PASSOVER WEEK 2023 DATES AND TIMES:
During this year of 2023 both Jews and Christians from most parts of the world will be celebrating The Passover by observing a week of Spring Holy Days. For most, it all begins with a Seder meal on April 5, 2023 (Wednesday evening at sunset.)
From 4/5/2023 (Wednesday evening at sunset) until 4/6/2023 (Thursday evening at sunset) will be the First Day of Unleavened Bread. At our house we will begin leaving leaven out of our diets and our homes for a week (7 days.)
The Second Day of Unleavened Bread will be on 4/6/2023 (Thursday after sunset) until 4/7/2023 (Friday until sunset.)
The 3rd Day of Unleavened Bread will be 4/7/2023 (Friday after sunset) until 4/8/2023 (Saturday until sunset.)
This year the third day of Unleavened Bread falls on a Sabbath. At our house we observe the 7th Day Sabbath (Saturday.)
Most significant of all in our own family’s worship is the fact that this Third Day is The Day of Early First Fruits – the day of our joyful remembrance of Christ’s Resurrection Day.
The bible says that Jesus rose from the grave on the 3rd day after The Passover. This day will be set aside as the main celebration of The Resurrection of Christ at our house. Here, we do NOT call it Easter. That name has pagan origins and isn’t in our bibles. For us it is called RESURRECTION DAY. We also call it The Day of Early First Fruits.
On Sunday 4/9/2023 most of the world and most of the Christian churches will be celebrating The Resurrection of Christ. For us it seems that day is actually one day late on this year’s calendar; but we are okay with extending the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection from the Dead. It is perfectly appropriate to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection on every day of the year.
It WAS that great of a miracle!
Some of us have already started celebrating on Saturday (which we believe is the most accurate accounting of the real day.) We will just continue celebrating with our fellow Christians from the different churches of the world on Sunday. For us, it will be a continued celebration of The Day of Resurrection; not Easter. We will leave out all customs that are more pagan than sacred. Still; the celebration of Resurrection and the miracle of Christ being the First of the harvest of God’s church will continue as appropriate.
For us (and some others) Sunday, 4/9/2023 will also be the 4th Day of Unleavened Bread. We will not be serving hot-cross buns at our house, only unleavened bread.
Most of today’s churches will continue to call the day they believe Christ rose from the dead by the wrong name. Their celebration of the Resurrection will be on a day later this year than we believe is accurate. At least they WILL be celebrating The Resurrection of Christ. We are fine in sharing the joy of that fact with them.
SHARING THE MOST IMPORTANT PART
The recognition that Christ has risen from the dead is the most important thing about Passover Week for all Christians. We will joyfully keep celebrating that fact for the next 365 days of the year.
When Christ returns; He will implement the correct calendar again. All of our human mistakes will be confirmed and laid aside. Our job, until that day, is to love God and to love our brothers.
Personally; I believe that God would rather see his children working together than arguing about technicalities. It will be so nice when everyone who belongs to Christ gets on the same page. Yet; until that time arrives, we must continue living in love and grace and mercy with one another. This was God’s commandment to us; that we should love one another. The commandment doesn’t say we all have to agree on everything; simply that we are to love one another. People who love one another do not argue about their differences; they do their best to work together.
This recognition of such differences in people’s interpretations of important matters which reflect where they are in worship must be a lot like what Christ experienced when He came from heaven to earth. He must have been constantly confronted with the dealings of all of our earthly and erroneous ways. Still He chose to continue walking beside us on this earth. He always spoke the truth in love and followed it up with his actions. At the same time; He loved us even in our mistakes. He allowed grace and mercy for every person that He met. There were no exceptions to the way he loved; He died for ALL of us.
KEEPING HOLINESS IN HOLY TIME
As Christians, we must imitate and reflect the ways of Jesus in all that we do; especially when it comes to loving one another.
