Alone

Troubles and concerns always have a way of making me feel alone, a sock in a world of socks. There are always loving friends and family that yearn to help, but ultimately, struggles are often fought in the confines of our own hearts. There are some things that just can't be conquered by committee.

Tomorrow is Passover. We are Jewish, but believe that the Messiah came and is Yeshua, Jesus. So we celebrate Passover with the richness of its symbolism and tradition, but also with some twists the typical Jewish family might not add.

One of my favorite parts is when the matzo is placed in a special cloth with three compartments. Two whole pieces are placed on the top and bottom slot, but the third piece is broken in half, and one half is hidden somewhere in the house. That piece called the "afikomen" is left hidden til the end of the Passover Seder, and the children are then sent to find it, and return it, usually for some reward. There are many interesting things about this tradition. First of all, afikomen is a Greek word, strangely suspended in a Hebrew ceremony. It means "that which is coming" or "he that is coming". Jewish tradition is conflicting on the meaning of the 3 pieces of Matzo and on the Afikomen, which in and of itself is rather amazing given the intense symbolism of the whole Seder which in every other aspect is clearly explained within the Seder "haggadah" or guide.

However, we look at the three matzoh pieces as the three parts of the trinity, and the afikomen, which is broken, but then returned as the broken sacrificial lamb, Jesus. With His return, comes reward. As I was thinking about "aloneness", I thought about Jesus, right before He was crucified, asking His disciples to stay awake with Him. They could not, and ultimately Jesus had to face those terrifying thoughts and lonely dark hours alone.

Yet the Passover Seder is a reminder to a people, to a nation that they will be rescued, their sins are ransomed by the sacrificial Passover lamb, and they will stand together someday redeemed. It is a celebration of togetherness and memorial to the history of a people who together struggled and suffered with a hope of a better future.

I think probably God does need to get each of us alone at times, and those are often hard times. But in the end, I think we will all gather together, voices rising in song together, spirits blending in joy together, made one by "he who is to come".

Psalm 118:25-27

²⁵ O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you. ^a]">[a]

²⁷ The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up ^b]">[b] to the horns of the altar.