Passover / Pesach

The first mention of Passover is in Exodus 12, when God prepares to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Exodus 12:11 (CSB)
"Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover."

This marks the beginning of the Passover as a memorial feast commemorating God's protection and the passing over of Israelite homes during the tenth plague.

Biblical Instructions (Exodus 12 and others):

• Choose an unblemished lamb on the 10th day of the first month (Exodus 12:3, 5).
• Slaughter the lamb at twilight on the 14th day (Exodus 12:6).
• Apply the blood to doorposts (Exodus 12:7).
• Roast the lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8–9).
• No leftovers until morning (Exodus 12:10).
• Eat in haste, dressed to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:11).
• Remove leaven from the home for seven days (Exodus 12:15–20).
• Observe annually as a lasting ordinance (Exodus 12:24).

Leviticus 23:5–6 (CSB)
"The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month."
 

Application Today (for believers):

• Remember Christ as the true Passover Lamb:
   1 Corinthians 5:7 (CSB)
  “...For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.”
• Keep a spiritual “Feast” by removing sin (“leaven”) from our lives:
   1 Corinthians 5:8 (CSB)
  “Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
  

Believers today can reflect on Passover by studying its meaning, honoring Christ's fulfillment of it, and living in holiness. Some Christians also celebrate a Christian Seder as a teaching and worship opportunity.

Exodus 12:6 (CSB)
"You must care for it until the fourteenth day of this month..."

Leviticus 23:5 (CSB)
"The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month."

The Passover is observed on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) in the Hebrew calendar, at twilight.

 Who made these changes?

• Early Christians in the first century (especially Jewish believers) continued to observe Passover, seeing Christ as its fulfillment.
• Over time, under Roman influence, church leaders moved away from the Jewish calendar.
• At the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), led by Emperor Constantine, it was officially decided that Easter (the celebration of Christ’s resurrection) would be observed on Sunday instead of aligning with Nisan 14.
   

This created a separation from Passover and shifted toward a new observance called Easter, tied to the spring equinox rather than the biblical calendar.

Does the Bible indicate that God changed the Passover?

No. The Bible does not say that God changed or canceled the Passover. Jesus fulfilled it, but never abolished it.

Luke 22:15–16 (CSB)
“Then he said to them, 'I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'”

Matthew 5:17 (CSB)
“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus transformed the meaning of Passover for His followers — not by removing it, but by becoming its fulfillment.

 Exodus 12:14 (NIV)

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.”

Exodus 12:17 (NIV)

“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.”

Exodus 12:24–27 (NIV)

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.”

Leviticus 23:4–5 (NIV)

“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.”

Numbers 9:2–3 (NIV)

“Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations.”

Deuteronomy 16:1–3 (NIV)

“Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night.”