Tzafun is when we hunt for the afikomen until someone finds it and then we all eat a piece of it.
It seems that while no one was looking, someone hid the afikomen and it has been the mission for each child at the table to find it.
Who has found the hidden Matzah?
The child who has found it brings the Matzah that was wrapped in a napkin to the table. They receive a prize for finding such a great treasure!
The bread is blessed, broken and given out to those who are present.
Remember how the woman at the well came running to tell the good news to all of her village?
The afilomen is the dessert for the evening.
The Matzah so clearly stands for the body of Christ; and no one leaves the Passover Seder without tasting of the Goodness of The Lord.
The act of holy communion can be traced all the way back to the days of Abraham and the High Priest named Melchizedek who brought the wine and the bread of Heaven to Abraham after the victory of a great battle. Now we see another example of it here in the Seder. Melchizedek was reminding Abraham, through the Bread and the Wine that his victory came from God; and no man was to receive the glory.
This is true in each victory of our lives.
Every year as we perform this annual ritual; we know the presence of Christ among us. The showbread was placed daily in the holy place of the Temple. This reminded the people that God is their provider and sustainer, and that they lived constantly within His presence.
It reminds us again on this night of the Seder that Jesus is the reason for our deliverance and our freedom.
John 6:22-40 reveals the true story of some people who were also looking for Jesus (just as the children here look for the hidden Matzah.) It is a very significant passage that points the way to the TRUE path for all true believers:
John 6:22 – 40: 22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— 23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” 28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” 30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
May we all be so blessed and seek him and find him while there is still time to believe!
It is the last taste of the Passover Seder, the eating of the hidden matzah, that reminds us to be believers and to always be nourished by The Bread of Heaven.