Finding New Life in Messiah in Passover

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If you have ever attended a Messianic Passover Seder, it is likely that you have found your faith in Messiah transformed in some life-changing way. Perhaps the presentation deepened your understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps it helped you more fully grasp the connection between the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures and their fulfillment in the New Testament. Or perhaps it was at a Messianic Passover celebration that you, like many others, gave your life to Messiah for the first time or rededicated your life to the Lord.

Passover Through the Ages

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The Passover celebration is one of the cornerstones of Jewish observance. The rousing tale of Moses the Deliverer and the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt contains all the elements of Jewish history: God’s promise, Israel’s somewhat reluctant obedience, and a faithful servant to inspire them and lead them forward.

As we see from the Book of Exodus, Passover reaches back into ancient times. However, as the centuries have unfolded, the Passover has developed in many ways and in many places. Wherever the Jewish people have formed communities, Passover traditions have been established as each one adds the particular flavors of its respective culture.

Frequently Asked Questions About Passover

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1. How is the timing of Passover calculated? Why does Passover sometimes fall after Easter?

The two holidays are based on two different calendars. Easter is based on the solar calendar, the calendar commonly used today. In Western churches, Easter is dated as the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. It therefore occurs somewhere between March 22 and April 25. Eastern Orthodox churches have a different approach based on the lunar calendar.

Passover, on the other hand, is based on the Jewish calendar, a lunar calendar that has twelve 28-day months. Every two or three years, there is a thirteenth month called Adar II included in the calendar. Over the course of a 19-year cycle, this “extra” month occurs in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years. The year 2008 was one of those years with an extra month. Passover occurs from the 15th to the 21st of the month of Nisan – which is the month right after the “extra” month of Adar II.

My Orthodox Grandpa

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By Nikki H.

Because of family circumstances, my grandparents helped raise me and were like second parents. They were Orthodox Jews, so every morning and evening, grandpa went to shul (synagogue) to pray, and they sent me to a Yeshiva (Jewish religious school) and to Hebrew school. I remember in the second grade telling my grandparents that I made a vow to God that I would never worship an idol (of course in my mind at the time, that meant the “Christian gods”).

I grew up hearing stories of how my grandparents’ seven brothers and sisters and parents all died in concentration camps. I was told the Nazis who murdered them wore on their belt buckles the words, “For the Glory of Christ.” After coming to know the Lord, I could barely talk about my grandparents with anyone without breaking down in tears. I loved them so much, and I could not see how they could ever come to know their Messiah.

Presenting Messiah to Your Jewish Friend

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Friends sharing Good News with friends

The Apostle John gives a good summary of witnessing in his first epistle: “the life [of Jesus] was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you . . . that which we have seen and heard . . .” (1 John 1:2-3). Effective witnessing is telling what one has seen and/or heard-much as a witness in a legal case gives a testimony. But witnessing to a Jewish person goes far beyond reciting the facts of the Gospel message. Witnessing must become a dialogue between two individuals, each with mutual respect and a genuine interest in the well being of the other. Because the best witness is the witness of a friend or close relation (see John 1:40-45), the first step in sharing the Gospel with a Jewish person is to develop a friendship. Your witness will do best as it grows naturally out of a deepening relationship.

Evangelism: Comparing Kabbalah and the Scriptures

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Like the popularizers of Eastern Religion in the 1960s and 1970s, the New Age Kabbalistic teachings tend to focus on what “sells” most easily to the consumer. Here are a few of the commonly cited principles of Kabbalah and some witnessing tips and Scriptures to help you in your witness.

Stress the accessibility of the Scripture in its plain meaning.

The Kabbalists teach: There is a “code” encrypted in the letters of the Hebrew Scriptures that, once deciphered, reveals the hidden truth of God.

The Scripture says: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

Yielding to Messiah

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Rich Freeman, a Jewish believer in Messiah, came to faith in 1983 through the witness of his wife, Julia. When he told his father, Wally, about his faith decision, Wally was aghast. Born and raised in a secular Jewish home, Wally nonetheless had strong cultural connections with his Jewish heritage and culture. Serving in the Navy in World War II, Wally had also experienced anti-Semitism first hand. He could well remember sailors who called him “Christ-killer” and said, “The Germans are doing us a favor.”

What Does It Mean to Be “Born Again”?

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“You must be born again.”

These words of Jesus, spoken in John 3:7, are so central to the evangelistic message of the Gospel that one can scarcely imagine a Gospel without them. Yet what do they mean to us? What would they have meant to Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel and a member of the Sanhedrin?

Part of the answer may be found in the words, “…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Here, at least, was a point of contact. As a first century Jew, Nicodemus would long for even a glimpse of the kingdom of God. But Jesus’ revelation of the kingdom and the prevailing Jewish understanding of God’s kingdom promise were far apart-yet they remain instructive to those today who, like Nicodemus, seek the Messiah even under the cover of darkness.

The Righteous Gentiles of Jewish Evangelism

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Does it take one Jewish person to lead another to faith in the Jewish Messiah? The answer may surprise you: “Certainly not!” As the number of Jewish believers has increased, it is true that many Jewish people do come to faith in Jesus through the witness of Jewish followers of Messiah. But the fact is that many others are led to Messiah through the witness of faithful  non-Jewish believers who have heeded the call of the Apostle Paul that the Gospel is “to the Jew first” (Romans 1:16).

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus

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Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 1
General and Historical Objections

When it comes to Jewish Christian apologetics, the best answers are those that respond to actual objections. Incisive and direct, this book provides an honest, fair, and thorough discussion of 35 common objections, such as:

  • No religious or educated Jew would ever believe in Jesus.
  • Messianic Judaism, or Hebrew Christianity, is just one big deception.
  • If Jesus is really the Messiah, why isn’t there peace on earth?
  • Christians have always hated and persecuted the Jewish people.

Believers and seekers alike will appreciate Brown’s spiritually focused answers, which are thoroughly documented and footnoted.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2
Theological Objections

Dr. Michael Brown looks at real questions and real answers, formed by years of dialogue with rabbis and religious Jews. Some objections include:

  • Jews don’t believe in the Trinity. We believe in one God, not three.
  • God doesn’t have a son.
  • The Christian concept of salvation is contrary to the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition.
  • Jews don’t need saving.
  • Jews don’t believe in a suffering Messiah.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2 shows how New Testament teaching on the nature of God and the divinity of the Messiah is in harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures, how blood sacrifices joined with repentance were the heart and soul of the Torah’s system of atonement, and how Yeshua fulfilled a lofty Jewish concept, bringing atonement to the world through his death.