What is the Christian Passover?
Is it possible for there to be a Christian Passover?
Or, is that a contradiction?
Most people think, "Jews keep Passover,
Christians keep Easter.
Case closed."
No further discussion.
But there is such a thing as a Christian Passover.
And that's revealed in the pages of the Bible.
If you're surprised by that, then stick with us, as we
explore what the Bible really says about this vitally
important topic.
And be sure to get a pen and paper because later on in the
program, you'll have the chance to request your free copy of
The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
So, join us today on Tomorrow's World, as we ask--and answer--
three questions about the Christian Passover.
I'll be right back.
♪
Welcome to Tomorrow's World, where we make sense of your
world through the pages of the Bible.
There are more than two billion people on this earth
who identify themselves as Christians.
And most of them observe the holidays usually associated
with Christianity, such as Christmas and Easter.
But a growing number of people are discovering
that the Bible has something different to say about
Christian Holy days.
And it may not be what you think.
You see, most people today think of the biblical
Holy Days as exclusively Jewish.
But are they?
Let's examine that topic today as we explore
"Three Questions About the Christian Passover."
We'll start with the first question:
1. Did Jesus keep and teach the Christian Passover?
When we speak of religious observances in the
Springtime, the Jews keep Passover as a remembrance
of their sojourn and deliverance from Egypt.
On the other hand, most Christians keep Easter to
commemorate the resurrection of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let's talk briefly about the Old Testament Passover.
Actually, it wasn't just the Jews who kept the Passover--
they were just one tribe in the nation of people called
the Israelites, the children of the patriarch Israel.
God gave the Israelites instructions, in Exodus 12
verses 3, and 5-8...
"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying:
'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take
for himself a lamb..."
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the
first year.
You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the
same month.
Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall
kill it at twilight.
And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two
doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Then they shall eat the flesh on that night;
roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs
they shall eat it."
You see, the Passover, in ancient times, was kept
as a memorial of how God delivered the Israelites
from the Egyptians.
God struck the firstborn of the Egyptians on the
night of the Passover.
But the Israelites marked their door posts with
some of the blood from the Passover lamb, and God
"passed over" the households of the Israelites, and protected
them from harm.
Fast forward to the time of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was an Israelite, from the tribe of Judah,
Who observed the Passover during His lifetime.
But as our Savior, He not only came to earth
to live the life of an obedient Jew, He also
came to die for our sins and establish His Church.
But on the night before He died, notice something very special
that Jesus did with His disciples.
He instituted the New Testament Passover, which we may also
call the Christian Passover.
In Luke 22:14-15 we read of that last Passover
He observed with His disciples...
"When the hour had come, He sat down, and the
twelve apostles with Him.
Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;"
Yes, Jesus kept the Passover.
And that involved a meal including roasted lamb,
unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, in keeping with the
Old Testament statute.
But He also did something new that night.
He instituted New Testament Passover symbols.
Let's read, in Matthew 26:26-28...
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed
and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said,
"Take, eat; this is My body."
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins."
What Jesus did was take the two elements of the
bread and wine, and institute new symbols.
The unleavened bread represented how His
body would be broken in the beating He would
suffer through, leading up to His crucifixion.
The wine represented how He poured out His blood,
and died, from a spear wound while hanging on the stake.
As the true Lamb of God-- which the Old Testament
Passover was foreshadowing-- He was going to give His
life for the salvation of all mankind.
These symbols He established had tremendous meaning--and awesome
significance for the future of every human being.
Now, before we go any further, don't be
confused by the language.
The bread did not mysteriously become Christ's literal body.
And the wine did not miraculously
become His literal blood.
No, both were symbols, representing His broken
body, and His shed blood.
And again, those symbols have tremendous meaning.
But let's notice one more thing.
As He taught His disciples that night, He introduced
one more element.
And this is found in John 13:3-5...
"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His
hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel
and girded Himself.
After that, He poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet, and
to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."
Here Jesus instituted another element in the
Christian Passover: the washing of your brother's feet.
This was designed to teach Jesus's disciples to humble
themselves, and serve one another, as Christ had
served them.
Notice, in John 13:12-15...
"So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments,
and sat down again, He said to them,
"Do you know what I have done to you?