If we are truly sincere about keeping holy days holy; first we must be living holy lives. Getting along with others is a HUGE part of this thing called holiness. Only God can impart such perfect love with no mistakes. Jesus is the very best example that shines out to us of what matters the most and what is not so significant in the whole picture. Our perspective is usually from where we are standing at the moment. God is looking from the end of time; outside of history and knowing all that has ever transpired.
I know I’ve said this before; but sometimes you just need to chew up the meat and spit out the bones.
At our house we will continue Passover week by keeping the last four days of Unleavened Bread.
OBSERVING THE SEDER
So let’s get started with this amazing, God appointed time!
Let’s start this week with a beautiful Passover Seder.
What will it mean to us this year?
One first thing to keep in mind is the fact that a Passover ALWAYS has to happen BEFORE a Resurrection. It takes the first to power the second. You can’t reverse these times and still follow God’s plan.
MOVING THROUGH A FAMILY PASSOVER
All these years we have witnessed the great miracles of God. We have seen how he brought the people who loved Him, his chosen ones, out of slavery and bondage and into freedom.
In these troubled times from which we are living; that fact has never been more significant.
God’s people get to experience a type of security that can’t be found anywhere else. They always have that divine protection and covering over them (like the cloud in the wilderness and like the blood of Christ that covers His followers of today.) We experience this covering and divine protection even in the midst of poverty, war, chaos, and worldly disorder. It is the peace that passes all understanding.
Think about the Israelites during the time of the Passover. They survived the plagues that Egypt did not. God protected them. He parted the sea and let them walk across on dry land. It was a great miracle from God! He brought them through the harsh sands of the wilderness and they wanted for nothing. There was the Bread from Heaven – The Manna. They received the water from the rock. God’s divine provision was always with them.
LIVING OUT OUR INHERITANCE
Later, there was the miracle of coming home to Israel again and living in The Promised Land. God gave His people their promised inheritance. Finally; they had a place to call home again.
Long ago, they had to leave the land of their Father (Abraham) due to a great famine in the land. In the times they were absent from the land, their home had been taken from them. The enemy had set up camp and moved in to stay. With God’s help the people of Israel regained their rightful property. Not only was it their reclaimed home, the land was rich and abundant and full of milk and honey.
Of course the enemy had crept into the land when they were not tending to it. Confronting God’s enemies is always a constant battle. The wars from their enemies were won, not by the might of the people, but by the miracles that God provided to them. The story, (his-story) has always been about God’s divine intervention into the lives of His people.
GOD USES WILLING AND OBEDIENT HEARTS
The miracle of winning the battle with the enemies wasn’t just Moses controlling the outcome of the war by holding up his arms. Without God’s help the wars would have been lost and a whole culture of a nation would not have happened. We would not be about to celebrate a Resurrection. But now; we do this annually. It has always been God’s Plan for mankind. God is always working through His plans for us. He uses willing and obedient hearts to do this.
The ocean parting for Israel to cross over on dry land was more than Moses holding a stick over the sea. It was the power of God at work in their lives. God will use whatever He chooses to use to display His power and might to the world.
Every year at Passover we consider what actually started it all. We ponder what gives this story strength and endurance enough to be told by God’s people annually for thousands of years.
It was that miracle called Passover.
The blood of the lamb was placed over the doorposts of every Israelite’s home and because of this, they lived. Yet; the Egyptians, who did not believe or post the blood over their doorpost; died.
God’s people are known for the fact that they lived!
Let us never take this living for granted. We must search our hearts and ask; are we truly living fully with every day of our gift of time from God? Are we remembering to give some of our time back to Him on a regular basis? Every Sabbath is a Thanksgiving offering to God. Each Holy Day is a special appointment to spend with Him.
Let us never forget.
We too must be sure to REALLY live!
After so many miracles over thousands of years; can we not lift up our heads and hearts and expect to see even more?
What will the mystery of the Passover reveal to us this year?
I hope it will be another Exodus.
For the last year; I’ve been writing about another type of exodus.
I can feel it in my bones.
