For those who missed the Passover, the “Second Passover” (II Chron. 30:15) can be held in your homes, preferably with two or more gathered together, since we are called on that night to wash each other’s feet.

 

In the briefest of summaries, the Passover is the joyous celebration of our sins being blotted out by the blood of Jesus. The Days of Unleavened Bread, still in force under the New Covenant (I Cor. 5:7-8; Acts 20:6), celebrate the coming out of sin (symbolized by leaven or yeast that makes bread rise). If more Christians celebrated annually the coming out of sin, perhaps we would have less sin in the church! More meaning is revealed as we actually observe these feasts (Ps. 111:10).

 

Regarding the time of the second Passover, the best way to calculate this time is to locate the 14th day of the second month of the Hebrew calendar, which is Iyar. The Passover service begins shortly after sunset on the evening preceding the daylight part of this day, since Jesus took the Passover on "the night in which He was betrayed" (I Cor. 11:23).

 

It is a good idea to start shortly before sunset, so as to take the Passover in the day prescribed. You may be limited in your ability to do in your home as we do in church, but we follow a certain format. We begin with an opening prayer, followed by about twenty minutes of praise songs. Since we have a large repertoire, we use songs accenting the blood of Jesus. The rest of the service is clearly laid out in our web document about keeping Passover at home, and we provide the service notes for the current year. We usually have another song before the taking of the blood of Jesus and two songs at the very end. Once every part is completed, we close with prayer.

 

Circumcision was a requirement for taking the Passover under the Old Covenant (Ex. 12:48). Since circumcision symbolizes the "rolling away" of the old (Josh. 5:8-9), the New Covenant "circumcision of the heart" (Rom. 2:29) is accomplished by burying the old self in baptism (Col. 2:11-12). Only those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Divine Master and have been baptized should participate in the Passover service.