Now let us look at the observance of Passover in the New Covenant Church. In Psalms 110:1 God is speaking to David’s Lord–the Word Who created the universe and walked the earth as Jesus of Naza- reth (Jn. 1:1-4,14), Who led the Israelite Church in the Wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1-4), Who made His ways known to the prophets (Ps. 103:7), Who recorded His Ways for the New Covenant Church’s instruction (1 Cor. 10:11)–the same Ways (gospel) He taught Abraham (Gal. 3:8), preached as a man (Mat. 4:23) and instructed His apostles to teach until the end of the age (Mat. 24:14;28:19,20). These are the same Ways His ministers teach God-seekers today (Heb. 4:2). One of the Lord’s doctrines the New Covenant Church is to obey concerns the observance of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That Jesus and His disciples faithfully celebrated Passover is brought out in Luke 22:7-15. Here Jesus instructs Peter and John on how and where to prepare the Passover meal. Of note is the fact that Jesus, knowing that He would be dead within a matter of hours, was intent on keeping Passover and communion. Note that His emphasis was on His death, not His resurrection which He did not mention. Notable is the fact that, in their writings, not one of the apostles mentions His resurrection relative to Passover. As you will see, Jesus commanded recognition of His death, but not His resurrection. The church reverses His commands and calls her rebellion “good” because she rebels “… for a good reason.”

That the early church continued to keep all of God’s Holy Days until the beginning of her apostasy is brought out in Scripture for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear God’s Truth–His Word (Jn. 17:17). Paul, writing to the Corinthian Church some 25 years after Jesus’ death, said: “For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, therefore, LET US KEEP THE FEAST” (Passover feast which included the Days of Unleavened Bread). In 5:7,8 he instructs the church to keep the Passover Feast with sin- cerity and truth. In 11:17-34. He chastises the Corinthians for partaking of the Passover Feast unrighteously. In 11:26 he tells them that by partaking of communion during the feast they would “… PROCLAIM THE LORD’S DEATH” until His return. Note Paul’s words: “… as OFTEN as ye eat this bread and partake of this wine,” indicating that the church would continue to observe Passover. Note it–Let US (the church) eat the meal, take communion and thereby proclaim Christ’s DEATH until He returns. Note in Mark 14:22 that communion was taken as PART OF THE PASSOVER MEAL, not as a separate observance at a different time. Here it is written: “… and AS THEY WERE EATING, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said, ‘… take, eat, this is My body.'” This was followed by the taking of wine as symbolic of His blood. Note that the bread and wine were part of the meal, not specially provided for communion.

Further proof that Paul and the New Covenant Church observed Passover is found in Acts 20:6 where Luke states that he, Paul and their companions had stayed in Philippi through the Days of Unleavened Bread (which followed Passover). Why? The only reason would have been to celebrate the festival with the Philippians. Earlier, Luke had mentioned that “… these were the Days of Unleavened Bread.” He would not have mentioned Unleavened Bread had the early church not been observing Passover.

That the early church also observed the other Holy Days is proved in other passages. In Second Corin- thians 16:8 Paul tells the church that he will be coming for a visit in the near future, but that he would be staying in Ephesus until Pentecost. Why? To celebrate the Holy Day with the Ephesian Church. In Acts 2:16 we find Paul et al, having celebrated Passover in Philippi, were on their way to Jerusalem hoping to arrive there in time for Pentecost, which comes 50 days after Passover. Why? To celebrate the Holy Day with the Church of Jerusalem. In one instance Luke noted that sailing was hazardous because “… the fast (Day of Atonement) had already past.” The Day of Atonement is celebrated in the fall of the year when the weather is bad. Why did he mention the Holy Day if the Church was not observing it? Their ship- wreck on the Isle of Melita proves that Paul had been right in his warnings (Acts 27:9-28:1). Notice that blood sacrifices, etc. are never mentioned in relation to the New Covenant Church, whereas the Holy Days are mentioned several times.

The Institutional Church often uses Acts 12:4 of the King James Version of the Bible to “prove” that the early church celebrated Easter instead of Passover. Note that the NKJV, NIV, NAS and the Amplified Version all correctly render the English word “Easter” as “Pasch,” meaning Passover. Most quality Bibles note in the sidebar that “Easter” is in reality “Pasch.” Easter, as the next posting will reveal, is a heathen observance–an abomination that has no place in God’s church. To be continued. L.J.