For the source text click/tap here: Pesachim 119
To download, click/tap here: PDF
The Mishna in Pesachim 119b states: "One may not eat desert [afikoman] after the Paschal sacrifice." During the time of the Temple, the mitzva was to eat the Paschal sacrifice together with matza at the end of the meal. The Mishna means to say that after eating this matza one is forbidden to eat anything else. The Afikoman tradition is essential to the Passover Seder, and it’s been observed by Jews around the world for centuries. Yet no other Jewish practice is shrouded in more mystery than this special half-matzah.
An answer finally emerges in a rather aggressive apologetic piece by a second-century Jewish-Christian bishop, Melito of Sardis, who knew the word “afikoman” as a Passover symbol for Yeshua. His sermon is dated around 170 AD, several decades before the first rabbinic mention of “afikoman” (the Mishnah was compiled after 200 AD). This evidence has caused Jewish scholars to speculate that the Messianic symbolism in the Seder originated with the Nazarene community.