Another type of exodus is coming.
This more modern-day exodus we all must take is one where we learn from Our Great God how to walk away from fear.
Each step closer to God should dispel Satan’s weapon of fear. Fear is what he always choses to use against us.
This year, as we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus; we must put away our fears and be still and know that He is God.
Jesus is our Savior.
God is our protector and our provision.
Take an Exodus away from the fear.
Let us begin by observing the Passover.
KADESH
In the Kadesh we bless the wine. It is His blood given for us; for Jesus became our Passover.
How do we remember? We drink the wine and we recall what he said to the twelve that night He desired to take Passover with His followers before His crucifixion.
The words spoken by Jesus can be found in Luke 22:20; In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
This cup is blessed.
What is this cup?
It is the fruit of the vine.
What is the fruit of the vine?
Jesus became our early first fruits. He was the first to resurrect from the dead. We who are called to follow Him are the latter fruits of the harvest. We will celebrate our own resurrection which He made possible at Pentecost. Today we celebrate God’s provision for all of the miracles. The first and the best – was Jesus.
So; this wine has come from the best of the harvest of the grapes. It is the wine that speaks of the first and the best of everything good for us. This is the greatest gift we could ever receive from God. He is given to us. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
This cup is poured out and handed to us, just as the Hebrew bridegroom pours the cup and sets it in front of His Bride.
It means I love you.
This is a marriage proposal. It means I want you to be mine forever and ever; no matter what. Even if I have to die in order to make it happen; I will find a way to always be with you. Jesus pours out the wine to his disciples; He pours out himself to those who chose to follow Him.
So at Kadesh; we pour the cup and offer a blessing for the wine.
This is our prayer of thanks to God for giving us the first fruits of the vine. It is our gratitude, and our thankfulness. He has provided the best and the first of the harvest of all that is fruitful for this year. He has provided a lamb.
As we bless the wine, we are thanking God for the first fruit of the vine – Jesus.
The cup placed before us today will be a start of something new. It is a promise from a groom to his bride that says “I will never forsake you.”
In joy we offer our praise:
We praise you God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Praised are You, Lord, our God, Whose presence fills the universe, who has given us the gifts of life and strength and enabled us to reach this moment of joy.
We have done KADESH
URCHATZ
As a bride contemplating the seriousness of a sincere proposal from the One we love; we wash our hands. He desires holiness from His bride. We want to be clean; washed in the waters of baptism and ready and prepared for this new life that we desire to lead with our Beloved.
The bride puts on her clean, new, white dress. There are no spots or blemishes. She is prepared and ready to meet The Groom.
The Passover lamb was one with no spots or blemishes. It was perfect in every way and familiar and greatly loved by the whole household. This lamb makes it possible for the Bride to wear the clean, white, spotless dress. She is ready. He has covered her sins and made her holy.
As we wash our hands for an outward symbol; we have been washed in our spirits, washed by the blood of the lamb.
We have done Urchatz
KARPAS
The karpas is a leafy, green vegetable. It is so symbolic of new life; with the bright greens of the springtime and newness of life.
(Taste the first sprig of parsley by itself)
But now we dip it into salty water.
(Everyone dips the second sprig of parsley in the water)
This changes the whole flavor. The salt water reminds us of the tears from times of trouble, the slavery, the bondage, sickness, poverty, oppression, the killing of the innocent, the total loss of freedom. The salt is symbolic of the tears of the suffering of humanity.
Before us the ancients experienced all of these things.
Today we also know times of salty tears. We are living through hard times. The ungodly have taken over with so many worldly ways. Many of the people of God are being persecuted. In today’s world it happens more and more. It is a different type of slavery that we live in today, but it is slavery nonetheless.
As we wait on our groom to come and take us to his home; we too will experience these hard times.
While walking through the dirt of this world; times of trouble may come our way. Our eyes will see disease, sin, murder, death. In it all we must stay focused on our hope of His coming again. He is the One who will save us, heal us, and remove all sin from us. Jesus will bring life everlasting.
