This past Passover week in the Messianic blogosphere.
(And apologies if I’ve missed anything, I was stretched thin this past week!)
- What Is the Problem With Easter? – A timely reprint: Without resorting to condemnation, John McKee carefully explains why Messianics do not celebrate Easter.
- He’s Alive! – On the flip side, James suggests Messianics to put aside theological differences and simply celebrate with Christians that Yeshua is alive.
- Haredi Dayenu – Highlighting some of the abuses of the Haredi (Ultra Orthodox Jewish) leadership.
- YeshuaFilm – A documentary entitled “In the Name of Yeshua” documents the life of Messianics. Read the author’s blog, or check out the trailer below. See the 3 minute trailer below. Some Messianics (particularly Derek Leman) dislike the trailer over its focus on Jews for Jesus, which is not representative of the greater Messianic movement:
- Exploring Tradition – Nate Long thinks even the anti-traditionalists practice tradition, knowingly or not. But he’s fair to both sides, commenting on the negative side of tradition:
It must be remembered that Tradition is a tool that exists to serve the principle to maintain obedience to our Father, God. Whenever we begin to keep traditions for tradition’s sake, we have allowed that which exists to serve to become that which we serve, and a sense of bondage inevitably results—a new law is created.
- Is Messiah God? – Gev digs into the Scriptures to find whether Messiah, whom Isaiah calls the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, Mighty God…whether this same Messiah is divine.
- We Are Not The Jewish Church – Yochanan writes how the Messianic movement isn’t a Jewish-flavored church, nor is it simply a cultural form, a contextualization, of Christianity ala Korean Christianity.
- J-BOM: Getting Started With Twerski – Derek outlines new Jewish book of the month for April.
Podcasts
- Passover, Easter, and Jewish Roots – Hebrew Christian apologetic Dr. Michael Brown discusses Passover and Easter and the unfortunate anti-Semitic events surrounding the creation of the Easter holiday.
- Yeshua and the Temple Disputes – Derek Leman tackles a supposition held by many Christians: that Yeshua opposed the Temple and came to do away with the old way of worshipping God in Jerusalem, thus replacing Judaism with a new religion in the process.
- Rabbi Stuart Dauermann on KKLA Radio – Discusses Yeshua and the disciples’ Passover celebration and much more.
Notice, I didn't say that Messianics should literally celebrate Easter with traditional Christians. Rather, I believe we should all check our theologies at the door, stop focusing on the things are keep us apart, and use this time of year to seek unity under one Messiah and one God.
ReplyDeleteYeah. True.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to unity, someone has to make concessions. Example: when the President speaks of unity, he usually means the opposition uniting under his platform.
But yeah, we can make some concessions on the Messianic side of things by understanding there are Christians that sincerely celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and could care less about the unrelated junk.
John MeKee's article summary is very good, "While as Messianics we do not celebrate Good Friday or Easter Sunday, because they were adapted by Roman Catholicism to replace Passover, I do not condemn those who celebrate it in ignorance, and neither do I condemn those who defiantly celebrate it and are opposed to us celebrating the Lord’s appointed times. (God will handle them). But I would ask Christians to reconsider what they are doing, and really consider whether or not “the Church” has the right to replace God’s holidays with its own holidays."
ReplyDelete"What is the problem with Easter? Easter was not established by God. It was established to be a substitute of some of the most important events on the Biblical calendar: Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread."
Well Written...
C.F.
James - I believe the bridge is there and no one has to give up principles, only misconceptions.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is from Scripture...where Paul says, "Christ our Passover". That is the basis for the Christian Pascha.
See great article from this issue's Touchstone...
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=23-02-026-f
Todd
By the way, for those who dare to darken the doorway of a Catholic Church [:-)], I highly recommend attending the Vigil Service on the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday. That is considered the first celebration of the Resurrection and is a very long and dramatic service with many old testament readings emphasizing our Jewish roots, not to mention other liturgical elements which also allude to this link. And also new members are baptized into the Church as part of this service, i.e. baptized into the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
ReplyDeleteTodd
Also, great links as usual...The film you linked to looks potentially interesting. Filmaker appears to be a truly objective outside observer. I often like that kind of thing if done right and if its not superficial.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emma and I'm the filmmaker who's making the film "In the Name of Yeshua." First off, thanks for posting the link! But I did want to clarify something - it's not a 3-minute film. It's a feature-length documentary film. That video is just the trailer for the longer film, which hasn't even been filmed yet. I should also explain that the reason the trailer is kind of Jews for Jesus heavy is that it's aimed at people who know nothing about Messianic Judaism (and most people have never even heard the term "Messianic Judaism" so when I explain to them that Messianic Jews are Jewish believers in Jesus, they go "oh, Jews for Jesus!") Plus it's an easy way to get across the controversy, since I only have 3 minutes to do it in a trailer.
Anyway, thanks again for posting the link.
Thanks for clarifying, Emma. I'll update the post next opportunity.
ReplyDelete