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Words of the Bible November 2009
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PASCHA
Definition: Passover
The Greek word pascha, which
appears to be a mere transcription
from the Hebrew
and Aramaic words pessah
and peshah, was widely used in the
Septuagint for the feast of Passover
(Exod 12; Num 9; Deut 16). With a relatively
small number of occurrences, it
is amazing how the usage of the word
pascha in the New Testament provides
us with a fair amount of information
about the Jewish feast of Passover.
The word is used mostly in the
gospels, the highest concentration of
occurrences being in the last chapters
of the four gospels (Mark 14; Matt 26;
Luke 22; John 13 and 18), where they
provide appropriate background for
Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples
and the meaning of his Passion and
death. Other than this momentous
instance, Luke mentions also Jesus'
observance at the age of twelve of the
yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for
the feast (Luke 2:41-42), and John
reports two more Passovers during
Jesus' public ministry (2:23; 6:4). Both
Luke and John speak of Passover as a
feast or festival (Luke 2:41; 22:1; John
2:23; 13:1).
The evangelists also refer to
Passover under its alternative name,
"day/festival of Unleavened Bread"
(Matt 26:17; Mark 14:1:12; Luke 22:1,
7) and are keen on reporting Jesus'
emphasis on proper preparations for
the Passover meal (Mark 14:12, 16
and parallels).
All New Testament occurrences
of the word pascha but one refer to
the Jewish feast. This one exception
though highlights the newness and
uniqueness of Christ's "Passover"
and of its implications for Christians:
"Clean out the old yeast so that you
may be a new batch, as you really are
unleavened. For our paschal lamb,
Christ, has been sacrificed" (1 Cor
5:7). With a different terminology,
John puts forward too the symbolic
character of Jesus' last celebration of
the Passover meal: "Now before the
festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that
his hour had come to depart (literally:
"to pass over") from this world and go
to the Father" (John 13:1).
Occurrences in New Testament: 29
1) John: 10
2) Luke: 07
3) Mark: 05
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This month on godswordtoday.com:
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The book of Exodus
What does this Israelite national epic tell us about ourselves?
Find out by clicking here
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