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The Passover Memorial

What You Need to Know

Introduction
   There were only four days before the last plague was to come upon the once mighty kingdom of Egypt, and it was to be the worst plague of all.
   Nine plagues, the first three of which Yahweh’s chosen people had to go through, stripped the land, and those living on it, of their pride. Yet, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and his pride would not let the children of Israel go. This, however, would work to Yahweh’s advantage, as He would bring the children of Israel out on the proverbial wings of an eagle.
   The Elohim of Israel had a plan that was being worked out and the worst of the storm had to come before the sun would shine again.
   Yahweh Himself said, “there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more” (Ex. 11:6b).
   It was a death sentence for all of the firstborn living in Egypt, not only of men, women, and children, but of the livestock as well (Ex. 12:29).
   In the near future there will be a similar devastating destruction coming upon the world (a type of Egypt), and just as before, there will be tribulation and darkness before the sun will shine again.
  
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of Yahweh come, Acts 2:20.
   There was protection, known as the Passover (
Pesach in Hebrew), for Yahweh’s people in ancient times and there will be a type of Passover protection for Yahweh’s people in the near future.
   As the children of Israel were to come out and be separate, so today the people are told to come out and obey that they may be protected from the coming plagues.
  
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,” Revelation 18:4.
   There are also other significant parallels when looking at the Passover. We’ll look into those parallels and consider their importance as we move forward.
We’ll look at the memorial, tradition, and other details of the Passover that makes it one of the most controversial and most misunderstood moedim (appointed times) among both the Jews and Gentiles alike.


Traditions Rebuked
   Many Jews today don’t believe in the Messiah. Many observe Passover according to their tradition and not in compliance with Scripture.
   Things used in their
seder-meal, such as having four cups of wine, using a shank bone, dipping an egg in saltwater, are not found in the Bible, but are found in traditions and customs of men.
   Mishna and Talmudic commentaries, with oral laws, are what many Jews follow today.
   “The Mishna states that the poor must also drink four cups of wine, even if it has to be provided by charity funds. People should drink the four cups even at risk of becoming intoxicated,”
PASSOVER, by JPS Popular Judaica Library.
   Even those Jews who believe in a risen Messiah will follow many of the traditions of their forefathers, and some gentiles blindly follow along. Read our free booklet entitled, Orthodox Believers.
   We invite those Jews and gentiles alike who are coming to an understanding, or who already know of the errors of men, to join with us as we move forward following Yahshua the Messiah, and doing His Father’s will.
   Yahshua had rebuked the Jewish leaders, called the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:2-3), for their traditions. Scribes and Pharisees—yet, knowledgeable of the
Torah—still followed traditions of men, rather than Yahweh’s instructions. Notice one incident in which both went to Yahshua accusing Him of breaking their traditions; mark well what the Messiah told them:
  
Then came to Yahshua scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” But He answered and said unto them, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of Elohim by your tradition? For Elohim commanded, saying, ‘Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.’ But ye say, ‘Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.’ Thus have ye made the commandment of Elohim of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias (Isaiah) prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,’” Matthew 15:1-9.
   The “elders” (
Strong’s Greek #4245 “presbuteros,” meaning older men) mentioned by the Pharisees and scribes may have been the rulers and judges at that time called the Sanhedrin (or Great Council), since the members were older men.
   The Sanhedrin were Jewish rulers whom Deacon Stephen rebuked in the book of Acts chapter 7. Just as Yahshua said of the Pharisees and scribes, Stephen told the Sanhedrin that they, too, did not keep the commandments of Yahweh:
  
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it, Acts 7:51-53.
   The law, instructions, or even preparations that Yahweh gives us, are important. The question is, “What preparations should we make today?” First, let’s take a look at what was said from the beginning.


