We are to see ourselves redeemed at Passover. As the Haggadah reads:

“In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt’” (Ex. 13:8).

From generation to generation, and from year to year, we are to never lose the memory of bondage, we are to remember, and share our testimony.

In the Torah, the Lord issues commands based upon the reminder of enslavement and stranger status thirty-six times; as an example, we read in Leviticus 19:33-34, “If an outsider dwells with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong. The outsider dwelling among you shall be to you as the native-born among you. You shall love him as yourself – for you dwelled as outsiders in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Seeing ourselves in the Passover, and at the Table of Messiah, keeps His work, His grace, and His mercy always before us. That ever-present reminder will, necessarily, change how we view ourselves, as well as, how we view and interact with our neighbor, stranger, and enemy in our midst.

This reminder, living memory, humbles. Our freedom does not become a point of boasting in our greatness, and thus an occasion for the flesh (Gal. 5:13); but rather, a boasting in the Lord, as Paul writes, “that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.” (I Cor. 1:31).

Be well. Shalom.