Jesus and Passover: How Did Passover Change Under the New Covenant?

During His last Passover service, Jesus broke bread and declared, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took a cup of wine, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:26-28, emphasis added throughout).

These modifications to the traditional Passover brought enhanced meaning to this festival, providing an annual reminder of the benefits offered through the New Covenant.

As we approach the first of God’s annual festivals, which will begin on the evening of April 11, 2025, let’s review how its meaning was transformed.

The observance and meaning of Passover under the Old Covenant

The institution of Passover is recorded in Exodus 12. At the time, God was bringing 10 plagues upon Egypt to free the Israelites from their bondage. For the last plague, God said He would “strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment” (Exodus 12:12).

To prepare for this final plague, each Israelite household was to slaughter a male lamb or goat at sundown on the beginning of the 14th day (verse 6). The animal was then roasted and eaten that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (verse 8).

The Israelites were to apply some of the blood of the lamb or goat to the doorposts and lintels of their homes, serving as a symbol of God’s protection.

As God explained, “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance” (verses 13-14).

The Israelites were instructed to remain inside their homes that night, and any remaining roasted meat was to be burned the next morning (verses 10, 22). As God had forewarned, “it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock” (verse 29).

The observance and explanation of this important evening and night was to be taught to future generations. “And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households’” (verses 26-27).

Origin of the name Passover

How Passover got its name is pretty straightforward. Exodus 12:11-13 says that God would “pass over” the houses that had blood around their doors. This act of divine protection was to be observed as a reminder of the night God “passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt” at “midnight” (verses 27, 29).

The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus confirms: “We . . . call this festival Pascha, which signifies the feast of the passover; because on that day God passed us over, and sent the plague upon the Egyptians; for the destruction of the first-born came upon the Egyptians that night” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, chap. 14, sec. 6).

Importance of Passover

Observing the Passover was extremely important for the ancient Israelites. Anyone unable to keep it because of being unclean or on a journey could do so a month later (Numbers 9:10-11). No other festival had such a provision.

Furthermore, any Israelite who failed to observe the Passover was to be “cut off from among his people” (verse 13).

The Exodus Passover was a necessary event to free them from bondage so they could journey to Sinai and enter into a covenant with God (the Old Covenant).

The New Covenant Passover is necessary to free us from the bondage of sin and enable us to enter into a New Covenant relationship with God.

New Covenant meaning and symbols

Jesus observed His final Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the 14th day of the first month. On this momentous evening, however, He instituted new symbols with deeper meanings.

This occasion set the precedent for the Christian Passover.  

Foot washing

The new Passover service established by Jesus began with foot washing, a symbol of humility. This was not part of the Passover service God gave the ancient Israelites in Exodus 12.

During the meal, Jesus “rose from supper . . . poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:4-5). Jesus then explained the significance of this act.

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him” (verses 14-16).

Bread

The next symbol of the New Covenant Passover is the breaking and eating of unleavened bread. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’” (Matthew 26:26).

While unleavened bread had also been part of the Old Covenant Passover (Exodus 12:8), under the New Covenant this broken bread that was blessed now represented Christ’s body, which was beaten during His crucifixion for the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of our physical infirmities (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).  

The unblemished lamb or goat of the Old Covenant Passover prefigured Jesus, whom John described as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29; compare 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Wine

The third element of this new Passover service was wine, symbolizing Jesus’ shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins and ratification of the New Covenant.

“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28; compare Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:11-12).

Eating the unleavened bread and drinking the wine, with faith in their symbolic meanings, bring the promise of eternal life. As Jesus stated, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day” (John 6:54).

The opportunity to receive eternal life is one of the better promises offered under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6).

The Passover service established by Jesus concluded with the singing of a hymn (Matthew 26:30).

The New Covenant Passover is a deeply meaningful observance for thousands of Christians around the world today.

For further study, see “Passover: What Did Jesus Do for You?” and “Questions and Answers About the Christian Passover.”

 

Sidebar: Distinction Between Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread

While the Feast of Unleavened Bread, observed for seven days immediately following Passover (Exodus 12:15-16), is closely connected to the Passover, these two festivals have different meanings.

Under the Old Covenant, Passover, which occurs on the 14th day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5), commemorated God’s judgment on Egypt and His sparing of the Israelite firstborn (Exodus 12:12). It is a festival, but not a Sabbath rest.

The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, observed from the 15th to the 21st day of the first month (Leviticus 23:6-8), symbolized the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. As God instructed, “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, since on this very day I brought your tribal divisions from the land of Egypt. You are to observe this day from generation to generation as a perpetual ordinance” (Exodus 12:17, International Standard Version).

But the Jewish religious leaders in the first century followed a precedent that had merged the two festivals into a seven-day observance (Mishnah Pesachim 9:5). Still, many Jews continued to observe the two distinct festivals spanning “eight days” (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, chap. 15, sec. 1).

These variances help explain why Jesus was not accused of breaking God’s law by observing the Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the 14th day of the first month while the Pharisees did so the following evening (John 18:28).

Jesus frequently chided the scribes and Pharisees for following the traditions of men rather than the commandments of God (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:5-9). He referred to these spiritual leaders as “hypocrites” and “blind guides” (Matthew 23:15-16).

Under the New Covenant, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread continue to have distinct meanings. Passover commemorates Christ’s sacrifice—the ultimate fulfillment of the lamb slain for the Israelites’ protection (1 Corinthians 11:26). The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize letting Christ live in us and the ongoing process of leaving sin behind, just as the Israelites left Egypt (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).