The Broken Matzah

Rev. Fred Klett

For centuries during the Passover Seder in Jewish homes, one of three pieces of unleavened bread known as “matzah,” is broken in half, wrapped in a napkin, hidden, and later retrieved to be served as the last morsel of food eaten at the end of the lengthy observance of this ancient Jewish feast. This bit of unleavened bread is called the “afikomen,” which is a Greek word, and symbolizes the Passover lamb.

For Jewish children, the afikomen is used to hold their attention until the end of the Seder. In some families the children “steal” the matzah and are paid a ransom in order to get it back to the table. In other families it is hidden and the children search for it and are rewarded. Some Jews from Middle Eastern countries saw the afikomen as having special powers and kept a piece of it as a good luck charm.

Though the Passover lamb was central to the feast as described by Moses in the Torah, today there is no lamb eaten at Jewish Passover Seders. Why? Because after the destruction of the Temple the Passover sacrifice could no longer be properly made, and so lamb was no longer eaten at the feast. This afikomen, is substituted for the lamb: it even has to be eaten before midnight, just as Moses commanded, “You shall let none of it remain until morning” (Exodus 12:10).

Three matzahs sit prominently on the Passover table. Why three? Some see them as symbolic of the three divisions of the Jewish people: Priests, Levites, and Israelites. Others see them as a reminder of the three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The middle matzah, the one broken, the one symbolizing the Passover Lamb, would correspond to Isaac. How interesting that Isaac, the miraculously born son of Abraham, was taken to what would become the Temple Mount to be offered as a sacrifice! (See Genesis 18:13-14, 21:1-2, 22:1-18 and 2 Chron. 3:1.)

Why is this final piece of matzah called the “afikomen”? It is curios to find a Greek word in the middle of a Hebrew feast. Its Greek meaning can be understood as “that which is coming,” i.e. dessert. Yet, some have seen the possibility of taking it as “he who is coming.” According to Jewish tradition, Messiah will come at Passover to bring a redemption like unto the redemption brought through Moses. This is why a place is left at the table for Elijah, the forerunner of Messiah (Malachi 4:5).

A generation before the Temple was destroyed, One who observed the feast in that upper room “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, `this is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me'“ (Luke 22:19). The ultimate redemption did come at Passover. It wasn't a redemption from an earthly oppressor and an earthly bondage, as was the first. Messiah brought a greater deliverance from bondage from Satan, sin, and death. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The Seder mentions being brought “from darkness to light.” So also, we can now give thanks “to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:12-14).

Because of Messiah's body broken as the sacrificed lamb, the wrath of God “passes over” those who trust Him. His resurrection liberates His people to serve God in newness of life (Romans chapters 5 & 6). Let us remember these things as we partake of the Lord's Supper. The perfect lamb has come. “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).

This Passover, why not ask your Jewish friends to tell you about their family traditions concerning the Afikomen? Let them know the matzah of Passover is central to your faith as well, because of the Jewish Messiah, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

Rev. Fred Klett is a lecturer in Jewish Evangelism at Westminster Seminary Philadelphia and has also taught at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. He is on faculty at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, CA and has been a guest lecturer at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Rev. Klett also produces an informative newsletter entitled Chaim Times. For more information visit his website at www.chaim.org or call him at (215) 576-7325.