A common adage used by authors is “show, don’t tell.” This saying refers to a writing technique in which sensory details and actions, rather than exposition, are used to connect the reader to the story and characters. As Anton Chekhov famously said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Its an approach that creates a more immersive writing style, allowing the reader to “be in the room” as the action unfolds. And in our ongoing debate with the theology of Torahism, the Last Supper offers a remarkable opportunity to “show, not tell” that the Law of Moses is, in fact, no longer binding on God’s people. So let’s step into the sandals of a first-century Jewish disciple of Jesus in attendance at this meal and see what it reveals.
Jerusalem, ~AD 30
The setting is dusty, ancient Jerusalem, buzzing with Pesach activity. Your fellow Jews have begun eating unleavened bread and are busily preparing for the Passover feast. As a disciple traveling with Jesus for the past few years, this won’t be your first Passover meal with Him. But there is something different this year. Earlier in the week, Jesus entered the city to triumphant shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” And as you saw Him waving to the people from atop His donkey, you noticed a heaviness behind His smile. This public adoration would not last long.
Pesach has driven the annual rhythm of your people for more than a dozen centuries. It’s a feast that predates Sinai and the Law of Moses, harkening back to Israel’s final days in slavery in Egypt. That’s when Yahweh gave the first command for this feast, and the Jewish people have been keeping it annually ever since. In fact, when Jesus was still a child, we’re told His “parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41). And as a Jew, you’ve kept Pesach since you were a child, as did your parents and grandparents and great grandparents in an unbroken ancestral chain extending all the way back to Moses.
Because we modern Christians are removed from the importance and weightiness that Pesach held for first-century Jews, let’s take a brief look at the event in the Torah. It will help fill in some backstory for the Lord’s Supper we’re about to experience. The Passover is introduced in Exodus 12, where Yahweh commanded the Israelites to prepare a sacrifice of a lamb without blemish at twilight (vv. 5-6). And God gave them specific instructions,
Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
Exodus 12:7-11
God not only saved Israel through that first Passover, he then commanded Pesach as an ongoing feast.
And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’”
Exodus 12:25-27
The Torah provides other instructions about avoiding leaven; removing it from your home, eating unleavened bread for seven days, and so on. These are the very things the Jewish people were doing in first-century Jerusalem leading up to the Last Supper. And there was powerful Christological symbolism in God’s Pesach commands; salvation through the shedding of innocent, unblemished (sinless) blood. But, of course, that theological significance wouldn’t be revealed until centuries later when Jesus became our ultimate Passover sacrifice. (What the living God ordained from the beginning, we humans can only see in hindsight!) So the ancient Israelites wouldn’t have made those connections, nor would Yeshua’s Jewish disciples, at least not until after the Resurrection.
So there you are in Jerusalem, walking alongside Jesus and the other disciples, amid the bustle of a national festival, sensing something is afoot. Let’s pick up the story in Luke:
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Luke 22:7-13
The Seder
Picture the scene as you enter that large, furnished upper room where Peter and John prepared the Passover. In the middle of the room, lit by oil lamps, sits a table adorned with bread and wine. The smell of roasted lamb and baked bread greets you as you take your place at the table, among your fellow disciples. The Passover meal is typically held by a family, and the head of the household hosts the event. But tonight, Jesus is Pesach’s head and host.
The Passover Seder as we know it today didn’t develop until long after Jesus, during the age of rabbinic Judaism. But the wine, bread, and washing described in the NT are all in keeping with the Torah celebration of Pesach. We’re not sure if first-century Jews recited some form of Ma Nishtana—“Why is this night different from all other nights?”—but they likely retold the Passover story from Exodus in some way. There would have been the kaddish, the blessing over the wine, the matza bread would’ve been distributed, and there would have been some form of urchatz (ritual washing).
From a theological perspective, as a disciple sitting in that upper room, you don’t have a clear picture of what is coming in the next three days. You don’t even realize that you are about to partake in what will later be called the “Last Supper.” And you don’t understand that everything in Yeshua’s earthly ministry has led to the events of this week. For three years, you’ve walked alongside Jesus as He taught, healed, called, loved, challenged, performed miracles, and prophesied. Somewhere along the way, you began to believe that He was the Christ, the promised Messiah foretold in your Hebrew Scriptures. But what that fully entailed, you couldn’t have known at the time. This week was the culmination of the very reason God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It was the whole point of Yeshua’s mission.
