As I am recording and posting this installment of TMTO, many observant Jews and Messianics will celebrate Pesach tomorrow evening, April 22. We who keep the observational calendar will observe Pesach on Tuesday, April 23, as well as observing the night of our Master’s Last Supper tomorrow evening, April 22nd.

 

I’ve chosen to title our discussion here today “Yeshua’s Passover — The Means to our Salvation, Redemption, and Covenant Relationship with God.”

 

 

A great deal of confusion, ambiguity, misunderstanding, and misinformation swirls around the events of Yeshua and the Passover of 28 CE. Twenty-eight CE being the year Rood’s Chronology assigns to our Master’s Passion.

 

Much of the chaos stems from either unintentional, or, dare I say, intentional scribal errors that were inserted into the Holy Spirit inspired Apostolic records.

 

This chaos is perpetuated by a pervasive biblical illiteracy — specifically illiteracy of the Torah — that has blinded generations of bible believing souls to the essentials of the true faith once delivered.

 

The confusion that hangs over Yeshua’s Passover story can be easily worked through simply by coming to terms with a few basic realities:

 

1. Yes, although our bibles were written by men inspired of Yehovah to write that which they knew and witnessed (2 Tim 3.16) — of which their testimonies are perfect and undeniable — the bevy of translators and scribes that took to the work of producing the various bible translations over the centuries that we rely on does in fact have inserted errors. This, however, doesn’t mean that the foundational elements of scripture are false. Yah has protected His Words, even against the foolish ambitions of unsavory men. However, it requires us on the receiving end of biblical knowledge to become, even more so, Bereans.

 

Of the Bereans, Luke wrote that “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Act 17.11; KJV).

 

We today have a much greater advantage over our Berean cousins. Abba Yah has blessed us with a treasure trove of bible resources and helps that would have sent our Berean cousins into a tizzy. And more and more resources and research is being added to that treasure trove of biblical knowledge just about daily. The problem is that people are not interested in studying and searching out a matter in scripture. They much prefer to be told what to believe. However, that is not what Yah’s people are called to do when it comes to learning about Yah and His Ways. For the wisest man to have ever lived wrote this about this matter: “It is the glory of Yehovah to conceal a thing: But the honor of kings is to search out a matter” (Pro 25.2; KJV).

 

2. The would be student of scripture must come into a clear understanding of Yah’s reckoning of time: That being gaining a crystal clear understanding of the Hebrew Calendar. For without such knowledge, the timing and sequence of events, especially as they relate to the Feasts of the LORD, will make no sense to the uninformed bible reader.

 

3. Last, the same student must study Torah. Without knowledge and understanding of Torah, events such as the Passover of our Master Yeshua can be easily misread and misunderstood. Brethren must unshackle themselves from churchianity and religiosity that discourages their adherents from the study of scripture on their own. Furthermore, Yah’s people must resist the pervasive urge to be lazy in the study of scripture.

 

Of this the Psalmist wrote:

 

(1) “Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, and shall not stand in the path of sinners, and shall not sit in the seat of the scoffers. (2) But his delight is in the Torah of Yehovah. And he meditates in His Torah day and night. (3) For he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever he does prospers. (4) The wrong are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind blows away. (5) Therefore, the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (6) For Yehovah knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wrong comes to naught” (Psa 1; The Scriptures ISR).

 

(97) “Oh, how I love Your Torah! It is my study all day long. (98) Your commands make me wiser than my enemies; for it is ever before me. (99) I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your witnesses are my study. (100) I understand more than the aged, for I have observed your orders. (101) I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might guard Your word. (102) I have not turned aside from Your right-rulings, for You Yourself have taught me. (103) How sweet to my taste has Your word been, more than honey to my mouth! (104) From Your orders I get understanding; therefore, I have hated every false way” (Psa 119; The Scriptures ISR).

