Chag Pesach sameach - welcome to the Feast of Passover - which began today (on the 14th day of the first month of Aviv) at sunrise and ends tomorrow at sunrise. At sunset we shall be celebrating the Passover Meal as well as commencing the start of only eating unleavened bread which goes on for a whole week. The illustration below, which we have created because of all the confusion caused by the various calendars used by different messianic groups, explains the arrangement of the three festivals that constitute the 'Passover Season' as a whole:

Though we do not usually broadcast the evening Passover Commemoration, which to us is sacred, and shan't be this year either, you can nevertheless celebrate in the privacy of your own home using our own Haggadah which is the special Messianic Evangelical liturgical text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder (Ex.3:8) [1]. Because what Passover foreshadowed has already come to pass in Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) - the Passover Lamb and our eternal Cohen Gadol (High Priest) (it is a prophetically fulfilled divine moed or appointment) - the Messianic Evangelical Haggadah is necessarily different from the Jewish one which includes embellishments and additions and lacks the messianic fulfilment element. Our own version, which also differs from most Messianic Jewish ones too (because they carry over most of the rabbinical embellishments), can be read below:

This short address is principally for the benefit of those who are new to this ministry and are seeking orientation but also for anyone else who would like a simple overview of what is happening today, and why. If your background is non-messianic, or if you are unacquainted generally with the biblical festivals, then you are invited to read the popular summary, Passover Made Simple for Evangelicals, most especially if you are having your first Pesach Seder this evening. You should approach this observance as you would Holy Communion or the Eucharist if your background is orthodox Christian, because this is the key element of the observance. I am glad to see that increasing numbers of evangelicals are now observing Pesach in their churches.

Come back with me now 2,000 years ago to Jerusalem and to the first day of the Israelite Pesach or Passover. During the day Yah'shua (Jesus) and His talmidim (disciples) have been preparing for the ritual dinner commanded by Yahweh. At sundown they gathered secretly at the appointed place. Their mood was solemn as they were about to partake of the meal commemorating the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Reclining on couches arranged around a low table, they drank wine, and ate the bitter herbs (denoting slavery) and matzah or unleavened bread - bread without the raising agent of yeast. This yeast-free bread denotes life without sin which is the goal of every believer. Toward the end of the meal, Yah'shua (Jesus) took a piece of bread, gave thanks to Yahweh, broke it, and said:

"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19. NKJV).

"This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor.11:25, NKJV).

What did Yah'shua (Jesus) mean by this "new covenant"? Well, the background was the Exodus from Egypt and the formation of Israel as a nation at Mount Sinai which was in part why He joined this new ritual (the Master's Supper) to the traditional Passover meal and ceremony. Yet Yah'shua (Jesus) had in mind more than this reminder of the obvious.

He spoke of the "new covenant" in His own blood. His words were an echo of the navi (prophet) Jeremiah who had promised a day when the covenant written by the finger of Elohim (God) on tablets of stone while Israel was gathered at Mount Sinai would be replaced by an entirely new covenant written directly and supernaturally on the hearts of men:

"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put My Torah (Law) in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim (God), and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jer.31:33-34, NKJV).

Notice this was a covenant made with Israel and not with Rome, or Byzantium, or Athens, or Moscow, or Wittenberg, or Geneva, or London, or Salt Lake City, or with anyone else claiming to represent Elohim (God). The Covenant of Elohim (God), whatever it may be, has never left Israel, nor can it, because Israel has been chosen as the representative nation of Yahweh in the world. And the time of this "new covenant", Yah'shua (Jesus) said, had now come with Him because it was in Him, as He was the Chosen One to dispense it as He had been the one who had dispensed the original covenant on Sinai. A new people of Elohim (God) - a New Israel - enjoying the forgiveness of sins, and having a direct mind-and-heart knowledge of Elohim (God), is now possible through the shedding of His own blood.