He has defeated death.
Jesus will keep us holy unto God. His blood covers us; even in the times of the salt covered karpus; when the green abundance gets mixed with the salty things of the earth that diminish the green newness of living.
He too experienced such times; the tears of his people in slavery, and the tears of his faithful disciples as they saw him hanging upon a cross. He suffered. We will suffer too. This suffering is given over to Him because He can help us to get through it. His strength and the covering of His holy blood will carry us over to the other side of the salty sadness.
We dip the parsley in salt water and consume it.
We have done Karpas.
YACHATZ
We remove some matzah.
It is lifted up to God.
This matzah is stripped, pierced, unleavened. It is broken. Part of it is hidden away inside some linen cloth.
The children will hunt for this piece of Matzah later. The one who finds it will be rewarded! It will be our last taste of dessert for this evening.
Our Beloved Jesus was beaten, pierced and broken as He suffered for no crime upon a tree in order to redeem us. The meaning has been hidden from some of us. At first we do not understand. Why has this happened to the One we love?
He has become the broken vessel for our broken souls.
His death brings us new life.
It redeems us; though we do not deserve to be redeemed. He was innocent; yet he loved us this much.
He loved us enough to die for us.
We watch as the remaining matzah is broken and placed upon the table.
This is us.
We are the broken.
None of us are innocent. We belong here; not him! Yet; it is as if a piece of us is missing. It must be found in order to make us whole again.
This is a mystery that God has given to us. As the poor and broken wait in plain sight; and the missing piece is hiding for now.
We examine the matzah carefully.
He says to us “This is my body broken for you.”
In silence and awe we remember.
We have done Yachatz.
MAGGID
This is the most important part of the evening. It should never be forgotten.
It is time for the telling of the story!
We could not have Passover without the telling of the story of the Exodus. This is how we humans survive; by telling our stories and remembering. This story has more than a human element. It is a divine story. It is God’s story for God’s family.
We always listen in amazement; though we hear it every year. Somehow every year it all seems new again.
The children will ask us questions; but we do not have to give them any answers. They will hear the answers themselves, deep inside their hearts, once they have heard the story.
Each year this old story reveals a new piece of information we never considered before. In the telling of the story God speaks to us of our own purpose and our own destiny, our part to play within His Great Plan.
Don’t be deceived into believing there will actually be a successful Great Reset by mere members of mankind. God holds those cards and no man can play them and win. God says there will be a revealing of the completeness of His GREAT PLAN FOR MANKIND whenever He is ready. Be watching. Keep listening. The story tonight is a foreshadow of things to come as well as a way of looking back into God’s history with men.
This is the TRUE story.
A designated person will play a short video of the story of the Exodus. This link is the story that we will be using at our house:
As we hear of the miracles of the people who came out of Egypt, leaving the plagues behind and crossing the Red Sea when the waters parted and God let them walk across on dry land; we remember that our God always keeps His promises.
As we hear all of the miracles of the people who came out of Egypt, such as leaving the plagues behind. They experienced the crossing of the Red Sea. When the waters parted, God let them walk across on dry land. Again; in tonight’s Seder, we remember that our God always keeps His promises.
He did back then, and He will now.
We will always tell the story.
Children will always listen with wide-eyes to the witness of this story. The story is a witness to the glory of God.
After hearing THE STORY again; I am reminded of another modern story. This further story tells of what it means for the whole universe to be a witness. The Passover story is just that – a witness to God’s plan for mankind. The story is told each day in a million ways from the lands of the earth and the faces of the people whom God created.
All of the creation gives witness of its Creator!
Even if we were not able to read or tell the story; the story would be told in the very moments of people’s lives.
The story is alive!
This second video reveals how important this type of witness can be. We come to realize that all of creation is simply a witness to The Glory of God. The video comes from James Dee Clayton who blogs in Diary of An Aesthete.