 

These two passages we could spend countless hours extolling the wisdom of effective and meaningful study of the Word. But suffice to say, for the sake of time, that the bedrock of recognizing and understanding the Torah being the shadow of good things to come (Heb 10.1), we must become one with the Word.

The Passover Sequence

 

The sequence of Passover events is in Exodus/Shemot 19, Leviticus/Vayiqra 23; and Deuteronomy/D’varim 16. (Yes, there are other important passages where the sequence is mentioned, but these are the main chapters of scripture that hold the key to the sequence that spells out the events of our Master’s Passion.

 

1. Passover (aka Pesach) always occurs in the Month of the Aviv. The Month of the Aviv (aka Month of Nisan) is the first month of Yah’s biblical calendar year. (Read or listen to my many teachings on Guarding the Month of the Aviv.)

 

2. We select a perfect yearling male Passover or Pesach [lamb] on the 10th Day of the Month of the Aviv. Yah commanded us to hold on to this lamb, in our dwelling places, for four-days.

 

3. Four days after we took into our dwellings the Pesach, in the afternoon of the 14th Day of the Month of the Aviv, we slaughter it and consume it that evening. (Note, on the very first Passover during our sojourn in Egypt, we applied the blood of the slaughtered Pesach on the door-posts and lintels of our homes to signal to the destroyer to pass over our homes. However, this was a onetime instruction. Once we entered the land, we came together as a nation to the place where Abba Yah placed His Name, sacrificed the Pesach and ate its flesh along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.)

 

4. We eat unleavened bread from the time of our Passover/Pesach meal (on the evening of the 14th on into the beginning of the 15th day) until the 21st day of the Month of the Aviv. This seven-day feast is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

 

5. On the S-nday that falls within the week of Unleavened Bread (i.e. this day floats about the calendar, depending on days when Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread falls — that being the “morrow after the weekly Sabbath), we take an omer or sheaf of barley, present it to a Levitical Priest at the Tabernacle or Temple, who will wave it before Yehovah on our behalf. This sheaf of barley represented the very best of the firstfruits of our harvest or increase.

 

Now, the entire eight-days of Passover was kept in ancient times as a pilgrimage feast, which meant that we packed up our families and journeyed to and stayed in Jerusalem during the feasts. When we look at Yeshua’s Passover and recognize the press of people that were in Jerusalem at the time of His Passion, if we are knowledgeable that Passover was in fact a pilgrimage feast, we can understand why these things are so.

 

We established in previous installments of this program that Yeshua was in fact the Passover Lamb that we took unto ourselves on the 10th of the Month of the Aviv and Who we would crucify on our behalf on Passover Day, the 14th Day of the Month of the Aviv.

 

Working Through the Biblical Sequence of Events Related to our Master’s Passion

 

If you’ve read or listened to my very last post entitled “Choosing Yeshua as our Pesach: Shadows of Pesach 2024,” you should recall that Yeshua’s Triumphant entry into Jerusalem was a fulfillment of the Torah regarding the selection of the Passover Lamb. In that post, we examined the intense challenges that our Master endured from the Jerusalem religious leaders over the ensuing four days and how He passed those challenges with perfect marks.

 

Now, as our story progresses, the elements of His sacrifices fall into place.

 

During our Master’s inspection by the religious leaders at the Temple, He and His talmidim (aka His inner core disciples) lodged in a home in Bethany. However, as the Day of Passover loomed before them, the disciples were pressed to prepare for the Passover with their Master, Yeshua. So, in obedience to Exodus/Shemot 23.17 and Deuteronomy/D’varim 16.16, the group left their Bethany lodging and rented a room in Jerusalem proper (Mat 26.17-19; Mar 14.12-16; Luk 22.7-13).

 

Now, this is where we run into problems with some of our Biblical texts.

 

The KJV reads the following:

 

“Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, ‘Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover (lower case “p” for passover)?’ (18) And He said, ‘Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, the Master saith, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with My disciples.’ (19) And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover” (Mat 26).

