The great Jewish holiday of Passover, which columnist David
Broder calls
”
the finest of all festivals of freedom,
”
begins on April 6 this year, very near the time Western
Christians celebrate Easter.
The great Jewish holiday of Passover, which columnist David Broder calls “the finest of all festivals of freedom,” begins on April 6 this year, very near the time Western Christians celebrate Easter.
When the Jews were suffering as slaves in Egypt, God sent Moses to lead them to freedom. Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler, was stubborn, and it took a series of terrible plagues sent from God to get his agreement to free the Jews.
During the final plague, the angel of death visited Egypt, killing the first-born in each household. The Jews, though, were spared because they had applied the blood of sacrificial lambs to their doorways. That night the angel passed over their houses.
Pharaoh, seeing the vast destruction, ordered the Jews to leave; they departed so quickly that their bread had no time to rise.
As a Jew, Jesus of Nazareth celebrated the Passover each year. In fact, the Gospels say it was in Jerusalem during the
Passover that he was captured, tried, and executed. On the night of his arrest Jesus participated in the traditional Jewish Passover meal called the “Seder.” It is this meal which Christians have transformed into the ritual known variously as the Mass, Eucharist, Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper.
Sunday, February 29 at 6:00 p.m. Robyn Wilk from the organization Jews for Jesus will appear at the First Baptist Church in Gilroy (8455 Wren Ave.) to present “Christ in the Passover.” This educational demonstration of ancient and modern Jewish customs includes the traditional items used in the Passover celebration. But Wilk’s discussion emphasizes how the meal can be interpreted to prove Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. For example:
•There is a parallel between the lambs sacrificed to free the Jews in the Exodus story, the lamb shank bone placed each year on the table at the Seder, and the crucifixion of Jesus as the “Lamb of God” in the New Testament.
•Another part of the presentation concerns the “matzo” (unleavened bread) used at the Seder. The special three-layered pouch used to hold this bread can be interpreted to refer to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
Robin Wilk grew up in New York City in a conservative Jewish family. While a college student she heard Josh MacDowell, a Christian evangelist, and became convinced “Jesus really was the Messiah.”
Jews for Jesus, which has presented this educational program in over 5,000 churches, is an evangelistic organization dedicated to demonstrating the continuity of New and Old Testament scriptures and bringing to people of Jewish heritage the message that Jesus is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. Founded in 1973, it has offices across the nation and in nine other countries, producing and distributing literature which expresses the Gospel message in terms relevant to the Jewish tradition.
The San Francisco office can be contacted at 415-864-2600 or on the internet at www.jewsforjesus.org, which has two different sections: one for “believers” and one for “seekers.” For more information about Wilk’s Gilroy appearance call 847-6000.
Chuck Flagg teaches English at Mt. Madonna High School. Write him c/o The Dispatch, P.O. Box 22365, Gilroy, CA 95021.
