Horseradish and haroset

Well, we had great fun learning about Passover yesterday at youth lifegroup, even if some of the food (well, most of it) wasn't to our tastes. I think it's good to look at the old testament and see how it is still relevant to us; wasn't it good to see the parallels between Jesus and the Passover Lamb and how Jesus instituted communion at Passover.

In a Christian context, I think there are still things we can learn from the elements we tasted yesterday. The horseradish, which was ever so popular yesterday, reminds the Jews of the bitterness of their slavery in Egypt, but maybe it could remind us of a far greater bitterness, that of our slavery to sin. The sweetness of the freedom from sin is far greater than the freedom the Israelites felt upon leaving Egypt, so every time you remember the bitterness of the horseradish (or next time we force you to eat it again), thank God that you are truly free and that the debt of your sin has been repaid.

We covered the parallels between Jesus and the Passover Lamb (check out our website for the sheet with more info on this), but continue to be amazed at how God planned both Jesus' death and the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb to be so similar. Also thank him that Jesus' death established much more than that of the lambs in Exodus 12.

Paul draws some good application points from Passover in 1 Corinthians 5. At Passover, Jews cast out all yeast and leavened products from their homes, but Paul urges us to cast out the "yeast of malice and wickedness" and act as if we were unleavened. The freedom we find in Christ is wonderful, but it comes with a complete life change. If we read on in Exodus, we find that the Israelites soon begin to grumble and wish they were back in Egypt, but the freedom we have in Christ is a new life; as Jesus has dealt with our sin once and for all and no longer has any power over us, we must begin to show that change. With the Holy Spirit inside us, we begin to see the yeast of the 'old life' and we then need to get rid of it and remain 'unleavened'. Let's live in our new found freedom and live a life that reflects the change that has taken place in us.