 

“And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, His disciples said unto Him, ‘Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?’ (13) And He sendeth forth two of His disciples and saith unto them, ‘Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. (14) And, wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good man of the house, the master saith, where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover (passover with lower case “p”) with My disciples? (15) And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared (i.e. the very room the disciples will dwell in up to the day of Shavuot, aka Pentecost, 50+ days hence): there make ready for us.’ (16) And His disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the passover” (Mar 14).

 

“Then came the day of unleavened bread (unleavened bread with lower case “u” and “b”), when the passover must be killed. (8) And He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.’ (9) And they said unto Him, ‘Where wilt thou that we prepare?’ (10) And He said unto them, ‘Behold when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. (11) And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, the Master saith unto thee, where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples? (12) And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. (13) And they went, and found as He had said unto them: And they made ready the passover” (Luk 22).

 

Now, if you are careful in your studies of the Torah passages I mentioned near the start of this discussion, and if you believe that our Master and His disciples were indeed devout, uncompromising Torah Observant Jews (which they were), then you will immediately recognize glaring problems with these three accounts of Yeshua’s Passover preparations as recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Sadly, most English translations of our bible have pigtailed off of the KJV’s rendering, even some of the popular specialized Messianic translations of our day such as “The Scriptures,” “The Holy Scriptures-Tree of Life,” and “The Complete Jewish Bible,” all have chosen not to address the glaring discrepancy found in these passages.

 

So, let’s address the most glaring discrepancies.

 

All three passages note Yeshua sent His disciples to make preparations for them to observe the Passover by leasing a room in Jerusalem proper, not a couple days before, or even a day before, but on the day of Unleavened Bread!

 

Two enormous problems present themselves in these records as they have been written. First, the texts declare that Yeshua and His disciples went about making preparations for their keeping of Passover, which always falls on the 14th day of the month, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, which always falls on the 15th day of the month. Riddle me this batman: Why and how would Torah observant Jews prepare to receive the Pesach/Passover on the day after Passover/Pesach was to occur? Passover is always without exception the day before the first day of unleavened bread. On the 14th, we kill our Pesach as a community, at the place that where Yah has placed His Name; not sequestered in a rented room somewhere in Jerusalem. Which means, if Yeshua and His disciples were Torah observant Jews, they either would have brought with them a Pesach from Bethany or elsewhere, or procured their Pesach on Lamb Selection Day four-days prior. There is no mention whatsoever that they did so. The absence of such an important thing in the text does not entirely rule out that they did not have a properly procured Pesach, it just seems a bit off that it is not mentioned.

 

Second, Torah instructs that the first day of Unleavened Bread is a holy day. Thus, no work is to be done on that day, nor is commerce conducted, which means that the disciples would have been in violation of the Torah of the first day of Unleavened Bread when they set out to secure the upper room for their Passover observance.

 

These two things, besides some other nagging elements, and based upon our understanding of the Torah of Passover and Unleavened Bread, scream that some unsavory fellows compromised these texts at some point in time. I know, it takes guts to make such an assertion, especially given that religiosity has indoctrinated us into believing that our Bibles are pristine and devoid of errors of any kind. Again, the truth of scripture still shines through/past the errors. And if we are true to our understanding of Torah and knowledge of Yeshua — who He was and is and what He stood for — we can demolish those errors with little to no effort.

