64 Comments
  1. In the first century there were Jews from the seed of Abraham who did not believe in Jesus (Acts 14:12). The Jews believing in the gospel represent the natural branches of the olive tree (Rom. 11:16-24). In other words, there has always been a believing remnant within the nation of Israel. Only those who believe are the children of promise (Acts 10:45).
    “That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” (Rom. 9:8)
    There is no Jew and Gentile in the body of Christ. (Gal. 3:28). Everyone grafted into the olive tree of salvation (Christ) is saved.
    “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:29)

  2. This broadcast is so full of awesome information. I would encourage all of Gods people to listen and learn this history to help share these truths with their gentile and jewish friends and family.

  3. DR Brown,

    Very interesting show today (actually yesterday I listen the day after online).

    A couple of weeks ago the pastor of our church made an observation that we don’t anticipate Easter (I prefer Resurrection Sunday as well) like we do Christmas. This started my wife and I wondering why and one of the conclusions is that it doesn’t have it’s own date on the calendar and as such the week prior to the celebration is a normal week. There is no disruption of the work week or schedules so no extra planning is required. Not that I see the celebration of Christmas as a disruption but just the mere fact that my work week will change causes me to think about Christmas at least a month or two before it comes wheras Resurrection Sunday just sneaks up on me.

    I also distinctly remember one of my teachers from years gone by responding to my question as to why we don’t celebrate resurrection Sunday during Passover by saying, “because they are two different celebrations commemorating two different events” He went on to support it further by saying that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and that’s why we celebrate Easter on Sunday. I remember thinking to myself, “But doesn’t passover prefigure the work of Chrsit?” Anyways I couldn’t agree with you more that we, as followers of Christ, should celebrate the death and ressurection of our passover lamb at the same time as the Jews celebrate passover. If we did that then I guess I’d have to start calling it resurrection day.

    His servant and yours,

    Bob B

  4. I’m so glad to hear you tackling this subject. I’m on board. To me it’s very simple; Easter = Ishtar pagan godess system . . . Passover is one of G-ds appointed time for His sheep (Israel), His sheep hear His voice, G-d said not to mix i.e. the golden calf was made for the G-d of Israel (how id that go?) so it’s not ok that Easter doesn’t mean idolatry to it’s celebraters, it still is idolatry. His covenant is only with Israel, if we confess Yeshua and Teshu’va (repent) as our savior you become part of that covenant, you are grafted in. If you celebrate Passover you are celebrating Yeshua and His resurrection. You don’t need Easter and “traditions of men”.

  5. Dear Dr. Brown, what a great show – I really enjoyed it!!!

    During the show you mentioned the connection between the churches in Asia minor and Constantine, and – if I understood you correctly – that it was this connection and their decisions that brought about the split between Jewish and non-Jewish followers of the Messiah.

    I found that particularly interesting, since even more than two centuries before this incident Paul writes to Timothy in 2. Tim. 15:1

    “This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me”.

    The battle between Paul and Constantine’s spirit seems to have errupted even long before literal Constantine appeared on the scene!

    Today many people turn their back on Paul because they confuse him with Constantine, since it was Constantine who misused Paul for his new doctrine – especially through Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The devil is a master of confusion!

    But it was Paul who said to Agrippa (Act 26:6-8)

    “Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, 26:7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Judeans, King Agrippa! 26:8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?”

    Referring here to Ezekiel chapter 37

    “Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 37:12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into Eretz-Israel. 37:13 You shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 37:14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it, says the LORD.”

    –> and this text is then continuing with the regathering of the lost ten tribes of Israel.

    Most Christians today respond to this just like Festus did (Acts 26:24), who said:

    “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

    There is a lot we Christians have to repent from, especially from worshipping on pagan holidays in settings that were never meant to glorify Christ, but were set up to glorify other deities.

    We should throw away the whole Constantinian approach which is pure paganism, just like the Israelites had to give up Egyptian worship style in making A FEAST TO YHWH!!

    Yes, we read in Exodus 32:5

    “…and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to YHWH.”

    A feast to YHWH can certainly NOT be celebrated in any old root!!

    Especially during this Pesach time we would be well advised to consider Paul’s words to the Corinthians again (1. Cor. 5:7):

    “Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, NOT WITH OLD YEAST, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”.

    Shalom – and thanks again, Dr. Brown – and a blessed Passover!! May the Angel of judgement also pass over us as we purge out all the leaven in our lives.

