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Luke 
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Day 274

Luke 22 : 1- 20 "UNDERSTANDING AN ANCIENT JEWISH FESTIVAL"

Day 274 – Luke 22

Text: Luke 22 : 1- 20

UNDERSTANDING AN ANCIENT JEWISH FESTIVAL

John the Baptiser hailed Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This was John’s understanding and faith in Jesus. He was the Christ, the Anointed of God. He was the symbolic Paschal (Passover) Lamb. One day, He would take away the sin of the world through His sacrificial death! The hour for Jesus to celebrate His last Passover with His Disciples was at hand.

Israel had celebrated the Passover for thousands of years! But what was the Passover? Luke wrote,

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near,
which is called Passover.”
Luke 22:1

In a very broad sense, you could speak of the Passover and The Feast of the Unleavened Bread as if they are one and the same. If we examine the way in which the Jews celebrate this important Feast, we would actually be able to distinguish them.

Let us consider what Matthew wrote about how Jesus prepared to celebrate the Passover,

“Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
the Disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him,
‘Where do You want us to prepare for You
to eat the Passover?’ “
Mattthew 26:17

The Passover was actually held on one day, the 14th day of Nisan, according to the Jewish Calendar. The Festival of the Unleavened Bread was celebrated for a whole week following the celebration of the Passover.

The Passover was of great theological significance to Luke because he also believed that Jesus was the Paschal Lamb. For this reason in the writing of his Gospel, he lumped the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread together under “Passover” (Luke 22:1). The two events are closely related and they may be generally regarded as one. No less than Josephus called this “A feast for eight days” (Antiquities 2.317).

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PASSOVER

The Passover was celebrated with more than history in mind. Let us consider how the Jews celebrated this event. Alfred Edersheim, a distinguished scholar in Jewish history and customs in his classic, “The Temple”, made some very important observations in his book, that help us appreciate the significance of the celebration of the Jewish Passover.

The Passover was more than just a Jewish ritual kept by Israel. It was commanded by God to be kept by Israel. With the passing of the years, the festival took on new and additional meanings.

1. Celebrating their History

The Passover was not just a religious festival event. It was celebrated as an historical event! It was celebrated to commemorate their deliverance from bondage to Egypt (Cf. Exodus 12). The Passover began the first month of the Jewish Religious Calendar, though the event was held in the seventh month of the Civil Calendar.

2. A Feast of Spring

The Jews also celebrated it as a feast that celebrated the ingathering of the fruits of the land.

3. Celebrating it as a Religious Festival

The paschal lamb that was sacrificed each year symbolized their faith that God had “passed over” their sins.

The original Passover came to be known as “The Egyptian Passover”. It gave way to what was commonly called “The Permanent Passover” .

Josephus, the reknown Jewish historian once noted that as many as three million would come to Jerusalem for the purpose of celebrating Passover (Jewish Wars, 6.425). Not all could actually stay in the city itself, but they were happy to camp outside the city walls.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FEAST OF THE UNLEAVENED BREAD

Throughout the whole week of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Jews were to eat bread or cakes that did not contain any yeast. Only five kinds of grains were allowed to be used – wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye. These cakes were to be kneaded only with water, and no other fluid such as fruit-liquor.

The head of the home would carry a lamp and symbolically search the whole house to remove any leaven. Prayer was offered before this solemn search, which was carried out in silence.

Unleavened Bread was eaten as part of the Passover meal. This was also called “The Bread of Affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:3). Edersheim suggests strongly that Unleavened Bread was not eaten because it tasted bad. On the contrary, it had a symbolic meaning. It symbolized the concept of not being contaminated by the leaven of Egypt. Leaven represented corruption and death, a symbol of their years of bondage in Egypt!

Unleavened Bread was the new symbol of a joyous new life of consecration and holiness to the Lord!

THE CELEBRATION OF THE PERMANENT PASSOVER IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES

The Jews celebrated the Feast of the Permanent Passover and Unleavened Bread differently from the Egyptian Passover. In the former celebration, the people were to eat their meal in haste. They were to stand as they ate their meal. They held their staff in readiness to move out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 12).

In the celebration of the Permanent Passover, there was a very festive air. All who participated in the celebration wore their best festive garments! They did not stand when they ate. They reclined and ate their meal in leisure. The rabbis insisted on this practice! Only free men could do this. Only slaves stood when they ate!