Tag Archives: Passover Devotionals

Afikomen: He Came

Shalom dear friends!

This last of eight Passover devotionals falls one day after the end of Passover. For eight days we abstained from leaven and meditated on the the importance of removing sin from our lives; the atonement made for us by Jesus, our perfect Passover Lamb; the significance of “one house” of Jews and Gentiles united spiritually in one Savior; the birth of Israel through the Exodus and new life we have in Jesus; the bitterness of suffering; and the sweetness of God’s grace.

We hope you have been blessed by these articles as much as we have been, and have a fuller understanding of the incredible symbolism that God gave us when He commanded the celebration of this ancient holiday.

I am especially excited to share this final devotional with you by none other than my dad, Ernie Richards.

Next year in Jerusalem!

 

Another Pesach Seder and Elijah has not come.

The cup remains on the table, untouched. The child has been to the door and returned with no sighting to report. The seder has ended and Elijah has not appeared to herald the coming of One infinitely greater: Mashiach ben David.

Yet something truly wonderful HAS taken place in our very midst. In the Yachatz, the middle matzoh was removed from its abode in the unity bag and lifted up for us to behold.

It is unleavened, of course, as our Lord Jesus was pure, without the slightest trace of the leaven of sin. It bears the stripes of the oven, as our Lord bore the stripes of the whip that lacerated His back. It is pierced, as He was so cruelly pierced by the nails mercilessly driven through ankle and wrist.

The middle matzoh is broken for us, even as our Savior’s body was broken on that Roman cross. Half is returned to its former place.

The other half immediately commands our attention. It is wrapped in linen and hidden away, out of our sight, even as the Son’s body was shrouded in linen cloths and hidden away in a cold earthen tomb.

Later we rejoiced as the broken piece of unleavened bread appeared again, in plain sight of all. The shroud was removed, and we all gladly partook of the middle matzoh, sang our Hallel, and brought our Passover Seder to its conclusion.

Hametz, Kiddush, Urehatz, Zerah. We so enjoy the many Hebrew words we use each Pesach; they add to the authenticity as we celebrate our Jewish heritage!

All the more vividly stands out one uncommon word . . . for it is not Hebrew. The name given to our celebrated middle matzoh IS GREEK – the one and only Greek word in the entire haggadah:

Afikomen.

It means, “He came.”

Yes, another Pesach has come and gone. We sang Dayenu with zest, and Eliahu Ha-Navi with a twinge of melancholy. Elijah’s cup sits in mute, significant stillness – untouched. He has not come.

But Jesus, our Messiah and Lord, has.

And our afikomen eloquently proclaims that wonderful truth at every Seder table in every Jewish home around the world, each and every year.

“It is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . .” I Timothy 1:15

mom & dad

 

Ernie Richards, with his wife, Karen, have served as missionaries with New Tribes Mission for 27 years. Ernie’s passion for studying and teaching the Scripture in it’s true context and Karen’s Jewish heritage are a perfect blend, enriching their ministry at New Tribes Bible Institute, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, of teaching, training and mentoring students to reach unreached tribal groups around the world with the Gospel. 

 

On the Seder Plate: Charoset

A devotional for Passover by Ryan Karp

 

Most people can’t even say the word.  You have to use the back of your throat and the result is a little bit of spit coming out. And no, there is no English translation for it.

 

The way my Gentile wife described charoset when she first saw it was that it was sort of like the filling for an apple pie.  However you relate to the mixture of apples, honey, nuts, juice, and cinnamon, it is DELICIOUS!  It is one of my favorite parts of Passover.  Every Jewish person knows when it is coming because it follows the awfully bitter horseradish.  But the peculiar part is that it is not one of the three parts of the Passover as mandated by the book of Exodus and reiterated by Rabbi Gamaliel in rabbinic literature.  So why do we have it?

 

You can tell by the ingredients that the mixture, which is described as a reminder of the mortar that the Hebrew slaves used, is incredibly sweet.

 

“The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.”   

Exodus 1:13-14

 

And more than the mortar explanation, I like the concept of what the sweetness brings to the Passover meal.  As a family sits around the Passover dinner table, they partake of parsley and salt water, dry matzah and horseradish.  These are not exactly the most enjoyable treats.  But while all of these elements remind us of the trials that we suffered in Egypt as slaves, there are very few occasions within the order of the service that remind us that God did indeed deliver us from slavery.

 

Yet when we take the matzah with the horseradish and then cover it with the sweet charoset so that the bitterness of the horseradish is masked, I love that picture. Yes we suffered, but let’s not forget that all of those ill feelings or thoughts of our tribulations pale in comparison of the sweetness of God’s deliverance.  That is why we don’t taste the bitterness, only the sweetness.

 

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  

Romans 8:18

 

“For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness to all generations.”

Psalm 100:5

 

ryan karp Ryan Karp grew up in suburban Maryland with a Jewish father and Gentile mother. His family celebrated the occasional Jewish holidays but other than that, there was no real connection to the Jewish religion except the occasional synagogue visit. When Ryan was eight, his father accepted Jesus as his Messiah after experiencing a Passover presentation by a Chosen People Ministries missionary. After seeing how the Jewish celebration of Passover foreshadows Jesus’ death and resurrection, his father came to faith and the family changed forever.

Ryan came to faith when he was ten years old. While on a tour to Israel with a group of young Jewish people, he shared that he believed that Jesus is the Messiah; the organization, with whom Ryan had traveled to Israel, made him leave the trip. His heart broke for the people on the tour. It was at this time that the Lord placed in him a desire to learn more about the scriptures and to share his faith with his Jewish people.

Ryan is now serving with Chosen People Ministries as Chicago Branch & Ministries Director and National Director of Young Adult Mobilization & Outreach. He enjoys speaking in churches about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and has a deep and sincere desire to share the Gospel with the Jewish people and to share with churches how to do the same.