Passover is the Biblical feast of salvation and redemption. On Passover we commemorate that we are no longer slaves and live in freedom. We celebrate freedom on different levels. First of all, we remember that God has released the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. This exodus is a prelude to a larger exodus; the spiritual exodus that Yeshua has given us for all the world. It is no coincidence that the story of the freedom of slavery coincides with the story of Yeshua who bought us free from darkness. Passover is the feast that Christians may celebrate as a redemption feast from their spiritual “Egypt” through the blood of the Messiah.
“The Passover dinner is not just a picture of the Israelites’ redemption from slavery, but also a remembrance of Yeshua’s salvation for all humankind.” Awestruck by Glory
So why should Christians celebrate Passover?
1. It is a feast created and instituted, by God Himself. A feast designed by God to celebrate in his honor forever. “This is a meal in honor of the LORD, the Passover meal.” Exodus 12:11. “You must celebrate it as an eternal ordinance throughout all your generations” (Exodus 12:14).
2. Yeshua said: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.’” (Luke 22:15). Yeshua says here that He is eager to celebrate Passover with His disciples.
3. It is a clear Biblical assignment for Israel (Exodus 12) and for those who have been added to Israel (According to Romans 2:29, Christians are circumcised of the heart, and according to Romans 11 they have been grafted into Israel).
4. In all gospels, the Lord calls His disciples to celebrate Passover (Matthew 26: 17-19, Mark 14:12, Luke 22: 8, John 13: 1). We are also His disciples.
5. During the Last Supper, the night before Passover, Yeshua gave clear instructions: “Do this in memory of Me.” Yeshua called His disciples to celebrate Passover in honor of Him. Therefore we do it to remember what He has done for us and to partake of His suffering. Yeshua Himself celebrated Passover at the Last Supper and showed us how to remember Him through it in the New Covenant. Passover is the origin of the communion. Of course we can celebrate communion every day. But it is extra special to celebrate at God’s appointed time in honor of the Lamb of God who died for us on this day.
6. On Passover we tell the story of the liberation from the slavery of Egypt and the liberation of the slavery from sin through the blood of the Lamb, Messiah Yeshua, for all of humanity. We tell the testimony of his story. Telling a testimony is asking God to do it again. The Testimony of Jesus is the greatest Testimony of all. We honor Yeshua, the Lamb of God, by telling how He has set us free on this day.
7. Yeshua fulfilled this feast with his life and the feast speaks about Him. It is part of his life. By celebrating Passover, we become even more aware that Jesus actually fulfilled the day and hour spring festivals by showing the true meaning of those festivals in His suffering and resurrection.
8. Paul celebrated Passover and compared Passover with a spiritual celebration. Paul calls on us to celebrate Passover in honor of the Messiah, the Lamb of God. “Then remove the old sourdough, so that you will be a new dough. After all, you are unleavened because our Easter lamb is also slaughtered for us: Christ. So let’s celebrate, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of wickedness and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ”1 Corinthians 5: 7,8. So according to Paul, the festival must be celebrated in sincerity and truth.
9. We celebrate so the next generation will not forget what God has done and to tell them how God has set us free and can set them free too. Passover is about remembrance and doing. Celebrating it every year helps each generation to never forget what God has done for them, and strengthens their faith in the miracles that God can do for them as well. It is the testimony of God breaking through in a supernatural way with great miracles to rescue people. He can do the impossible with great miracles, which science cannot explain. When they hear this story of redemption they will know who to call, and God can rescue them too. On Passover we celebrate God’s miracles in the deliverance story because it strengthens our faith in God.
10. Celebrating Passover is a spiritual sword against the enemy, a reminder of the blood that rescued us, and a declaration of victory over darkness. In Revelations 12:11it says they will defeat the devil by the blood of the lamb, the words of their testimony and they loved not their life until death. Passover is a memorial of the blood of the lamb and tells the greatest testimony of all: The testimony of Yeshua and His breakthrough and how He can break through in a supernatural way to save people. The enemy hates to be reminded of his defeat. Passover reminds the enemy of the blood which flowed and defeated the enemy. In the spirit world celebrating Passover is like a sword and cuts the enemy off. Celebrating Passover is reminding the enemy that he is defeated and telling Jesus’s testimony to my family and friends. The more tell you tell the testimony of what Jesus had done, the greater the revival.