 

Now, some who hold to the utter pristine state of the biblical text have gone out of their way to defend these passages as they are presently written. I won’t spend any time picking apart those defenses today. Suffice to say, however, that some of these defenders contend Yeshua kept the Passover in accordance with Torah on the correct day and that the Jews — the religious leaders and all the Israelis who were present that year in Jerusalem — were not keeping the feasts on its proper day. The problem with this perspective is that the focus is on the circumstances surrounding the exact timing of when Yeshua and His disciples kept the Passover instead of focusing on the day when Yeshua, who is our Pesach (1 Cor 5.7), was crucified. If we truly believe that Yeshua is our Korban Pesach, it must stand to reason that He would have been crucified on Passover Day, in according with Yah’s Torah. Just saying. If we are okay with Yeshua being crucified on any other day besides Passover Day, then this discussion is a moot point. But as far as we are concerned here on TMTO, the shadow of that is the Torah of the Spring Feasts of Yehovah, Yeshua was crucified on Passover Day, the 14th of the Month of the Aviv, His remains placed in a borrowed tomb before sundown on the 14th so as to permit those who took care of His remains, to keep Passover and conform to the holy day of Unleavened Bread; and our Master was resurrected on the day of the Wavesheaf-Firstfruits Offering. It’s a beautiful, awe-inspiring portrait and lovestory that, unfortunately, religiosity and churchianity have neglected to fully grasp because of their wholesale rejection of Torah.

 

So, how do we reconcile this confusion? Simply put, we break down the text and see what it may tell us, especially as it relates to the concerns we have as it relates to the Torah of Pesach.

 

When we break down the Greek text of Matthew 26:17 into its purest state, absent the inserted, sometimes inflated English interpretations of translators, it reads thusly:

 

“To de protae ton azumon proserchomahee hoi matetes to yesou lego…” (Byzantine Text). A direct word-for-word translation is thus: “But before [the start] of unleavened bread the disciples Yeshua said…”

 

Nowhere in the original Greek text is “the first day of the feast of unleavened bread” found. Seems pretty clear that translators took liberties with the Greek term “protos” which means “first in time” or “first in rank.” There is no mention of day in the Greek text either. If anything, it is an eisegesic (if such a word exists) reading into the Greek text. 

 

Mark 14:12 reads: “Kai te protae hemera ton azumon hote to pascha esthio thoo’o legosin auto oi mathetai…(Byzantine Text). A direct word-for-word translation is thus: “And before the start of the day of Unleavened Bread when they kill the Pesach His disciples said…”

 

In this context, a key clue to the confusion is seen that the Greek wording order of “protae hemera ton azumon hote to pascah” has lead interpreters to translate the passage “on the first day of Unleavened Bread” when if left alone, the Greek order stipulates before the start (i.e. protae) of the day when they kill the Pesach. Again, the Greek text is not screwed up, but rather, its the liberal translation of the English translation that’s left lacking.

 

Lastly, Luke 22:7 reads: “erchomai de hay hemera ton azumon en hay edei (necessary) thoo-thai to pascha” (Byzantine Text). Again, a direct word-for-word translation is thus: “But then came the day or time of Unleavened Bread when the Pesach must be sacrificed.”

 

As in Mark’s text, the problem with the English translation of the Greek is that the English translators associate “hemera ton azumon en hay edei thoo-thai to pascha” is emphatically stating that the disciples came to Yeshua to inquire about preparations for keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the day in which the Pesach was sacrificed. Such a translation is flawed in that it bastardizes the Torah order for the Feast in which the sacrifice of the Pesach precedes the first day of Unleavened Bread, and it affirms that the disciples and Yeshua were violating Torah by preparing for the Feasts on the first day of Unleavened Bread and having missed the Passover Observance on Passover Day altogether.

 

The bottomline, beloved, is that the Gospel writers were conveying to the reader that Yeshua and His disciples set about their preparations for the Feast one or two days before the start of Passover and Unleavened Bread. 

