Blogs by John Michael Domino
Easter/Passover - The Last Supper
4/23/2011 4:52:47 PM
Easter is a time for family gatherings and celebrating. It is important to know the History of Easter and where it really came from. The last supper as we know was a Passover Dinner. So where did Easter come from? Read on...
EASTER PASSOVER - The Last Supper
We all know that the early church did not celebrate Easter with jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chickens. Their children never went on Easter egg hunts. For the last supper was a Passover celebration and not Easter, that the early Christians honored.
The word Easter actually comes from the Anglo Saxon Eastre, the goddess of spring. As Christianity spread, it became church policy not to undo pagan holidays, but to add Christian meaning into the celebrations. Most Christians, still refer to the season of Christ's resurrection as "Easter," but we should look past traditions to the reality of spiritual truth. Even when one celebrates Easter with eggs, etc. the attention is still focused on the great miracle: the resurrection of Christ.
Listen to the Lord's statement to His disciples. He said, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:15-16).
At the last supper, Jesus desired to eat the Passover, not looking back, but looking forward to Passover as being fulfilled on a whole new level in the Kingdom of God. Through Christ's sacrifice, a new Passover would be established far greater than that of Israel's deliverance from Pharaoh. This Passover would affect the entire world. Passover, it would be kept "in remembrance of [Jesus]" (v. 19).
The early church celebrated the Feast of Passover as in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote, "...Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast" (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
The Christian Church kept the Passover, not in remembrance of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, but in remembrance of what Christ---their Passover---fulfilled in delivering mankind from the penalty of sin and judgment.
When Christ came, one purpose was to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17). The feasts were shadows of something greater than themselves. Paul said their "substance belongs to Christ" (Col. 2:17). It is absolutely remarkable that, of all days in the calendar year, Christ, the Lamb of God, died on Passover. On that day God was offering His Son for the sins of the world! It is Christ's blood that protects us today in the same way the blood on the doorposts symbolized God's protection for Israel in Egypt.
During this last Passover or Last Supper celebrated by Jesus, He ate with His disciples and said, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22: 15-16).
Jesus said that the Passover will have yet another great fulfillment when He eats it with us "in the kingdom of God." After that last supper Jesus did not again celebrate Passover. His statement refers to something yet to come, something that will unfold at the end of the age.
So let’s apply the blood of Jesus over the doorways to our hearts, as well as over our families and loved ones. The world around us continues its rush toward sin, let us instead press into God's kingdom. For during these very days of shaking, we shall receive a "kingdom which cannot be shaken" (Heb. 12:28). Let’s live in holy expectation of that day when Christ shall return and we shall eat the Passover with Him in the Kingdom of God!
HAVE A Wonderful Passover (Easter) celebration!
John Michael Domino
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More Blogs by John Michael Domino
• Easter/Passover - The Last Supper - Saturday, April 23, 2011
• Long Lived "The Mayor of Longboat" - Tuesday, September 09, 2008
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