In this season of popular holy days from Passover to Easter, the little known Christian Seder seems to get little recognition. Even our admittedly "Christian" president, Mr. Barack Obama, has been observing Passover for the past three years. Will this year make a fourth year? As interesting as that may be, what common themes can we find in Passover, Easter Sunday, and Resurrection Sunday?
What may not be known by many is that Christians observing Passover is as old as Christianity itself and even predates the observance of Easter. In this season where believers of both faiths are eating contrasting meals—hot cross buns and Easter ham vs. matzo (Unleavened Bread) and lamb—maybe there is more in common that we can learn from our shared traditions.
Recently I came upon a really intriguing book by Gabriele Boccaccini titled Middle Judaism. Boccaccini taught Oriental studies at the University of Turin in Italy. In his book he studied the time period from 300 BCE through 200 CE in which he develops the connection between Rabbinic Judaism and the birth of early Christianity. It is interesting to see the development of both movements as a response to the early Messianic faith.
As we look back upon Middle Judaism and Ancient Christianity we can see the shared traditions that over time have seen revisions and changes and become what we know them today. However they do share common threads. Of course Easter bunnies, hot cross buns, and an Easter ham stand in stark contrast to unleavened bread and lamb. But the common themes of wine (or grape juice in some cases) and unleavened bread (or Eucharist crackers) can be seen in both traditions.
As you follow the early church's development you find that the early Church Fathers took common Jewish practices of their time and put their own Gentile spin on them. For example, you will see if you study the ancient writing regarding the development of the Eucharist, you will see that the "Fathers" of the Faith took elements from the traditional Shabbat—namely the Kiddush (wine) and the ha’Motzi (bread)—and incorporated it into their worship liturgy. The Church Fathers took the themes from the Feast of Unleavened Bread set during Passover and combined it with the Shabbat feast and created the Eucharist liturgy. In the ancient Catholic tradition the Eucharist and the Easter (Paschal) liturgy are separate, much like the Shabbat and Passover traditions they borrow from.
Article comments
1 - Theophile
You stated "the Easter festivals and Passover come from the same Paschal tradition." This is false, passover refers to a particular event in Egypt described by Moses, Easter evolved from ancient Babel(Babylon) mystery religion.
2 - paraDOXparABLEs
Easter is full of practices from the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. However they did borrow some elements from Passover and Shabbat, the wine and unleavened bread came from the Paschal tradition which is that particular event in Egypt you mentioned. I did mention the differences between Easter Ham, Hot Cross Buns in Contrast to the Easter bunny. The practice of Lent came from a Babylonian fast before the resurrection of Tammuz. The point is that maybe during this time we can find points of harmony and not division. Have you observed a Messianic Seder? Or a Jewish Pesach? I will be enjoying Passover with my family this year. And to point to the tradition of Christian's who have been observing passover. I don't embrace any form of Mystery Religion. If you read the Apostolic Constitutions there is a blend of Jewish tradition, blended with the Mithra traditions, Platonism, Egyptian and Babylonian mystery religion. For believers who want to remember Yeshua's death, burial and resurrection in light of the Passover tradition the Messianic Seder is a way to honor that. The story of Yeshua in a Hebraic context should help unite believers who are divided and seeking the truth. I find it as a point of inspiration and not division.