At that moment the talmidim (disciples) were undoubedly as puzzled by His words as by His actions. But in a matter of weeks they would see all these final hours in a new revealing light. But first other major events would have to happen in rapid succession, including the physical resurrection, the ascension into heaven, and the First Messianic Shavu'ot or 'Pentecost' which is the fourth of Israel's festivals, the occasion on which the New Israel was marked out as separate from the Old one by a different set of signs and wonders.

After the Passover meal, Yah'shua (Jesus) led the talmidim (disciples) to a familiar meeting place at the foot of the Mount of Olives, an olive grove known as Gethesemane, which in Hebrew means an 'oil-press'. While the talmidim (disciples) slept, Yah'shua (Jesus) withdrew to pray:

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt.26:39, NKJV).

After renewing His commitment to Yahweh in prayer, Yah'shua (Jesus) aroused His sleeping talmidim (disciples).

"And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief cohenim (priests) and zaqqenim (elders) of the people" (Matt.26:47, NKJV).

Inside the splendidly appointed mansion, the Sanhedrim swept aside all tokens of justice and hastily recruited two witnesses who testified against Yah'shua (Jesus). The Court charged Him with blasphemy and voted to put Him to death, but in order to accomplish their dark deed they were forced to turn to a despised Roman.

When the first rays of light appeared (for they had held an illegal night session), the Judean authorities led Yah'shua (Jesus) out of Caiaphas' palace and through the streets to the Antonia fortress where the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, was staying during the Passover. Since the Sanhedrin was not empowered to carry out the death sentence, the members had to present their case against Yah'shua (Jesus) to Pilate.

After asking about their purpose, the Roman governor pondered the situation. It seemed to him that the chief cohenim (priests) had approached him to settle a petty religious dispute, and to convict Yah'shua (Jesus) during the festival could surely spark at least a minor uprising. Yet if he ignored their accusations and this Galilean eventually proved to be a traitor to Rome, his own position would be endangered. Meanwhile a belligerent crowd had gathered outside the Antonia, clamouring for Pilate's decision. Fearful of offending Caesar, Pilate delivered Yah'shua (Jesus) to his soldiers for crucifixion.

When the execution party reached a hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha, 'the place of the skull' - the spot where Abraham had been commanded to offer Isaac in similitude of this great moment - the soldiers stripped the clothes from Yah'shua (Jesus) and two thieves to be crucified with Him, and they divided the garments among themselves as the crosses were assembled. Each prisoner was then placed on his cross. Yah'shua (Jesus) suffered in silence as the soldiers nailed His wrists to the crosspiece with large iron spikes and drove another spike through both ankles. As they lifted His cross upright, His weight was supported by a peg jutting out from the cross between His legs. Then the soldiers fastened over the cross that sign describing His crime: 'Yah'shua (Jesus) of Nazareth, King of the Yehudim (Judahites, 'Jews').

It was a slow and painful death. Yah'shua (Jesus) hung there helplessly for long hours as the hot sun beat down on His body and insects buzzed about His limbs. Curious passersby paused to watch His agony and to read the sign. Gradually He weakened, His body tortured by muscle cramps, hunger, and thirst. A small group of His despairing followers watched in silence as His life slipped away, a strange a revealing prelude to the history of Christianity/Messianism.

As He grew weaker and weaker, Yah'shua (Jesus) cried out, "It is finished," and yielded up His spirit in death. The sun darkened and there was an earthquake, making it impossible for the passover lambs to be sacrificed because they had to be offered in full daylight. This ensured that that particular Passover there was only one 'Lamb' sacrificed, Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) Himself! Within hours, a friend, Joseph from Arimathea, carried Yah'shua's (Jesus') body into his private garden. There he had a tomb hewn out of a large rock. Inside, near the rear of the tomb was a couch, also of stone, and Joseph gently placed the corpse upon it. Then he rolled a heavy stone across the entrance and went home.

Were the story to have ended there, that would indeed have been a tragedy. It would have marked the end of a wonderful teacher of sublime ethics and theology, a miracle worker, a navi (prophet), and an exemplary life. Christianity as we know it would never have arisen. He would have become one of Judaism's many rabbis and the old ways would have continued as before...perhaps. Nothing had been written down and indeed Yah'shua (Jesus) had written down nothing Himself. Some of His sayings would probably have been recorded later on but otherwise His memory would probably have faded.