  6. Paul,

    With all due respect there is a problem with this statement from above:

    “The Jews believing in the gospel represent the natural branches of the olive tree (Rom. 11:16-24).”

    Some of the natural branches were broken off and the wild branches were grafted in among the remaining natural branches (Romans 11:17) so your statement has believing Jews being broken off. Further more these broken off natural branches will be grafted back in if they don’t remain in unbelief (Romans 11:21 & 23). The plain reading of Romans 11 leads me to the conclusion that the natural branches is corporate Israel as a whole and the ones who weren’t broken off were the believing remenant of Israel.

    Blessings to you my brother,

    Bob B

  7. Bob, what’s the problem with Paul B’s statement? If SOME (NOT ALL) of the natural branches were broken off, those natural branches who were not broken off are the believing Jews.

    Just like Paul B. said: “In other words, there has always been a believing remnant within the nation of Israel. Only those who believe are the children of promise (Acts 10:45).”

    I guess you are both saying the same thing – time to relax 😉

  8. Erika,

    I am relaxed albeit I might be confused. It just seemed to me that Paul was saying that only the believing Jews are the natural branches in Romans 11. If I have misunderstood Paul then please forgive me. I’m just looking for clarity on the following statement by Paul. I fully accept the possibility that I am wrong it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Here’s the full quote that I’m struggling to understand:

    “In the first century there were Jews from the seed of Abraham who did not believe in Jesus (Acts 14:12). The Jews believing in the gospel represent the natural branches of the olive tree (Rom. 11:16-24).”

    I hope that clarifies my comments from above. Again sorry if the tone of my first comment seemed to convey that I wasn’t relaxed. It certainly was not my intent. Maybe I should have worded in the form of a question asking for clarification such as:

    Paul, do you believe that only the believing Jews are the natural branches spoken of in Romans 11 or were all jews the natural branches in Romans 11?

    Thanks for your patience and blessings to you,

    His servant and yours,

    Bob B

  9. Oh I see what you mean Bob. Maybe it was also me that was not relaxed. But since Romans 11:16-24 is clearly worded, I just thought the Paul B. was skipping over some stuff which we know anyway.

    Main point in any case is that WE should be connected with the root – no matter if we are natural or wild. Without the root we won’t have life 🙂 So back to the Hebrew Roots if we truly want to be Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise!!!

  10. Erika, you wrote:

    “So back to the Hebrew Roots if we truly want to be Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise!!!”

    Will you lay out exactly and as specifically as you can what this statement means to you? I want to make sure I don’t make assumptions about what you mean by that.

    Thanks!

  11. Ruth,

    while I don’t want to make any assessment on the salvation status of different people, I was quoting here from Galatians 3:29

    “If you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.”

    Heirs of what? Of the Root of course, which is Yeshua the Jewish Messiah.

    So the big question here is again: “Who REALLY is Yeshua????”

    This was the question Constantine was confusing big time.

    Here is a good book on this topic:

    http://www.hebrewyeshua.com/hebrew_yeshua_book.html

    Shalom!

  12. Constantine brought about the final separation between Jews and non-Jews; but there is only ONE Root – Yeshua – and there is only ONE tree: Yeshua’s disciples – His body, which consists of Jews and non-Jews alike.

    Today we still behave as if there were two trees, but that is not biblical.

  13. I recently read an article by a Jew called “Judaism on Incarnation” by David Nekrutman. He lays out the crux of the Jewish-Christian problem:

    ng in much pain and devastation to my people. Today, however, a true Jewish-Christian relationship can be developed without compromising core religious doctrines. It is precisely the Christians’ positive support of the Jewish people and Israel that allows for topics that were off limits to be discussed freely.

    Jews do not believe that God will or can ever be represented in His totality in a physical form. We recognize that human beings are created in the image of God and are united with the Almighty, and we understand that God is ever present in the world and the nation of Israel. However, Christianity’s claim that Jesus is God is simply not within the pale of Jewish thought.

    Jews might wish to inquire what it means for a Christian to say the Incarnation took place. I am not suggesting Jews start believing in the Christian concept. However, Judaism can learn to appreciate the spiritual truths of the “other” without having to agree with them.

