The Passover Meal

Essential items at the Passover meal were: roast lamb (no bones in the animal were to be broken) (1); unleavened bread (2); and bitter greens (3). (Ex 12:​5, 8; Nu 9:​11) The bitter greens, which according to the Mishnah might have been lettuce, chicory, pepperwort, endive, or dandelion, evidently reminded the Israelites of their bitter slavery in Egypt. Jesus used the unleavened bread as a symbol of his perfect human body. (Mt 26:26) And the apostle Paul called Jesus “our Passover lamb.” (1Co 5:7) By the first century, wine (4) was also served as part of the Passover meal. Jesus used the wine to symbolize his blood, which would be poured out as a sacrifice.​—Mt 26:27, 28.