In the Gospels, the feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover are used interchangeably. Strictly speaking, Passover is done on Nisan 14, while Unleavened Bread is Nisan 15-21 (which would include the Feast of Firstfruits).
Early, during the day of preparation of the Passover, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal for he and the rest of the disciples. Jesus ate his last Passover in the Upper Room with his disciples on the eve of Passover. This was in accordance to what is laid out in Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:1-5, and Exodus 12:6-13. During this time, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, broke the unleavened bread, and ate the meal with everyone but Judas (which is very significant). Finally, it is important to note that the Passover celebration took place yearly at the temple in Jerusalem. It was a week-long festival, and every Jewish male was expected to make this pilgrimage. With all these things understood, let’s now look at how Jesus was the fulfillment of this feast.
The Forerunner:
One of the earliest clues in the Gospels that Jesus will fulfill the Passover is given by John the Baptist. In John 1:29, the Baptist declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” By this time, the Jews had been observing Passover for 1500 years, so they would have understood the great significance of John’s statement. The implication is that Jesus was the true Passover lamb; the one in whom the event and feast are fulfilled.
The Triumphal Entry:
In the first century, outside of Jerusalem, a high priest would choose a lamb on the 10th of Nisan. The priest would then lead this lamb into the city while crowds of worshipers lined the streets, waving palm branches and singing Psalm 118, “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.”
The Jews also used Palm Sunday as an opportunity to express their longing for political freedom from the Romans. The Palm branches were a symbol that had once been placed on Jewish coins when the Jewish nation was free. Thus the palm branches were not a symbol of peace and love, but of Jewish nationalism; an expression of the Jews’ desire for political freedom.
On the Sunday before Passover, Jesus came out of the wilderness on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, riding on a donkey. This event probably took place right after the High Priest’s procession of the Passover lamb, This is why the people had palm branches and were already in the street. They then spread cloaks and branches on the road before him. The disciples began to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. (Luke 19:37). The crowd also began shouting, “Hosanna,” a slogan of the ultra-nationalistic Zealots, which meant, “Please save us! Give us freedom! We’re sick of these Romans!” Attached to this chant was Psalm 118.
The people were expecting a political leader, but Jesus came to them as the Lamb of God. Jesus, the sinless Messiah who would die on behalf of his people, appeared on the very day that the spotless Passover lambs were chosen! It is as if God were saying, “Here is my Lamb! Here is everything that this feast has been pointing to! Look and believe!” But instead of turning to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the crowds misunderstood his proclamation that he was the Messiah. They wanted him to be their military deliverer.
Another interesting point is that on lamb selection day, Jesus didn't enter the temple by the southern gate to worship; he didn't enter by the eastern gate as King; but he entered by the northern gate as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus was willing to walk through the Sheep Gate as the lamb of sacrifice so we can now have peace with God.
The Passover Meal:
The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, was established during the Passover meal. There are certain elements of the meal that Jesus used to signify how he has fulfilled this feast. The first has to do with the cups of wine, the second with the unleavened bread (which we will talk about in the Feast of Unleavened Bread article).
During the Passover meal, there were four cups of wine to recall the four expression of redemption mentioned in Exodus 6:6-7, “bring…, rid…, redeem…, take…” The first cup of wine is called the cup of sanctification; the second, the cup of judgment; the third, the cup of redemption; and the fourth, the cup of the kingdom.
The significance in the life of Jesus is that he drank the first two cups of wine, but not the last two. The cup Jesus said was His blood in the New Covenant was the third cup, the "Cup of Redemption.” Jesus changed its meaning from a past remembrance of redemption from Egypt to the redemption He was about to accomplish on the cross. By His death, He would fulfill the sacrificial aspects of the Jewish Passover, and offer protection from the wrath to come and deliverance from sin. The lamb slain for Israel's exodus from Egypt would be magnified as the Lamb it foreshadowed would be slain to provide salvation for the people of God.
By passing the third cup and giving it to the disciples, Jesus is saying that he would soon drink this cup which the Father would give him in Gethsemane and on the cross. Jesus prays that “this cup” would be removed, but if not, he would drink of it because it was the will of the Father. Thus, for Jesus, drinking the cup of redemption meant suffering and dying for sin.
In regards to the fourth cup, the cup of the Kingdom, or cup of Completion, neither Jesus nor the disciples drank of it. The significance is that we will not drink of this cup until Christ comes back and establishes his kingdom. This cup will be drunk by all the redeemed together with their Savior at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Therefore, what we see is that the Passover meal finds its fulfillment in Christ, and will reach its culmination upon his return.
Jesus Trail, Death, and Resurrection:
During Passover, the High Priest would take the lamb to the temple, and tie it up in public view, so that it could be inspected for blemishes. In the same way, Jesus sat and taught in the temple courtyard for four days and was questioned and inspected by the Sadducees and Pharisees He was later put on trial. Through all of this inspection, he was found faultless and without blemish in the eyes of God.
The Passover lamb was killed in the evening at the seventh hour (3 p.m.). The scripture says that Jesus died at the seventh hour. This means that Jesus died while the Passover lamb was being killed.
Also, during Passover time, a sign was hung around the lambs neck, bearing the name of its owner. Jesus was also crucified with a sign over his head with the name of his Father. How can this be? During the days of crucifixion, a message was usually written on a sign above the cross. This message would only be written with the first letter of each word. The phrase “Jesus of Nazareth and King of the Jews” was written in three languages above Jesus. One of those languages was Hebrew. The Hebrew initials for “Jesus of Nazareth and King of the Jews” was YHWH- the Tetragrammaton that means YaHWeH. This is probably why the priest asked Pilate to change the inscription.
In the Passover, the lambs’ bones were not broken; neither were Jesus’. Also, the Passover lamb was imposed with the penalty of sin the moment it was chosen. Jesus was chosen to be the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world. There is more, but what I have mentioned in this post hits the high points. What we see is that God is screaming out that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. He is the one that Passover was pointing to. He indeed was the Passover Lamb, come to take away the sin of his people.
In the next post, I will mention briefly how my family and I do a Seder meal as a teaching tool for our kids.