    Christianity teaches that the supreme expression of God’s love and care was His self-sacrifice to save humanity from sin. This explains the Christian’s feeling that in Jesus he or she encounters God Himself, and not simply a sage or prophet.

    Yet the concept is not foreign to mainstream Judaism. If we can separate the Christian dogma from its dogmatic content and isolate its basic religious sense, Jews and Christians have many more things in common religiously than what may traditionally be meant by Judeo-Christian beliefs.

    Incarnation is a process whereby some disincarnate reality takes a bodily manifestation. The most obvious case might be that of body and soul. If one believes in the preexistence of the soul, then any physical birth is an act of incarnation. This type of incarnation is naturally recognized within Judaism.

    Jews believe the Torah (“the Word”) was created before the world, and was used as a blueprint to form the universe in which we live. The physical scroll itself can thus legitimately be viewed as a form of incarnation. In fact, when a Torah scroll is damaged beyond use, it is buried just like a human body.

    To avoid Christian overtones, Judaism never describes the transformation of the soul and the Torah in incarnational terms. However, if we think of the idea that the Torah is an incarnating presence, we have a better understanding of that which Christianity attributes to Jesus, which is similar to what Judaism assigns to the Torah.

    Even the nation of Israel is an incarnational process; fulfilling a divine plan for the world. It is not common to speak of the incarnation of Israel, but the re-animation of the “dry bones” described in Ezekiel 37 is just that. Israel is an incarnation of the Divine Will – a covenantal surrogate of God’s presence.

    In the Gospel of John one finds the notion of the Word becoming flesh-literally, “incarnation.” The assumption is that the body of Jesus, too, is divine. Incarnation in this context encompasses a fuller sense of the human person, who is said to be not only divine but truly God. If the logos has been made into flesh, then Jesus’ body is subject to religious worship. This is where Judaism draws the line; it says the body can clothe divinity, but can never itself become divine.

    The Christian can point to Jesus and, with all the power of this idea, say, Ecce Deus. The Jew will say that the person is proto¬divine, but would never declare an individual human God.

    While this doctrine of incarnation is currently at the heart of Jewish-Christian differences, it by no means reduces our shared conception of God, Who loves, is humble, and is ever-present in the world. A Jew can thus appreciate the spiritual reality of the Christian; in it, he hears an echo of God’s voice.

  14. Oops…cut the first paragraph:

    Judaism rejects the idea of divine Incarnation. Historically speaking, the doctrine that Jesus is God is what led to the charges of deicide against the Jews, resulting in much pain and devastation to my people. Today, however, a true Jewish-Christian relationship can be developed without compromising core religious doctrines. It is precisely the Christians’ positive support of the Jewish people and Israel that allows for topics that were off limits to be discussed freely.

  15. So, the question remains that what is the Messianic expectation, both of Jews, and of the Tenach? There seem to be many answers, depending on which Judaism a Jew accepts, including Messianic Judaism (growing leaps and bounds within and outside of Israel). Church history, Constantine, or other so-called leadership periods of time, has gotten its Biblical premises both right and wrong. We are challenged by Yeshua after he gave the Kingdom parables to consider carefully which of the Old and the New instruction to apply to our households (Mt. 13:52). This was shared with the closest disciples prior to their conversion. Has this charge now changed?

  16. One big problem in Christianity is that most Christians today are not prepared to leave Constantine’s doctrine. As long as that is the case, any religious conversation between Christians and Jews is meaningless. Jews are right when they say that Constantine’s doctrine is Idolatry.

  17. I meant to say, Erika, that if you go to

    video.google.com/

    you’ll get to Google Video’s search box, and if you type “the hebrew yeshua vs. the greek jesus” [it’s not case sensitive] and press enter, it’ll take you to a link to a free dvd of Nehemia Gordon, wherein he gets into a portion of what he covers in his book, titled, “The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus”.

  18. Oh, thank you Ruth – I didn’t know that! Will look into it 🙂
    Have a blessed week of Unleavened Bread 🙂 !

  19. Jabez, Yeshua was crucified on Wednesday afternoon, was buried in the evening of that day right before Thursday, which was the first day of Pesach and therefore a “High Sabbath”. Yeshua Himself died as the Passover Lamb! John 18:28:

    “They led Yeshua therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. It was early, and they themselves didn’t enter into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, BUT MIGHT EAT THE PASSOVER.” –> the Passover had not been eaten yet.