You have to wonder what Jesus must have been thinking at that table with His closest friends. They had been through so much together. As they dined and made small talk, Jesus looked around the room at His brothers, knowing that everything was about to change. Tomorrow He would be brutally crucified by the Roman authorities. On Sunday, He would walk out of the grave and nothing would be the same again. His beloved disciples would be heartbroken, confused, and ultimately overjoyed. And the world wouldn’t fully understand what all this meant for decades, maybe even centuries. So that evening, as Jesus took a piece of matza bread prepared for the seder, He knew this meal would be remembered forever. The words He spoke next would echo down through the centuries. Whether His disciples knew it or not, this was His grand farewell speech.
Meanwhile, you and your fellow disciples are reclining at the table, expecting Jesus to lift the matza bread and say a traditional Pesach blessing. “This is the bread of affliction which our forefathers ate in Egypt; whoever is hungry, let him come and celebrate Pesach.” And then He would hold up the wine and speak the kaddish, “Blessed art thou, oh Lord, who has created the fruit of the vine.” That’s what you were all expecting that evening, but it’s not what happened. Instead, Jesus,
took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Luke 22:19
What a strange thing to say. What do you mean this bread is your body? What do you mean “in remembrance” of you? You’re sitting right here in front of me. Tonight was no typical Pesach.
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Luke 22:20
Your blood? What do you mean by “the new covenant”? Are you talking about the prophecy of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah)?
As a disciple expecting a traditional Passover Seder, these words would have come as a shock. And maybe you were used to Jesus saying and doing surprising things. Yet here was this man, this rabbi you knew and had come to love, taking a centuries-old Hebrew institution commanded in the Torah and pointing it to Himself.
The New Testament writers provide just a skeletal narrative of this meal, leaving out a lot of detail in order to focus on the most essential points. So if the discussion around the table included talk of the Exodus out of Egypt, or the Torah commands about leaven, eating in haste, and the rest, none of the Gospel writers mentioned it. Instead, they centered their accounts of this historic meal on the farewell message of Jesus. And what words did He want to leave for His disciples and by extension, all believers today?
Rather than pointing to the Torah, or Moses, or Egypt and the historical roots of Pesach, Yeshua declared that Passover was all about Him. And He issued a command previously underheard of in Hebraic tradition: as often as you eat of the bread and drink of the wine, do so in remembrance of Him. Let that sink in. Our Lord chose the setting of the Pesach seder not to reiterate the importance of Torah feasts or Mosaic tradition but to proclaim the New Covenant had arrived and to introduce a new sacrament. He appropriated the Passover bread and the wine as symbols of His imminent sacrifice, infusing them with new meaning. This is my body and my blood, eat and drink in remembrance of me.
And He didn’t say, “this is the renewed covenant in my blood.” He wasn’t renewing the Passover feast. No, He introduced something entirely new. Passover undoubtedly foreshadowed the crucifixion; salvation through blood. But it had nothing to say about resurrection or victory over death and sin. The Resurrection is the single most important event in the history of the human race; it’s the linchpin of the Christian faith (1 Cor 15:12-19). And from the beginning, Yahweh ordained that His Son would not only shed His innocent blood and die during Pesach but that appointed time would also serve as the foundation of the Resurrection and the inauguration of Yahweh’s promised New Covenant.
The Washing
The Last Supper shows us another important way that Jesus pointed Pesach to Himself. In Jewish tradition, there’s a ceremonial Passover washing called urchatz, where the host of the Passover Seder washes his hands to ritually purify himself during the meal. In John’s account of the Last Supper, we read how Jesus staged a reversal of urchatz. Rather than washing himself before the meal, he washed his disciple’s dusty, grimy feet. This event paints an even more vivid picture of how the Lord’s Supper reveals that the Mosaic law had ended.
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:3-5
Did you catch that? Jesus knew the Father “had given all things into his hands.” All authority on heaven and earth had been given to Yeshua, and what did He do with it? Did He command His followers to keep Pesach feast every year? No. He got down on His knees and served His sinful, fallible human disciples, the men who couldn’t quite understand what He was saying and would even betray him. Jesus’ farewell statement that evening extended beyond words. This was a powerful object lesson in humility.
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
Luke 13:12-15
Again, Jesus commandeered the Passover elements for Himself. And the truth is, they were pointing to Him the entire time. They were the shadows, and Jesus is the substance.
Holy Food
Don’t miss the importance that this was a Passover meal. The eating of food in Scripture is often far more than just refueling our bodies. As Chad Bird points out in his book Unveiling Mercy, in Hebrew theological categories, to eat is to acknowledge that we’re not self-sufficient, that life comes from outside us as a gift. We need food like we need God, who is the ultimate provider of our food. Which is the idea behind the concept of fasting.
