THE NEW COVENANT AND ‘PESACH’
Luke 22:15-20: “Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.””
‘Pesach’ (Passover) is all about freedom!
It’s all about Almighty G-d taking the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt to freedom and ultimately to Mount Sinai where G-d sealed the Nation of Israel as His chosen people and where He instituted the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant which was added to the Abrahamic Covenant and which would ultimately lead to the New Covenant.
This year, Jewish people all over the world began celebrating ‘Pesach’ at sunset on the 12th of April, corresponding to the 14th day of the first Biblical month, ‘Nisan’.
And at a ‘Pesach Seder’ more than two thousand years ago, Yeshua sat with His disciples to celebrate ‘Pesach’. He took ‘matzo’ and He took the Cup and with this, He instituted the first communion. This was the beginning of the New Covenant.
The New Covenant began at a ‘Pesach Seder’ and ended after the festival of ‘Pesach’ when Yeshua was resurrected.
Every year, Christians all over the world celebrate ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Resurrection Sunday’. On ‘Good Friday’ Christians remember the crucifixion of Yeshua and celebrate the institution of the New Covenant; the Covenant which guarantees all who accept Yeshua as L-rd and Saviour the forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Heaven.
The New Covenant began at a ‘Pesach Seder’ which is intertwined with ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Resurrection Sunday’.
The roots of Christianity is Abrahamic, and all the Redemptive Covenants came through the Jewish people…including the New Covenant, which came through the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua.
And the final Redemptive Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, the covenant that will usher in the return of the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, will come about in Israel, specifically in Jerusalem, and will again include and come through the Jewish people.
Yet there is such a chasm between the Jewish people and Christians, and I have an understanding of both sides, being a practicing Observant Orthodox Jew who believes in and has come to faith in Yeshua.
It saddens me that there is so little understanding of Ephesians 2:14-18: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two (Jews and Gentiles), thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both (Jews and Gentiles) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off (Gentiles) and to those who were near (Jews). 18 For through Him we both (Jews and Gentiles) have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
Instead of embracing the Jewish people and “provoking them to jealousy so that they may be saved” according to Romans 11:11; instead of comforting the Jewish people according to Isaiah 40:1 and standing with them, many times I just see indifference. In fact, I even see many in the church standing with Israel’s enemies against Israel…How sad it is that they don’t know and obey the word of G-d.
Yet, Christianity began with the Jewish people, and the first Christians were all Jewish. It began with the Jewish Saviour of the world, Yeshua, together with twelve Jewish disciples, all but one of whom became the Apostles, at a ‘Pesach Seder’ more than 2000 years ago.
My prayer is that the day will come when Jews and Christians will embrace one another, because much is owed to the Jewish people by the church; we see this in Romans 9:2-5: “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh,
Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God.”
Which is why it is so necessary for the church to take the gospel to Jewish people according to the command found in Romans 11:11-14: “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.”
This is why it is so important for the church to regularly pray for the salvation of the Jewish people; and this is why it is so important for church leaders to regularly pray for Israel as well as for the salvation of the Jewish people from the pulpit.
Finally, at every ‘Pesach Seder’, we remember the Paschal Lamb, without spot or blemish, which was sacrificed and whose blood was painted on the doorposts and lintels of every Israelite home, causing the Angel of Death to pass over the Jewish homes and not touch the Jewish people.
Scripture records that Yeshua became the perfect Paschal Lamb; the perfect sacrifice, without spot or blemish, who died on the cross, shedding every last drop of His Blood, thus taking mankind’s sins upon Himself, guaranteeing all who believe in His death and resurrection, both Jews and Gentiles, and who invite Him to become Lord of their lives, eternal life in heaven.
We would do well to spiritually paint the doorposts and lintels of our homes – as well as spiritually paint our hearts with the Blood of Yeshua – so that we can live confidently and without fear in these tumultuous last days leading up to the return of the Messiah, Yeshua.
‘Pesach’ is all about freedom!
At this time of ‘Pesach’, won’t you, both Jews and Gentiles, receive the freedom from sin and eternal death that comes through Yeshua, the perfect Lamb of G-d.
All you need to do is confess your sins, repent of them, and ask Yeshua to come into your life as your L-rd and Saviour; and you can do this by praying the following prayer of Salvation below:
Thank you Yeshua for Your love for me.
Thank you for giving up Your life on the cross for me and for taking my sins upon Yourself.
I confess that I have sinned.
I repent of my sins and I turn from everything I know to be wrong.
I invite You to come into my life as my Messiah, my Saviour.
By Your grace I will serve You all the remaining years of my life.
We love you.
Shalom.
Scripture of the week: Exodus 6:2-8: “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.’ ” ”
