Gilroy’s Trinity Bible Church (370-A Tomkins Court) invites
South County residents to a special event. On Sunday, Feb. 27 at
6pm, a representative of Jews for Jesus will present an educational
talk,
”
Christ in the Passover.
”
Gilroy’s Trinity Bible Church (370-A Tomkins Court) invites South County residents to a special event. On Sunday, Feb. 27 at 6pm, a representative of Jews for Jesus will present an educational talk, “Christ in the Passover.”
This informative demonstration of ancient and modern Jewish customs includes the traditional items used in the Passover celebration. The presentation focuses on how the ritual meal called “Seder” can be interpreted to prove Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah foretold in the Jewish scriptures (what Christians refer to as the Old Testament of the Bible).
The story of the Passover is an important part of Jewish history which has immense influence on Christian teaching too. When the Jews were suffering as slaves in Egypt, God sent Moses to lead them to freedom. Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler, was stubborn: it took a series of terrible plagues from God to set the Jews free.
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 carnage, ordered the Jews to leave.
As a Jew, Jesus of Nazareth celebrated the Passover each year. In fact, the gospels say it was in Jerusalem during Passover that he was captured, tried and executed. On the night of his arrest, Jesus participated in the traditional Jewish Passover meal (Seder) with his disciples. It is this meal which Christians have transformed into the ritual ceremony known as the Mass, Eucharist, Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper.
The guest speaker at Sunday’s presentation is Steve Wertheim, senior missionary of the Jews for Jesus organization. He was raised a Conservative Jew in Queens, New York, where he attended Hebrew school. After graduating from C.W. Post College with a degree in history he moved to California to seek a teaching position.
When introduced to Jews for Jesus, he was apprehensive: “I couldn’t help but wonder how my father, who barely escaped the Holocaust, would feel. He became a believer in Jesus in 1975, and his father, mother, and brother all followed within a year.”
Wertheim received a degree in theology from Talbot Theological Seminary in 1979 and now lives in San Francisco with his wife and children.
Members of Jews for Jesus, unlike most of the world’s Jews, accept Jesus as the “Christ,” the promised Savior. This organization has presented educational programs in more than 5,000 churches and aims to bring 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 foreign countries, producing and distributing literature which expresses the Gospel message in terms relevant to the Jewish tradition. For more information, check the Internet at www.jewsforjesus.org.
The Rev. Vaughn Park, senior pastor of Trinity Bible Church, invites visitors to come to this presentation and sample some of the traditional Passover foods: “We would love to have people attend and learn more about the Jewish roots of Christianity.”