In the Garden, with the forbidden food, Adam and Eve weren’t looking to the Lord but to themselves. They’d been deceived, and every human being after them would pay the price. And food later plays an important role in God’s salvation of His people. He miraculously provided the wandering Israelites with manna and quail in the wilderness. And while still in slavery in Egypt, the Passover meal signaled the rescue of Israel as a nation. Indeed, that rescue is precisely what Jesus and His disciples were celebrating at the Last Supper. And the bread and wine offered by Jesus at that meal was the beginning of the reversal of that infamous bite taken in the Garden. As God had promised in the Garden (Gen 3:15), He had sent His Son to turn all that around. Thus, at the Last Supper, the phrase “take and eat” was infused with an entirely new meaning.
Wrap it up, Solberg
The Last Supper underscores the difference between Torahism and mainstream Christian theology. Torashism points us toward the Torah, and Moses, and God’s appointed feasts for Israel. But that’s not what Jesus did at the Last Supper. If He addressed any of these things during His farewell address, the NT authors did not find it worth mentioning. Rather, they wanted to show us, in no uncertain terms, that at the Last Supper, Yeshua appropriated Pesach for Himself. Our Hebrew Roots friends also say we must not celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday but that we should rather keep Passover. But that’s not what Jesus commanded. He said to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of Him. Indeed, the New Covenant, ratified by His blood, began on Easter Sunday.
And please don’t misunderstand. There is nothing wrong with a Christian choosing to celebrate Passover. It’s a beautiful and profound perspective from which we can to contemplate the work of Christ. And under the New Covenant, the Torah feasts have not been forbidden. They are permitted but not required of followers of Jesus.
Anonymous
What do you say if they were keeping feasts and sabbaths, so the NT authors did not find it worth mentioning?
R. L. Solberg
Are you suggesting that because Jewish Christians already knew they should keep Passover, the NT authors did not find it necessary to repeat the command to keep Passover? That’s possible, sure. Although it’s interesting that Jesus and the NT authors repeated so many other commands that Jewish Christians should have known (Matt 22:37-40). And even in the OT, the Lord was constantly commanding Israel to keep the Sabbath, even though they already knew they should keep the Sabbath. So we know that God will often repeat and reiterate important commands in Scripture. -RLS
Mitchell Chapman
Rob,
You missed it again!
WHO is the possessor of the “feasts” which includes the weekly 7th Day Shabbat mentioned in Lev 23?
The answer is very telling in 23:2 (2x), 4, 37 and 44.
Would you agree or disagree you are included in Gal 3:28-29?
R. L. Solberg
Hey, Mitchell. I’m not quite following you. These were the Lord’s appointed times, of course. And, yes, I am part of Abraham’s seed. But Abraham’s seed is not obligated to keep the Torah feasts under the New Covenant. Those requirements ended with Christ (Gal 3:24-25). Doing so is permitted, of course. In fact, I will be partaking in a Passover seder this year at a Messianic Jewish congregation near me and I’m quite excited about it. But keeping Pesach is not required of Christians.
Mitch Chapman
Not surprising when you continue with your western church theology, terminology, doctrine and definition void of the Jewish context and content of Brit Chadasha. The reversal of that infamous bite taken in the Garden actually occurred in the garden when Yeshua clothed them and started the long redemption process. This is seen in 3:21 with the word כָּתְנוֹת which is the outer garment the bride wore in the ancient wedding custom. You see brother, there REMAINS chessed (grace) in Torah!
Mitch Chapman
Rob,
Here is a short teaching on Gal 3:24-25 that I’ve been using for many years. Perhaps you’ll learn from this as others have…………
The Torah functioned as a custodian until the Messiah came. The word translated “custodian” is “paidagogos,” literally, “boy-leader.” In ancient Greece a paidagogos was a slave who conducted a boy to and from school. It is therefore not surprising that the KJV renders the phrase, “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us [Jews] unto Christ.”
But although the English word “pedagogy” is derived from it, the paidagogos had no teaching functions (see Amdt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon); and although the Torah had as one of its goals leading Jewish people to the Messiah, as Sha’ul explicitly says at Rom 10:4, that is not the import of the present verse.
The paidagogos actually would have been a harsh disciplinarian, hired to do a job, with the boy required to obey him. Thus the Torah, because it was perverted into legalism, served in the role of harsh disciplinarian for the Jewish people, providing some protection but generally making the Jewish person aware of many transgressions (v 19), so that we Jews might turn from legalistic rule-following and be declared righteous forensically (2:16) on the basis of our trusting and being faithful to Yeshua, whose trusting faithfulness to G-d the Father purchased our salvation.
