The Book of Exodus recounts how the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh to serve as the one to deliver Israel. The Pharaoh, of course, refused Moses’ appeal to set the Israelites free from their slavery, and the stage was then set for the showdown between God of Israel and the “gods” of Egypt. The final terrible plague that would descent up the people of Egypt would be the death of the firstborn in the land. Only those families that scarified an unblemished male lamb and smeared its blood upon the doorposts of the house would be “passed over” (pasach) from impending wrath from heaven.

The traditional ceremony for remembering the deliverance is called the seder, a Hebrew word that means “order.” A Passover seder refers to an orchestrated ceremony or liturgy with a number of distinct phases or steps. The special food that is eaten and the order of meal all serve to retell the story of the Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom. 

There are 15 steps to a Seder.

• Kaddesh: Sanctification—A blessing over wine in honor of the holiday. The wine is drunk, and a second cup is poured. Wine is used because it is a symbol of joy and happiness.
  
• Urechatz: Washing—A washing of hands without a blessing, in preparation for the Karpas.
  
• Karpas: Vegetable—A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people; the salt water symbolizes the tears shed as a result of our slavery. Parsley is a good vegetable to use for this purpose, because when you shake off the salt water, it looks like tears.
  
• Yachatz: Breaking—One of the three matzahs on the table is broken. Part is returned to the pile, the other part is set aside for the afikomen
  
• Maggid: The Story—A retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the first Pesach.
  
• Rachtzah: Washing—A second washing of the hands, this time with a blessing, in preparation for eating the matzah.
  
• Motzi: Blessing over Grain Products—The ha-motzi blessing, a generic blessing for bread or grain products used as a meal, is recited over the matzah. 
  
• Matzah: Blessing over Matzah—A blessing specific to matzah is recited, and a bit is eaten. 
  
• Maror: Bitter Herbs—A blessing is recited over a bitter vegetable (usually raw horseradish; sometimes romaine lettuce), and it is eaten. This symbolizes the bitterness of slavery.
  
• Korekh: The Sandwich—Rabbi Hillel was of the opinion that the maror should be eaten together with matzah and the paschal offering in a sandwich.
  
• Shulchan Orekh: Dinner—A festive meal is eaten. There is no particular requirement regarding what to eat at this meal (except, of course, that leaveaned food cannot be eaten). Roast chicken or turkey are common as a main course, as is beef brisket.
  
• Tzafun: The Afikomen—The piece of matzah set aside earlier is eaten as "dessert," the last food of the meal. Different families have different traditions relating to the afikomen. Some have the children hide it, while the parents have to either find it or ransom it back. The idea is to keep the children awake and attentive through the pre-meal proceedings, waiting for this part.
  
• Barekh: Grace after Meals—The third cup of wine is poured, and birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals) is recited. This is similar to the grace that would be said on any Shabbat. At the end, a blessing is said over the third cup and it is drunk. The fourth cup is poured, including a cup set aside for the prophet Elijah, who is supposed to herald the Messiah, and is supposed to come on Pesach to do this.
  
• Hallel: Praises—Several psalms are recited. A blessing is recited over the last cup of wine and it is drunk.
  
• Nirtzah: Closing—A simple statement that the Seder has been completed, with a wish that next year, we may celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem (i.e., that the Messiah will come within the next year).
  

While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26

John Stott noted that there were three lessons that Jesus was teaching the disciples as they experienced and participated in this Passover. 

The first lesson concerned the centrality of His death. “The Lord’s Supper, which was instituted by Jesus, which is the only regular commemorative act authorized by Him”. It does not dramatizes neither His birth nor His life, neither His words nor His works, but only His death. Nothing could indicate more clearly the central significance that Jesus attached to His death. “It was by His death that he wished above all else to be remembered. There is then, it is safe to say, no Christianity without the cross. If the cross is not central to our religion, ours is not the religion of Jesus.”  

“Second, Jesus was teaching about the purpose of His death. According to Paul and Matthew, Jesus’ words about the cup referred not only to His “blood” but to the “new covenant” associated with His blood, and Matthew adds further that His blood was to be shed “for the forgiveness of sins.” Here is the truly fantastic assertion that through the shedding of Jesus’ blood in death God was taking the initiative to establish a new pact or covenant” with His people, one of the greatest promises of which would be the forgiveness of sinners.”  

The third lesson Jesus taught was the need to appropriate His death personally. This lesson was not learned just by sitting and listening, but by actively participating in the drama as it unfolded. Jesus revealed to the disciples the meaning and purpose of His death in a way which would hard for them to miss. “Just as it was not enough for the bread to be broken and the wine to be poured out but they had to eat and drink, so it was not enough for Him to die, but they had to appropriate the benefits of His death personally. The eating and drinking were, and still are, a vivid acted parable of receiving Christ as our crucified Savior and of feeding on Him in our hearts by faith. Jesus had already taught this in His great discourse on the living bread which followed His feeding of the five thousand:”