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Pictures of a Seder Meal
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During Passover, Jews celebrate God leading his people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom. On the first night of the Passover celebration, Jewish families retell the story of the exodus from Egypt through a Seder Supper. During this meal, the foods people eat and the words they say represent significant aspects of the Exodus story. Many Christians find that participating in a Seder supper helps them to connect with the roots of the Lord’s Supper. As a result, Seder suppers have become a popular way for Christians to mark Maundy Thursday. What does the Jewish Seder supper have to do with the Lord’s Supper? We don’t know exactly when the last supper took place, but the gospel writers tell us that the last supper was around the beginning of Passover. So as Jews preparing for Passover, Jesus and his friends may have been remembering how God’s saving love led them out of Egypt during the last supper. Jesus chose this special time of remembrance for Jews to begin a new tradition of remembrance for Christians: the Lord’s Supper. Like the Passover meal, the Lord’s Supper takes place at the table. It is at the table that we are spiritually fed, just as the bread and the cup sustain our physical bodies. And just as the Passover meal reminds Jews of how God’s love delivered them from Egypt, Communion reminds us of how God’s love saves us from our sins through Jesus. |
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