 

If my explanation of these translation errors is not convincing to you, consider this shocker. The English translators failed to mistranslate Yochanan the Revelator’s (aka the Apostle John’s) account on the timing of the Yeshua’s and the disciples’ Passover preparations, culminating into what the world refers to as the Last Supper. Let’s look at it:

 

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. ² And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; ³ Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; ⁴ He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. (Joh 13:1-4 KJV)

 

Here, we clearly see from John’s accounting that Yeshua’s and His disciples’ Passover preparations were completed “before the feast of the Passover” (13.1). Why the disparity with the other three accounts? I believe it’s the Greek terms that are attributed to the pen of Yochanan whereby it is written: “Pro de tas heortay tow pascha” or “before the Feast of the Passover…”

 

So, here we have it. Everything, when we take it back to the vise of Torah and break things down into the original text (as best we can), we arrive at the truth. However, we’re not done, for there is yet another elephant in the room that needs to be addressed: Was the so-called Last Supper of Yeshua Messiah a Passover Meal or Passover Seder or was it a super special parting meal that Yeshua shared with His talmidim/disciples? This is a critical question demanding answers, especially considering the likely errors that the Synoptic Gospel English renderings casts upon our parade.

 

Again, we come upon similar issues relating to the timing of this meal. If the meal occurred before Passover, and Yeshua and His disciples were in fact Torah observant Jews, how could the meal be a bona fide Passover Meal? Most importantly, if Yeshua is indeed our Korban Pesach, as we’ve discussed at great length in our last posting, He could not have partaken in a true Passover Meal, or as some may call it, a Passover Seder.

 

Well, for the sake of time, I will tell you I, along with others within our Faith Community, believe that the famous Last Supper was just that: A Last Supper. Yeshua did not partake in a Passover Meal with His disciples the night before His Passion. And there are several clues to help us determine the validity of this claim. We’ll only examine a couple of those clues.

 

We’ve already addressed the first clue: The meal took place the night BEFORE His crucifixion (Joh 13.1-2).

 

The second clue has to do with the make-up of the meal. We find in Matthew 26.26-29; Mark 14.22-25; and Luke 22.17-20 that Yeshua reclined with His disciples before a meal in the rented upper room the disciples procured earlier in the day (Mat 26.17-19; Mar 14.12-16; Luk 22.7-13).

 

At the start of the meal it is recorded that Yeshua took bread, the texts say that He blessed it (which from a Hebraic perspective is more likely that He blessed the Almighty with thanksgiving for the bread), broke it, and gave it to His disciples. He instructed His disciples to take and eat of the pieces of bread He had broken and passed to them.

 

Yeshua likewise took a cup of wine, blessed the Almighty for it, and passed it to His disciples with instructions for them to drink of it as it represented or was symbolic of it being His blood that is of the renewed covenant which is to be shed for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mat 26.28; The Scriptures ISR).

 

But I want to take just one step back to the bread. The bread that Yeshua broke, blessed and gave to His disciples to eat was not unleavened bread, believe it or not. There are two Greek terms used in the Brit HaDashah (aka the New Testament) for bread: One is “azymos” which is unleavened bread, which is not used in any of these texts. The other term Greek term is “artos” which is bread made from either wheat or barley grains, which is more times than not, leavened.

 

The bread that Yeshua gave to His disciples was “artos,” or leavened loaf bread, which, if it were served for a true Passover meal, would have violated Torah. Again, Yeshua is the walking, talking Torah, as well as He and His disciples were devout Torah observant Jews. To serve leavened bread or “artos” would have transgressed the Torah of the Passover meal (Exo 12.8; Num 9.11; Deu 16.2-3).

 

So, it turns out that the Last Supper was a very super special last meal, and Yeshua, being the head of the group, in His sharing of the bread and wine, was engaging in what we in the Messianic Community would know as the Kiddish that precedes our special meals. Today, the bread that is consumed for the Kiddish is challah, which is truly leavened, to say the least.

 

It is widely held that the Kiddish ceremony dates back to Avraham and Melchizedek, who came and dined together after Avraham’s victory over Kedorlaomer’s confederacy over the kings of the plain. It was then and there that Avraham rendered unto Melchizedek, the King of Shalem, a tithe of His increase from the battle (Gen 14.20). And Moshe records Melchizedek brought out bread and wine and blessed Avraham of the Most High El, who is the Possessor of the heavens and earth (Gen 14.19).

