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This service evokes the last Passover meal which Jesus ate with his disciples. It is a modification of the Passover traditions in the light of Jesus' life.
Parts identified for Leader 1
would traditionally be led by the mother.
Parts identified for Leader 2
would traditionally be led by the father.
The words of institution for the Lord's Supper
are identified for the Minister
.
Other parts may be shared in accordance
with the gifts of the people gathered.
(Leader 1)
May the festival lights we now kindle
Inspire us to use our power
To heal and not to hurt,
To help and not to hinder,
To bless and not to curse,
To serve you, O God of freedom.
The candles are lit, reminding us to the light of God's truth.
The washbowl and towel are brought out,
reminding us that we should approach this meal
with both our hands and our hearts clean.
The Lord says to us:
[Joshua 24]
Long ago, your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River
and worshipped other Gods.
One of those ancestors was Terah, the father
of Abraham and Nahor.
Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, and led him
through the whole land of Canaan.
I gave him many descendents. I gave him Isaac
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.
I gave the hill country of Edom to Esau
but your ancestor Jacob went down to Egypt
with his children.
[Genesis 41]
Joseph, one of Jacob's sons, was 30 years old
when he began to serve the king of Egypt.
When the seven years of famine came,
there was food in Egypt.
People came to Egypt from all over the world
to buy grain from Joseph,
because the famine was severe everywhere.
[Genesis 42]
The sons of Jacob came with others to buy grain,
because there was famine in the land of Canaan.
[Exodus 1]
In the course of time, Joseph, his brothers,
and all the rest of that generation died,
but their descendents had many children.
Then a new king came to power in Egypt,
one who knew nothing about Joseph.
He said to his people,
These Israelites
are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us.
In case of war, they might join our enemies.
So the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites.
They made them work on their building projects
and in the fields,
and they had no pity on them.
Each person now takes a piece of green herb and eats it.
The greens remind us of life.
The green herb is dipped (twice) in salt water,
which reminds us of the tears the Hebrew people shed
while they were slaves in Egypt.
[Deuteronomy 26]
The Egyptians treated us harshly
and forced us to work as slaves.
Then we cried for help to God, the God of our ancestors.
God heard us and saw our hardship.
Today, also, wherever slavery remains, we remember.
(Minister)
[Galatians 4]
When the right time finally came, God sent his own Son.
Jesus came as the son of a human mother
and lived under the Jewish Law,
to redeem those who were under the Law,
so that we might become God's children.
So then, you are no longer slaves
but God's own children.
Jesus, we thank you for being our host at this feast.
We remember the Father's saving work in Egypt,
as you remembered with your disciples long ago.
We thank you, too, for transforming this meal.
We reenact the experiences of our ancestors in Egypt.
We also reenact the Passover meal you shared
with the first of your disciples.
We remember the saving work you did for us.
Most of all, Lord, we thank you for inviting us to share
in a first taste of the banquet prepared
for all your family in the kingdom of heaven.
[1 Corinthians 11]
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed,
took a piece of bread,
gave thanks to God, broke it, and said,
This is my body, which is for you.
Do this in memory of me.
The mixture of fruit and nuts reminds us
of the mortar used in building the cities
of Pithom and Rameses in Egypt.
Each person should eat some of it
between pieces of bread, like mortar between bricks.
The questions should be asked by the youngest child or children.
(Leader 2)
[Deuteronomy 6]
It is because we were slaves under Pharaoh in Egypt
and God brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand,
sending great signs and disasters against the Egyptians
– as we saw ourselves.
But God led us out from there to bring us into the land
promised to our ancestors.
God sent Moses to Pharaoh, to ask for our freedom.
But Pharaoh refused.
[Exodus 6]
Moses complained to God: Why, O Lord,
have you brought misfortune on this people?
And why did you ever send me?
Then God promised deliverance for us, saying:
I will release you from your labor
in Egypt.
Let every cup be filled to the top and let everyone take a drink.
Then God said to Moses and his brother Aaron in Egypt:
[Exodus 12]
This month for you is the first of months;
you shall make it the first month of the year.
