Mormons and Passover
Out of a desire to understand historical context, I did a deep study of the historic Passover that would've been operative in the days of Jesus Christ. I have no desire to celebrate Passover, especially not with a modern Seder. There are thousands of years of cultural and community contributions to a modern Passover Seder that Jesus would not have ever seen or recognized. Passover Seders are closed practices to Judaism, meaning they're not open for those outside of the community to celebrate or reenact. The cultural and historical commonality of Christianity originating from Judaism thousands of years ago doesn't give license to perform modern Jewish rites or rituals. And where knowledge and curiosity within Christianity would be enriched by this knowledge, that information can be obtained and examined without performing cultural rites that don't belong to us.
In this examination of historical Passover, I had one question: where is the transitional breaking point between Passover and the Last Supper? And by extension, I have many other operational questions like which parts of Passover and the Last Supper, if any, overlapped? What, if anything, can I bring with me into my worship during Holy Week?
Mormons are in a unique position where we've been actively discouraged from participating in Holy Week in the past because it was "too Christian." We were encouraged to come up with our own traditions and practices separate and apart from the rest of Christianity. As a certain generation of church membership and leadership has died off, that attitude has changed. We're now being encouraged to find respectful and meaningful ways to celebrate Holy Week, especially in relation to our friends and neighbors of other religions. So part of the reason this has never occurred to me to study before was because, in all frankness, Easter was such an isolated experience for our people, Passover was completely divorced from it in ways that were equally problematic. We should understand Passover, even if we don't celebrate it.
Here are some of the things I've decided from the experience.
It's Still Inappropriate for Latter-day Saints to Celebrate the Historic Passover
The biggest reason for this is because Passover was celebrated by drinking and praying over wine. There are four ritual cups of wine that make up the rituals of Passover. Latter-day Saints do not use wine in our worship. We have replaced wine with water in all of our worship through our own religious experiences and practices. Using water or other substitutes would be inauthentic to the original, which is one of the hallmarks of cultural appropriation. Practices that don't belong to us are not ours to change or modify. The most respectful handling of cultural practices that don't belong to us requires us to keep them intact without changing them to enable our participation. That is one of the core differences between cultural appreciation, which is often welcome, and cultural appropriation, which is not.
The Passover also focuses on the hereditary relationship between Jews and the Exodus. As someone who isn't Jewish, I have no genealogical claim upon the Exodus as part of my identity. I love the story of Moses. The burning bush is one of my favorite stories in all of scripture. The scriptures Christianity have in common with Judaism means I can love and enjoy these stories as part of my faith. But they mean something different to me. The same thing goes for the paschal lamb and the many other symbols of Passover. I view them as types and shadows of Jesus Christ in ways that Jews do not. I assign meaning to them that Jews don't share, which already changes the experience of practicing them beyond the original.
Jewish people view Passover as a celebration of how they became the chosen people of the Lord. Jesus had a claim on that identity in ways I don't. Nothing about the Passover recognizes me as part of the chosen people. Anything I could appeal to that would make me among the Lord's chosen people is inherent to and inseparable from Christianity. It's another way the pieces just don't fit together because Passover doesn't belong to me as a Christian.
In trying to approach "the faith of Jesus Christ as a Jewish man from 2000 years ago" through the Passover he celebrated and "what that means for my faith," it's important for me to realize I'm approaching it through many layers of interpretation and abstractions. And ultimately, I think this was something Jesus broke his people away from intentionally. He introduced a new form of worship for his followers as a breaking with Jewish tradition that was open to all, not just to Jews. Navigating and negotiating the removal of many Jewish practices and traditions is at the heart of the New Testament. I don't have more of Judaism in my faith because of thousands of years of history and decision making that went into the formation of Christianity. There's nothing wrong with that, and it just seems deeply misguided to go looking for a deeper appreciation of Easter through Passover. The only thing examining Passover did for me was to give me a deeper appreciation of Passover.
Through that lens, the only element of Passover that felt like something I should carry with me to more deeply understand my faith is the practice of emphasizing the verbs in Exodus 6:6-7.
6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
For each of the four ritual cups of wine, there is an emphasis on one of the verbs in this section. Each is a celebration and memorial of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will continue to do for his chosen people. It's the core and summary of the Jewish religious identity, as simply put as it's possible to render. It's elegant in its simplicity and speaks to a lesson I should learn as I figure out what celebrating Easter looks like for me. I don't have to complicate my worship unnecessarily. I only have to celebrate my faith for exactly what it is.
I can best celebrate Easter by celebrating what Jesus has done and what it means to me. And maybe just leave Passover out of it.