    Before His death Yeshua explained to His disciples that He Himself would be the Passover Lamb.

    He rose from the dead three days and three nights after His burial – in the night from Saturday to Sunday 🙂

    “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

    In verse 39 Yeshua says that this would be the ONLY sign to Israel of Him being the Messiah.

  20. Christian history is littered with viciously anti-semitic leaders who are hailed as heroes of the faith. I would enjoy a program that explored this topic. Until Christians acknowledge the intense Jewish hatred espoused by people Christians hold up as pillars of the faith, it seems that reaching out to the Jewish people will be next to impossible.

  21. Larry,

    I have actually spoken about this often and done whole shows on the subject in the past. My book Our Hands Are Stained with Blood is devoted to this subject as well. Thanks!

  22. You’re quite welcome, Larry. It came out in 1992 and has been in print ever since, and it’s been translated into more languages than any other book I’ve written, pointing to the interest in the subject from Christians around the world.

  23. Praise Him every day for His sacrifice. Erika, your calendar observations represents one possible explaination. There are others.,as have been written about for centuries, including quotations from the synoptics and John which grant other statements than those you have made. The vital thing is that He did what He did, and accomplished what has been accomplished.

  24. Jabez, my dates include the book of John as well as the other gospels – but of course we should praise Yeshua/YHWH each day for what they are doing 🙂

    Sadly the centuries have greatly been influenced by Constantine and his followers from the year 313 CE on, including the calendar and the festivals. There are too many reasons for us to again seperate from these teachings – and again take Yeshua’s words for what they are. Shalom.

  25. Luke 24:1 states that the women found the grave empty on the first day of the week (Sunday) very early in the morning. That means that Yeshua must have had risen before that. Since Yeshua died in the afternoon and was buried right before “the High Sabbath” a Thursday and the first Pesach day, as I have explained – three days and three nights earlier makes Wednesday evening the time of His burial. The earliest time He could have risen was Saturday night.

  26. Now Luke 24:7 states that Yeshua also had to rise on the third day.

    So let’s count: three nights and three days + on the third day

    = that actually makes the time of His resurrection Saturday evening, a time in Israel when everyone rested at home.

    The day after the Sabbath (Sunday) during the Pesach week the Feast of First Fruits was celebrated. On Sunday Yeshua had been risen already and so was the spiritual First Fruit among His brothers.

  27. … what reminds me of the fact again that today is the day of First Fruits!! A time when we bring the first fruits of our income to YHWH and honor Him as the giver of all things 🙂

  28. Let’s see what some others have found from their logic interlaced scripture.

    From The Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan (on disc with their entire series which has original language cross referencing and parsing as well).

    The Passover background plays a special part in the passion narrative. All four Gospels record that the Last Supper of Jesus, his arrest, trial and condemnation took place at Passover time (Mk. 14; Matt. 26, 27; Lk. 22, 23; Jn. 18, 19). According to the synoptic gospels, Jesus Last Supper was itself a Passover meal (Mk. 14:12-26 par.), and he was arrested, tried and condemned on the Passover night and crucified the next day. According to John, on the other hand, all these events happened 24 hours earlier (cf. Jn. 18:28; 19:14), so that the death of Jesus took place at the time when the Passover lambs were killed, on the afternoon of the 14th Nisan. Many regard this as a later alteration of the date, probably occasioned by the comparison found elsewhere in the NT (1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 1:19; Jn. 19:36; cf. Rev. 5:6, 9, 12; 12:11) of Jesus with the Passover lamb. ([Ed.] However, the chronological schemes of the Gospels and the contemporary systems of reckoning are subjects of intense discussion, see bibliography.) The objections which have been raised, particularly against the identification of Jesus Last Supper with a Passover meal, do not carry much weight. Not only the setting (Mk. 14:12 par.; Lk. 22:14), but also the words of explanation, in which Jesus compares himself to the Passover lamb (Mk. 14:22-24 par.; Lk. 22:19 f.), surely point us to this context (the interpretation of the elements of the feast by the head of the family; cf. J. Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus, 19662, 41-84).