Thank you James for this beautiful witness. Your pilgrimage is another part of the whole story we are still telling after so many thousands of years. The story lives on in each of our lives.
Every year there are more pilgrims, more witnesses and more stories. Each journey is unique. It all started with the Passover Story we have told tonight. Each exodus is a journey. Every journey has it’s story. Every story reveals more of God’s glory.
Every person alive is a part of God’s Story (History.)
Now The Passover story has been told.
Also a story within the story was told. Each of us have our own part of the story.
We have done Maggid.
RACHTZAH
We need to wash our hands again.
Rachtzah is about cleansing our hands so that we can eat the bread. Lots of time has passed since we first washed our hands, and lots of things have happened since then. The dust of the world could have accumulated.
We wash again before taking The Bread of Heaven.
The first washing was symbolic of our baptism. This washing is symbolic of our constant confessions since that cleansing. It seems that we are human. Sin is forever cropping up in our days. Mistakes come and go. We receive forgiveness from the dust of the world when we give that dust over to God and allow Him to make us holy again. Jesus is forever washing the feet of His disciples; even today. The dust of the world tries to linger upon our hands and feet; but He comes to cleanse us.
When Jesus stooped down to wash the feet of His disciples, He did this out of love. The good King washes the feet of his humble servants. They were already clean on the inside; but they needed to be clean on the outside before sitting at the table and eating the Bread of Heaven.
Knowing this; we gladly wash our hands. We repent of anything that would keep us away from God’s table tonight.
Our washing is good, and we do it with joy and expectation for all grace and mercy from our Father who loves us.
Praise is offered:
“Blessed be You, L-rd our G d, King of the World, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.”
We have done Rachtzah.
MOTZI
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who brings forth bread from the earth.
Motzi is the blessing over the Matzah. It is God’s divineness that makes this plain matzoh The Bread of Heaven. We appeal to Him to prepare the Matzah for our consumption.
If God isn’t a part of this; neither are we.
It is His majesty that performs the miracle, that changes the ordinary into the extraordinary. This happens in the miracle of the blessing of the bread.
We are nothing; He is EVERYTHING.
He brings forth the harvest in His good time.
God brings the grain into the the times of perfect ripeness. He is Lord of the harvest. We implore Him to do what only He can do on our behalf.
He brings the grain into the the times of perfect ripeness.
God makes this happen for us.
Our Father, God, provided the Manna in the wilderness.
He multiplied the loaves and fishes that the boy brought to Jesus on the mountain.
It is God’s power that makes all power.
We implore Him to bless this Matzah.
This too is a time of Thanksgiving. We thank God for the multiplication that He provides in the days of our lives. This is when we bring our Thanksgiving offerings in the midst of our praises with humble hearts. We offer a portion of what God has given to us back to Him.
We implore Him to bless this bread of the harvest.
We have done Motzi.
MATZAH
Matzah is the bread of the poor.
It is unleavened.
This is the daily bread which is common to the tables of every family in the land. Jesus came to us as a plain, ordinary man. He lived a simple life, humble and without sin. In this Matzah; we see his life. In the pierces and the stripes; we see how he was crucified for our sins.
This Bread of Heaven was sent to us from God The Father.
It is a perfect gift.
He died in our place.
Now we know; He is our salvation.
If we take Him into us; we will live forever.
This Bread of Heaven is what brings us into true freedom.
We eat the Matzah.
We consume it slowly; letting its flavor linger in our tasting.
In the Matzah we taste our salvation.
During the next seven days we will be taking this Matzah into ourselves every day. We will fill up on Jesus! When we fill ourselves with Jesus; the things of the world will not have room to enter us; nor will they be missed. For seven days we will leave all leaven out of our lives. It will give us the taste of a new type of freedom.
The Matzah satisfies our body and our soul.
We have taken Matzah.
MAROR
Maror is a bitter herb.
We can taste this bitterness in horseradish. It is not easy to eat. It is hot and bitter. Be careful how much you take. Don’t ever overdo the bitterness; it isn’t any fun and the taste lingers and burns your lips.
