Why? A couple of years ago, Zhong Sheng preached a sermon about the feasts/festivals that God commanded the Israelites to observe in the Old Testament. If I remember correctly there were seven of them.... none of which we celebrate as Christians today. Obviously, with the death and resurrection of Christ, we live before the throne of grace, and we aren't required to come to him with ritual sacrifices anymore. However, a large purpose for having these festivals is as a remembrance of what God has done for us. Actually, when Jews celebrate the Passover, it is more than just remembering what took place for their forebears... they believe that they are joining in with the Jews of old, of all generations, to celebrate God's redemption. I think this is such a beautiful way to view how personal God's work of salvation is across the span of time.

How? The first time we celebrated Passover, we fasted from anything containing yeast or a rising ingredient for the week before. Then we had a meal of lamb, vegetables and unleavened bread. My husband read some blessings over the food that are very likely to be the type of blessings Jesus would have said at the Passover with his disciples and we ended the meal with him washing our feet. It was simple and meaningful. If you go on the internet, you will find a plethora of additional foods, activities, prayers and traditions that have been added on to the original Passover requirements. Our tradition is still developing, so I don't know what all we will do this year, but I'm looking forward to it.