    2 In the early church the Passover continued to be celebrated (Jn. 2:13; 6:4; 11:55 imply this; cf. Acts 20:6). As in Judaism, the feast took place on the evening following 14th Nisan and in expectation of eschatological redemption. This cannot be ascertained directly from the NT, but it may be deduced, in particular, from the records we have of the Passover festival of the Quartodecimans (cf. B. Lohse, see bibliography), a Christian community in Asia Minor and Syria which retained in this respect the customs of the earliest church. As we can see from 1 Cor. 5:7-8 (which may be an early Christian Passover ) and 1 Pet. 1:13- 19, the primitive church regarded itself as the people of God redeemed in the eschatological Passover. The baptized are exhorted, like those involved in the first Passover, to live holy lives in readiness to depart (1 Pet. 1:13, 17), as those redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pet. 1:19, cf. 1 Cor. 5:7 Christ our Passover). The church receives the call to keep the feast () and cleanse itself from the old leaven, that you may be a new lump (1 Cor. 5:7 f.). The eschatological Passover feast has begun with Good Friday, and its fulfilment in the return of Christ is awaited at any time in the Passover night.

    3 This form and interpretation of the Passover festival disappeared early in the history of the church. During the 2nd cent. the celebration of Easter on a Sunday became general, with its emphasis on remembering the sacrificial death of Jesus, the true Passover lamb. This process gives clear expression both to the break between Judaism and Christianity and to the decline of eschatological expectation within the early Christian church.

    B. Schaller

    The Lords Supper in the setting of the Passover meal. (i) The Synoptic narratives agree that Jesus Last Supper was a Passover meal (Matt. 26:17 ff.; Mk. 14:12, 14, 16; Lk. 22:7, 11, 12, 15). According to them, Jesus was crucified on the Day of Passover (15 Nisan). Execution on the day of such a high festival was not impossible historically, for in cases of very serious crime execution was to be carried out at the feast (Deut. 17:13; 21:21) in the sight of all the people, i.e. on 15 Nisan (H. Conzelmann, RGG 3 III 626; J. Jeremias, op. cit., 53). According to Jn., when Jesus was accused before Pilate, the Passover lambs had not yet been eaten (Jn. 18:28). Jesus crucifixion took place on 14 Nisan, the Preparation for the Passover (Jn. 19:14). Nevertheless, the balance of probability seems to lie with the Synoptic presentation (W. Marxsen EKL I 4), for Jn. fixes the moment of Jesus death as the time when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple and clearly wants to make his chronology a comment on the meaning of Jesus death, i.e. Jesus died as the true Passover lamb (Jn. 1:29; 19:36; cf. Exod. 12:46, Num. 9:12; 1 Cor. 5:7). ([Ed.] For discussions of the complex question of the chronological schemes employed by the evangelists see especially the works by Jaubert, Ogg, and Ruckstuhl listed in the bibliography.) Since the Lords Supper, celebrated daily or weekly from the beginning, had no reference to the Passover as an annual feast, an original connection of the Passover meal and the Lords Supper is more likely than a development in the opposite direction (K. G. Kuhn, op. cit., 513 ff.; W. Marxsen, ibid.).

    ([F. F. Bruce] The chronological question is best solved if the combined Synoptic and Johannine evidence be interpreted as indicating that the official Passover meal was indeed eaten on the Friday evening, as John implies [Jn. 18:28; 19:14], but that Jesus, for his own good reasons, kept the Passover with his disciples the preceding evening, before the [official] feast of the Passover [Jn. 13:1]. The official feast was regulated by the temple calendar, but there were groups in Israel which did not accept this calendar. One of these was the Qumran community, which followed the solar calendar of the book of Jubilees, but the view of A. Jaubert [The Date of the Last Supper, 1965], that Jesus kept the Passover according to this calendar, has not been adequately established. More probably Jesus did not regulate his observance on this occasion by any current calendar, but since he knew that he would not be alive on the Friday evening, and earnestly desired to eat this passover with his disciples before he suffered [Lk. 22:15], he resolved to eat it with them twenty-four hours earlier. Provision was made in the OT for the observance of the Passover on another day than the normal one, in a case of necessity [cf. Num. 9:10 f.; 2 Chr. 30:2 f., 13, 15]; and the Lord of the sabbath was also Lord of the Passover. If the meal was eaten a day earlier than the official date, it must have been eaten without a lamb, since in post-exilic times paschal lambs were slaughtered only by the priests in the temple at the appointed time. But wherever the Passover was commemorated beyond the environs of Jerusalem before A.D. 70, and throughout the whole world since A.D. 70, it has had to be commemorated without the paschal lamb. It is unnecessary to suppose with M. Black [The Scrolls and Christian Origins, 1961, 201] that Judas took the morsel [Jn. 13:26, 30] to the chief priests as evidence . . . that an illegal feast had been celebrated.)