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well,
for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have
done to you."
All three symbols--the bread, the wine, and the foot washing--
would constitute a new observance, a New Testament
Christian Passover.
And He instituted it on the night before He died.
Jesus explained the importance of this new observance,
in John 6:53-54...
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,
you have no life in you.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up at the last day."
Again, not ingesting His literal body and blood,
but taking the symbols that represented His dying
for mankind.
So, did Jesus keep the Passover?
Yes.
He kept the ancient Passover observed by the Jews and
all the Israelites.
But even more significantly for us, He also instituted a
New Testament Christian Passover for His followers.
And He specifically told them, follow My example
and do as I have done.
That leads to some other questions, and we'll get
to those in a moment.
But before we do, let me offer you our free study guide today,
The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
Written by the late Roderick C. Meredith, this booklet
will help you see that the true Christian Passover
"pictures the fact that we are being justified freely
by the grace of God."
You'll come to see that the Christian Passover
represents the "awesome sacrifice that God's Son,
Jesus Christ" made on behalf of all humanity.
This is a vital subject you need to understand.
So, don't forget to order your free study guide.
Call, click or write today.
Order now.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
This clear and straight-forward resource will help you
understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of
the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time, you will also
receive a free annual subscription to
Tomorrow's World magazine.
Six inspiring issues discussing news, science, and modern
culture will help you make sense of your world from a
biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world who are
turning to Tomorrow's World for truth, prophecy, and hope in
these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
Welcome back.
In the first segment of our program, we saw that Jesus
Himself kept the Passover as an obedient Israelite.
And He also instituted the Christian Passover for
His disciples.
In other words, the early Church kept the Christian Passover.
After His death and resurrection, as the
Church grew, Gentiles were called into the Church as well.
And so that brings up a logical question.
Our "second question about the Christian Passover."
And we'll address that in the next section of this program.
2. Were Gentiles expected to observe the Christian
Passover as well?
This is an important question.
Because many people believe that as the Church grew,
God allowed the rules to change, so to speak.
They believe that somehow the Gentiles coming into
the Church didn't have to follow the same rules and
laws as the Jews who were in the Church already.
The Apostle Paul's writings are often used to try to show that
the rules changed for Gentiles coming into the Church.
But let's examine what Paul taught about the
Christian Passover.
In 1 Corinthians 11 we find a quite enlightening passage about
what Paul taught about the Christian Passover.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25...
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered
to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which
He was betrayed took bread; 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."
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood.
This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who supposedly
did away with all the Jewish laws, was describing the
Christian Passover.
And he was describing this in his letter to a Gentile church,
the Corinthians.
Notice further in verse 26...
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."
Some believe this means we should take the symbols of
the bread and wine multiple times a year, or perhaps
every time we worship God.
But notice: that's not what He said.
He just said, when you take it, you're proclaiming or
memorializing the death of your Lord, until He comes.
Now there's a lot in there.
For one, it's a reminder that Jesus Christ is
coming back to earth.
And we're approaching that time; it's closer than ever.
But the other thing we note here is he explained the Passover
is a memorial of Christ's death.
It's the anniversary of Christ's death.
Now, why would you keep an anniversary on any
old day you want?
On a different day from the day in which the
original event happened?
In the United States, we celebrate July 4th as
Independence Day, going back to the publishing
of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
In France, Bastille Day is July 14.
It's the national day of France, because it hearkens back to
the storming of the Bastille, on July 14th, 1789.
In Mexico, September 16th is observed as independence day,
the day the Catholic priest and patriot, Miguel Hidalgo
delivered his famous summons to his parishioners to
rise up in Revolution.
It's observed on September 16, the very day these
events happened.
Most other countries also have specific days to honor
a special event that happened on that day.
Married couples often celebrate the anniversary
of their wedding.
When do they do it?
Well, on the day when they were married.
Every man knows that his wife would not be very happy
if he forgot the day of their anniversary.
So, why would we think God would be pleased if we take symbols
representing Christ's sacrifice on any old day we want,
regardless of the timing?
Timing is very important to God.
And in this case, the timing of the Christian Passover reminds
us of the importance and significance of the event
that took place on that day.
The crucifixion and death of Jesus on the stake,
for our sins.