Preparations in Old Testament
   Preparations, according to Yahweh’s instructions in the Old Testament, needed to be done to prepare for the Passover. They, that is, all the Israelites including the tribe of Judah, and any others, if they were circumcised (Ex. 12:43-44), were to do things exactly as instructed. There was much at stake; the very life of their firstborn.
   Before reading further, open your Bible and read Exodus 12:1-14 for an overview of the preparations that had to be done.
   On the 10th of the first Scriptural month of Abib (maturing barley grain) each household was to take a male lamb and keep it until (the point up to) the 14th in which they would kill it. They were to kill it at dusk (
JSP,1917), twilight (TNK 1985, NAU, ESV 2001, NJB, NIB, NIV, NKJ, Berkley), basically “between the evenings” (YLT 1862/1898, Ferrar Fenton) or “Between the two evenings” (Darby’s), sunset and dark (Moffatt), ben ha arbayim (son of the evenings).
   If there was only one or two in a house then there would be no need to use a whole lamb, so the smaller households were commanded to share (Ex. 12:4).
   The lamb or goat (Ex. 12:5), which was to be unblemished and without defect, had to be roasted with fire and then eaten, but how it was roasted and how it was eaten was very specific.
   It was roasted whole with the entrails prepared (cleaned of grasses and waste material, then put back). This would prevent the small animal from exploding due to the internal methane gas that would otherwise build up, if they didn’t follow the instructions. What Yahweh says is for our own good.
   The instructions had to be followed exactly, at the correct time, with the blood of the perfect little yearling brushed on the outside door posts and overhead beam (Ex. 12:7), or there would be no passing over:
  
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt, Exodus 12:13.
   The Passover was to be eaten quickly (Ex. 12:11) that
laylah (night) with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8). It was all to be gone by the boqer (morning) of the 14th. Any leftovers were to be burned (Ex. 12:10).
   It was a long night for all those involved. Many screams and cries into the night on the one side, with heightened emotions and relief on the other.


Preparations in the New Testament
   New Testament references show that the preparation day or day of preparation was indeed in reference to the day of Passover:
  
And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on, Luke 23:54. See also, Matthew 27:62; Mark 13:42; John 14:31-42.
   What we must discern, though, as we go through this, is that many of the Jews were keeping the Passover “late,” at the “wrong” time.
   We read in John 19:31, The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the stake on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
   The Passover was not a High Day, but the first Day of Unleavened Bread was. It was the 15th of the first month of Abib.
   Going on, we find there are other areas that specifically refer to the Jews’ Passover, such as John 5:1; 6:4. It also says in John 11:55, And the Jews’ Passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
   The Biblical Passover, that Yahshua kept, was not called the Jews’ Passover. He did not make preparation for it, but rather for the true Passover, at the correct time:
  
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Yahshua knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end, John 13:1.
   Notice, it is neither recorded that Yahshua’s parents kept the Jews’ Passover, but rather they also kept the correct Passover.
  
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, Luke 2:41.
   Yahshua told His disciples, who would have known the difference between the two different times, since He was their Teacher, to keep “the” Passover:
  
Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be impaled, Matthew 26:2. See also Matthew 26:18-19.
   They (i.e., Yahshua, His parents, and His disciples) never referred to the properly kept Passover, as the Jews’ Passover.
   In
The Companion Bible, Dr. Bullinger points out, that, “After the revival under Ezra and Nehemiah corruption proceeded apace…what were once “the feasts of [Yahweh]” are spoken of as what they had become, “feast of the Jews.”
  
The New Jerusalem Bible, a study Bible by Henry Wansbrough, says, “…the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread were originally two separate festivals…”
   In addition to the sources above, the
Encyclopedia Judaica says, “The feast of Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally both parts existed separately; but at the beginning of the Exile they were combined.”
   Many things took place at the beginning, during, and after the exile. For example, even the month called
“Abib” was changed to say, “Nisan.”