    (ii) Not merely the setting of the oldest passion narrative suggests that Jesus last meal took place within the framework of a Passover meal, but also the liturgical words of institution themselves.

    The setting in which Jesus held his last Supper was Jerusalem and not Bethany to which he normally went each night (Matt. 21:17 par. Mk. 11:11; Mk. 11:19; Matt. 26:6 par. Mk. 14:3). He did not, therefore, leave the Holy City. It was a rule that the Passover lamb had to be eaten within the city limits of Jerusalem.

    Jesus Last Supper closed with a hymn of praise (Matt. 26:30 par. Mk. 14:26), i.e. with the second half of the Hallel (Pss. 115-118), which was sung at the close of the Passover meal.

    The liturgical account of the institution states that Jesus Last Supper was held during the night (1 Cor. 11:23; Matt. 26:20; Mk. 14:17; cf. Lk. 22:14), whereas the normal main meal took place in the late afternoon. The Passover meal, however, was from the beginning eaten at night, and its celebration was only permitted then. Since the indication of time in 1 Cor. 11:23 (in contrast to the setting in Mk. 14:17, 26) belongs to the old liturgical formula (G. Bornkamm, op. cit., 137 ff.; J. Jeremias, op. cit., 44 ff., 95, n. 5), the liturgical tradition itself supports the idea that Jesus Last Supper took place within the setting of a Passover meal.

    Finally, the words of institution within the supper support the idea that a Passover meal was the setting for Jesus Last Supper. The most likely way of understanding the fact that the words of institution were spoken is evidence that Jesus words were said within the setting of a Passover meal. But the explanation of the elements is part of the Passover service, not of the benediction before or after the meal. Jesus, however, pronounced the words of institution at the distribution of the bread and wine (E. Lohse, Mrtyrer und Gottesknecht, 123). But here it must be noted that the analogy between the explanatory words of the Jewish Passover meal and those of Jesus is only formal, and not a material one. The setting of the Jewish Passover gave rise to Jesus explanatory words but it does not explain them.

    (iii) The novel element is the fact that Jesus is not said to have explained the special features of the Passover (the lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs), but that he is said to have explained bread and wine as such, i.e. those elements which appeared at every other meal. To this must be added the fact that Jesus explanatory words were connected with the benediction before and after the meal. The distribution of the blessed bread and wine after the blessing meant giving a share in the blessing pronounced over the bread and the cup. On this basis one can explain, on the one hand, the linking of the words of institution with the blessing before and after the main meal and, on the other hand, the connection of the explanation with the distribution (J. Jeremias, op. cit., 84-88).

    (c) The words of institution and parabolic actions. Jesus explanation of the elements of bread and wine in the Lords Supper differed finally from the explanation of the special features of the Jewish Passover meal in that the distribution of the bread and wine by Jesus represents a (prophetic) parabolic action (J. Jeremias, op. cit., 204 ff.; 212; W. Marxsen, EKL I 5), through which the disciples participated in Jesus death. Two things are, however, essential to parabolic actions: that they become real events and that their constituent parts are described. The explanation is an established part of OT parabolic actions (cf. Ezek. 5:5 this is Jerusalem; Ezek. 12:11 I am a sign for you; cf. H. W. Wolff, Hosea, Hermeneia, 1974; W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel, I, Hermeneia, 1976).

    (d) The Lords Supper and the Passover meal. Jesus Last Supper, therefore, was in all probability a Passover meal. He spoke the words of institution in the setting of his last celebration of the Passover and clearly referred to many features of the feast, assimilating some and changing others. . . . When, as head of the household, he passed round the bread before the main meal, he accompanied it with a word of explanation, and likewise, later, the cup (W. Marxsen, EKL I 4). The cup referred to was the third cup after supper (Lk. 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25), the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16) of the Passover feast. That this is above all explanation, not of actions but of the food, is made clear only by the setting of the Jewish Passover ritual. So if the Synoptic gospels are historically correct in placing the words of institution in the setting of the Passover, this conclusion in no way determines the sense of the words of institution and the significance of the Lords Supper (K. G. Kuhn).

