"Mama Grace" Pendleton lights the candles at the beginning of the Passover Seder meal

Steve Ocheltree leads the group in dipping the bitter herbs in salt water (the tears of the Hebrew slaves)

Gary Pendleton (background) pours the "wine" (Welch's grape juice) before the recitation of the 10 plagues God brought against Egypt

"Next year in Jerusalem"--the prayer at the end of every Passover Seder meal, anticipating the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple

Passover begins tomorrow.  The Ocheltree Group observed a modified Seder meal during class today, discussing the elements of this traditional meal and their significance to both Jews and Christians.  We have been studying Exodus over the last several weeks and had reached the story of Passover at this very time!  How often does that happen?  Steve Ocheltree led us through a modified Seder meal, where we had the oldest woman in the group light the candles (a woman brought the Messiah, the light of the world, into the world), we dipped bitter herbs (parsley) in very salty water, representing the bitter slavery of the Hebrew people and the tears they shed.  We dipped matzoh crackers in horseradish, also meant to bring tears to the eyes, in memory of the bitter slavery of the Hebrew people.  We enjoyed a delicious apple, cinnamon, walnut and date dish known as charoset, which represents the mortar the Hebrew slaves put between the bricks they laid for the Pharaoh.  We made sandwiches with matzoh crackers, charoset and Romaine lettuce, also considered a "bitter herb" to represent the cruel and bitter slavery of the Jews.  We drank one of the four glasses of "wine" shared at a traditional Passover Seder meal, the second cup, where we all dipped our finger in the cup ten times, each time reciting the name of one of the plagues God brought on the Egyptians, shaking the "wine" off our fingers as we spoke.  We ate boiled eggs, representing new life as the Hebrews escaped from slavery and headed toward the Promised Land. Hebrew families play a game at Passover.  The father breaks one of three pieces of matzoh bread in half.  He hides half of that piece, called the Afikomen, for the children to find at the end of the Seder dinner.  The child who finds the Afikomen receives a prize.  Christians believe this broken bread represents Jesus' body, broken for us, and the hiding is like a burial, and the finding is like a resurrection.  The prize, Christians believe, is eternal life with Christ Jesus.
Our Passover Seder meal was a fitting way to close our study of Exodus for the next three months.  We will be joining a church-wide study of the life of Paul during April, May and June.  Our study of Paul's life will doubtless be richer because of the understanding we have gained of Old Testament history during our time in Exodus!
--Posted by Mama O.