11. Celebrating Passover is a dress rehearsal for the Feast of Tabernacles, for the wedding feast of the Lamb in the future when all nations sit together at the Lord’s table in peace. And it is good to rehearse and be ready! It is a shadow festival of what is happening in heaven and what is to come in the reality of Jesus Christ. “Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in the piece of the feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths; Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ’s ”(Colossians 2: 16-17). Paul is not saying here that we should no longer celebrate the festival, but rather that we should not judge people who choose to celebrate, because the festival reflects future things.
12. Every part of the Passover meal reminds us of what God has done for us and so we remember in the physical world, what is truth in the spiritual world.
13. Passover was the most important celebration for the first Christians and it was their main holiday. All of the early disciples celebrated it, including Paul. It was only in 325 AD that Emperor Constantine separated the calendars. The story of Passover, the freedom from Egypt and the death and resurrection of the Messiah is meant to celebrate our freedom from other gods. On this day, other gods are reminded of their defeat by Yeshua. Strangely, by separating the calendars, Constantine did the exact opposite and integrated foreign gods into the feast of the Messiah. He also insured that the Jews would no longer understand the meaning of the fulfillment of Passover by the Messiah, causing a great rift between Judaism and Christianity.
14. Passover is the feast of Salvation and Redemption. Yeshua’s name means salvation. It is His feast. His story. Believers should celebrate it because is the testimony of Yeshua, the feast of God’s redemption for all humanity.
15. Celebrating Passover brings us closer to God because it is His feast. It is His time. His rhythm. His Calendar. At Passover there is an open heaven and you feel the Lord close by .
16. We celebrate Passover because we love Messiah Yeshua and want to get to know Him. It is not about our story, but how we align ourselves with His story. Passover is the memory of the blood that He gave for us. Do we want to get to know Him? This festival is part of Him. He literally fulfilled it with His life. When you sit at His table, you feel His heart for you. This is the story that tells His story. If you understand Pesach then you understand what Yeshua has done for us, and we will appreciate Him more. He was eager to celebrate Pesach with us. Let us drink the Cup together with him in His kingdom on earth and in heaven.
17. Passover is the heart of the Messiah. During the spiritual journey described in Awestruck by Glory I noticed something amazing about the heart of Yeshua. The many miracles He did and dreams that He gave us demonstrated that He loves Passover very much, and He loves it when His people bless one another. We knew that this was special to Him because of the divine intervention He did in our lives. The Bible calls the church the body of Christ. There are so many churches today and in our experience, each church is different and has something that the other doesn’t, but together they form the body of Messiah. Passover is the remembrance of the blood that flowed for all of them. It is the heart of the Messiah from which blood flows to all parts of the body and keeps it functioning.
18. Celebrating Passover is part of the Kingdom of God. Yeshua said: “From now on I will not drink wine anymore until the day that I drink new wine with you in my Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Yeshua indicates here that He will drink the last cup of Passover with us in the Kingdom of God. There are many theories about the meaning of the Kingdom of God. Some people believe it will only be in the future when Jesus comes back, or will only be in heaven. Others believe the Kingdom of God started when Yeshua rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us. Yeshua said the Kingdom is in us (Luke 17:21). We are part of His Kingdom, among all those who are filled by Gods Spirit. Whether we drink the last cup in his kingdom on earth, and/or in the future, this verse shows that Passover is celebrated in heaven. In the future, when we are in heaven, we will not be celebrating separate holidays.We will be celebrating heavenly holidays. And Jesus prayed: “As in heaven so on earth.” Yeshua longs to drink the cup with us in His kingdom on earth and also in his future kingdom. So let us drink this cup with him, and bring heaven to earth.
“The day of unleavened bread came when Passover was to be slaughtered. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go, prepare the passover for us, that we may eat it. And when the hour came, He lay down and the apostles with Him. And he said unto them, I have fervently desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you that I will certainly no longer eat it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God ”(Luke 22: 7, 8, 1416).
Are Christians allowed to celebrate Passover?
According to Exodus 12:43-49, Passover is not meant for strangers. However, the strangers can celebrate Passover if they are circumcised. According to Romans, Christians are circumcised in their hearts. They are also grafted onto the olive tree that is Israel. That means they are allowed to celebrate Passover. Also, at the Last Supper, Jesus showed His disciples how to celebrate the Passover for His glory. It was to be in remembrance of the blood that He would shed and place on our hearts to protect us from the angel of death.
