By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
In the Jewish calendar, Passover will happen this Saturday at sundown and go through Sunday (April 12-13). The following 7 days will be The Feast of Unleavened Bread and it will conclude on Sunday April 20 after a week of reflection on personal sin.
For Believers, this Sunday is celebrated as Palm Sunday where Jesus enters Jerusalem to great crowds and great acclaim.
And later next week we will have the betrayal, the trial, the crucifixion and the burial of Christ. But, we will begin the next week on Sunday April 20 with a celebration of the Risen Savior.
As I was reflecting on this, it struck me that the difference is that Christians go through the lowest point in our lives as we remember the crucifixion of our Lord and our part in Him becoming sin for us. All very similar to the feast of Unleavened Bread the Jews will have this same week.
But, the ending is different. Jews will go about their lives after April 20. While Christians will celebrate the resurrected King and our redemption and the total forgiveness of our sins on April 20. Everything in the world changed because of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The Passover was established by God primarily for the Jews to remember that He delivered them. At their meal this Saturday (called a seder), observant Jews will have 4 glasses of wine. All are reminders of God’s deliverance. The first 2 cups are before the meal, and the last 2 after the meal.
Cup one was to celebrate God’s promise to bring them out of slavery in Egypt. Cup two was to remember that God had said he would deliver them from oppression.
After the meal, cup 3 was to remember that God would redeem them with an outstretched arm. This is the cup Christ shared with his disciples and told them is the cup of the new covenant. Matt 26:27-28 “
And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”
The fourth cup was the cup of praise with the Jews celebrating God making them His people.
I was drawn to Heb 12:1 and saw that it was about reflecting on our sin. Just like the Feast of Unleavened bread is to the Jews.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Identifying our sins is critical to changing how we live.
As this week unfolds, let us remember what Christ endured, he endured for us. The sin he took on himself, he took on for us. Living a life that praises him and pleases the Father seems a small thanks for such a great gift.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.