RACHTZAH
Now we are going to wash our hands again, this time for a different reason. This is a continuation of the elements of a Christian Passover. We washed our hands previously in another section of this Seder example/discussion.
The first hand-washing was to let it be known that we desire to stand clean and holy before God, as we lift holy hands in worship and praise. It was more about cleansing our whole soul than cleansing just a part of us so that we are better prepared to eat bread.
ALL ABOUT THE BREAD
Rachtzah is cleansing our hands to eat bread.
There is physical bread ,and there is The Bread from Heaven.
We all have occasion to partake of both types.
THE DUST OF THE WORLD
Some will complain about having to wash twice.
It has been a while though, since we first washed our hands. Lots of time has passed and lots of other things have happened in between those times.
This handwashing seems to have a lot to do with the eating of the Matzah. It must be important!
Is the Matzah not symbolic of the Bread from Heaven who saved our souls?
And the first encounter with that Bread of Heaven was a true cleansing experience. All of the sins from all of our living in the old self were purged and cleaned up. We came out of that journey feeling so fresh, so new, so clean.
Then we had to go back out into the wilderness of the world and continue living life on earth. As we traveled we encountered more dust and dirt and it sometimes got on our feet, hung on our clothes, and resided on our bodies exterior.
JESUS WASHED THE DISCIPLES FEET
We must remove the dust of the world that we accumulate as we go through life. Just the exterior though; Jesus has thoroughly cleansed our interior forever.
We just need to occasionally clean up the outside.
Ah – the washing of the hands before taking Matzah.
The meaning is coming more clear now.
CLEANSING FOR HOLINESS
The first hand-washing was expressing our hope of knowing Messiah and our desire for holy worship of God the Father through Him. It was a total cleansing of our souls.
This second washing is to prepare ourselves to receive the Matzah. We are already clean on the inside; we just need to wash the outside in order to taste the Goodness of The Lord.
PREPARING FOR THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD
This next hand-washing (called Rachtzah) is another time for saying a blessing. It is the fourth blessing.
We will wash our hands again.
As we do this; one of us will say the blessing:
“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.”
This washing helps us to recall the commandments and repent of any more brokenness we gained along the way; between here and there; before we come to receive the meal which contains the Matzah.
PREPARING FOR A MESSIAH
Are you ready to receive the blessing of a Messiah into your heart?
The second washing of the hands is about becoming pure and transcending enough to come to the table of God and receive in humility and grace; knowing our own shortcomings; yet knowing that He loves us anyway.
It is about rising higher than ever before; because we are now more blessed because of the privilege of receiving the Matzah.
THE STRENGTH OF CHRIST
We repeat the washing of the hands in order to receive the Matzah into ourselves. The Matzah will help us and strengthen us to rise higher in our own understanding of God’s ways.
It is our desire to be strengthened to perform the destiny that God has given to each of us with the strength that is now lent to us through the consuming of the Matzah that symbolically represents the life and power of The Risen Christ.
It is impossible to move through freedom properly without the power of the Matzah that helps us to move higher, so we must be properly prepared to consume it.
SANCTIFICATION
We must make a renewed decision to pray, to study, to meditate on the pure word of God. Our main desire is to spend more time just sitting at His feet.
Torah physically regulates our spirituality.
Water prepares us to consume the Matzah.
Torah prepares us to feed our souls on The Bread of Life.
THE MATZAH BRINGS JOY
We come to the table with joy in our hearts and the somber knowledge that it came to us through The Bread of Heaven.
In all humility; we wash our hands and wait on Him to show us the rest of the story.