Wednesday night at sundown was the commencement of Passover. Passover is a one day holiday in what scripture records as the Lord's Passover. Somehow over the centuries we've called it the "Jewish Passover." The next day after the Passover is the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which lasts for seven days. Together Passover with the Feast of Unleavened Bread is celebrated as an eight day holiday.
Part of the celebration of Passover is the Afikomen ceremony. Before the meal, the father or leader of the household takes the middle matzah from the linen bag that holds three matzah's and breaks it in half. This middle part that is broken is called the Afikomen. Half is put back into the bag and the other half hidden away wrapped in a napkin until after dinner. When it is found by the children and returned to the table, all must break a piece and eat of it.
A question begs to be answered; why three matzahs? One tradition says that it represents three groups of Jewish people, the priests, the Levites and the Israelites. Another says that they represent the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jaccob, and a Jewish lady here in my town says they represent the Secular, Traditional and Orthodox Jews. No matter which is believed to be the right answer, tradition is at a loss as to why the middle matzah must be broken. Why are the Levites or Isaac to be broken (depending on tradition) and not the rest? Rabbinic tradition is silent on this important tradition.
For Christians the symbolism that fits behind this ceremony is the Godhead. As the three matzahs are one in the linen bag the one in the middle that represents the second person of the trinity is broken and wrapped in linen. Jesus was broken (died), wrapped and hidden away (buried) and brought back at the third cup of wine at the Passover dinner (resurrected the third day).
The Afikomen was not present in the time of Jesus. It was a later addition to Passover. I've read that Rabbinic tradition holds that the Afikomen now represents the lamb and everyone must eat of it. The word Afikomen does not exist in the Hebrew language. This is the only Greek word in the Passover Seder. The translation means " I came" and is a form of the Greek verb ikneomai. How could this Afikomen, if it speaks of Jesus, make it intot this Jewish Passover when the majority of Jews do not accept Jesus as Messiah?
During the early days of the church 3,000 Jews from many different countries believed. They were present, as required by God, at the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost when they heard Peter preach on the resurrection. These new believers would have taken the message of the Savior with them to their homeland. Many came to Jesus as a result of their testimony, Acts 21:20. Jewish believers not too long later numbered in the tens of thousands. Some estimate that by the end of the first century there were one million Jewish believers. This would have been large enough numbers to send shock waves throughout the synagogues concerning the person of Jesus. Then along came the destruction of the temple and now the Jews were faced with a dilemma. Either they had to cease the observance of Passover or change it.
The new believers were already breaking away from the sacrifical system believing Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifce and now incorporated the broken matzah into the service symbolizing the broken body of this lamb. This tradition may have been borrowed by others seeking to switch to a "lambless" Passover without even realizing the full significance behind the ceremony. So today in Jewish homes the most obscure ceremony in the Passover, the Afikomen, is the one that gives it its greatest and most powerful meaning. The Afikomen "I came" is an annual reminder that the Passover Lamb has already come, 1 Cor 5:7.
One of the questions asked during the Passover meal is "Why is this night different than all other nights?" The answer?
"He came."
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