it

right now don't wait for the bread to

rise

from the leaven so purifying the house

is the first thing you'd want to do and

you remember that Jesus tells the

disciples or some of the disciples to go

find the upper room and prepare things

for the Passover meal for the Seder and

that would be a part of that process

they would have to purify and clean the

room clean the entire house of all of

the leaven and a few other things the

next thing that the women would do is

they would there would be candles that

would be set on the table where the

feast is going to happen and so they

would be responsible for lighting the

candles before everyone came in and sat

down and they would be bringing the

light in for this feast so there would

be with the Seder meal four cups of wine

that's the first thing to know and then

there's going to be unleavened bread

also now there are some other things

that we'll discuss but those are the two

primary things I want you to think about

now what you would do first is you would

have a blessing on the wine and then you

would drink from the first cup and the

first cup of wine is the blood is the is

the cup of sanctification right so you

would be sanctified first you would

sanctify yourself kind of cleanse

yourself taking a blessing before you

started everything so that would be the

first thing that you would do and then

having done that you would have a bowl

that would be with you that would be

filled with water and you would take

that and maybe pass it around or people

would lean in and put their hands in to

the bowl and ritually clean their hands

grab a towel and they would they would

dry off and so everybody's going to wash

their hands with this bowl now what

Jesus seems to do is once this is done

is he actually goes around and uses that

bowl which is part of this tradition and

actually washes the feet of all of the

disciples or the Apostles there that are

with him as

well so that bowl is a part of that

Seder meal and then you would start in

with a few of the items that you have on

a platter one of those things would be

parsley or something similar to parsley

some type of green vegetable that

represents the springtime and you would

take that and you would dip it into some

salt water and the salt water represents

the tears for the difficulty that the

Israelites had in in Egypt then

they're going to have the unleavened

bread and what they'll have is they'll

have a bag like today at least I know

that they'll have a bag basically that

has three different pouches in it and

within those three pouches they would

have three pieces of the unleavened

bread right so the matzo which is

really basically large crackers here

today would be each one of these pieces

would be inside of one of these pouches

inside of the back and they would reach

in there and they would take out the

middle piece and they would take that

piece and they would break it typically

there's one piece that would be larger

than the other but they would break the

pieces okay and these pieces and it's

hard to see with that background there

these pieces here are going to be

separated and one piece is going to go

back into the bag with the other two

pieces in the center it's the center

piece and the other piece is going to

you're going to take that piece and

they're going to wrap it into a white

linen cloth so they would cover that up

fold it up right and there they have the

afikomen is what it's called which means

desert or the last part of the meal and

the father then is going to take this

off he Coleman and he is going to get up

from the table and he's gonna go

somewhere around the house and he's

going to hide it in a sin

he's burying this piece of unleavened

bread now thinking about the bread here

think about the words of Jesus where he

says I am the bread of life that's an

important thing to remember here again

when people talk about bread when he

makes references to certain symbols

there's a lot of context that we lose

today because we don't go through these

rituals think about what is going on

here this is this is the Last Supper

this is the night that Jesus is going to

go into Gethsemane and it is the eve

before he will be crucified the

following day and what are we going

through in this process here we are

going through what is really a prophecy

about Christ apparently which is really

what Passover is all about secondarily

it would be about coming out of Egypt

but primarily this is all about Christ

as the sacrificial lamb and the bread of

life all right then the children get

involved and they're gonna ask for

different questions I'm not going to go

over all of them that basically says why

are we doing this tonight and this is

scripted and they're gonna say you know

why is this so different why are we

eating bitter herbs tonight why are we

reclining only because they recline as

they eat the Seder and a number of few

different questions about why things are

so different and then the father will

answer those and we'll go through the

story of the exodus at that point and

it's a story that is repeated over

and over again you think about why the

Jews are still a people in a sense when

they've been scattered all around it

wasn't until recently I mean really the

last few years that there were actually

more Jews today in Israel than there are

anywhere else any other single country

in the world and so you have a people

that have been scattered for ever since

since the Romans taught the Roman time

and yet there's still a people and this

is one of those reasons this is one of

those rituals with a story that is told

and retold and retold every single year

stories are very important and then

they'll take the second cup and the

second cup is the cup of judgment and

with that cup they will dip their finger

in it ten times and each time they'll

repeat the word of whatever the plague

was the ten the ten plagues and the last

one of those plagues is the Angel of

Death passing over the firstborn right

where the sacrificial lamb blood is put

on the doorpost in the lentil above and