  29. So, from a reading of the above we do not get all relevant facts as to the Biblical days involved, sundown to sundown. Thus, likely, Thursday?

  30. Erika,

    Thank you for setting the record straight and providing great Scriptural evidence for which day our Lord raised from the dead. He did not raise on the Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox (But this is the day that the Catholic Church instituted “Easter” to be celebrated). He was raised on the third day, just as He said he would, which you rightly pointed out was Saturday. Just because Mary went to the tomb on Sunday morning does not mean Jesus raised 5 minutes before she got there. It says nothing about Him raising on Sunday, in fact, that would have been the fourth day so He could not have raised on Sunday.

    So why do countless Christians seek to hold on to Easter or “Resurrection Sunday” when Jesus clearly raised on the Sabbath-the third day? Probably the same reason many demand to hold on to their pagan tradition of Christmas (or Saturnalia).

    The Church has been lulled to sleep by the enemy and we do not even know it. I do believe, however that God is raising up those who base their lives on the Word of God, not the traditions of men. Those who seek to see Rom. 11:26 fulfilled, and recognize the role they play in it. Those who don’t wish to separate themselves from the Jews, but to instead link arms with them and through jealousy bring many into salvation.

  31. dbate,
    Your emphatics are just that. Read what is written by Biblical calendar cited of the scholars above. Saturday? Perhaps, but it is even more of your wish that what was established. This is an emphatic which is contrasted by the scholarship I cited. A case can be made for a Wed., Thurs., or Friday crucifixion according to knowledge. Personal emphatics seem to be a matter of Zeal.

  32. Jabez,

    you know, we must also be aware of the fact that most of the things that have been established by the Christian Church were founded on several doctrines of Constantine, Marcion & Co.

    On the links of this page http://www.hebroots.org/earlychurchhistory.htm you will get a good insight on the early church history. Just because it was early church history does not mean automatically that it was right what was done.

    Today it is a very famous teaching in the church to believe that there are two trees that make up the body of Christ: One tree is the Messianic Jews, and the other tree is the Christians. How can we reconcile this teaching with the fact that there is only ONE Root – Yeshua?? If Gentiles are grafted into the One Real Root – Yeshua – they will become a part of the very same tree, and over time you will not be able to tell which branch was original and which one was wild – why? Because they all draw from the very same Root – Yeshua. There is only One God, and ONE Root, and ONE Law for the whole body of Christ! This is what Constantine & Co. have absolutely blurred!!

    If this false teaching will not be corrected, we certainly will see a lot of destruction in the future.

  33. Well, actually Constantine has not blurred so much the fact that it is only one tree – he just has blurred the identity of the true Root and came up with a false Jesus, a “Messiah” that was an idol worshipper instead of the One that renewed His covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (See Jeremiah 31:31).

    Today we say “Oh no, Messianic Judaism is also fine” – but now we believe in the existence of two trees – still pegging to Constantine’s doctrine that the Feasts of YHWH are exclusively “Jewish Feasts” – and that YHWH and “Jesus” kind of keep contending with each other, and therefore YHWH has His tree (the Jews) and “Jesus” has His tree (well – what are they now? Christians Or Gentiles??)

    Well, this really makes a lot of sense. And people still love confusion so much today. Why not running after Marcion altogether?

    Elijah brought it to the point when he said

    “How long will you waver between the two sides? If YHWH is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1.Kings 18:21)

    Today we are living in the beginning of “The LORD’s day”. Therefore we should pay heed to Malachi 4:4-6

    “Remember the Torah of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

  34. So in Malachi YHWH says that He gave His Torah for ALL ISRAEL – and we are to remember it as the “day of the LORD” is approaching.

    In Galatians 3:16 Paul says
    “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn’t say, “To seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “To your seed,” which is Messiah”.

    And in Ephesians 2:12 he says that through Messiah we are a part of the “commonwealth of Israel”.

    It really is time to get rid of Marcion’s dispensationalism, and also of today’s “Two Tree Theory”! In Ezekiel 37 we read that the two trees have to become ONE – otherwise they are DEAD!!!

  35. Grace is the empowerment to live Truth (and the Truth is Yeshua) 🙂
    Grace is not license. Grace being license is the abominable doctrine of Marcion! This is the “wonderful” church history! Time to repent.

  36. Erika, You are never one to not add the last word. Yehsua came full of grace and truth, they temper one another!

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