Happy Easter!!!

Reflection: Today we learn about the Jewish festival called “Purim”, which is still celebrated today by Jewish people!  It falls on the 14^th day of Adar in the Hebrew calendar, which falls on different dates throughout the Jewish year. It usually falls in March, but this year falls on February 24^th.  The term “purim” comes from the word “lots”, which Haman cast for the date of the annihilation of the Jews.  The festival involves feasting just as Mordecai had proclaimed, but also remembers prayer as Esther had fasted and prayed before going before King Xerxes.  Like the Passover, it is a one of the central Jewish holidays that remembers God’s intervention to deliver the Jews. 

Tomorrow is Easter, also called “Pascha”, which is related to the Jewish Passover.  Paul writes in Ephesians that “Christ is our Pascha”, meaning Christ is our Passover Lamb. Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox. (Wikipedia). 

So what is the significance?  We are reminded that the Christian faith is the fulfillment of what the faithful Jews were hoping for in the Messiah.  All of the feasts anticipated the day when the Lord would come and establish His kingdom once and for all.  Paul affirms in Romans 11, that not even all the Jews would accept this Good News.  But, God had set aside a faithful remnant who have been chosen by God’s grace.  This is why it is so important to have a thorough understanding of our heritage in the Old Testament. 

Some make the comment that the God of the Old Testament seems different than the God of the New Testament.  And while God’s relationship with all humankind changes as we move from the Old Covenant made with Abraham and David, to the New Covenant in Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, God does not change.  

When you see the big picture, God has had a plan to create and redeem mankind from the beginning.  We call this the “Big God Story”.  God is working in the “Upper Story” as we live out our lives in the “Lower Story”.  And tomorrow we see the fulfillment of the “Upper Story”, as we cry out “Christ is Risen”, “He is Risen Indeed!”  As Jesus rose from the dead, He proved once and for all that He was the unique Son of God, and the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.  This is something we will celebrate until one day we will all cry out in worship around the throne of God in heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive honor, glory and power!” Happy Easter! 

Psalm 41

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;

    the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.

2 The Lord protects and preserves them—

    they are counted among the blessed in the land—

    he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.

3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed

    and restores them from their bed of illness.

4 I said, “Have mercy on me, Lord;

    heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

5 My enemies say of me in malice,

    “When will he die and his name perish?”

6 When one of them comes to see me,

    he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;

    then he goes out and spreads it around.

7 All my enemies whisper together against me;

    they imagine the worst for me, saying,

8 “A vile disease has afflicted him;

    he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

9 Even my close friend,

    someone I trusted,

one who shared my bread,

    has turned against me.

10 But may you have mercy on me, Lord;

    raise me up, that I may repay them.

11 I know that you are pleased with me,

    for my enemy does not triumph over me.

12 Because of my integrity you uphold me

    and set me in your presence forever.

13 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

    from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

Esther 9:18-10:3

18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

Purim Established

20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention,[a] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants. 29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

Romans 10:14-11:6

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear?

Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.”

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;

    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.

20 And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me;

    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands

    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[h] 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Acts 10:36 (NIV)

On this Great Sabbath, O God, may we remember Jesus’ words and actions, his passion and his death. May this be a day of reverence, remembrance, waiting, and hope. Amen.