There’s nothing more stupid in the church today than evangelicals doing a play-acting “Seder Supper.”
First, we don’t need to do a fake Passover. The church already has the Lord’s Supper which is (among other things) the fulfillment of the old covenant Passover. Jesus gave us a meal. Why do something other than what he commanded? Why do another religious meal when Jesus already gave us one?
The reason some evangelicals get interested is the Seder is that, having eviscerated the true sacraments of their meaning and efficacy, they go looking for substitutes. They have emptied the true sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) of mystery, yet, being human, they still yearn for meaningful and mysterious rituals, so they either borrow from Jewish tradition (the Seder as a substitute for the Lord’s Supper) or they create their own (such as the altar call). The answer to this longing for meaningful rituals should be satisfied by reclaiming and understanding what Jesus gave us. Doing a Seder is not a way to return to the church’s roots; it is the church engaging in idolatrous syncretism, no matter how well intentioned.
Second, most of the Seder is not actually rooted in Scripture. It’s not the ritual described in Exodus 12 or later OT Scripture. Most of it comes from later extra-biblical traditions; indeed, most of it comes from rabbinic Judaism, and was established long after Christian faith and Judaism were clearly distinct and very different faiths. Even if those rabbinic traditions get infused with Christian symbolism, they are not “our” traditions and symbols. They comes from the Talmud, not the Bible. Christians have no more business doing a Seder than than they do keeping Ramadan or celebrating Kwanza. The church has her own meal, her own traditions, her own calendar, her own story. Why borrow from apostate Judaism? Why syncretize the Christian faith with a rival?
I have argued elsewhere that one deep-seated reason dispensational evangelicals are attracted to modern Israel is because they have rejected Christendom but still long to have an earthy, embodied cultural manifestation of the faith. The same thing is happening here – having minimized the power of the Christian sacraments, these same evangelicals look to Judaism to provide what they (wrongly) think their own religion lacks.
Third, for Christians to try to perform an old covenant Passover in any way is virtually blasphemous – and it’s impossible anyway. Will the Seder meal only be for the circumcised per Exodus 12, and those who keep the cleanness laws of Leviticus? Where are are Levitical priests going to be found to administer the ritual? How does taking this pseudo-Passover meal outside of Jerusalem get justified in light of Deuteronomy 16? How will a lamb be sacrificed at the temple, per the old covenant requirement, since the temple was destroyed in 70AD? Will 2 year olds be welcome to eat the Seder since the Passover meal was for the whole household and obviously included young children? What about the shedding of blood after Jesus’ death on the cross – on what basis could any Christian revert to an animal sacrifice when the final sacrifice has been offered?
The Passover was part of a system that God ended in 70AD. To turn back to it (especially in rabbinic/Talmudic form) is no better and no different from turning to paganism (cf. Gal. 4:8-11). Why turn back to the shadow (if a Seder can even be considered an old covenant shadow) when the reality has come? Why teach from a Seder when you can teach about the Lord’s Supper? The whole point of the Last Supper is that Jesus has transformed the old covenant Passover into something better – the new covenant meal of the Lord’s Supper. Doing a Seder is participating in a religious system that rejected Jesus as Messiah.
There’s more that could be said, but these reasons are fully sufficient for Christians to reject the Seder. Do the meal Jesus gave us. Do it every Lord’s Day, like the apostles did. Read Calvin on the real (Spiritual) presence and embrace a theology of sacramental efficacy. Use good bread and real wine. We don’t need weird non-Christian rituals to give the season meaning.
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ADDENDUM ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR: The church calendar is purely voluntary. It is a matter of custom and prudence, not divine law. I think the church calendar is a helpful catechetical tool, a helpful way of ordering time and ensuring that a local pastor does not just camp out on one aspect of Jesus’ work to the exclusion of others. But it is not required. I take a broad view of the regulative principle — the old covenant shows us that there is wisdom in having a calendar tied to the great events of redemptive history, so I think the church calendar is based on principles found in the OT, adapted to a new covenant situation — but refusing to keep the calendar is not a sin. And for obvious reasons, there is a great deal of variety in different denominations/traditions within the church. That variety need not bother us.
