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Welcome to Easter Week…. with an Encouraging PASSOVER Message from our friend GORDON KUSHNER… I know this seems like a late Easter Weekend for us this year. I always wondered about that as a kid, why it was in March last year and April this year? I guess in America, we’re just a little UNORTHODOX, so to speak, changing that celebration from the orthodox calendar which governs most everyone else. Well, this week we have a special treat that is very “orthodox” and appropriate for our Finishing Well Devotional. It’s an honor to have Gordon Kushner, write our Easter Devo from a Passover Perspective, if you will. And he is much more qualified to do that than I am. Gordon (and his wife, Rachel, who hosts the podcast / website / ministry “LINKS TO MESSIAH”) have become friends of ours in our time at Northside. We met in the lobby by the coffee shop where they serve as I ordered a “dirty chai” to get me thru the 11:30 service, if I remember correctly! Wonderful people they are! (Sorry, that sounded a little “Yoda-ish” for some reason!). And I’m also really looking forward to later in the year when Rachel will be writing a devotional for us as well as we approach the Christmas / Hanukkah season. So THANK YOU, Gordon for sharing your heart from your “birthright perspective”, this week! Here’s his BIO….. Gordon is a believer in Jesus as the Messiah and his Savior since 1989. Like Paul, he is Jewish by birth and did (brief) missionary work. Unlike Paul, he’s not a theologian, but he does love studying the fulfillment prophecies of the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament. You can find him serving in the cafe at Northside where he enjoys serving blessings with a side of lattes and sometimes doing open mic comedy in Louisville. And here’s his MESSAGE for us this week… PASSOVER As Holy Week approaches, we remember (besides getting our best suits and dresses out of storage) the most significant week in history. Jesus comes to Jerusalem entering on a donkey. He preaches in the Temple courtyard, has a last supper with his disciples then is betrayed, tried and crucified. Then after much mourning and fear, something happens. The Lord rises! It’s Easter Sunday! We celebrate our Savior’s resurrection from the dead and the salvation it brings to the entire world who would believe. This is and of itself is a complete story and the Christian message in it’s purest distilled form. But….. Why did the Holy Week happen when it did? Why did the Last Supper occur with a bunch of Italian looking disciples sitting on one side of a very long table? OK, that second one didn’t quite happen that way, but let’s dig into the Last Supper that Jesus celebrated in that upper room with his disciples the night before He was betrayed. Let’s take a look at that fateful night. Matthew 26:17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” Hold up, what’s the Feast of Unleavened Bread and what does “eat the Passover” mean? Glad you asked. The Festival of Unleavened Bread was ordained by God and given to the Children of Israel through Moses. In the Bible, God gave the Israelites festivals to mark important times in their journey in their relationship with the Creator. We serve a good God who blesses us with holy days which includes eating with friends and family. Of all the festivals, this is the most important because, well, read this from Exodus 13:3…. “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.” Yes, indeed, this was the day the Lord decreed for remembering His deliverance out of slavery in Egypt. It was to be an annual remembrance to be handed down from generation to generation. Exodus 13:9-10 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. ‘You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.’ Your next questions might be, “what even is unleavened bread, why is it important, and what does that have to do with Passover?” Well dear student of the Hebrews Scriptures and Charlton Heston fans, the answer lies a little further back in Exodus 12. Recall that after the Lord afflicted Egypt with nine of the Ten Plagues, He sternly warns them to prepare for the most drastic plague of all—the Death of the First Born. Exodus 12:4-11 “If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. Exodus 12:14-15 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.” So now you that know what Jesus was celebrating, the next question is how does this relate to Jesus on this divinely significant point in history? Let’s unpack the significance and why it was so tightly coupled with Jesus’ mission. First, Passover is a story of God’s deliverance. The Israelites were brought out of slavery from Egypt by a loving God who redeemed them. Egypt is Scripture is often used as a symbol for sin. So the Passover doubles as a reminder of how our God delivers us from sin. But the redemption did not come without a great cost: the death of the firstborn son. Who could that be? The symbolism gets even more incredible. And the Angel of Death passed through Egypt, no firstborn would be spared except for those with the blood of the Lamb on their doorposts. Where else do you hear about the blood of the lamb? Oh, right, he’s the one who saves us! Let Peter explain it….. “You were bought with the priceless blood of Christ. He is a perfect lamb.” (1 Peter 1:19) What better festival could Jesus choose to show His people that He was the fulfillment of the redemption are? None. There are so many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah (translated as Christ). Even the festivals and events in Israel’s history point to the wonderful fulfillment of salvation of the world! From George…… Thanks Gordon! For” making a point” and “getting to the point”! May we see the passion and intricate detail that God’s Word has had for ALL His people throughout the years! May we take to heart to incredible sacrifice God made in sending His Son for the sins of the world to be forgiven. And may we never take that lightly as we strive to FINISH WELL “the race that is set out before us” (Hebrews 12). Bless you Gordon for sharing. And bless you, our “Finishing Well Family” as we celebrate the only hope for the world this weekend… Jesus & His Resurrection! Love you guys, gr
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