Every year I delve into this subject and sometimes it upsets some Christians. Please keep in mind that this year my goal is to highlight the awesome fulfillment of the Jewish Celebrations by our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus Christ).
Today the Christian church as a whole has lost, in most cases, it's awareness of it's Jewish roots. After all, most of the early believers were Jews and they practiced and observed the Jewish holidays. We need to also keep in mind, just because a Jew, like me, asks Yeshua into their lives, doesn't mean we stop being Jewish. In fact, once we put our faith in Yeshua (Jesus Christ) our Jewishness is more solidified than it was previously. This is why many of us who are Jewish and believers in Yeshua refer to ourselves as Messianic Jews. I would like to conclude this thought with this...those of us who are Jewish Believers in Yeshua, do not hold to our Jewishness as a way to elevate ourselves or to separate ourselves from our Gentile brethern, we hold fast to who God created us to be from birth because it brings honor and glory to the Lord Jesus because He is fulfilling His promises to the people of God just as He promised. We are part of that remnant that God has said He would establish in the Last Days. We praise Him for His kept promises to His Covenant People!
We serve the greatest Jew that ever lived and is alive to this day!
Today we will highlight the meaning of what Yeshua accomplished:
- Exodus 12:3-6; April 10 the day the lamb without blemish was to be brought into the home of all Jewish households.
- The Passover (Day of Preperation).
- Feast of Unleavened Bread
- The Feast of First Fruits
The image that I included above is a type of timeline of the progression of events we will discuss in this report.
We begin our journey with the report I wrote a few days ago about the Passover Lamb. On April 10th according to Exodus 12:3-6 all Jewish households were to choose a lamb without blemish and observe the lamb and interact with it for four days or until April 14th.
Palm Sunday was on April 10th when the Lord fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9...
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."
Our Lord presented Himself as the Lamb of God, faultless, sinless and without blemishes, the perfect sacrifice. He went to the temple where the people could handle Him as it were, watch Him and observe Him as the perfect Lamb of God. This was the first Palm Sunday.
Remember, this happened on April 10th. Also remember and think back to the perfect lamb that all Jewish households cared for in their homes for four days. The Lord presented Himself to the Jews, His people, for four days and they observed His sinless nature, His wisdom and the love He had for all of them while ministering to their needs and preaching and teaching in the temple.
Now we move to The Day of Preperation (The Passover) on April 14th. Probably from midnight until 6am on Thursday our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ our Messiah, went through six trials including a scouraging that would have killed any man. Part of His preperation to become the ultimate sacrifice for all the world was conducted by being falsley accussed and scourged and finally He is nailed to the cross at 9am, His blood is shed at the foot of the cross and He gives up His spirit at 3pm. At that exact time the Passover Lamb was being killed for the Passover meal that would happen at 6pm. Jesus (Yeshua) now fulfills the requirement of the Law by shedding His blood and making it possible for sin and death to passover us who would put our faith in Him. The Passover Lamb of God pays the price for the entire world and all to come in the future!
All things happened just as He determined according to the Law. Also at 3pm after the Lord dies He descends into the heart of the earth according to scripture and preached The Acceptable Day of The Lord to those who were waiting for Him.
[ The Sign of Jonah The Prophet - Matthew 12:40 ]
Now we move to the Feast of Unleavened Bread on April 15th. This was a feast that lasted seven days and on the first day you could do no work or labor. This is one reason why the women did not go to the Lord's tomb and finish burial preparations. This feast called for all leaven, which represented sin, to be removed from ones home. Bread represents sustanence, life giving food. Our Lord is the Bread of Life that had no sin within Him! He gives us life. Jesus fulfills this feast week in that, just as the Children of Israel had to flee Egypt in a hurry and therefore made bread without leaven, so the Lord's body (The Bread of Life) had to be put into the tomb in a hurry because Passover was almost upon them. Jesus is the Bread of Life, His body was broken for us.
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
[ Communion is institudied 1 Corinthians 11:24 ]
Now we move to the Sabbath on April 16th. The Lord is now our Sabbath rest for the work of redemption He provided for all of us. He is resting in the heart of the earth ministering to all the saints there and we now have an Eternal Rest provided to us through the work He completed for us on that tree.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [ Fulfills Matthew 11:28-30 ]
The Jews of His day would have understood what He was saying to them because they understood what the Sabbath meant. The Sabbath rest was part of their everyday lives.
Now we move to The Feast of First Fruits on April 17th. Our Lord very early Sunday morning, the beginning of the work week, becomes the "First Fruits" of those to be raised from the dead incorruptible and to immortality! The Lord reveals Himself to the two women who loved Him, Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of James and Joses. Thus the Lord fulfills the Feast of First Fruits!
What are the odds that anyone person could fulfill every jot and tittle of the Law and all the Feasts to the tiniest details? They are astronomical! Amazing how the Lord ordered and controlled every event and all things happened just as He wanted it to.
Happy Resurrection Day indeed...
Personal Note: Sometimes people assume I am attempting to convince Christians to practice Judaism and observe the Jewish traditions and feast days. I want to be clear, I am not suggesting this at all. What I do hope happens is that Christians can take the information and use it as a source of encouragement to enrich their faith in seeing God's message to us in both Old Testaments and New. I do not want to see anyone try to fulfill the law or become legalistic. I hope this helps you to better understand my intentions and goals.
Keep looking up because Messiah's return is at the door!
'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.' Ezekiel 33:6
Peace and Love in Jesus The Messiah,
Shalom v'ahava b'Yeshua Ha'Mashiach
שלום ואהבה בישוע המשיח
Bro Stef
Watchman & Publisher
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ~1Thessalonians 5:1-6