Preparations for the Day of Unleavened Bread
   Some verses in the Bible don’t seem to make sense but will, once looked at in context or when one actually takes a closer look at the original wording.
   Sometimes translators, when trying to clarify the meaning of a verse, will actually lose the original meaning of what was being said. This is especially true when they have as a reference point the current teachings that crept in and are considered the norm, such as eating Passover and keeping the first Day of Unleavened Bread on the 15th, which is what many are doing today. Keeping with the tradition of men was even in Yahshua’s time, but as we’ve already seen, He did not keep their wrong time and neither should we.
   Matthew 26:17 is a test case in point of a verse that was changed to fit what many are doing even today; it has two major translation flaws taking away the original meaning.
   Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Yahshua, saying unto Him, “Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover?”
   The first word you’ll find a problem with is “day,” because it was added. It’s not in the Greek manuscript, at all. The second is the word “first,” it is
Strong’s # 4413 “Protos,” in context, literally meaning, “foremost,” “before,” or “former.” Basically “prior” to the Day(s) of Unleavened Bread.
   The same words should be looked at in parallel verses such as Mark 14:12 and Luke 22:7 in which the original meaning was lost in the translation.
   Passover was commanded by Yahweh to be kept and eaten on the 14th day, “before” the Days of Unleavened Bread. In Matthew 26:17 the point was to make preparations for Passover.
   Yahshua kept the Passover according to His Father’s instructions, as well as did the disciples. They prepared for it at the right time and so should we.


The Unleavened Bread of Life
   Though the timing is the same, preparing for Passover today is done a little differently for those in the Body of Messiah. Yahshua became our Passover Lamb by being a Perfect Sacrifice. He kept Passover and instituted some things we’re told to do.
  
And as they were eating, Yahshua took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is “My body,” Matthew 26:26.
   There are three things to point out in the verse above. Yahshua Himself ate of the Passover, in keeping it would have been kept in accordance with the Law, eating with it unleavened bread (Ex. 12:8), and He tells us to take of this bread and to eat it as a token of His flesh.
   The bread is symbolic of the Savior’s life that was given for us. John 6:33-35 says,
   For the bread of Elohim is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto Him, “Master, evermore give us this bread.” And Yahshua said unto them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
   The Roman Catholic Church takes this to the extreme. They believe that the unleavened bread, once prayed over, will become actual flesh. They call it transubstantiation. This type of thinking is wrong and is of human reasoning. Yahshua never said that we are to eat His “literal” flesh. Cannibalism was a curse in the Bible, not a blessing!
   The Catholics who think the bread can turn into actual flesh also believe that the fruit of the vine can be turned into actual blood. Would Yahshua ask us to break the Law? The drinking of blood is forbidden in the Law:
  
Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water, Deuteronomy 12:16.
   Yahshua’s blood was poured out along with water from His side when He was pierced. There is no record that anyone tried to drink it, because no one did.
Yahshua was showing both the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine were “symbolic” of His flesh and blood. Yahshua said:
  
I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves [thinking by means of human reasoning], saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Then Yahshua said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Except ye [symbolically] eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you,’” John 6:48-53.

The Leavened Bread of Death
   It should be pointed out that unleavened bread is also symbolic of pure doctrine without hypocrisy. Can one have pure doctrine with hypocrisy? Yes, it’s called self-righteousness.
   The Pharisees and Sadducees, which was another Jewish sect which held false doctrines such as a teaching that there was no resurrection (Luke 20:27), not only had the self-righteous attitudes and ways of saying one thing but doing another, they were also steeped in false doctrines. They had the leavened bread of death.
   Then Yahshua said unto them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” Which when Yahshua perceived, He said unto them, “O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” Matthew 16:6-12.
   Yahshua said it like it was even when addressing the Pharisees and scribes. He asked, how could they escape damnation:
  
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell (Hebrew: gehenna)? Matthew 23:26-33.
   It’s important that we don’t do as they did, as some do today, bringing upon themselves the condemnation of the Messiah, who is the Judge of all (John 5:27; Acts 10:42; 1 Pet. 3:22).
   It’s not those who just say, “Master, Master,” but those who actually obey Yahweh the Father who sent His Son. Yahshua Himself says,
Not every one that saith unto Me, “Master, Master,” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven, Matthew 7:21.
   We need the unleavened bread of life within our lives and not the leavened bread of death.


The Passover Cup
   Today we commonly think of having bread with wine, but for the Passover it’s not that way. The Biblical instructions are to take of the unleavened bread with “fruit of the vine.”
   Fruit of the vine is not fermented wine, but is actually unadulterated grape juice.
   We prepare for Passover today by purchasing pure grape juice, and using it, or we get some grapes and squeeze the juice into the small cups normally found for a Passover service.
   The first time we find mention of a cup in the Scriptures is in a vision told to Joseph by the imprisoned chief cupbearer:
  
And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand, Genesis 40:11.
   At the Passover we find Yahshua and His disciples partaking of the Passover:
  
And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom,” Matthew 26:27-29.
   Evidence that this was indeed grape juice, and not wine, is within Yahshua’s own words. He said, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
   It is recorded that Yahshua had indeed received vinegar (John 19:28-30), which is an over-fermented cheap sour wine during the time of Yahshua. Roman soldiers and even the poor would drink this.
  