it is an interesting concept here when

you think about the fact that the first

nine plagues are all that the Israelites

had no involvement with them whatsoever

right so they're pleading their prophet

Moses is trying to free them out of

bondage and the first nine of these

plagues are all about trying to help the

situation where God is trying to help

the situation by putting these plagues

out to the Egyptians these plagues do

not affect the Israelites right they've

got the frogs the locusts you know

all of these none of them affect the

Israelites it's only the Egyptians that

are affected the land of Goshen where

they reside the Israelites reside is not

affected by any of these plagues but the

tenth plague the tenth plague the

ultimate plague the Israelites have to

be involved they have to do something

and they have to take the sacrum the

blood of the sacrificial lamb and put it

on the doorposts and that's kind of

interesting I think because the first

nine what if you're praying for release

from something you're trying to get over

an obstacle in your life and the Lord

could affect something that is external

from you right that something external

could change that you have no

responsibility over and wouldn't that be

great something you know I pray for this

and this over here changed but

ultimately being freed of something and

getting out of bondage and getting out

of sin does take your involvement that

requires your involvement and so here

the Israelites finally have to do

something they get involved and the last

plague is about the firstborn and the

atonement the sacrificial lamb and when

they do this then they are freed then

they're able to get out of Egypt and

get out of bondage that's the lesson for

us here with that story of the Exodus

and the Passover is that a lot of things

could help me help for us external

things could change in our help us in a

situation that we're praying for that we

need a change in but ultimately for

things to really change for us we need

to change internally and we need to

participate and we need to draw on the

blood of the sacrifice on the atonement

to be able to be freed and out of

bondage out of sin or anything else that

would be an OPS of an obstacle for us to

progress so then they drink from the

second Cup where they've been dipping

their fingers for the plagues and then

they have the bowl again and they wash

their hands again in the bowl and they

dry that off and then they take the

unleavened bread another piece out of

that bag right out of the power one of

the pouches and they take that and they

break it up they break it apart and you

would dip that into the bitter herbs

which is probably primarily horseradish

is what they're dipping it in and you

remember that

Jesus says whoever dips with me eats

with me dips with me here is the one who

is going to betray me

well that horseradish those bitter herbs

represent a oppression they represent

despair it represents you know

everything negative that the Israelites

are experiencing in Egypt and here the

great maybe one of the greatest

negatives you could have is betrayal and

so Judas is dipping in at the same time

with him and getting that horseradish

and that's supposed to require again

some it you get a bunch of it and it's

going to make you tear up a little bit

and so that's what that represents so

it's pretty interesting and then after

that would come the meal and in that

meal then you would be eating the

sacrificial lamb that had been

sacrificed at the temple or near the

temple

well again think about what would be in

the mind of Jesus and what would be in

the mind of the Apostles as they're

going through all of this Jesus is the

sacrificial lamb this meal is all about

ultimately about him and his sacrifice

that's what the Last Supper is about we

get this idea because of the word

Institute that this is something new

that he's instituting the sacrament at

this time this is not new it says the

same thing in the Book of Mormon when he

goes to bountiful and has this basically

Institute's the sacrament with them this

is that doesn't mean it's something new

it means that it is part of the New

Covenant in other words he's bringing in

the new covenant which has everything to

do with the atonement and the

fulfillment of that atonement but the

Seder has been happening all the way

back since the time of the Israelites in

the desert and maybe even before because

you remember Abraham has something

with this when he goes and he has the

bread and the wine with Melchizedek who

is the king of Salem which is Jerusalem

and they have this together so this may

be some type of a Seder meal that

they're having together or some type of

a traditional meal it would seem why

else would you mention it that very

possibly very likely could have the same

type of representation about Christ and

about the atonement that would make a

lot of sense

so once the sacrificial lamb has been

eaten they've had their feast then the

children are gonna go out and start

looking for the afikomen which is what

the father had hidden in that white

linen and they go around the house

around the room wherever it is and they

look for this piece of unleavened bread

that's been wrapped up and buried

basically and when they find it they

bring it back to their dad and he has to

redeem it in other words he gives a gift

to the children for bringing that back

then they the dad takes that he takes

the white linen that is wrapped around

the afikomen and he takes out the piece

of the unleavened bread and then he

would take the linen perhaps you'd see

where I'm going with this and maybe fold

it up and put it down somewhere on the

table so we can think about Christ when

he is resurrected and he's out of the

tomb what is left there well he is

covered in that tomb with linen with a

shrub we've heard about the Shroud right

so he's covered with linen while he's in

there and then he leaves and then it's

folded up for him or it's folded up

where he was laying down when the

Apostles come in and Mary is there to

find that he is

so great representation of the

