During this year’s Pesach seder, my adult son said he was enlightened to several concepts. This is interesting because he has been celebrating Passover since his birth so whatever jumps out at him is something that should be discussed.
“When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and he said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this seder with you before I die! For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 22:14-16).
After reading the above verse, he commented that he had never seen that Yeshua would not celebrate the seder again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God. The Amplified Version says “I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Both versions clearly state that Yeshua will be celebrating the Passover seder again. My son realized that the fullness of the Feast will only be realized in the Kingdom.
After our seder, I was doing a little study in Matthew 22 about the wedding feast and the phrase, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Correctly translated, the verse reads, “Many are called, but few choose.” The Complete Jewish Bible even uses the word, ‘invited’ to convey the idea that many are ‘invited’ to the wedding feast, but ‘few choose to come.’
This Passover was unique because it was held during a ‘plague.’ At the Passover in Egypt, the Hebrews took refuge from the tenth plague in their homes under the ‘blood of the lamb’ while Adonai ‘passed over’ them and took the lives of the firstborn of Egypt. Yeshua used the memorial of Passover to explain his impending death as the firstborn of Adonai, but he was also giving his disciples prophetic vision. He would celebrate the Passover again in the coming Kingdom, His Kingdom, the Messianic Age.
Another unique twist happened after reading the weekly portion in Jeremiah, I suddenly began to see the separation of the sheep and the goats –– those who follow the Shepherd of Israel and those who continue to be rooted in other gods and false religious practices.
Those who follow the Shepherd of Israel do what he did. They keep the feast of Passover as instructed by Sha’ul in Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:6-9). These sheep understand that there is more to come, more to be done. There is a Kingdom, a King, and a Wedding Feast.
The goats do something else. The goats are something else.
Passover is a mikrah or ‘rehearsal dinner.’ Many are called, but few choose to rehearse. When the wedding feast comes, they may be just one of the multitudes of wedding guests or they may be the one who is wearing the wrong clothes and be “bound hand and foot, and thrown outside in the dark!’ In that place people will wail and grind their teeth” (Matthew 22:13).
My son’s observation was timely. Only a few months before he was talking to me about the coming Kingdom and that he had never heard much about that before. He must have been daydreaming during our daily Bible studies while he was growing up, but ‘for such a time as this,’ his eyes saw the vision of the Kingdom in Yeshua’s words this year.
Yeshua didn’t fulfill Passover to end it, he fulfilled it so he could bring it to its completion in the Messianic Age. Until that time comes, Passover is to be remembered by those who have the blood of the Lamb on their hearts. The evidence –– they follow the Shepherd and keep the Feast as he did. The Bridegroom is returning for his Bride and there will be a Wedding Feast of the Lamb like no wedding feast ever before. Some will be there; some will make excuses and miss the feast; some will be thrown out. There is still time, but this year it seems closer than ever.
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