Therefore, now that the time for this peerless example of trusting faithfulness which Yeshua displayed has come, which same trusting faithfulness we now have too because we are united with him (v. 26), we Jews are no longer under legalism of any sort, no longer under a custodian.
Let us remain mindful of proper terminology in the time written NOT from a Western church 2023 perspective errantly believing Shaul and all other disciples in the 1st century became christians.
Antioch, had the largest population of Jewish people, living outside of Jerusalem, the Diaspora. The disciples in Acts 11:26 were in today’s vernacular MESSIANIC TORAH OBSERVANT JEWS and the Jerusalem Council’s “so called Noachide Laws” allowed for fellowship between the Jewish people of the day and the former pagans who had come to faith. But how would they grow spiritually? I don’t believe it was saying a pray and see you in heaven! NOT at all, it was by attending the synagogues (outside of Jerusalem, established during the Babylonian captivity) or the Temple when in Jerusalem. WHEN? on Shabbat! Why to hear Moses (Torah) preached FOR discipleship!
R. L. Solberg
Thanks for that, Mitch. Respectfully, your teaching on Gal 3:24-25 fails to take into account the verse that immediately precedes it: “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed” (Gal 3:23). This establishes Sha’ul’s context for v. 24-25ff. Sha’ul says “we were held captive under the (νόμος) law.” And then he goes on to liken the law to a παιδαγωγός (paidagogos). So if we accept your definition of paidagogos as a “harsh disciplinarian,” it does not change what Sha’ul is teaching here:
“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our [harsh disciplinarian] until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a [harsh disciplinarian], for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Gal 3:23-26)
That works for me. But I don’t think it makes the point you were hoping to make. No matter how you want to define paidagogos, Sha’ul teaches we are no longer under it.
Mitchell Chapman
Rob,
The context is actually Chapter 2:16 and Rom 3:20 where Shaul uses “under law” which actually means perverting Torah into legalism and therefore “works of law”.
This was the reality of what required the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15.
TOTALLY different from what you’ve been taught, caught, bought and or thought
from the western church perpetually perpetrating Torah into something it isn’t
Anonymous
Of course, as we discussed in the Galatians 2 study, those who abide in Him will want to walk as He walked…keeping the Torah.
1 John 2:6 – He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
But it is faith and salvation that comes first, not Torah observance. Otherwise, we are ALL condemned. Continuing in Galatians 3:
Galatians 3:23-24 – But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Messiah, that we might be justified by faith.
Before we believed, the Torah/law kept us under guard as a schoolmaster to teach us that we needed salvation and redemption. It confined us all under sin, kept until the promise by faith in Yahushua would be revealed to us. It’s purpose is to bring us to Yahushua so that we can be declared righteous by faith.
If today we chose to put ourselves under the law, we would be condemned. But if we humbly admitted that we needed Yahweh’s grace and chose to believe in the promise of justification by faith in Yahushua, we would be a part of His body and He would dwell in us so that we can receive the promise of eternal life.
Galatians 3:25-27 – But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of Elohim by faith in Messiah Yahushua. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Messiah have put on Messiah.
If we were still under the schoolmaster/law, we would still be looking for the way to get out of the confinement of sin. But we consider ourselves children of Elohim by faith in Yahushua who is a Child of the living Elohim. We were baptized into Messiah and have put on Messiah. It is no longer we who live; it is Messiah who lives in us.
This being the case, we are no longer under the law/tutor which had the intent of bringing us to Yahushua through confining/concluding us all under sin. But of course, this does not mean that we can continue in sin so that grace may abound:
Romans 6:15-16 – What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? Elohim forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:1-6 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 Elohim forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahushua Messiah were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Messiah was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Paul never taught that being under grace was a license to continue breaking Yahweh’s law. This is another perversion, the modern “good news” that is often proclaimed today. Rather, the fact that we are now Body of Messiah should demonstrate that we are to live as He did, walk as He walked and love as He loved. He kept the Torah perfectly, and it is He who now lives in us. Our choice to turn away from Torah breaking and receive Him for our salvation is evidence that He lives in us.
The problem with the Galatians is that they had it backwards. You don’t seek obedience to the law through human effort and then receive salvation; you receive salvation through Yahushua’s indwelling so that you have the power to walk in obedience!
The ‘good news of the circumcision’ was a false doctrine that created division within the body of Messiah, with the Gentiles being like second class citizens who needed more than Yahushua’s righteousness to be considered worthy of full fellowship.
