Passover: Why Christians should keep it.

One of the questions most often asked is about the Feasts of YHVH. Often the questions are phrased like "Are we supposed to keep the Jewish feasts?" Sometimes the question is specific about one feast or another. I'd like to address these questions by talking about Passover and why Christians should keep this feast (and the others)!

As I write this article, we are fast approaching Passover for this year, and I hope that every Christian who has never been to a Passover Seder(Service/Order) and never has heard the Haggaddah(telling) should find one near by and ask if they can attend. To pique your interest, let us look at Yeshua, in relation to the Passover from scripture.

Feasts like Passover: Are they Jewish?

First of, the Feasts are not "Jewish", they are scriptural and should be part of every believer's heritage. They are called the feasts of YHVH.

Lev 23:2 KJV - Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of  YHVH, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.

The feasts are for all of HIS people, as HE has commanded. If you are HIS children, then you are to keep HIS feasts. Most Christians are wholly unaware of the Feasts, because they've been sold cheap immitations of the Feasts of YHVH, most notably Christmas and Easter.

Easter: The Counterfeit Holiday

Some Christians, realizing that Easter is pagan, have changed the name to "Ressruection Day", but still hold to many of the trappings traditional of Easter.There are died eggs, ham dinner, hot cross buns, and all the rites of fertility goddesses. Even the name is pagan (from Ishtar / Astarte).

Easter is a counterfeit holiday because it substitutes something artificial in place of something that is real. It is counterfeit because nowhere in scripture is it mentioned as something for believers. It is counterfeit because it is a cheap imitation. And like all counterfeits, it robs the Creator of HIS rightful honor.

But what if, there is something much more meaningful about the Spring than a counterfeit holiday?

Passover in the New Testament

At the start of Yeshua's (Jesus) Ministry, Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) proclaims who Yeshua really is. Yet not many at that time realized what Yochanan was really saying; declaring Yeshua as the Passover Lamb.

Jhn 1:29 KJV - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Jhn 1:36 KJV - And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

For the next three or so years, hardly a mention again as to the real purpose of that declaration. For the next few years, Yeshua taught, healed, worshipped, was questioned and answered questions about who he was, with hardly a mention to what Yochanan proclaimed from the start. If his diciples really knew ...

Communion?

As I teach people about Passover, people ask me "what about Communion?" The basis for this, is a half truth about what Paul's teachings were. Paul makes extensive references to Passover, especially in First Corinthians. As he is teaching the wayward souls of Corinth, he repeated ties what he is teaching to the redeption found in Passover Feast.

The concept of "Communion/Eucharist" and"Lord's Supper" comes from this passage:

1Cor 11:20-29 KJV - When ye come together therefore into one place, [this] is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before [other] his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise [you] not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Most Christians are familiar with that passage, and can clearly make out the concepts portrayed in Communion. However, I'd like to point out that the details are lacking, Paul is speaking not of just wine and bread, but rather that prophetic supper before Yeshua's execution.

Last Supper/Lord's Supper is Passover

As Yeshua was entering is last days here, he prepared and instructed his disciples for his death. This meal would be his "Last Supper", and fulfillment of what Yochanan proclaimed all those years earlier.

Mat 26:17-19, Matt26:26-28 KJV - Now the first [day] of the [feast of] unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. ... And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (see also Mark 14 , Luke 22 )

Paul makes direct reference to these statements of Yeshua  (see above). The Lord's Supper is Passover as it is clearly shown here. We find more evidence for this earlier in First Corinthians.

1Cr 5:6-8 KJV - Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.

Conclusion: Keep the Feast

From these glimpses into what scripture says, it is clear that Yeshua's ministry is tied directly to Passover. It is HE that is the rightful Passover Lamb, the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. By keeping Passover as it has been kept for thousands of years, you begin to see the greater meaning of details that are omitted and distilled away.

I've only begun scratching the surface of the details and symbolisms found within the Passover Haggeddah; the telling of the Passover story. There are details that can only be experienced during YHVH's Feast. I encourage all those who have never been to a Passover Haggeddah, to find a Messianic congregation or fellowship and ask if you can join them for Passover.

Remember what Paul said? "Therefore, let us keep the feast ... with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth". May the truth of who Yeshua is, be made manifest in your life.