 

I get it. It’s kind of a liberal extrapolation that the Kiddish ceremony is derived from this auspicious, divinely appointed meeting and dinner and blessing, but traditions run strong with our ancient Jewish brethren.

 

Nevertheless, the Kiddish blessing beautifully matches what we read Yeshua doing with the bread and wine at the start of the Last Supper. The blessing to Yah is as follows:

 

For the bread: “Baruch ata Yehovah, eloheinu melek ha olam, ha motzi lechem (or leaven bread or artos) min ha aret.” Blessed are you, Yehovah, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

 

For the wine: “Barachu ata Yehovah, eloheinu melek ha olam, boray pririe ha gaffen.” Blessed are you, Yehovah, King of the Universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.”

 

So many traditions have emerged from this ceremony. In the Christian tradition, we get communion, which is held on a monthly or so basis. Then in the Catholic tradition we get what they call the sacrament of communion, which is held more frequently, often as part of regular services. In the Messianic tradition, we get the Erev Shabbat meal and the weekly Kiddish, which closely matches the frequency of our Jewish brethren.

 

In Christian and Catholic circles, the communion ceremony has all but replaced the Passover Meal, since neither religion celebrates Passover, but Easter.

 

The bottom line, beloved, is that the Last Supper was not a Torah-based Passover Seder as so many within our faith community believe and teach.

 

Many, however, push back on this idea that the Last Supper was not a Passover Meal or Seder. These cite Luke 22:15, where Luke records Yeshua stating to His disciples: (15) “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (16) For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Malchut Elohim (aka the Kingdom of God)” (Tree of Life).

 

There is no problem in matching the English with the Greek in this verse. Indeed, Yeshua expressed His heartfelt desire to share that Passover with them. But this statement in no way is an admission that He was in fact having a Passover Seder or meal with them. The whole point of the disciples securing this apartment was for the group to share in the Passover meal. At least that is what the disciples believed when they secured the room.

 

However, for this to be a bona fide Pesach Seder, there had to be unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and most importantly, the roasted pesach that could not be eaten until going into the evening after the 14th day, obviously after the selected lambs are slaughtered at the Temple proper during the afternoon of Passover Day.

 

So, what was Yeshua really saying to His disciples? He was simply saying that He truly desired to share in the Passover Meal with them, but this year it doesn’t look like that will happen as His suffering was at hand. Unfortunately, He could not share in a Passover meal with them until the Malchut Elohim/the Kingdom of God comes.

 

After the Kiddish, Yeshua instills to His disciples several valuable Kingdom principles:

 

1. Possessing and demonstrating the heart of a servant. This was demonstrated and explained in Yeshua’s washing of the disciples’ feet (Luk 22.24-30; Joh 13.1-22). Few modern day disciples of Yeshua practice this commandment that was given by Yeshua to wash one another’s feet. We obediently continue this tradition in our home each Passover season, at the start of the 14th day at sundown, along with the eating of bread and drinking of the wine (Kadeem Juice). Let us understand that the concept of servitude that is a prerequisite to entering the Kingdom goes well beyond the simple washing of another’s feet. It must encompass the complete character trait of the Netzer which that seeks to serve instead of being served. This is what this season is all about: Selflessness and sacrifice.

 