resurrection here and so you have the

unleavened bread that was hidden or

buried away and then while it was buried

it was wrapped up in linen and then that

is removed and folded and put onto the

table and Jesus is the bread of life

right so that's an example which could

be if not exclusively at least partially

a reference to the Seder meal remember

that a lot of the teachings of Jesus a

lot of the account that are given in the

gospel happen around the time of

Passover so when he has the miracle with

the four thousand with the five thousand

and he has all of the bread that is I

believe one of them if not both of them

I think both of them are right around

the time of Passover and so this could

even be who knows this could even be

some kind of a large community Seder

that they're having and said they would

know what this means and so if Jesus is

saying that at this time and he's saying

I am the bread of life and he's

distributed it out to everybody and

they're taking that they would know

they're supposed to take that but when

he says I am the bread of life he's

saying I am the Christ I am the Savior I

am the one that will be buried away and

that will ray it will be risen afterward

so something to think about there and

once this is now taken out then it is

broken up into pieces just like we would

do with a sacrament now you would take

these pieces and you would distribute

them around to the people that are at

the breathy at the table they need to be

at least the size of an olive is kind of

what the rabbi's have said and so here

Jesus this is right when Jesus would be

saying here partake of this take of this

broken bread and this is my body so here

we had the afikomen and he this is him

and he's saying take this this is my

body in other words this has been going

on for 1500 years or more and it's a

representation of Christ

this is him and he's distributing this

around to everybody there to the

apostles and saying this is my body

right and then we get to the third cup

of wine now this is very interesting to

me

where I like to look at things through

another filter which is the higher in

the lower law the first two cups

sanctification and judgment would apply

probably to the lower law here the third

Cup once he's gone in and distributed

this piece of bread right here the third

cup is the cup of redemption and they

then partake of the cup of redemption

and this is where Jesus would say you

know partake of this this is my blood so

when they're drinking this as this is

being passed around or they each have a

cup or however it worked

they're drinking the cup of redemption

and so that is the sacrament it is all

about Christ and had been all about

Christ the whole time remember that the

prophets since the beginning of time

have all prophesied of Christ so it's

not just a matter of us going back and

looking at the traditions and thinking

that we're trying to work some way a

Christian angle on the Old Testament all

of the prophets as we know we know that

from the Book of Mormon from the

Doctrine and Covenants from the restore

to gospel all of the prophets from the

beginning of time have prophesied about

Christ it has always been the center of

the preaching in the center of the

gospel and so this Seder this meal is

commanded by God for the Israelites to

follow back in I think it's in Leviticus

and in Exodus it's at least in

Leviticus

and it lines out what to do for this

meal

well this is about Christ this is about

the coming of the Messiah and how we

would focus or how the Israelites would

focus on the doctrine of Christ each and

every year during the time of Passover

but apparently at some point or over a

period of time as will always happen

except at least not fully this time

around the doctrine of Christ is watered

down or changed or lost and it's hard to

imagine that this type of a tradition

commanded by God would not have been

centered on his son and on Christ and

then finally we get to the fourth cup of

wine and there is a cup here along with

that fourth cup that is the cup of

Elijah now remember that after that

Jesus had taken that third cup with his

apostles he said I will not partake of

this again I will not partake of wine

the wine again until I come back after

and this is in the second coming so he

does not probably take this fourth cup

the others might but he doesn't take it

why because the fourth cup is the cup of

praise and it is the cup of Elijah that

they would be taking and what is

Elijah's job to do here yes he is a

restorer but he is also again going back

to the Elias and Elijah conundrum that

we've had before and that doctrine he is

a preparer and Elijah will return before

the Messiah comes in so that's what the

Jews believe the Messiah is kind of

somebody else a king a warrior that will

come back and start the kingdom in

Jerusalem anew but here Elijah is going

to come and he is going to Harold be a

harbinger for the Messiah for

and so they might have a chair there

with pillows for an old man to sit in

with Elijah and they will go and they

might open the door at this time

inviting Elijah to come in for the sit

for the Seder and that cup of wine is

for him but see he's not coming yet he's

there in mortality but the Messiah is

not coming back with all of his glory

for with all of the kingdom of God at

this time and so he doesn't partake of

the cup of Elijah of the fourth cup all

of this fits perfectly with a Seder all

of the events that we see in the Last

Supper are part of this Seder meal the

Passover meal and they are all about

Christ and you can imagine they've taken

this they've done this Seder a couple

years before together at least a couple

years before but since Jesus started his

ministry this would be his third

Passover with the Apostles and you can

imagine maybe some of the discussions

that would have come about as Jesus had

the Seder with the Apostles that is all

about him and his sacrifice I hope this

gives you a little bit more insight

we'll cover more the events of the Last

Supper on the following episode I'll

talk to you next time