Mitchell Chapman
The voice of silence doesn’t abrogate them! Let’s remember the writers of the errantly referred to “new testament” (there remains no such thing as a biblical ‘testament’ as it’s ALL covenant, Jer 31:31) were all JEWISH believers NOT Christians, with the exception of perhaps Luke, who if not, understood he was ‘grafted in’, part of the Commonwealth of Israel and the Israel of G-D.
The only time eternal, forever and remember DO NOT have the same meaning is through the myopic lens of non Jewish terminology and denominational doctrine
R. L. Solberg
Actually, the word “testament” means “covenant” in old-timey English. That’s why the Christian Bible was categorized into the Old and New Testaments. And the Hebrew words for eternal and forever actually have a fairly broad semantic range. Which is why context is so important!
Mitch Chapman
Common Rob, you should know better than that! I’m certain you know the so called “church father” Ignatius of Rome in AD 153 wrote in “A Letter to the Philadelphians” that the ‘old testament is good, the New Testament is better. The Old Testament is the imperfect, waiting for the perfect to replace it” This is around the same time that Marcion’s errant theology started taking hold to which his ghost remains present in the western church
Eric L
I guess your major point stands. Is a Christian going to gehenna if he does not celebrate Passover? Nope. He may be least in the kingdom, or may “escape as one escaping through the flames,” but what a low standard.
Overall though . . .the boat is floating away and you are standing on the dock, having missed it.
>> Quote: “here He was, taking a centuries-old Hebrew institution commanded in the Torah and commandeering it for Himself.”
I think the phrase you are looking for is “filling it up with Himself”, as He said He would do in Mt. 5
>> Quote: “Did He command His followers to keep Pesach feast every year?”
Yes, twice.
(1) Through his chosen instrument to the Gentiles – Paul – in 1 Cor. 5.
(2) By saying “whenever you drink this [Passover meal] cup, drink it in my memory”
>> Quote: “They were the shadows, and Jesus is the substance.”
Yes! And one day we will be with Him in person and drink of it again in His Father’s kingdom. Until then . . .whenever we drink the 3rd cup of Pesach we should drink it in His memory, looking forward to no longer having to enjoy shadows only.
No offense, but an article like this nearly convinces me your blindness to the obvious words of Scripture is willful.
You may have been to a “Christ in the Passover” demonstration seder – really cool. I encourage you to celebrate a seder this year in your home with your family. Let us know if that adjusts the blindfold 🙂
R. L. Solberg
Thanks, Eric. I like that turn of phrase “filling it up with Himself.” Very nice.
As far as Passover commands in the NT, I have to respectfully disagree with you there. If we read the whole chapter, it’s pretty clear that 1 Cor 5 does not command the observance of the Torah’s Passover feast. Rather, Paul utilizes an allegory that has the Passover as its referent. This is demonstrated by the fact that Jesus is not a literal Passover lamb and the “unleavened bread” Paul speaks of is not edible. Paul is talking about removing the “old leaven” of malice and evil from the church using the illustration of the Passover to ground his teaching in the saving and purifying work of Christ.
And Jesus did not say (or insinuate) “whenever you drink this [Passover meal] cup.” In fact, the absence of references to the Passover feast in Jesus’ farewell address is the point of my article. The word πάσχα is not used in any passage that quotes Jesus about the cup. In fact, Jesus does not call it a Passover cup, but rather says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor 11:25).
Blessings, Rob
Mitchell Chapman
Rob,
Why doesn’t Yeshua call it the cup of the ‘new testament’s?
Yes context matters! Why not then look at each and every usage of ‘testament’ using KJV and tell me what the context indicates.
I’ll save you the trouble:
Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; 1Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6, 14; Heb 7:22, 9:15(2x), 16, 17, 18, 20; Rev 11:18
Here’s the usage of covenant:
Lk 1:72; Acts 3:25, 7:8; Rom 11:27; Gal 3:15 17; Heb 8:6, 7*, 8, 9, 10, 13*; 9:1*, 4(2x), 10:16, 29; 12:24; 13:20
I believe we would agree there are few instances where covenant is italicized* and those DO NO COUNT!
So let’s stop being anachronistic with terminology attempting to call something in the 1st century what it never was IN CONTEXT.
THEREFORE, NO church, NO Christian and ABSOLUTELY NO Jewish Christians!
Eric L
Hi Rob,
Thanks for your reply. It is a mistake to allegorize Paul’s plain words “we may celebrate Passover.”
Yes, Paul utilizes the Passover to ground his teaching, but in no way creates some extended analogy — Christ our lamb has been sacrificed “so that we may celebrate Passover” without the yeast of boasting and sexual immorality . . .Most likely the recent or upcoming Passover prompted the yeast and lamb teaching.