2. With the revealing and dismissal of Judas as the betrayer of our Master, the tradition of removing the last traces of leaven from our presence is powerfully and prophetically fulfilled (Exo 12.19). It is a Jewish tradition that during the meal on the night preceding Pesach Day, the last vestiges of leaven are searched out Jewish homes and is carefully removed. According to chabad.org: “In preparation for the festival of Passover, in which even the possession of any form of leavened food (“chametz”) is strictly forbiddeen, a final search is conducted after nightfall (on the 13th) to remove every last crumb of chametz from our homes and property.” It must be understood that leaven (aka yeast) in scripture is often symbolic of sin. Leaven is an agent used in bread dough to cause it to puff up and give the bread its desirable fluffy and soft texture that makes lechem such a joy to consume. And it doesn’t take much yeast or leaven to cause even a large lump of dough to puff up. Likewise, sin has the same potential that if it is not removed from our midst, will spread and cause even greater problems and incidents of sin. That’s why the apostle emphatically stated to both his Corinth and Galatian readers that it only takes a little leaven to leaveneth the whole lump. In other words, when even one individual’s sin is left to fester in the congregation, not addressed and not purged from the congregation’s midst, that permitted sin will inevitably spread throughout the entire assembly. Judas’ dismissal, in a dramatic sense, was symbolic of Yeshua purging His inner core of disciples of devastating leaven.

 

3. As disciples of Yeshua Messiah, we are subject to sifting or testing. As Yeshua cautioned Kefa (aka Peter) not to think too highly of himself and give himself more credit than he should (Luk 22.31-34; Joh 13.36-38). Despite Kefa’s insistence that he would lay down his life for the Master, there would come in the immediate future, a testing or sifting that would prove him wrong. Master revealed to Kefa that, embarrassingly, he would deny Him three times before the cock crow. The point Yeshua was making was that it’s only human to fail in our faith. But when we fail in our faith, it teaches us something about our faith and about ourselves. We are to learn from our failures and use it to strengthen one another.

 

4. As disciples of Yeshua Messiah, there may come a time when we may have to fight for the cause of the Kingdom. The Master instructs His disciples to have at their disposal a sword, most likely to send a message to them that the Kingdom of Elohim is, at times, purchased through violence, despite Yah doing much of the heavy lifting for us most of the time (Luk 22.35-38). We know that back in the day, our ancient Hebrew cousins had to fight in order to receive and enter the Promised Land. This despite Yah having taken them out of Egyptian slavery through miraculous wonders. Sometimes, and this may be as relevant, if more relevant, to us today than at any time in the history of our Faith. There may come a time when we may need to protect ourselves and our families and assemblies in order to advance the Malchut Elohim.

 

5. Yeshua has gone to prepare a place for His disciples and will return to take them unto Himself. We are to know that He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can come to the Creator but by Him (Joh 14.1-4).

 

6. Yeshua declares that in His disciples having been with Him during His year of training, teaching and modeling the behaviors that are necessary for receiving and entering the Malchut Elohim, they’d witnessed firsthand the Father/Creator (Joh 14.5-15). Everything that He taught them came directly from the Father. All the miraculous works He’d performed in their presence were manifestations of His Father’s power and authority. So, it becomes imperative that they recognize that He and Yehovah are united and inseparable in spirit, truth, and authority (aka echad). And because of their relationship with Him, and He being in them in Spirit, they would do even greater works than He did in the course of their respective ministries. And whatever they, like Him, ask of the Father in His Name, He would do it for them.

 

7. If we, His disciples, truly love Him, it is imperative that we keep His commandments (Joh 14. 15). And Master’s commandments are none other than His Father Yah’s commandments — Abba Yah’s instructions in righteousness — Yehovah’s Torah. When His disciples follow His example and teachings to the letter in Spirit and Truth, they are echad/one with Yeshua and He comes to take up residence within them (Joh 16.19-21). So many so-called believers in this world today claim they love Yeshua, but they refuse to obey His and His Father’s instructions in righteousness or follow His example. The true follower and disciple of Yeshua imitates Him in every conceivable way. This is how one shows that he or she loves the Father and the Son. Of course, this reality runs contrary to what religiosity teaches as it relates to what is needed for one to be saved and to be in a covenant relationship with the Almighty. To millions, the only element needed is God’s grace for salvation and a covenant relationship with the Almighty and His Messiah. This teaching and admonishment by Yeshua is proof that works are essential for one’s salvation and covenant relationship with Him and His Father.

