What does Passover mean to Christians?

Answer 1

It was when Moses told the pharaoh to let the Jewish slaves go. The pharaoh wouldn't give in so God sent ten plagues to Egypt, but He would protect the Jews. The passover was the tenth and final plague, as well as the worst. God told everyone to take a newborn lamb and sacrifice it, using its blood to paint their door. Then the angel God sent would "passover" their home and not kill their firstborn.

Answer 2

The term "passover" itself refers to the tenth plague God sent on the Egyptians. When God Himself came to kill the first born of Egypt, He commanded the Israelites to put the blood of a unblemished lamb on their doorposts, so God would pass over the Israelite homes. His people had to finish the lamb's meat; if they didn't or couldn't they had to burn the remaining meat. At midnight, the firstborn Egyptians were struck down by God (Exodus ch.12).

For modern Jews, Passover (Pesach) celebrates the exodus from Egyptian bondage, the symbolic "birthday" of the Jewish people. It is a celebration of freedom, and the only Jewish holiday specifically intended to be celebrated in the home.

The highlight of Passover is the Seder meal. This meal is of great importance in Judaism. It is a 3325-year old continuous tradition that began on the night of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exodus chapter 12), and is fully detailed in our ancient Oral Traditions (Talmud, chapter Arvei Pesachim).
The Seder meal is one of those occasions, like Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, that Jews all over the world, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, observe in common. During the Seder, we keep the essential mitzva and customs of handing Jewish traditions down to the next generation, with the traditional Seder foods and the ceremony of reading the Passover Haggadah which retells the events of the Exodus.
During the Seder meal, other traditional foods are eaten in addition to the matzah: bitter herbs, parsley, wine and haroset (see below). Salt water, a roasted egg, and a bit of roasted meat are also on the table.
During all the days of Passover, matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten; while leavened foods such as bread, cake, cookies, cereal and pasta are forbidden. This is a command in commemoration of the Exodus, when the Israelites were in a hurry to leave Egypt and did not spend time waiting for their dough to leaven (to rise). Exodus ch.12. Certain prayers are added in the synagogue services, and the Torah is read each day of Passover.
Here is the symbolism of the items on the Seder table:

• Matzah - this represents the haste in which the Israelites prepared to leave Egypt.
• Wine - the four cups represent the four expressions of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7.
• The bitter herbs (maror) symbolize the harsh slavery which the Israelites suffered in Egypt. Horseradish and/or romaine lettuce are traditionally used for maror.
  
• Salt water (see below).
• Charoset - A sweet mixture representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. In Ashkenazi Jewish homes, charoset is traditionally made from chopped nuts, grated apples, cinnamon, and sweet red wine.
  
• Karpas - A vegetable other than bitter herbs, traditionally parsley, which is dipped into salt water at the beginning of the Seder. The dipping of a simple herb into salt water (which represents tears) recalls the pain felt by the Israelite slaves in Egypt.
  
• Beitzah - A hard-boiled egg (which is then burnt on one side), symbolizing the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. Although both the Pesach sacrifice and the chagigah were meat-offerings, the chagigah is commemorated by an egg, a symbol of mourning.
  
• Z'roa - A roasted lamb or goat shank-bone, chicken wing, or chicken neck; symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.

Answer 3

Passover was the Jewish religious ceremony recalling the greatness of God who aided them to "pass over" from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land.

For Catholics, the death and resurrection of Christ was the "pass over from death to life", the new Pascal feast. In Latin we use the word Pasca and in the romance languages we have derived words like Pascua, Pasqua etc.

Before the children of Israel left Egypt they were instructed to kill a lamb and take the blood of the lamb and paint it on the door posts of their houses. Then when the Angel of death killed all the first born of Egypt it would 'passover' the houses with blood on the doors. The Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb.

Exo 12:23 When the LORD goes through Egypt to kill the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the beams and the doorposts and will not let the Angel of Death enter your houses and kill you.

Jesus is the lamb of God we are saved by his blood, Christ our passover was sacrificed for us, his death was our life.

For Christians the passover represents God's salvation.

Answer 4

It goes a long ways back. In the New Testament when the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, God told the ruler to let them go. Every time he disagreed a plague was brought upon Egypt. The Passover talks about one in particular, I think it was the last. It was the Plague of Death of the Firstborn. The Jews were told to sacrafice a lamb for each family and paint the blood on their doorways. That night the Plague passed over the Jews houses and killed all of the Egyptian firstborns. The story continued and a the passover holiday was produced.

Answer 5

A celebration of the Exodus.

Pesach (Passover) is important to us since in it we relive the Exodus from Egypt and our birth as a nation, both of which were preparations for receiving the Torah from God.
The highlight of Passover is the Seder meal. This meal is of great importance in Judaism. It is a 3325-year old continuoustradition that began on the night of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exodus chapter 12), and is fully detailed in our ancient Oral Traditions (Talmud, chapter Arvei Pesachim).
The Seder meal is one of those occasions, like Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, that Jews all over the world, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, observe in common. During the Seder, we keep the essential mitzva and customs of handing Jewish traditions down to the next generation, with the traditional Seder foods and the ceremony of reading the Passover Haggadah which retells the events of the Exodus.

During the Seder meal, other traditional foods are eaten in addition to the matzah: bitter herbs, parsley, wine and haroset (see below). Salt water, a roasted egg, and a bit of roasted meat are also on the table.
During all the days of Passover, matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten; while leavened foods such as bread, cake, cookies, cereal and pasta are forbidden. Certain prayers are added in the synagogue services, and the Torah is read each day.
Here is the symbolism of the items on the Seder plate:
The bitter herbs (maror) symbolize the harsh slavery which the Israelites suffered in Egypt. Horseradish and/or romaine lettuce are traditionally used for maror.
Charoset - A sweet mixture representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. In Ashkenazi Jewish homes, charoset is traditionally made from chopped nuts, grated apples, cinnamon, and sweet red wine.
Karpas - A vegetable other than bitter herbs, traditionally parsley, which is dipped into salt water at the beginning of the Seder. The dipping of a simple herb into salt water (which represents tears) recalls the pain felt by the Israelite slaves in Egypt.
Beitzah - A hard-boiled egg, symbolizing the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. Although both the Pesach sacrifice and the chagigah were meat-offerings, the chagigah is commemorated by an egg, a symbol of mourning.
Z'roa - A roasted lamb or goat shank-bone, chicken wing, or chicken neck; symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.

See also:

How is the Seder celebrated?

What is the importance of the Israelite Exodus?

Answer 6

Passover, observed on the 14 day of the first month, after sunset, was a symbolic sacrifice for the Israelites slaves in Egypt that by the blood of the lamb, death would pass over them. This Festival of God's pointed to the coming of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who would sacrifice His blood so eternal death would pass away from all who believed in Him by faith and followed His ways doing God's good works (see Ephesians 2:10).

So we Christians today celebrate this memorial of the perfect sacrifice of Christ - Our Passover - which made possible the forgiveness of our sins. Scriptures related to the Passover are: Leviticus 23:5; Luke 22:15-20; John 13:1-5, 14-14; and 1 Corinthians 5:7.

Mainstream Christianity has omitted the term Passover for their 'Last Supper.'

Answer 7

Passover represents the Jews Exodus from Egypt.

Answer 8

The Exodus.

See also: more about this topic

Answer 9

Murder of Israeli 1st born sons