If Israel, during the Exodus, had entered the desert wilderness of Sinai and never met Yahweh on top of the mount, a similar fate would undoubtedly have befallen the nation. Some would have become desert nomads in perpetuity, some would have likely returned to Egypt to be enslaved again, and some would have wandered into Canaan, not as warriors, but simply as one more migrant people, as Abraham had done before them, and been fully assimilated. How history would have turned out differently if things had simply been 'left' where they were at that moment of time.

The rest of the story belongs to the third festival, Yom haBikkurim in two day's time. The same can be, should be, must be if you believe you have been called by Elohim (God) and have a purpose in your life. Life has many stages provided we don't give up and abort our missions. Finish the tasks given you! We must go forth in faith, daring to step forward in harmony with Yahweh's plan for our life.

Israel's story went on after their miraculous escape from Egypt, representing the land of sin and mankind's slavery to sin. They went on to Mount Sinai and eventually to the Promised Land after numerous delays caused by doubt and disobedience, but they went on nonetheless. New Israel's story was not about to end with the cross of Calvary either because incredible events would yet transpire, and very quickly, but you'll have to wait a couple of days to find out more!

Our story is about to unfold too. We don't end here, where we are now. Two nights ago I was sitting in my room, exhausted, ill and despondent, wondering how the Remnant would ever arise out of the turmoil and confusion of this time, when several visions were given me. I want to share the first two with you. I saw a pride of lions - male and female - quietly, confidently and without the least bit of fear enter enemy territory in a line. They didn't look particularly organised yet they were a distinct group. They were in no hurry but they were on the move, heading toward their destination. They were on the march, just as Israel was when Moses gave the signal from Yahweh to leave. That was the first vision.

The second vision followed after about a minute's break, as soon as I had written down the first one. I saw a woman, jet-black hair, arranged neatly in a bun, dressed well, and facing to my right (the lions had been moving to the left). She was old and sophisticated but appeared young. She was screaming with fury at something I could not see. There was such rage on her face and I knew that this was the spirit of Jezebel and Babylon and the Harlot all rolled up into one, the spirit of this age and time. She is about to be aroused in this manner in our time as both she and her kingdom are shaken in Judgment. The third vision is for another time.

We have gathered here again, as we do each year, according to the mitzvah (commandment), but this year is, as I have now said many times, to be different. Traditionally we recall two narratives at this time of year - the Exodus under Moses and the spiritual Exodus under Yah'shua our Messiah (Jesus Christ) that began 2,000 years ago. Seven years ago we gathered to begin the commencement of the Final Exodus that will lead to the Final Gathering. This year marks the 8th anniversary, and other important events have happened since - the Dedication of Messianic Israel and the Dedication of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Not wishing any of this to happen or unfold further so as to upset his plans, the Enemy has initiated a global lockdown, a futile gesture, I might add, as if restriction of physical movement can stop the Creator of the Cosmos - and by extension, His faithful servants - doing anything He pleases. So we are gathered again, knowing in part what is about to happen.

This evening we, here, in Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon, are gathering to partake of another Passover Seder. We know that our brethren and friends will be joining us in spirit, and we them. And there will, of course, be a Late Passover next month (that's how important this assembly is) for those who need it by which time I expect the situation to have radically changed. Whether now, or in a month's time if you are a 'later arrival', as it were, we need to be ready to 'move out' at Yahweh's command and carry out His assignments. And those assignments have already begun. So until this evening, and for the next two mornings when we will be assembling for Chag haMatzah and Yom haBikkurim, respectively, may Yahweh bless and empower you is my prayer in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] The current one is the sixth edition

Acknowledgements

[1] Bruce L.Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 3rd edition (Thomas Nelson, Nashville Tennessee: 2008) pp.10-12
[2] N.T.Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (SPCK, London: 1996)
[3] N.T.Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (SPCK, London: 1992)