 

8. Yeshua promises to give His disciples a comforter (aka the Ruach Kodesh) whom He described as “the Spirit of Truth” (Joh 14.16-18). As He informed Him of His impending Passion, He recognized that His disciples’ hearts and spirits were broken. These were coming to realize, falsely of course, that all that they’d involved themselves in with Yeshua was coming to an abrupt end and all for them and the work of the Gospel would be lost. Man, were they wrong. Yeshua, in fulfillment of His cousin Yochanan’s the Immerser’s prophecy, would immerse them in the Ruach Kodesh and with fire (Mat 3.11; Mar 1.8; Luk 3.16). He would never leave them in that sense. The same holds true for us. He will come and commune with us in the form of His Father’s precious Holy Spirit. All we need to do to receive His comforter is to be water immersed and to ask the Father for it. With that infilling and indwelling of the Ruach Kodesh/the Holy Spirit comes a shalom that the world cannot comprehend nor imitate (Joh 14.27-31). Thus, we need not be concerned about anything. He will tend to all our needs. Most importantly, He will return for us in a little while. We just need to hold tight to our belief that He will do what He promises He will do.

 

The rest of the story is, of course, history. When I titled this discussion Yeshua’s Passover, it should not be understood as Yeshua needing a Passover. He was perfect and did not require a Passover. Instead, all that He went through leading up to and even into fulfillment of His Passion is the greatest love story ever told in the annals of human history. Yeshua’s Passover is really our Passover. It is our only hope for salvation and to enter into a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. His Passover is the only efficacious Passover we can keep. It’s fine to dabble in some of the Passover traditions of our Jewish brethren. It’s not necessarily my cup of tea, but I get that many folks just want to get into the spirit of Passover by engaging in such traditions. My only point is this: Only Yeshua’s Passover can bring us and maintain us in a covenant relationship with Yehovah and also save us. It’s imperative we keep this in mind during this solemn time. 

 

This Passover of 2024 is the perfect time to reaffirm our relationship with the Almighty through Yeshua.

 

This is an appointed time. It’s a time that Yah has set aside to sup and commune with His people.

It’s a time for purification, renewal, and preparation so that we may sit at the LORD’s Table, both physically and spiritually.

If any of what I’ve mentioned in this discussion is a stumbling block for you, I implore you to do your own research and seek Yah’s face on those things. But above all, remain steadfast to the Torah instructions and endeavor every day to conform to the image of Yeshua.

 

I mentioned Pesach is a perfect time for renewal and reaffirming one’s relationship with the Almighty. How do we accomplish such a thing? Well, there are a few things that we can do to reaffirm that relationship:

1. Yeshua was perfectly Torah obedient, which necessitates we also be Torah observant such that our righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Master declared that if we fail to walk in that exceeding righteousness that takes us from Passover to Sukkot, we shall in no case enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 5.20).

 

2. Since Abba Yah chose Yeshua to be our Pesach, and we accepted Him as our Pesach, we are mandated to trust Yehovah and our Pesach Yeshua for our justification and salvation, and most importantly, because it is the right thing to do.

 

3 Let us keep Passover, but give equal attention to Yeshua’s last supper event, examine ourselves, and follow explicitly the instructions that He gave His disciples. 

 

4. Remove the chametz/leaven from our lives physically and spiritually in response to His cleansing from our impurities. Be holy as our Master and our God are both holy. We must be pure in order to sit at the LORD’S table. So, we must examine ourselves. Any chametz/leaven and or impurities that Yah’s Spirit reveals are lingering in our lives (i.e. our homes, within our families and friends, our beings) must be immediately removed so that we may walk uprightly before our God and be in His holy presence.

 

I pray you have a blessed and meaningful Pesach/Passover beloved. We will be away observing Pesach ourselves and thus I will not be publishing another installment of TMTO until after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I’m estimating sometime in the middle of next month.

 

Until then, beloved, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Take care.