He was probably shocked they would partake of the Lord’s table with sin – and boasting about sin, rather than partaking of it in a fitting manner. There is no reason from the text or context to think he wants us to *allegorically* celebrate the Passover. How would that even be possible?
[Paul’s identification of redemption of sin (Christ our Lamb has been sacrificed) with redemption from Egypt (Passover) is further evidence Jesus was not pre-empting Passover to add a new meaning — forgiveness from sins etc. It is more that he was deepening an already understood meaning.]
And there is no reason for Jesus to add “this 3rd cup of the Passover seder” when he said “whenever you drink this cup” because . . .*they all knew* what he was referring to (as do we).
If you were giving a toast at Thanksgiving and you said, “whenever we gather to carve this bird, we should remember Grandpa who cannot be here any more” — no one would need you to clarify that you mean “carve this Thanksgiving turkey” because . . .well, it’s overly-obvious.
Thanks for your time. I understand we will probably have to agree to disagree on this one.
Mitchell Chapman
When understood in its proper JEWISH context it’s very clear as each of the 4 ‘I wills’ of Ex 6:6-7 find their way to the Seder.
Combined these are as Psalm 116:13 indicates “the cups of redemption” כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת
Yeshua came to provide
Reconciliation
Restoration
Redemption
Which remains
Personal
National
Universal
Mitch Chapman
Jewish Christians? Really? So you hold that ALL the early Jewish disciples of Yeshua became something that didn’t exist in the 1st Century? WOW!!! That’s really being anachronistic! A Jew coming to faith in Yeshua is no more a Christian than a Gentile coming to faith becomes a Jew. Regardless, because of your terminology and following it through with your own philosophy and logic you should be referred to as a Gentile Jew, right? OF course not! So when will you stopped ascribing terms in places they do not belong and be true to proper hermeneutical exegesis instead of your philosophical eisegesis? To be clear I’m NOT attacking you personally, BROTHER. However, the overwhelming amount of the positions you hold are simply VOID of THEIR JEWISH CONTEXT
R. L. Solberg
Hi Mitch. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you’re suggesting that there were no Christians in the first century. To which I will respond with the words of the Jewish apostle Peter: “But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name” (1 Pet 4:16). So not only was the term Christian (Χριστιανός) used in the first century (See also Acts 11:26, 26:28) but its meaning was already understood as a “follower of Christ.” And the English word Christ essentially means “Messiah.” So the term Christian technically means “follower of Yeshua the Jewish Messiah.” Thus, Jewish Christians = Those of Jewish ethnicity who have come to faith in Yeshua.
Blessings!
Mitchell Chapman
Rob,
I stand by my comment and sadly once again you are reading back into the 1st Century with modern terminology
Was Keffa a Torah observant Jew a Christian or even a So called Jewish Christian?
Shaul’s would respond in Hebrew חָלִילָה and or in Greek μὴ γένοιτο
(G-D forbid)
Tony Pino
Rob says, “The Last Supper underscores the difference between Torahism and mainstream Christian theology. Torahism points us toward the Torah, and Moses, and God’s appointed feasts for Israel. But that’s not what Jesus did at the Last Supper. If He addressed any of these things during His farewell address, the NT authors did not find it worth mentioning. Rather, they wanted to show us, in no uncertain terms, that at the Last Supper, Yeshua appropriated Pesach for Himself. Our Hebrew Roots friends also say we must not celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday but that we should rather keep Passover. But that’s not what Jesus commanded. He said to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of Him. Indeed, the New Covenant, ratified by His blood, began on Easter Sunday.”
Reply: There is no monolithic torahism just as there is no monolithic western Christianity. Everyone I know who keeps Pesach shows the consistent theme of how Pesach has a past, present and future application through the work of Yeshua (who was also the Angel of YaHweh or Arm of the Lord).
In the context of Yeshua showing the bread and wine (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor 11:24) to represent his body and blood, the first century disciples would understand it being connected to keeping Pesach every year. The disciples continued to keep the command of keeping Pesach and taught others the same. There never was any evidence of a forsaking Pesach and changing it to Easter Sunday by the apostles. WHY? Yeshua never taught anyone to abandon the Law of Moshe after he is gone.
Evidence believers in Yeshua from Asia taught by Phillip and John kept the command of Pesach
The most important in this festival was the Passover day, the 14th of Nisan…In it they ate unleavened bread, probably like the Jews, eight days through…there is no trace of a yearly festival of the resurrection among them…the Christians of Asia Minor appealed in favor of their Passover solemnity on the 14th Nisan to John (Gieseler, Johann Karl Ludwig. A Text-book of Church History. Translated by Samuel Davidson, John Winstanley Hull, Mary A. Robinson. Harper & brothers, 1857, Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Feb 17, 2006, p. 166).