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible says of vinegar, “Roman soldiers commonly kept vinegary wine on hand to quench their thirst, and this could be an act of kindness or an attempt to revive [Yahshua].”
   The Greek terms for wine
(oinos), vinegar (oxos), or even a type of intoxicating phrase such as “full of new wine,” used once in Acts 2:13, were never used by Yahshua to describe the fruit of the vine (genemma ampelos) for the Passover cup. Fruit of the vine is “grape juice.” It’s not the by-product called wine.
   All of this is fine and true. However, we must ask, “Is there any place in the Bible which shows that grape juice is symbolic of blood?”
   Yes, and it is especially noteworthy concerning Jacob’s son Judah, this possibly being an end-time prophecy for the tribe of Judah:
   “…He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes” (Gen. 49:11).
   The
NASB version is a little clearer:
   “…He washes His garments in wine, and His robes in the blood of grapes.”
   Many of Judah reject the Messiah, but there is coming a day when they will accept Him, calling on His Name, and then they’ll truly wash their robes in His blood, but first they’ll have to go through the pouring out of the wine of wrath in the tribulation:
  
And I said unto him, “Sir, thou knowest.” And he said to me, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” Revelation 7:14.
   Judah of all people will certainly recognize the time of Isaiah chapter 24 when it comes to pass and then those who are called and chosen will start to proclaim Isaiah 26:9, in which is said:
   And it shall be said in that day, “Lo, this is our Elohim; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Yahweh; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.


Storing Grape Juice
   Can grape juice be stored? Some claim ancient Israel, and those in New Testament times, could not store grape juice to be used throughout the year, but there were at least two ways and maybe more that it could be done.
   One was to boil the grape juice down to a thick molasses and then reconstitute it back into grape juice by adding water later:
   “The Holy Land has rightly been called ‘the land of grapes’…the grapes provided juice that was boiled down to the consistency of molasses.”—Nelson’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts.
   Raisins would have the same capacity to be dried, stored, and then used at a later date:
   “Pesach is in the air. Housewives are already buying the raisins needed for the wine.” —
The Jewish Festivals History and Observance, by Hayyim Schauss.
   Another way of storing, for later use, was to take something like goat skin containers of grape juice, sealing and then putting them under water. The pressure and coolness would preserve the juice without the fermentation process turning it into wine.
   Wineries have been asked if grape juice could be preserved without it turning into wine. It has been pointed out that because of less pollutants and greater sugar content, around 35 brix, that indeed grape juice could be preserved from fall to spring.
   Egypt had processes already figured out for preserving fruits and other food items for later consumption. No doubt the children of Israel would have had access to this same information.


Storing Up Wrath
   Do “wine” and “wrath” mix? Wine is not only for merriment (Ps. 104:15) and festive gatherings (Deut. 14:26); it’s also symbolic of the wrath soon to be poured out on this morally blind world who receive the mark of the beast:
  
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,” Revelation 14:9-10.
  
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before Elohim, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath, Revelation 16:19.
   Interestingly enough, “wine” is also symbolic of “fornication” and that is something that will certainly bring wrath.
   And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, “Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication,” Revelation 17:1-2.
   The point of bringing up these figurative symbols of wine is of course to show that such a symbol would not be used for our Savior at the time of Passover. Passover is a solemn memorial of His sacrifice and death for us.
   It is not a joyous and festive time, but rather a somber and reflective time for all those who examine themselves before partaking. Would wine that symbolizes merriment, fornication, and finally wrath, be used for Passover? Is wine an appropriate symbol for Yahshua’s blood? These are questions worth meditating upon and answering truthfully.
   For more detailed information concerning this issue, please read The Controversy: Wine or Grape Juice for Passover?