Going further, Paul even described how to prepare
for taking that Passover.
Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 27-28...
"Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of
the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread
and drink of the cup."
Paul said, there's even a proper way to prepare for
taking the Christian Passover.
That is, self-examination.
Self-reflection.
An honest evaluation of how one is living his life,
in light of God's laws and God's direction.
And an acknowledgement of the need for Christ's
sacrifice and God's forgiveness in our life.
Remember, Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who
were Gentiles, not Jewish.
This Passover was not just for the Jews or Israelites.
It was for all Christians.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 5:7...
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may
be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
When the ancient Israelites were keeping the Passover,
they were actually, without knowing it, foreshadowing
the Lamb of God dying for the sins of mankind.
And that's exactly what Paul was explaining.
Notice then, in verse 8 Paul said this...
"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
So, we've already seen that the disciples were
taught to keep the Christian Passover.
Now, we see the Apostle Paul taught the symbolic significance
of the Passover, and explained how to prepare for it.
How can we come to any other conclusion, than
this was intended for all New Testament Christians to keep?
So, why don't more people keep the New Testament
Christian Passover today?
And why do most mainstream Christians keep Easter instead
of the Christian Passover?
We'll get to that question, but before we do, let me again offer
you our free study guide, The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
In it you'll begin to see that the Christian Passover symbols,
the bread and the wine, represent the broken body
of Jesus Christ, and His precious blood, shed for us.
This is not an unimportant topic--it concerns your
and my very salvation.
This is a vital subject you need to understand.
So, write for The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
Call us, send us a note, or order online.
Order now.
♪
This clear and straight-forward resource will help you
understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of
the Bible.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
In the last two segments, we saw that Jesus instituted the
Christian Passover and the apostle Paul taught it to
His Gentile audience as well.
But with all of that in mind, let's look at
our third question:
3. Why do most professing Christians keep Easter,
instead of the Christian Passover?
Isn't it remarkable, that there's no single instruction
or command to keep an observance commemorating
the resurrection of Christ?
On the other hand, the Bible speaks a lot about
the Christian Passover.
Now don't get me wrong, the resurrection is
extremely important.
We base our hope of eternal life on that fact.
We read in Romans 8:11...
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit
who dwells in you."
The resurrection is supremely important.
But you can search the New Testament from beginning to end,
and you'll find no instruction or command to keep it as an
observance or a holy day.
So, why do so many people observe Easter?
Long time Tomorrow's World viewers know that most of
the holidays of mainstream Christianity today come from
blatantly pagan roots.
Such is the case for Easter.
In the booklet Easter, the Untold Story,
Tomorrow's World presenter and evangelist Gerald Weston
explains this:
"The Oxford Companion to World Mythology explains this about
Easter: 'The holiday comes in the early Spring and is clearly
related to ancient fertility myths of reborn heroes....
For many, Easter is synonymous with fertility symbols such as
the Easter Rabbit, Easter eggs, and the Easter lily.'
So, why do people keep Easter, if it comes from ancient
pagan traditions?
The facts of history reveal that after the Church was founded
in the first century, the mainstream visible church
underwent profound changes.
As new generations arose, the pressure to conform to
the pagans around them grew immensely--including keeping
the Springtime fertility festival to the goddess Ishtar.
By contrast, faithful Christians held to the doctrines of Christ
and the apostles.
Tomorrow's World writer Dexter Wakefield explains this
in his article in the March- April 2013 issue, entitled,
"Are You a Quarto-Deciman? Should You Be?"
Notice:
"In the second century AD, a controversy raged in
early Christianity.
The Roman church under Pope Sixtus I had established the
keeping of an early version of Easter on a Sunday.
But it had long been the practice of the Middle Eastern
(Asiatic) churches to keep the Christian Passover as Jesus
and the apostles did on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month
of the Jewish calendar (Leviticus 23:5)...."
He mentions the Christian Passover was on the
14th day of Nisan.
The term "Quarto-deciman" is Latin for "14th."
It would come to be a name for those who continued to keep the
Christian Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, as Jesus did, even as
many in the visible church had abandoned it for Easter.