In the second century, it was reported that Passover was an annual event and that it was held at night (Epistula Apostolorum, Chapter 15 as shown in Elliot JK. The apocryphal New Testament: a collection of apocryphal Christian literature in an English translation, reprint edition. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 565).
Pascha is the feast of universal redemption. Our earliest sources for the annual celebration of the Christian Pascha come to us from the second century…The feast, however, must have originated in the apostolic period…According to the earliest documents, Pascha is described as a nocturnal celebration…(Calivas, Alkiviadis C. The Origins of Pascha and Great Week – Part I. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1992. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8504 viewed 11/04/2011)
Around 155 A.D. Polycarp of Smyrna went to Rome to deal with various heretics and he tried to persuade the Anicetus not to change Passover to an Easter Sunday holiday. Irenaeus records this about Passover:
And when the blessed Polycarp was sojourning in Rome in the time of Anicetus, although a slight controversy had arisen among them as to certain other points…For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to forego the observance [in his own way], inasmuch as these things had been always observed by John the disciple of our Lord, and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant; nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp succeed in persuading Anicetus to keep [the observance in his way], for he maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him. And in this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other; and Anicetus conceded to Polycarp in the Church the celebration of the Eucharist, by way of showing him respect (Irenaeus. FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOST WRITINGS OF IRENAEUS, Chapter 3. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Excerpted from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors); American Edition copyright © 1885. Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc).
The Catholic writer Lopes noted this about the Roman bishop Victor:
14. VICTOR I, ST. (189-199) An African…Victor tended not to advise other churches but to impose Rome’s ideas on them, thus arousing resentment at times in bishops not inclined to accept such impositions. This was the case of Polycratus, the Bishop of Ephesus, who felt offended at this interference. The question was again that of Easter. Victor reaffirmed the decisions of Soter and Eleutherius both with regard to the date, which had to be a Sunday, and with regard to several customs of Jewish origin which were still practiced in some Christian communities…Polycratus justified himself before the pope with a letter containing the phrase “…it is more important to obey God rather than men” (Lopes A. The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 5).
The Catholic writer Eusebius recorded that Polycrates of Ephesus, around 195 A.D. wrote the following to the Roman Bishop Victor who, as the previous writing showed, wanted those who professed Christ to change Passover from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday:
We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead ? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’…I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book 5, Chapter XXIV. Digireads.com, 2005, pp. 114-115).
Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders (like the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors like Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from the Bible, and that they knew the Bible taught them to keep the Passover on the correct date, and not on a Sunday. Also notice that they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ “obey God rather than men.”
Hence it is clear that throughout the second century, the churches in Asia Minor continued to observe the Passover on the 14th of Nisan (and for doing so, they were labeled as Quartodecimans by the Romans), unlike most of the Romans, and they refused to accept the authority of any Roman bishop over scripture
Eric L
Tony!
Great use of primary documents to make your case.
R. L. Solberg
Thanks, Tony. I would go so far as to say that Jesus and the New Testament authors seem to assume that Jewish followers of Jesus will just go right on keeping things like Pesach. Why would they stop? It was never forbidden or prohibited.
What you’ve ably described is the early historical process of followers of Jesus trying to work out what they thought was the right way to do things. And of course this became such a big dispute that ultimately at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 it was decided that all of the church should celebrate Easter on the same day as a matter of uniformity. (And yet, the entirety of the body of Christ across the globe still does not celebrate Easter on the same day!)
More important than early church tradition, though, is what Scripture says. Pesach undoubtedly points to the Crucifixion, but it has nothing to say about the Resurrection. Thus, it makes sense that early believers, wanting to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over sin and death, would begin to look for ways to do that. The Quartodecimens felt it should be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan no matter what day of the week that fell on, while others wanted to celebrate it on the first day of the week, since that’s when Jesus rose from the dead. From a biblical perspective, neither side was wrong. The NT teaches that under Jesus and the New Covenant, keeping Pesach is permitted but it’s not required. And the same goes with Easter Sunday. So, biblically speaking, if one chooses to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, there is no “wrong” day on which to do it.
Blessings! Rob
Eric L
The people Tony quoted certainly don’t see it the way you described, Rob.
They believed they were carrying out the way Jesus and the Apostles did it, and that it should be normative for all believers.
In other words, these “founding fathers” of the (eastern) church saw this as much more than a tradition.
