Broken Bread and Blood on the Door

March 31, 2021 Georgia Tanner

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said,

“Take, eat; this is my body.”

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Matthew 26:26-29

The girl child sat in my lap as I flipped through the children’s book of bible stories to the telling of Passover. She was excited because she and her family had attended Passover Seder on Saturday night at a friend’s house and she had been given the privilege of perhaps finding the “afikomen.” It has hard to get the exact details from her. She is three. That should be enough explanation.

I grew up in a Christian home so our traditions were more of the egg hiding kind than the traditional matza hiding kind but I knew what she was talking about.

When my kids were little, my daughter wanted us to celebrate Passover, so my Jewish business partner graciously invited us to join her family. Before that, I had celebrated a Passover meal lead by Murray Tilles. His ministry, Light of Messiah, connects Jewish people to Jesus and Christians to their Jewish roots – so that is where I had first encountered a true Seder.

Back to the afikomen. At the beginning of the meal, a stack of three matzas is held up. The middle one is torn roughly in half; the smaller portion goes back in the stack and the larger piece (the “afikomen”) is wrapped in a napkin and hidden to distribute among the guests as the very last bite of the Seder meal.

The three matzas; the bottom one represents the “earthly realm”, the top one represents the “spiritual or heavenly realm” and the middle one represents the “human story, straddling above and below.” (See the link below on the Jewish meaning of the afikomen.)

If I remember correctly from Murray’s explanation, we Christians can see fascinating symbolism here in the three matzas – especially the middle piece of bread. This bread that is “one of three” but is torn apart and hidden away until the end… Bread that is then gloriously “found”, celebrated and eaten.

Jesus celebrated his last meal on this earth at a Passover Seder with his closest companions. In Jerusalem. But he deviated from the traditional teaching of the meal. He held the bread up to bless it, then he tore it, and made the strangely disturbing command to take and eat… "this is my body.”

His disciple, John, who was there with him in the room that evening told us this was not the first time Jesus had talked about himself as bread. One of the miraculous signs Jesus did to point to his divine nature was feeding over 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish one afternoon on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd had followed him the next day, wanting more of this strange and exciting Rabbi. They talked to him about the manna given their fathers in the wilderness.

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:32-40

Jesus. The Bread of Life. Sent down to Earth by the Father from Heaven. Torn. Buried. Raised back to life. To be eaten, taken into our bodies as life-giving nourishment - never to hunger again. And those who believe will not be lost, but also shall have eternal life and raised up on the last day.

I thought I was reading the Passover story to a child. Instead, God the Good Father was reminding me of the Bread, broken for me.

Celebrating Passover is a beautiful and powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness and His mission to preserve and rescue His Chosen People. God continues to be the One who gave His people manna in the wilderness. These words are still true; “Take, eat; this is my body.” Jesus; crucified, buried, yet risen, is our afikomen.

And at the Seudah, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, having taken matzah, having made HaMotzi, he broke the [middle] matzah, giving the afikomen to the talmidim, and said, Take and eat, this is my basar.

And having taken the Cup of Redemption and having made the bracha, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you.

For this is my [Moshiach’s, see Isa 53:7-8] Dahm HaBrit HaChadasha [Isa 42:6; Jer 31:31-34], which is poured out LARABBIM (for many YESHAYAH 53:11-12) for the selicha (forgiveness) of chattaim (sins).

Mattityahu 26:26-29 Orthodox Jewish Bible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j3NZEdHQaI

Cassandra Star & her big sister Callahan sing this beautiful & meaningful Easter version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. These Easter lyrics were written by Kelley Mooney, the piano track was arranged by Jeff Buckley of Karaoke Studios & the recording by Maverick Judson of MJ Interactive.

For a beautiful description of the afikomen and its place in celebrating the Seder, you can read Helen Plotkin’s article here:

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/holidays/articles/meaning-of-the-afikoman

To know more about the ministry of Light of Messiah, connect here; https://lightofmessiah.org

Book illustration, Yaakov Epter, 1922 CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY/FLICKR

Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

English Standard Version (ESV)