BETWEEN THE LINES
EASTER OR PASSOVER: WHAT'S BEST FOR CHRISTIANS?
Exclusive: Joseph Farah warns against 'grave error of the Pharisees'
More than 1 billion Christians will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday.
Who can argue with those numbers?
Some might suggest the idea of getting back to first century observations of the events of Passover week, culminating with Jesus’ rise, is a lost cause – like going against the grain of history.
Yet, more and more Christians, in rediscovering the Hebrew roots of their faith, are doing just that.
There are several good reasons for every sincere follower of Jesus to take a close look at this matter.
- One of the most serious warnings Jesus had for the religious authorities during His brief ministry was to follow the Word of God rather than the traditions of men. Read the gospels with this in mind and it’s hard to miss. It’s literally everywhere. That was the grave error of the Pharisees, as I systematically point out in my new book, “The Restitution of All Things: Israel Christians and the End of the Age.”
- When Jesus came the first time, He fulfilled the true meaning of Passover, arguably the most important holy day in the Hebrew calendar. He also fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits with His rise from the dead. This is important for His followers to understand and embrace and demonstrates conclusively that God’s covenant with Israel is far from finished. It also makes sense that Jesus will fulfill the fall feasts with His Second Coming – another important prophetic sign for believers.
- The traditional timeline for Easter makes no sense because Jesus explained He would be three days and three nights in the tomb. Tradition claims he died just before sundown on Friday and rose from the dead Sunday morning. While He was first seen by His brethren Sunday morning, He could have risen even earlier – like before the end of the Sabbath on Saturday. Jesus wouldn’t say he would be three days and three nights in the tomb if He didn’t mean it literally.
- The celebration of Easter as opposed to Passover week was a coercive change instituted by Constantine, the Roman emperor, a lifelong sun worshiper.
- Easter has all kinds of pagan origins tied to sun worship.
For all these reasons and more, a healthy understanding of the Jewishness of Jesus is of paramount importance to understanding all He accomplished with His death and resurrection.
Do you like to examine the Hebrew roots of your faith? Consider joining Joseph Farah on WND’s 2017 tour of Israel this year.
It would seem that if Passover and the other feasts were good enough for Jesus and His first century apostles and disciples, they would be good enough for today’s Christians. I know Easter has been a predominant tradition in the church 1,700 years – but why?
I would encourage Bible-based believers to consider this question.
As I write in “The Restitution of All Things,” Jesus is actually going to come back some day and set up a worldwide kingdom in which He rules and reigns from Jerusalem. If we believe that, we should be preparing for it – not just by watching the signs of the times, but by preparing our hearts by learning more about His expectations of us.
Most of His brethren didn’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah when He came the first time. Will we recognize Him and embrace Him when He comes the second time?
Will we be surprised when He comes to fulfill all of the many as-yet-unfulfilled prophecies of the Lion of Judah?
Wouldn’t a deep dive into those Scriptures of the Coming Kingdom be a wise and prudent study for us today?
Passover week vs. Easter provide us with a great opportunity to get started.
Watch Joseph Farah’s invitation to join him in Israel this year:
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/04/easter-or-passover-whats-best-for-christians/#ILgJjCzJdrdoJ70m.99
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