The decision at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 established de facto a practice of doing away with Pesach and replacing it with Easter. They didn’t see it as a “choose your own holiday” either, but as a Biblical right/wrong issue.
Quote: “The NT teaches that under Jesus and the New Covenant, keeping Pesach is permitted but it’s not required.”
Very true, but only if
(A) 1 Corinthians 5 teaches us to “allegorically” celebrate Passover — not actually possible to do
and
(B) Jesus, holding the 3rd cup of Passover, saying “whenever you drink this cup . . .” meant something other than what standard language means.
Regards,
Eric
Tony Pino
Rob,
My post for me proves the apostles of Yeshua continued to keep and teach the command of Pesach was to be followed. There is zero evidence in scripture Pesach was forsaken and changed to only celebrating the resurrection of Yeshua on a Sunday. Those who keep Pesach follow the still commanded instructions in Lev 23 from which shows the work of Yeshua and what he is still doing, for not all has been fulfilled yet (Matt 5:17-19). Yeshua died and was buried on the Feast of Unleavened bread (Lev 23:4-8) and rose on the First Wave of the Barley (i.e. first fruits according to Lev 23:9-14). The command to celebrate the work of Yeshua’s death and resurrection is right there and every disciple of Yeshua would have known this and taught others to keep it. They celebrated the past, present and future work of Yeshua through keeping the commands. Nowhere in scripture is it taught to forsake the commands of Pesach and start a man-made tradition of keeping the resurrection on a Sunday. Lev 23:9-14 would have fallen on different days each year but it was the YaH commanded time to recognize the resurrection of Yeshua for by keeping the command you see it was pointing you to Him.
We only see the change occurring by western gentile Bishops in the second century were also at the same time the birthing of replacement theology is being taught. The foundation from which many false teaching will arise. By the time we get to the Nicaean Council there are zero Jewish Bishops out of the 318 there to give input. No Jewish influence in the council? Hmmm!!!! Laws not only in this council but even upcoming councils will be made forbidding gentiles to practice torah. Why? They have created their own man-made traditions and doctrines moving away from the commands of YaHweh and his covenants (which are still valid with Israel) and the apostles of Yeshua. One should take heed to the words of Polycrates of Ephesus who reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Yeshua “obey God rather than men.”
The Catholic writer Eusebius recorded that Polycrates of Ephesus, around 195 A.D. wrote the following to the Roman Bishop Victor who, as the previous writing showed, wanted those who professed Christ to change Passover from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday:
We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead ? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’…I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book 5, Chapter XXIV. Digireads.com, 2005, pp. 114-115).
Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders (like the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors like Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from the Bible, and that they knew the Bible taught them to keep the Passover on the correct date, and not on a Sunday. Also notice that they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ “obey God rather than men.”
Mitchell Chapman
I believe Polycrates was paraphrasing Yeshua’s words of “…why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition…. as well as “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.”?
Mitchell Chapman
Yeshua died and was buried on the Feast of Unleavened bread (Lev 23:4-8) and rose on the First Wave of the Barley (i.e. first fruits according to Lev 23:9-14).
This is what Shaul refers to as firstfruits in 1 Cor 15.
Simple biblical dates from Exodus 12:
Selection 10 Nissan/Aviv
Identification 10-14
Execution 14
Resurrection 17
These remain fixed on the biblical calendar but float as they can and do change on the actual day of our week
Mitchell Chapman
Rob,
A genuine apologetic is one that is true to the texts and the history, akin to the speeches of a defense attorney with integrity.”
(Daniel Boyarin, Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, University of California, Berkeley)
It should NEVER be based upon a predetermined, perspective, philosophy, position but stay true to the text based upon sound hermeneutical principles.
The Bible is a Jewish text from Genesis through Revelation. Attempting to view it through the Protestant Western Church post Reformation understanding will always create error which will beget more error.
The Greek in 1 Cor 5:8 is a command! Sadly, you do, as not a few many of my ethnic Jewish cousins who have rejected Yeshua’s Messiahship and Deity do, attempt to keep explaining things away through your fancy philosophy.
It’s amazing to me you perpetually use anachronistic terms which have no bearing in the 1st century and continually refer to my believing ethnic Jewish cousins as Christians.
Very shody hermeneutics you use, when you know better!
2 Tim 3:16-17
Is the Covenant New or Renewed? — R. L. Solberg
[…] Jesus inaugurated with the renewals of the Mosaic covenant that are recorded in the Tanakh. (And in a related article, we look at the theology of the New Covenant by stepping into a historic moment with Jesus and […]