The calendar has been abused at times — it has become legalistic, or gotten twisted into focusing on things contrary to Scripture. Had I lived in Zwingli’s day, I probably would have a made a point to eat sausage during Lent as well. But when the calendar is done right, it has great value and creates a culture and rhythm in the life of the church that serves a good purpose.
Even in the old covenant, when God did prescribe a calendar to his people, there was some flexibility. Passover could be rescheduled, per Numbers 9. Feasts and fasts could be added (e.g., Purim in the book of Esther). The calendar is made for man, not man for the calendar.
ADDENDUM: Animal sacrifices have been fulfilled and abolished. The Lord’s Supper is our Passover: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” The Lord’s Supper is the transformation of and fulfillment of all the old covenant feasts.
The Seder is actually not a Passover. It just pretends to be. That’s part of the problem. No one travels to Jerusalem for a Seder. There is no temple at which the Passover lambs can be sacrificed. No one is putting blood on their doorposts. Circumcision is not treated as a prerequisite. Most of what take place in a Seder is not actually found in the Bible and much it stems from later, post 70AD Jewish traditions. It’s impossible to keep an old covenant Passover even if you wanted to. The system of which it was a part is over and no longer exists.
ADDENDUM: What about Jewish Christians doing Passover today?
I reply: Would these Jewish Christians travel to Jerusalem to sacrifice their Passover lamb at the temple (which no longer exists)? Would they put blood from the lamb on their doorposts? Would they exclude non-circumcised believers from participating in the Passover with them? Etc.
I actually think it’s impossible for anyone to do Passover today. The system of which it was a part no longer exists.
So Seders are not actually Passover meals. They are post-70AD Judaic adaptations — attempts to maintain Judaism in a temple-less context after the old covenant has been made obsolete and vanished away (as the book of Hebrews puts it). “We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.”
What would be the theological or religious significance of a Jewish Christian trying to do Passover today? Is it a religious event or just cultural/ethnic?
I just cannot come up with any reason why a Christian, Jewish or not, would want to to try to re-enact Passover, or do a Seder.
ADDENDUM: Colossians 2:16 is pre-70AD. Not relevant to this discussion.
Paul’s whole point is those things, including the old creation Sabbath, are not obligatory for all Christians.
I’m not really sure what point you’re trying to make.
From 30 to 70AD, Jew and Gentile were being blended together in one new body. Jewish Christians continued to keep many of their customs during that period, including going to the temple, but Gentiles were not expected to submit to those Jewish practices. When the temple was destroyed in 70AD, the entire old covenant scaffolding fell away with it. The whole book of Hebrews, written shortly before the temple was destroyed, calls Jewish Christians in Judea away from the temple and everything associated with it because it’s about to vanish away.
ADDENDUM: The Lord’s Supper is the God-appointed celebration of the new and greater exodus Jesus accomplished. The Lord’s Supper IS our Passover feast – just as it is our manna from heaven, our Pentecost feast, our Purim feast, our Tabernacles feast, our peace offering, etc.
As a Reformational Christian, I believe we should seek God in the places he has promised to be found – the Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
God has not made any promises to meet or bless his people in a Seder. God did not authorize or establish the Seder. It is not biblical, nor is it Christian.
As for Jewish Christians – yes, they do have to make some choices. They can maintain cultural and ethnic practices that do not conflict with God’s law. But not religious rites. They cannot practice Judaism and Christian faith at the same time. The Seder purports to be more than just a cultural practice, it is religious. That’s precisely why evangelicals get sucked into Seders – the Seder is supposed to have some religious significance even though it comes from a different religion.
If the Seder is a religious rite only for Jews/Jewish Christians, how is that not divisive? How is it not rebuilding the wall of separation between Jewish and Gentile believers that Jesus tore down? If Gentile Christians are welcome to it, in what way does it re-enact the Passover or the exodus since Passover was only for the circumcised?
But, again, the Seder is not a Passover anyway, no matter how much the claim may be made. It’s impossible to have a biblical Passover after 70AD. The covenant of which Passover was a part became obsolete and vanished away (Hebrews 8:13). We have an entire book of the NT devoted to calling first century Jewish Christians away from the shadows of the old covenant. That book ends with the promise, “We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.” The Lord’s Supper is better than any old covenant meal, so why go back? Why can’t Jewish Christians be satisfied eating from the altar Christ has given us?
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