Shanti and I decided one year that we would begin doing things to commemorate Easter weekend besides the usual Easter Egg hunt. After all, I have absolutely no idea what Easter Eggs have to do with the true meaning of Easter. So Shanti and I started doing some stuff a few years ago that we thought would be different yet faithful to the occasion. One year we lined our drive with Palm fronds  a week before the crucifixion the same way that the Jewish people laid down palms and clothes in the path of Christ as he rode into town on a donkey. We don’t do this anymore… It was just too tedious, and it made a huge mess when we drove over them with our car.  

For many of you this may be your first year to celebrate Good Friday with a clear understanding of what actually took place on this day so many years ago. You may be wondering how to celebrate this date. As you contemplate how to take this time to remember Christ’s crucifixion remember that it is a day of solemn remembrance. My wife and I have been celebrating Passover for several years now by preparing a traditional Jewish Passover meal (without going to the extremes of Kosher cleanliness), but celebrating it with a Christian understanding. Perhaps you might like to try this with your family. If so, I thought I would provide you with a menu to prepare for your meal. The following are menu items from a Traditional Jewish Passover Meal.  

Zeroah: traditionally a piece of roasted lamb shankbone, symbolizing the Paschal sacrificial offering. The Jews would bring the lamb into their home two weeks before the Passover. The animal would become a pet to the family. They would then take it to the Temple Mount at the appropriate time and have it slaughtered for the purposes of roasting it and consuming it in the evening. The death of the lamb was an offering to symbolize the wrath of God on sin. If a lamb was killed and the doors of the home were marked with the blood of the lamb, then the Scriptures promised that God would “pass over” that home and not exact vengeance upon those in the home for their sin. The Zeroah symbolizes the death of an innocent man, Christ, who was and is our friend who died in our place so that God would “pass over” our sins and forgive us. John the Baptist exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29)

Matzoh: Three unleavened matzohs (unleavened bread) are placed within the folds of a napkin. Two are consumed during the dinner, and one (the Aftkomen), is spirited away and hidden during the dinner to be later found as a prize. Leaven represents sin, malice, and evil (1 Corinthians 5:6-8), and was to be removed from the homes of the Jewish people one week before the feast. Matzoh is symbolic of repentance from sin and is to be consumed as a side dish to the Zeroah. The Aftkomen, which is hidden before dinner, is to be searched for by the children at one point during the dinner to teach them the need to constantly be examining and searching out their own heart for any presence of sin in their lives.

Maror: bitter herbs, usually horseradish or romaine lettuce, used to symbolize the bitterness of slavery. These should taste bitter or sour, and should be consumed for the express purpose of putting a bitter taste in the mouth of the participant. This is intended to teach the bitterness of slavery to sin. It is best to eat this before consuming the Zeroah.

Karpas: a vegetable, preferably parsley or celery, representing hope and redemption; served with a bowl of salted water to represent the tears shed in anguish as one waits for the Lord. The Karpas are dipped in the salt water (tears) and then consumed. The Karpas is intended to teach that, although we have been redeemed by the Lord, our life on this earth will still be marked by tears and suffering, but we have the promise that our suffering serves a higher purpose (James 1:2-4).