Connections between the Jewish Passover and Christian celebration of the Last Supper
It is incredible to see the various connections between Judaism and Christianism, including the Jewish Passover and the Last Supper’s Christian celebration. At the Last Supper, Jesus commemorated the traditional Passover meal but also dramatically transformed it. In the first place, the Pesach or Jewish Passover remembers the Exodus from Egypt under Moses’s leadership and celebrates the passage from slavery to freedom (Patridge. 2018). To free the Jewish, God told Moises that he would strike against the firstborn son in every household in Egypt, excepting the Hebrews who followed the Passover instructions. To prevent this massive killing, the Hebrews had to take their best lamb for slaughter and use some of its blood to mark their front door with a hyssop branch. The angel of God would pass over the marked houses and leave the people inside unharmed. It was the decisive stroke of misfortune for the Egyptians, and they immediately released the Hebrews from slavery. According to Partridge (2018), in the Passover meal or seder meal, the Jews honor this event by consuming unleavened bread and wine in reference to the Israelites’ bread when they left Egypt in a hurry, and the sealant used by the Hebrews for building in Egypt as slaves.
Correspondingly, Jesus relives this event with his death, as Jesus himself assumed the role of the sacrificial lamb, giving his body (bread) and shedding his blood (wine) for the salvation of all. By His sacrifice, a new Exodus takes place, where freedom from the slavery of sin and the hope of entering into the promised land of heaven. Jesus opened the doors of heaven with his love sacrifice, and anyone who follows his commands and eats and drinks from his body and blood will be able to reach paradise. Just as the Jews commemorate the Egyptians’ liberation with the Passover, the Christians celebrate the salvation of the entire humanity with the Last Supper.
Reference
Partridge, C. (2018). A short introduction to world religions. Fortress Press.
REPLY 2
1. Describe some of the key differences between Judaism and Christianity.
Although Christianity and Judaism are two religions that have a lot of similarities, there are some main differences between Jews and Christians. They both believe in one Holy God but see the person of Jesus-Christ differently. Christians accept Jesus as messiah and personal savior. Judaism in the other hand recognizes Jesus like a prophet of God but they do not believe that he was the Messiah. Jesus is not part of their theology. Jews do not consider Jesus as a divine being; therefore, they do not celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter that have a connection to the life of Jesus. Both religions differ in their rites and rituals like holy day which is Sabbath on Saturday for Judaism and church services on Sunday for Christianity. Christianity rites include prayers, bible study, and sacraments. Jewish people have rites of circumcision of newborn Jewish males, wearing the tallit and tefillin. Christianity has no religious dietary laws, while Jews have a set of strict dietary laws known as kashurat.
References
Adams, K. B. (2020, June 25). Christianity and Judaism- Similarities and Differences in Belief and Practice. Medium. https://medium.com/interfaith-now/christianity-and-judaism-similarities-and-differences-in-belief-and-practice-ac026db19424.
200 WORDS FOR EACH REPLY
