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Additional Notes
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The basic source for the ancient
Passover ceremony is the tractate Pesachim (from which the Greek word pascha is
derived and which is translated as ‘paschal’ in the RSV of I Corinthians 5:7,
‘Passover’ in most other modern translations) in the Mishnah, a document that
was written down in c. A. D. 200 by Rabbi Judah ha-Nassi. Judah had received it
via oral tradition dating back to the great Rabbi Hillel, who lived in the
century before Christ. The modern
practice of Passover and the components
in the meal may not be exactly as it was at the time of Christ, but the
symbolism is apparent.
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The date for the Passover of Jesus
was either Wednesday April 1st or Thursday April 2nd AD
33, which Wednesday April 2nd has been argued by Harold Hoehner in
his Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.
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Passover lambs were slain between
noon and 3 p.m. on Nisan 14 (recall that there were three hours of darkness,
from approximately noon to 3 p.m., when Jesus was on the cross [Mark 15:33].
When Jesus died, the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom [Mark
15:38]—right when the last of the lambs would be on the altar in front of the
sanctuary!). In A. D. 70, the last year that the temple was still standing,
270,000 lambs were slain. When the lambs were slain, the Levites would chant the
Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118) repeatedly.
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The practice of searching for
leaven in the home apparently stems from a rabbinic interpretation of Zephaniah
1:12—“I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent.”
Since leaven often represents sin, Paul makes the tie between the leaven of the
Passover and our commitment to Christ in I Corinthians 5:7 (“Get rid of the old
leaven that you may be a new batch without leaven—as you really are. For Christ,
our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”)
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The practice of washing one’s hands
has some dispute attached to it and it is unclear when hand washing was
performed as part of the Passover Meal.
During modern times, it is done prior to the meal and before sitting
down. In ancient times it may have been done once all reclined at table and
after the first cup of wine was poured.
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Many pious participants of Passover
also washed their feet. Foot washing was
not a part of the Passover per se, but was the custom in Palestine when one
entered a home to eat a meal.
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The command to recount Israel’s
history is recorded in Exodus 10:2; 12:26-27; and 3:8.
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