Friday, April 6, 2012

PASSOVER VS EASTER


Passover, probably one of the most sacred days on the calendar and unfortunately the most overlooked by Christian believers.  Passover is traditionally a Jewish holiday, but the richness of the observance is indescribable. 

 To fully understand the true meaning of the Passover feast, called a Seder, one must understand the Hebrew roots of Christianity.  The antisemitism of many leaders of the early church has robbed modern believers of an incredible heritage and understanding of God's love for us.  

     The Passover Seder is a remembrance of the Exodus of God's people from slavery in Egypt but at the same time was a forth telling of the life death and resurrection of Yashua (Jesus) and for us today a remembrance of the same. 

      The Passover encompasses all the elements of the passion of Christ and continues to look forward to the return of Christ.  This Sunday, almost all of Christiandom will be celebrating the resurrection of Christ. 

      The sad part is, the day we celebrate the most important event of human history, the death burial and resurrection of God the Son, we name after a pagan goddess dating back to the days of the tower of Babel, and we elevate a pagan symbol of fertility, the Easter Bunny, to a position almost equal to that of Jesus.  We spend the weekend coloring eggs (derived from pagan practice), buying chocolate bunnies and jellybeans, filling Easter baskets, taking our young children to malls and setting them on the laps of strangers in a bunny suit for a cute picture and then gorging on Easter candy.

      Oh yes, we also grace God with an hour of our time on Sunday morning to listen to the resurrection story.  This may seem a bit harsh but how much of our Easter celebration is centered on Christ and how much is devoted  the "other stuff".  Who's holiday is it anyway.  As believers, I encourage you to look into Passover and get yourself to a Seder, if you can this year, you may be very surprised at what you can learn.  Jesus celebrated the Passover Seder at the last supper and instituted the communion service from a very important element of the Seder itself.
   

       Passover is Christ centered from beginning to end, the Hebrew people celebrated it looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, the church should celebrate it "in remembrance of" the Messiah and also looking forward to His second coming.  Jesus Christ died as the "Lamb of God" at the time of Passover to fulfill YHWH's (God) plan of redemption for mankind. 

     I will not be celebrating Easter this year, but I will be observing Resurrection Sunday and if you see me in Church this week, be sure to wish me and my family a "Happy Resurrection Day". May God richly bless you and fill you with His Spirit this Resurrection Sunday!


6 comments:

  1. LOVE IT! THANKS FOR SHARING

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  2. Thanks for reading, there will be much more to come so keep checking back! If you like what you see here please spread the word.

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  3. Good thoughts Paul. - Although not the actual day or passover our church will be having a Seder on Saturday night. One of our teachers comes from a Messianic Jewish background and he and his wife will be walking us through the Seder while outlining how each detail points to Jesus.

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    1. I trust you will have a great time. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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  4. Very well said. We all need this reminder to seek God first!

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    1. Thanks for commenting. Hope you have a blessed resurrection day!

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