Family,
Have you ever asked the question why Easter is on a slightly different date than Passover especially when Jesus, our sacrificial lamb, died on Passover? In our custom, we remember the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus on Good Friday and celebrate His resurrection on Sunday which we call Easter. Knowing this, shouldn’t we celebrate Passover and Easter during the same dates? According to an article entitled “Passover, Jesus-and Jewishness” written by Ragner in 2017, at first, Passover and Easter were celebrated on the same day, however in 325 CE (common era) the Christian Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after equinox. This changed how Easter was calculated, moving it off from the Passover date.
When the Christian Council of Nicaea decided to change the date to celebrate Easter, it was done to separate the Christian Church from its Jewish roots and erase the memory of any connection between a Jewish Jesus and the Christian faith.
Since, Easter and Passover are usually a few days apart on our calendar, but many Christians have forgotten the Jewish Passover roots of Easter and as a result aren’t experiencing the great depth of their faith but are separated from the blessings of their heritage. God didn’t want this for Israel or for the Church.
Therefore, as a church body, let’s purpose to venture into new traditions according to scripture and not of man. Beginning this year, Cornerstone FGC will celebrate Passover which begins at Sundown on Thursday, April 5th and ends on Thursday, April 13th.
As we prepare for this memorial of the true Passover Lamb, Yeshua, we’ll also prepare our hearts. Passover is a week-long festival known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It’s a week where we refrain from eating any leavened bread. Leavening represents the things that give rise to a life without God such as sin, pride, and things within the human heart that distances us from God.
Exodus 12:15-17 NLT Feast of Unleavened Bread
15 For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel. 16 On the first day of the festival and again on the seventh day, all the people must observe an official day for holy assembly. No work of any kind may be done on these days except in the preparation of food.
17 “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.
Matthew 26:17-30 NLT The Last Supper
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.
20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”
And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
27 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, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[b] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Family, you’ll soon receive instructions on how we’ll celebrate Passover in remembrance of the death and resurrection of our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
In His Service,
Pastor Rose