Mr. Wakefield continues:
"The Catholic Encyclopedia reports, 'While Anicetus was
Pope, St. Polycarp, then in extreme old age, came to confer
with him (160-162) about the Paschal controversy;
Polycarp and others in the East celebrating the feast on the
fourteenth of the month of Nisan, no matter on what day
of the week it fell; whereas in Rome it was always observed
on Sunday.'
Polycarp was a direct disciple of the apostle John.
Anicetus and Polycarp did not come to an agreement on the
subject, and several decades later, another bishop in Rome,
Victor, attempted to force all the churches of Asia minor to
reject the Christian Passover on the 14th of Nisan.
But they did not buckle to the pressure.
Mr. Wakefield continues:
"The early church historian Eusebius wrote: 'But the bishops
of Asia, led by Polycrates, decided to hold to the old
custom handed down to them.
He himself, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and
the church of Rome, set forth in the following
words the tradition which had come down to him:
'We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away.
For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep...
Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles...
moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher,
who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord...
All these observed the fourteenth day of the
Passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no
respect, but following the rule of faith'...
'Thereupon Victor, who presided over the church at Rome,
immediately attempted to cut off from the common unity the
parishes of all Asia, with the churches that agreed with them,
as heterodox; and he wrote letters and declared
all the brethren there wholly excommunicate.'"
So, those keeping the Christian Passover were excommunicated
from what was becoming the mainstream church.
Mr. Wakefield concludes:
"But the practice [that is, the keeping of the Christian
Passover] continued with the Asiatic churches, and in the
year 325 AD at the Council of Nicea, those who were faithful
to the Quartodeciman Passover were declared anathema.
The Catholic Pasch--Easter--was set as the orthodox practice
of the Catholic Church."
So, the practice of keeping the Christian Passover didn't
disappear, it just was dwarfed by the more common practice
of Easter, because Constantine decreed that Easter should
be the official doctrine of the Roman Empire.
Jesus didn't abandon the Passover.
On the contrary, He, His disciples, and others that
followed continued to observe the Christian
Passover for centuries.
And a growing number of Christians still keep
that same biblical observance today.
Once again, let me pause to offer you our free study guide
today, The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
In it you'll learn that most of mainstream Christianity has
simply "rejected the example of Christ and the Apostles."
And we have a responsibility to answer the question,
"Which will you choose?"--traditions?
Or the direct teaching of the Bible?
This is a vital topic, and you need to prove
this for yourself.
So, order your free study guide today,
The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
So, call, click, or write us a letter.
Order now.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
This clear and straight-forward resource will help you
understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of
the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time, you will also
receive a free annual subscription to
Tomorrow's World magazine.
Six inspiring issues discussing news, science, and modern
culture will help you make sense of your world from a
biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world who are
turning to Tomorrow's World for truth, prophecy, and hope in
these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
In today's program, we've been discussing
Three Questions About the Christian Passover.
We've seen that Jesus taught it.
The Apostle Paul taught it.
And faithful followers of the apostles zealously held on to
this teaching for centuries, despite intense persecution.
So what about you?
Maybe you've never considered the New Testament, Christian
Passover before.
Maybe you assumed the Passover is only Jewish.
Maybe you've always been taught that Christians
should keep Easter.
You need to study this and prove it to yourself.
It concerns the very life and death of our Savior,
and our obedience to following His instructions.
It even concerns our being forgiven of sins, and our
hope of eternal life.
You might even be interested in how to observe the Christian
Passover for yourself.
Many thousands of people just like you have come to the same
conclusion, and have learned to faithfully keep this important
feast day each year.
You can learn more by requesting your free study guide,
The Holy Days: God's Master Plan.
And if you have questions about the Passover you'd like
to ask directly, Tomorrow's World is sponsored by the
Living Church of God.
And the Living Church of God has representatives who
would love to talk with you.
They will be happy to answer any questions you
might have about this fundamental practice of
the faithful 1st century Church, a practice that
is still done today, the Christian Passover.
Thank you for watching.
And be sure to join us next time, as Gerald Weston,
Wallace Smith, and I explain the good news of tomorrow's
world, and the truth, comfort and hope it can bring to you
and your family.
See you next time.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
Call today and join millions around the world who are
turning to Tomorrow's World for truth, prophecy, and hope in
these confusing times.
The preceding program is produced by the
Living Church of God.
♪