When we taste the bitter herb we realize how unpleasant it is. Yet; if we want to continue this Seder meal; we have to taste the Maror. So we get through it because it is necessary. There will always be a certain portion of bitterness in our lives. We trust God to get us through those times. We can’t control everything. We take the bitter with the sweet and know that God has a plan beyond our understanding.
Looking back on their slavery once they had reached the Promised Land; God’s people began to understand why things had happened the way they did. They could not see the reasons when they were living in the maror; they only saw the bitterness that surrounded them at the moment.
The people had to learn to turn the bitterness into something better. They gave the bitter to God and asked Him how to change it. It was the bitterness that helped them to appreciate all of the sweet that came later. It they had not experienced this bitter of the maror; the sweet would not have been as sweet to them.
Our God is a God of balance. When all turns bitter around us; He comes and brings a better balance with His sweetness.
In tasting the bitterness; we have done maror.
KORECH
It is time to taste the haroset. This is a mixture of honey, wine, sugar and fruit.
Taste how delightful it is!
This is compared to the goodness of God. God’s goodness brings us all the sweet things in this life. He provides the sweet that balances the bitter of the maror. You have to experience the bitter before you can appreciate the sweet. The sweetness of God brings relief from the bitterness.
Now we take the bitter herb and combine it with the sweetness of the haroset and we put that mixture between two matzah. We make a matzah sandwich.
Taste the contrast of the flavors.
Can you taste the sweetness of life again?
The Matzah holds it all together. It makes the blend of the bitter and sweet taste right. This is how Jesus helps us to cope with life on earth with all of its ups and downs. He balances the bitterness of earthly life with the sweetness of God’s ways. He makes all things new for us.
In Korech our days become much easier. Jesus comes beside us and helps us carry on. God’s Holy Spirit that He sent to us helps us to live life in a whole new way, a perfect blending of the bitter and the sweet bringing thankfulness and fullness into every moment.
Korech makes things so much easier to swallow.
We have done Korech.
SHULCHAN ORECH
Shulchan Orech is our festive meal.
It is a meal without leaven!
Here we pause to fellowship around the table and converse together about all the things that God is teaching us in this night as we enjoy a somber, yet joyful and festive meal together.
(Enjoy our festive meal at the table)
We have done Shulchan Orech.
TZAFUN
Our festive meal may have had one or many choices of festive desserts afterward; but there is always a last taste of one particular dessert at the Passover Seder meal.
After dinner we let the children hunt for the afikomon (the matzah that was hidden earlier.) They search and search and finally one child finds it! He shouts out to everyone of his success and lets them know what he has found. This child is rewarded for finding the hidden treasure.
The matzah that symbolizes Jesus is our hidden treasure! Now He has been found and is shared by all of God’s servants at the table. He is the last taste on our lips as we prepare to end this evening.
We have done Tzafun.
BARECH
This is the prayer to thank God for the food He has fed us tonight; both spiritual and physical.
He has provided our every need as always.
God will provide His abundance to us in this new sacred year. We offer a prayer of thanks to God for all the gifts, abundance and healing that He has brought into our lives so far, and what He will bring in the future.
Our family stands in a circle holding hands. Each one who wants to offer a thanksgiving prayer for God’s provision in this life may offer it up now.
We have done Barech.
NIRTZAH
In all of our endings we can see new beginnings. The circle of life goes on. God’s plan continues to carry us into the new sacred year.
We will walk out of the Seder with a new hope that God will be leading us through many more miracles during the upcoming year. By now we are feeling thankful for the blessings that He has already provided.
A song of praise is appropriate.
We will play and/or sing a joyful song together.
At the end we will all shout –
“NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!”
We have done Nirtzah.
All of us have done the Passover Seder for 2023.
We all go home to await the coming of the Early First Fruits and the promise of the Resurrection of Christ.
Our hearts rejoice in another sacred year of being led by God’s grace, mercy and love.