The Afikkoman ritual has been a part of the Passover ceremony since Second Temple times.
It would have been included in the Passover services during the days that Jesus walked the earth.
Can you think of Him as a very young boy participating with Joseph and Mary and his brothers and sisters?
The Greek word aphikomenos means “He is coming,” and clearly suggests Messianic overtones.
Three matzot, one of which is broken, is an image of the triune nature of God – with the focus on the broken middle piece of matzah, which is a picture of the Suffering Servant of the LORD.
Consider that this piece is taken,
wrapped up,
carefully hidden from view,
only to be discovered at the end of the Seder by little children.
This is an image of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
He was taken, pierced and crucified: at His death His body was wrapped in white linen cloth: He was hidden away in a grave in a cave; the next morning He was found by His disciples, those who had learned to come with the heart of a child before Him; He was found resurrected!
He was taken, pierced and crucified: at His death His body was wrapped in white linen cloth: He was hidden away in a grave in a cave; the next morning He was found by His disciples, those who had learned to come with the heart of a child before Him; He was found resurrected!
Only after partaking of the Lamb of God who was slain for our transgressions do we understand and take hold of the reward given to those who seek for Him with the heart of a child.
Even though all four of our children are now grown, they, have in the past, enjoyed looking for where the matzot has been hidden by their Father. Soon we will have grandchildren old enough to do this! What joy it will be to see them find and discover the mysteries of Christ! We always give a prize to the winner. I have come to see this act as symbolic of Our Father in Heaven giving rewards to His children when they have found Christ and are safely inside The Kingdom of God forever.
Here I might add a word of caution to anyone planning a Passover Seder in this age and time. The ways of the world are all around us now, and even the church is full of false worship and deception. Mankind has made his own traditions. Not everyone will relate to your tradition and you may often find it a struggle to carry on against so many other worldly traditions. Jesus never said following HIm would be easy. I urge you to go prayerfully on and do what you believe, in spite of this, but do not be legalistic or try to force others to believe what only God can open up their eyes to. A Passover celebration is only valid when people come with open hearts truly desiring to worship God in the way He has shown us through His Son Jesus Christ and His people, Israel. If people don't understand this, just pray for them and keep living your life before them. With many it takes time for the real truth to seep into their hearts and minds. Often our children, even though we have taught them well, get distracted by the things of the world and do not make time for the things most precious to us. When this happens I remind myself that it is nothing compared to what our Heavenly Father has experienced from His children for ages. The world has quite a sway especially for young adults these days. We are not legalistic and we accept our children's answers when they decide not to participate, yet we still hold out the invitation each year. They seem to go through stages, like all young people do. When they come, we welcome them with open arms and happy hearts, and often when we know the family will be small that year, we invite others who are looking for a good place to celebrate the Passover. Last year we only had one of our children who was able to be with us, but we had a house full of other good friends who are passionate about the things of Christ. I often think of it as another example of coming out of Egypt. When Moses first announced the plan many were hesitant and had to consider a long time before deciding to move with God's people. Some hesitated before sprinkling the blood over their door post. We live in the same type of world where people are bound up in things that will not allow them to be free, yet see those things as a false form of freedom. I pray patiently and give these things to God and we extend hospitality to anyone who wants to join us. Usually our own family begins to think and remember what they know in their hearts and they return to rejoice the next time.
Life is a journey.
Life is a learning process.
We are forever thankful for those who chose to walk along beside us on the way!
With our minds focused on “The Lamb of God” represented by the Motzah,
we often watch a musical video presentation of “WATCH THE LAMB”, which was beautifully acted out, and sung by Ray Boltz. You may find it on You-Tube.
I've included it in this blog for your viewing:
There is usually not a dry eye at the table after this video. I think it is one of the most touching video presentations ever. You can find any of the video presentations mentioned in this blog on You Tube.
God commands that children are to learn from the Passover experience. Even us "grown" children have things to learn....
Every year a child will learn a little more of the truth. Life is nothing but a long learning process, and we are all always learning!
We tell our grown children:
“This is a tradition that you will be able to pass down to your children one day, the tradition of The Asking of The Four Questions.” It was stated in hopes that we will one day have so many grandchildren that we will have to buy a bigger table!
A child should ask each question before we begin the telling of the story. At most of our celebrations we have let each of our grown children read one question each, being that they are four and there are exactly four questions: One day their children will follow in their footsteps and take over their readings.
2. Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night when all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables?
The answers to all of these questions are found in the telling of the story.
3. Why do we dip our vegetables twice on this night when we do not dip our vegetables even once all other nights?
4. Why do we eat our meals reclining or leaning on this night, when on all other nights we eat our meals sitting?
(We pour the Second Cup at this point, but do not drink it yet.)
(To be continued in Part Four)
