The Thread of Passover - Easter

Passover Seder at the barn in Lakewood with 50 or so friends.
Every year we do a Passover seder with friends just before Easter. I was reminded this week from friends on Facebook that I have facilitated seders for a long time and in a lot of places - from Geneva to Budapest to Pasadena to Amsterdam and now Denver.

       For many of us who follow Jesus this is the most important, poignant week of the year. Over time my understanding and "worldview" about "holy week" has filled out and hopefully matured.

       Most important is that I see the thread from the exodus from Egypt to an empty tomb as one story, rather than fragments to piece together. Here's why I say that:

       The Israelites were enslaved, in bondage and they sought an exodus from it. I believe deep in every human soul we are all seeking an exodus from the things that enslave us. We may look to a support group or a spouse or a counselor, but we all are seeking an exodus from our sin and brokenness.

       For many years I have understood that the exodus from Egypt was a foreshadowing of Jesus coming as the Lamb of God whose blood is shed for His people. None of that has changed for me. What has grown is that a PEOPLE was delivered from slavery, not just individuals. And so Jesus died for His PEOPLE, and that is both Jew and Gentile and the "ta ethene" (all nations) that he references in Matthew 28.

       Last year I finished writing a Passover Haggadah and we used it again this year. At the very end of the seder I recount how the father or grandfather proclaims to his family, "Next year in Jerusalem!" And with that statement is this deep pathos - yearning, ache for peace and rest and to be in God's presence.

       I wrote in the Haggadah that I have come to realize that such a yearning is God-implanted in us. And then I quote the book of Revelation in the New Testament which I believe is the fulfillment of that cry of the grandfather at the seder. Here is what I wrote:

"The tradition is for the head of the family (usually the grandfather) to proclaim to those gathered, “Next Year in Jerusalem!” with a hopeful and expectant voice. I have come to realize this is a prophetic voice, one that yearns to return to God and to fully be His people.
   Thus, in the book of Revelation the final glorious scene is of the NEW Jerusalem coming down from heaven. “I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the thrown saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God!’” (Revelation 21:2-3)
   And so we declare: Next Year in the New Jerusalem!