More Verses in Focus
   Ephesians 5:18 states that we can be “drunk,” as in “intoxicated” by oinos. The actual word used for drunk is Strong’s Greek #3182 methusko. Defining it within Scripture we find the word is used literally as intoxicated.
   Another similar word is
Strong’s Greek #3184 methuo, which holds a dual meaning of “filled up” or “had plenty.” One can have a drink after a meal and be “filled up.” The word is used in 1 Corinthians 11:21 saying, “…one is hungry and another is drunk.” It could have just as well been said, “…one is thirsty and another is a glutton (full).”
   In John 2:10 the word holds the “filled up” meaning. It says,
And saith unto Him, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk (#3184), then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”
   Here’s the question we need to ask, “Would the Savior have given those that were already drunk (i.e., intoxicated, inebriated, befuddled, stupefied, etc.) more to drink?” Obviously, this would not be something our Savior would do.
   There’s one other point that needs to be considered, and that is, in the past, wine was forbidden to be drunk when assembling for worship by the priests (Lev. 10:9), and in the future Kingdom we are told it will be the same:
  
Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court, Ezekiel 44:21.
   The question is, “If we are striving to be a kingdom of priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10), should we drink wine at worship services today?” Unmistakably, the answer is, “No, we should not.”
   In this light, drinking wine, at those times, would be a sin for man, but grape juice would be innocent, just as Yahshua the Messiah was when He was killed:
  
For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, Hebrews 4:15.

Yahshua’s Memorial
   When we really think of what Yahshua did for us, we cannot be grateful enough. Not only did He die, taking upon Himself the death penalty that we deserve, but He also suffered intensely.
   Consider the following things that He had to endure: He was betrayed, falsely accused, scourged and beaten, spit upon and ridiculed. A crown of thorns was put on His head and His clothes were stripped, except for a loin cloth. Nails were driven into and through His wrists and feet. The weight of all humanity was put upon Him, and finally, a lance was used to pierce His side from which poured His blood onto the ground.
   All this He did for you and me. The hardship that He endured was, in fact, prophesied (Ps. 22:14-18; Luke 18:31-34). Yahshua truly knew what the greatest expression of love was:
  
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.
   We can figuratively lay down our life for each other by serving, helping, and giving of our own time. Yet, when we think about it, our time is not our time at all. Yahweh graciously gives us the time we have, so we are without excuse to share that time with others and in service to Yahweh through Yahshua.
   Yahshua gave the ultimate sacrifice that we might have life itself. Our respect for the Passover service should be of the utmost importance.
   The Apostle Paul addresses the issue quite plainly in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 by saying,
   Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Master, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Master. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Master’s body.
   Apostle Paul also said, “If anyone is hungry, then let him eat at home…” (1 Cor. 11:34). When we come to a Passover service it’s not to eat a meal, but to rededicate ourselves and acknowledge Yahshua’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins (1 Cor. 11:26). We are to take of the emblems and do the act of foot washing, so that we might remember and learn.


A Lesson in Foot Washing
   Foot washing is something that Yahshua included and instituted in the New Testament Passover. He told the disciples to do it, and therefore tells us the same. If we love Him, we’ll do what He commands (John 14:15).
   Please read the example in John 13:3-17 before continuing.
  
Yahshua said, “If I then, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet,” John 13:14.
   He gave the example and says to do it. What’s the reason, though? Was it because Yahshua saw that their feet were dirty? At that time, the wearing of sandals was common place. Walking in sand and dust, feet would get dirty, so people needed to wash their feet (Gen 18:4; 19:2; 43:24). One profound thing, though, it was a servant’s position to wash feet.
   International Standard Bible Dictionary says, “In the case of ordinary people, the host furnished the water, and the guests washed their own feet, but in the richer houses, the washing was done by a slave. It was looked upon as the lowliest of all services,” (1 Sam 25:41; Luke 7:44.
   The plain lesson that the Messiah has for all of us is to be humble and to serve one another. Yahshua’s final word on foot washing was, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17).
   Isn’t it time that you find out more about the Passover Memorial? Read our free in-depth booklet called, Passover: A Memorial for All Time.



-Elder David Brett


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