Jews celebrate Jesus

[Maryanne Winder Lester]

Jews Celebrate Jesus

I admit that I am naïve to Jewish culture and belief. Having said that, I invite my Jewish friends and anyone else who has more knowledge on these topics to help me understand.

Yesterday, I was writing and studying almost all day. I had the TV turned to The Church Channel . I watched many sermons and readings and speakers all sharing the Word of our Glorious and Merciful God, His Precious Son and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and our constant Companion and Helper, the Holy Spirit. At the change of every hour, the speakers changed. I think it was noon when a Jewish Rabbi began to speak. Initially, I actually told my husband to turn the channel. But, it must have been the Holy Spirit within me that said, “Stop, listen and learn.” So, I turned away from the computer, my Bibles and all the reference books on my desk to listen to a Jewish Rabbi.

The Rabbi was discussing the Passover meal called the Seder. Please read Exodus chapters 11 and 12 which explain the Passover. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, telling them He was going to deliver one more plague on Pharoah and Egypt in which He would kill all the firstborn children in the middle of the night. But, He also gave specific instructions to the children of Israel so that their children would not be harmed. These instructions included a weeklong preparation consisting of eating only unleavened bread and specific foods. The final instruction was to kill a firstborn lamb, roast it, eat it and place the blood of the lamb over the doors of their homes. This blood would be their Salvation so God would recognize their homes and none of their children would be harmed. I other words, God would Pass Over these homes and bring no death to them. God also instructed Moses and Aaron to celebrate that day through all generations as that was the day that the bondage in Egypt ended. This is how the tradition of Passover and the Seder began. The Seder is still a very traditional and sacred meal in the Jewish culture and follows a specific order. During the Seder, many Old Testament scriptures are read, wine is drunk in ceremony and specific foods are eaten according to the instructions God gave to Moses in Exodus. It is a family meal. Part of the food that is eaten is Matzo, which is unleavened bread. This is a very abbreviated version of this meal. And again, I must admit I know very little about the Seder.

But here is where this Rabbi really grabbed my attention. As he was explaining how the Matzo was divided into 3 pieces, he said each piece was a representation of the triune God. The outer 2 pieces represented the Father and the Holy Spirit. Immediately my inquisitive mind thought, “How can you have the Holy Spirit if you have not received Salvation through Jesus Christ?” It made me say, “Hmmmmm.” Then he further explained that the middle piece represented the Messiah. I had always thought the Jewish people were still awaiting the coming of the Messiah and did not believe that Jesus was our Savior.

Then the Rabbi started talking about Y’Shua and the Passover night He drank wine and ate unleavened bread with His disciples. He was talking about Jesus! And to my amazement, the Rabbi read Mark 14:22-25, “And as they were eating, Y’Shua took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day which I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

At the ending of the Seder, tradition has it that the middle piece of the Matzo is broken and shared by all at the table. When this Rabbi broke the Matzo and shared it with his table, they also drank wine in celebration of Communion with Jesus Christ! I know that all Jewish people do not celebrate the Seder this way. But I was able to witness a celebration that I had never seen before. My Spirit was lifted up and for the rest of the day I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Traditions may change, but God’s covenant remains forever.

This morning I woke up and didn’t know what I was going to write about. Because this week is the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I knew that I would address this celebration sometime before Sunday. Today was the day.

As I wrote this, my husband called me into our living room to witness a wondrous sign of God’s covenants and promises to those who love Him. There was an arch shaped rainbow in our living room. The curtains were still drawn and no lights were on but the rainbow stretched from the wall and went around our ceiling. In the center of the rainbow was a bright light like the Star of David and in the center of the star was a cross. In one miraculous representation, here was the promise that we would never die, because of the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Celebrate Him. Give glory and praise to Him. Amen.

Maryanne Winder-Lester 4/2/2010

[Maryanne Winder Lester]

Thank you Rabbi, I will certainly visit your site. I pray that I said nothing to offend you in my post. As a Christian, I had never had the opportunity to watch a Seder and I found this absolutely fascinating! Shalom and Selah.