MARS — The holiday of Passover is typically associated with the Jewish faith, but Mars United Methodist Church will host a program Saturday that asserts a different perspective.

The program Christ in the Passover will be offered by Ofer Levy, a missionary representing Jews for Jesus.

The purpose of that group, according to Levy, is "to make the Messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to Jewish people worldwide."

The program, however, is geared toward Christian groups, pointing out Christian symbolism that Jewish people don't recognize, he said.

"It is a complete presentation of the Seder meal that takes place every year in every Jewish household," Levy said.

"But it has its origins in the Bible. ... I'm sharing how Christ is revealed within the Passover and all its elements."

Those elements include unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the cup of redemption and the shed blood of the Passover lamb, Levy said.

In the case of the lamb, Moses instructed Jews to spread the blood over their doorposts so a plague would "pass over" them and affect only the Egyptians, to whom they were enslaved.

According to Jews for Jesus, the shed blood of the lamb represents the shed blood of Christ.

"The main message of Passover is the message of redemption," Levy said.

As part of the program, visitors will see a table set with traditional Passover items. Scripture and visual items will be used to depict a Jewish Passover Seder, linking the story of the Exodus with the story of Christ.

The Rev. Tim Bowser, pastor at Mars United Methodist, said he first saw a Christ in the Passover presentation in 2004 while attending Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, and he jumped at the chance to host the program after the group sent literature to his church last fall.

"I saw the presentation there and it just blew me away," said Bowser, explaining symbolism he recognized in the four cups present during a traditional Jewish Passover meal.

Those cups represent God's four "I will" statements to Moses in the Book of Exodus, which state his intentions to free, deliver, redeem and take them as his people.

"When Jesus was doing the Passover meal, he used the third cup, the cup of redemption," Bowser explained.

"He never drank of the fourth cup because he told his disciples that (the sequence of events) was not completed yet. ... We're in between cups."

Bowser also said the three loaves of bread used during the Jewish meal can be linked to the Holy Trinity.

Like most missionaries working for Jews for Jesus, Levy describes himself as 100 percent Jewish and 100 percent Christian, since a Jewish ethnic heritage does not dictate religious faith.

"Because a person is born a Jew, but to become a Christian one must put his faith in Christ. We believe that Christ is the Jewish messiah."

Although Jews for Jesus has about 150 missionaries in a dozen countries, Levy works from an office in his home country of Israel, where 11 missionaries are based.

<B>WHAT: </B>Christ in the Passover program presented by Ofer Levy, an Israel-based missionary for Jews for Jesus<B>WHEN: </B>6 p.m. Saturday<B>WHERE: </B>Mars United Methodist Church, 525 Pittsburgh St., Mars<B>INFO: </B>Call 724-625-1488