As springtime approaches, we also prepare to begin a new annual cycle of Biblical feasts, starting with the Passover. On Sunday evening, this April 13, the Lord’s Passover will be observed in the home. We are commanded to remember (memorialize) the Lord’s redemption and how WE were saved out of Egypt. Paul instructs us to remember the Passover in that way, to teach our children that WE are the persons who were delivered.

Yeshua used this same observance to initiate the New Covenant with His disciples; therefore, this feast takes on added significance for those of us who believe in Yeshua the Messiah and keep the commandments of the Lord.

The Lord commands us to prepare for this observance each year in a special way. At the first Passover, the children of Israel prepared by bringing into their homes their yearling lambs on the 10th of Nisan. They observed and inspected the lamb for four days to ensure that it was healthy and fit. Then at twilight of the evening of the 14th, the lambs were slain and roasted over fire for the seder meal.

Today, we do not bring lambs into our houses. Instead, the memorial calls for us to remove leaven from our homes and to prepare our hearts to keep the feast in a “worthy manner.” When it comes to removing the leaven, we find ourselves each year asking, “What is leaven?” Not only are we to remove any foods that contain leaven in them, as I have observed this feast over the years, I have come to understand that there is a spiritual lesson here about removing leaven (old sins) from our lives. Asking ourselves “What is leaven?” also facilitates asking ourselves what behaviors or attitudes do we need to clean out of our lives. As we age and go through the different stages of life, one set of behaviors may be acceptable at a younger age only to become inappropriate (leaven) at an older age. We are commanded to search for leaven every year.

The memorial also commands us to “remember” what the Lord has done. In the case of Egypt, we remember how the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt with a strong arm and many judgments. In the case of Yeshua, we are to remember His death, burial, and resurrection, which took place at the Passover. Both of these remembrances are illustrated in the Passover sequence of the seder and its symbolism.

But, it is the Apostle Paul who, upon teaching us this remembrance, gives a stern warning that if we partake of the Passover service in “an unworthy manner,” we bring sickness and death into our midst.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 1 Corinthians 11:27-30

It is important to keep the commandment of Passover and the other feasts, but the instructions for the Passover also call for it to be performed properly. The penalties for failing to do so are severe. Earlier, Moses set a standard for Passover. The person observing Passover must be circumcised. Passover is not to be observed by unbelievers. It is not an “outreach” program; it is for the “redeemed of the Lord.”

But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. Exodus 12:48

We have come to understand that the spiritual message of circumcision is directly tied to our faith in God and His covenant, that every believer has received the circumcision without hands—the circumcision of the heart. Circumcision is a sign of the covenant.

…and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Messiah; Colossians 2:11

Did you know that the children of Israel did not circumcise their sons in the wilderness and yet they ate the Passover each year? The change came when they entered the land of Israel (the promised land). Circumcision is a sign of the covenant tied to the promised land. We are in a similar situation today as we are scattered in the nations. We keep the Passover, but our circumcision is based on the work of the Holy Spirit—the work of regeneration because of our faith in the Messiah as the Lamb of God. Yet there is day coming when we will be in the kingdom and have new resurrected bodies. We will be physically circumcised before the first Passover there…and there will be a Passover in the kingdom. The Messiah spoke of it when He refrained from drinking the last cup with His disciples, saying that He would not drink of it until they were in the kingdom with Him.

So, as we approach Passover this season, how do we prepare our hearts to observe it correctly in a “worthy manner?” I would like to offer some practical advice to do just that.

Prepare yourself by remembering to remember! Can you recount the basic story of Moses and the children of Israel leaving Egypt? Can you recount the basic story of Yeshua and His disciples leading to His arrest, trial, execution, and resurrection?

Prepare yourself by reviewing the memorial symbols, including the different cups, the seder platter elements, and the special bread called the Afikoman. The Afikoman is the most important part of the meal. It is the dessert of the seder that is resurrected after the meal. The meaning of Afikoman comes from the very last words Yeshua spoke from the cross, “It is finished (fulfilled).” The Hagaddah (Passover seder service booklet) will lead you through the sequence and explain the meaning of the Passover elements, but are you aware of the 15 different elements of the seder?

Prepare yourself—whether you are to be a guest at the table or a host at the Passover table. Participants should examine themselves for any leaven in their lives. Only by the aid of the Holy Spirit can you truly accomplish this. Simply ask the Lord to show you the leaven for you to remove.

In traditional homes, this process is taught to the children by the following game. Mother strategically places pieces of leaven about the home (simple croutons work). The father takes a flashlight and the children carry a small paper sack, a rubber band, and a feather. The father silently leads the children by pointing the light and takes them to each piece of leaven. Upon seeing the leaven, the children sweep the leaven with the feather into the sack. Once all of the leaven is gathered, the sack is closed and bound with the rubber band. This sack is then cast out of the house with the father and his family at his side stating, “I have kept the commandment of the Lord and removed the leaven from my home.”

What usually happens in this game illustrates other lessons. For example, the children have a tendency to do their own search for leaven apart from the father carrying the light. The father stands patiently in one part of the room shining his light right on the leaven while the children scurry about looking for leaven, never looking for the father’s help. It is kind of humorous to see, but we adults do the same thing. That is why I recommend that you ask the Lord first to show you the leaven in your life rather than you doing your own search.

Passover is probably the most formal meal of the year in many believers’ homes. Special dishes are used, there is a banquet setting, often including guests. A traditional seder with dinner will be an all-evening affair. Observing the Passover properly means that you are to relax and eat it as a person who has been set free, saved, and delivered. Symbolically, we speak of reclining at the meal. This is one of four questions asked by the children at the seder: “Why on this night do we sit and recline, but on all other nights we only sit?” Passover should not be a stressful experience. You are to relax and enjoy the freedom provided by the Lord. This will not save you from cleanup and the dishes, but one should not be thinking of those things during the seder.

The pinnacle of the seder is when the resurrected bread, the Afikoman, and the third cup—the cup of Redemption—is offered. Yeshua specifically referred to these elements as being His body broken for us and His blood (His life) shed for us. Most of us with a Christian background know that this bread and cup come with solemn moments. We remember what Yeshua has done for us personally. Passover is the same, but we are also instructed to remember what God has done for us as a community of believers. Conducting a seder illustrates WHAT Yeshua was fulfilling and why. Many are stunned to see picture of Yeshua’s resurrection so clearly as the Afikoman is brought to the table.

It is essential that we hold this part of the seder in a solemn and reverent way. Being disrespectful at those moments will surely be acting in “an unworthy manner.”

This year on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the day following Passover), we will be treated to an astronomical event. On the night of April 15 at midnight (Central time zone) a lunar eclipse will begin. The full eclipse will begin a little after 2am and remain full until about 3:30 am. The eclipse will be completely finished by about 4:30 am. It will be the first of four lunar eclipses called blood moons. Many prophecy teachers and students think there will be significance to these four eclipses occurring this Passover season, next Sukkot, then the following Passover in 2015, followed by the final one at Sukkot 2015. We will have to wait and see what will happen. But what it says to me is that we should take our festivals seriously before the Lord. By that I mean, it should move us to keep the feasts even more diligently. If prophetic events are to unfold, keeping the feast is the path to salvation and deliverance, the promises of God even for us, not just an annual religious ritual.

If Passover or Sukkot are just religious rituals to you, then it is fair to say that your heart is not ready to observe them. Don’t just keep a religious custom. I encourage you to step back and prepare your heart. You will discover as I have that there is much more to the observance and remembrance than meets the eye.

One final word, make sure you set a place for Elijah at your seder. We are expecting him very soon!