Seder Supper…This is the Passover Festival!
Our Christian Haggadah with Bible and herbs

One of my favorite celebrations is the Passover. As a Christian, I guess it may be a little unusual for this to be as big a part of my life as it is…but I find so much of Jesus in this celebration that it never fails to move my soul.

We celebrate a messianic passover Seder, prepared by Jewish followers of Christ. It blends the traditional Jewish Seder with the ways that Christ fulfilled this celebration, and it gives you an amazing picture of how God planned our salvation from the very beginning of time. The fulfillment of customs and laws thousands of years old shows itself beautifully in the little details that might otherwise be missed. Those detailed laws about how to practice the Passover found in the book of Exodus? Each one speaks a beautiful message of completion in the presence of the Messiah. I think of the day, two thousand years ago, when Christ himself sat at the Seder…the last supper. Did the whole world feel a little different that night, when he lifted the bread and drank from the cup?

I will write more about the Seder this week. I’m eager to share thoughts on this, as it’s a beautiful tradition that has blessed our family for years. In the meantime, I’m preparing…sweeping the house clean from top to bottom (is this where the Spring cleaning tradition came from?). Planning a menu for dinner for 19, with gluten free options. Thinking, praying, and embracing the beauty of Holy Week, the life of the Messiah and the fulfillment of God’s Word (I find myself wanting to write it G-d this week).

If anyone reading this has never done a Seder, this would be a great year to start! This year, Passover starts on Thursday…the day before Good Friday, the day that Christ himself sat at his last supper–the Passover meal that brought about the completeness of God’s plan. The sacrificial lamb, God-made-flesh, whose death and Resurrection made it possible for our sins to be passed over.

Here are some resources for you, I am not an expert by any means on the Seder and I have a lot to learn myself on the subject…but these are a good place to start. If it’s too much to do an entire Seder this year, perhaps you could do some small part of the tradition as a reminder…lamb for dinner, a glass of wine, a moment of thanks for all the Lord has done…for the things that have passed over you, the blessings you’ve been given.

A Christian Haggadah (print this out and use it as a guide, you can give each guest a copy and read it aloud during dinner)

Passover meal plans for our house this year (with Gluten Free additions):

Stuffed mushrooms
(not Kosher to eat these with the lamb, but OK in our house…or you can use the dairy free alternative if you want)

Roasted eggs (boil eggs, peel them and roast them until browned).

Parsley (the ‘green vegetable’), Horseradish (bitter herbs), Charoset (apple and nut mixture that reminds us of the mortar the Hebrews used while slaves in Egypt), and Matzah (flat bread that is pierced, find a gluten free substitute here…it looks like a smaller, rectangular matzah bread. If you are being strict about following custom, however, be aware that the gluten free crackers do contain leaven).

Garlic-studded lamb roast with mint pesto

Roasted red potatoes with rosemary

Roasted asparagus and yellow pepper salad (we will be omitting the almonds and Parmesan cheese, due to allergy issues, and rather than large yellow peppers I’ll use the small red, yellow and orange kind).

Passover Lemon Cake…I found this recipe on a fellow blogger’s site (from Montana, no less!). I will be substituting Sawyer’s gluten-free flour mix for the matzah meal…or you can use 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 2/3 cup rice flour plus 3 tsp. xanthan gum instead).

and if I get really ambitious…

Mango Almond Macaroon Torte.
I made this last year, and it was wonderful! I substituted rice flour for the matzah meal, and of course hubby can’t eat it due to the nuts. However, he hates mangoes…so he didn’t want it anyway! It wasn’t as hard as it sounded to prepare.

Shalom, and happy Holy Week! Please email me or leave a comment if you have questions, or if you have some Seder hints and recipes to share. Maybe you’ve posted on Christianity’s Jewish roots? I’d love to link to you!

Related Posts:
Just found Ann Voskamp’s Seder menu….she has some beautiful posts on Passover as well. No one can say it as beautifully as Ann!

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5 thoughts on “Seder Supper…This is the Passover Festival!

  • April 8, 2009 at 2:13 pm
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    This sounds wonderful, Erica! I worked as the director of children’s ministries at my church for a few years and we did this as a Sunday school lesson with the kids one year. it was one of my favorite lessons, and I was surprised at how even the youngest embraced this sacred tradition.

    can’t wait to hear more about your celebration!

    Reply
  • April 8, 2009 at 3:31 pm
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    Manker, thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it.

    LL…enjoy your Seder!

    Laura…we did a Seder lesson with our Children’s ministry, too! They loved it. Does your church use the Rotation Model by any chance?

    Reply
  • April 9, 2009 at 4:47 am
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    How is the lamb? I’ve had leg of lamb once and it was prepared badly and then only the Greek style of compressing it with herbs and slicing it. You have made me think that it is time to start our own Sedar tradition!

    Reply

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