On the tenth day of this month let each man
take a lamb or a kid for his family,
one for each household,
except if a household
is too small for one lamb or one kid
they may share with their nearest neighbor.
You must have it in safe keeping until the fourteenth
day of this month,
and then all the community of Israel shall kill
the victim
between dusk and dark.
They must smear some of the blood on the doorposts
and on the lintel
of the door of every house
where they eat the lamb.
That night they shall eat the flesh, roast on a fire;
they shall eat it with unleavened bread
and bitter herbs.
You are not to eat any of it raw or even boiled in water,
but roasted:
Head, shins, and entrails.
You shall not leave any of it until morning;
if any is left, it must be burned.
This is the way in which you must eat it:
You shall have your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet,
and your staff in your hand,
and you must eat in urgent haste.
It is the Lord's Passover.
On that night, I will pass through Egypt
and kill every first-born of every man and beast.
And as for you, the blood will be a sign on your houses:
when I see the blood I will pass over your house.
[Exodus 6]
God promised deliverance a second time, saying:
I will rescue you
from slavery in Egypt.
Let every cup be filled again and let everyone drink
and let everyone take a piece of lamb and eat it.
[Exodus 12]
You shall keep this day as a day of remembrance,
you shall keep it generation after generation
as a rule for all time.
For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
On the very first day you shall rid your house of yeast;
from the first day to the last anyone who eats
leavened bread
shall be outlawed from Israel.
You shall observe these commandments
because this was the very day
on which I brought you out of Egypt in your tribal hosts.
You shall observe this day forever.
You shall eat unleavened bread in the first month
from the evening which begins the fourteenth day
until the evening which begins the twenty-first day.
For seven days no yeast may be found in your houses.
You must eat nothing fermented.
Each person should take a piece of the bread and eat it.
[Exodus 6]
God's third promise for us was this:
I will redeem you with mighty acts.
Let every cup be filled a third time and let everyone drink.
[Exodus 12]
The Israelties did all that God commanded
and by midnight the Lord had struck down
every first-born
from the first-born of Pharaoh
to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon,
and the first-born cattle.
Before night was over, Pharaoh rose,
and a great cry of anguish went up
because no house in Egypt was spared.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron while it was still dark
and said,
Be off! Leave my people, you and your Israelites.
The Egyptians urged them on and hurried them
out of the country
or else,
they said, we shall all be dead.
The Israelites set out from Rameses by way of Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot,
not counting dependents.
With them went animals in great numbers,
both flocks and herds.
The dough which they had brought with them from Egypt
they baked into unleavened bread,
because there was no yeast.
They had been driven out of Egypt and had been allowed
no time
even to get food ready for themselves.
The Israelites had been settled in Egypt 430 years.
At the end of 430 years, on this very day,
all the tribes of the Lord came out of Egypt.
This was the night of watching
as the Lord waited to bring them out of Egypt.
Dayenu
How much more, then, are we to be grateful to God! For
God promised deliverance for us four times. God said:
I will release you from your labor in Egypt.
I will rescue you from slavery in Egypt.
I will redeem you with mighty acts.
And now, when our ancestors had departed from Egypt,
God made this promise to us:
[Leviticus 26]
I will walk to and fro among you;
I will become your God, and you will become my people.
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt
and let you be slaves no longer.
(Minister)
[Hebrews 9]
The offerings and sacrifices presented to God
cannot make the worshipper's heart perfect.
But Christ has already come as the High Priest
of the good things that are already here.
When Christ passed through the tent and entered
the Most Holy Place,
he did not take the blood
of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice;
rather, he took his own blood.
For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant,
so that we who have been called by God
may receive the eternal blessing
that God has promised.
[1 Corinthians 11]
After the supper Jesus took the cup and said,
This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood.
Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.
This means that every time you eat this bread
and drink from this cup
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Let every glass be filled the fourth time, and let everyone drink.
How much more, then, are we to be grateful to God! For
A hymn may be sung here.
HTML.
March, 2012
(March, 2016)
Based on earlier Passover liturgies used in
January, 1983, October, 1997, and April, 1999.