USA (MNN) — Celebrating the feasts Jesus celebrated can help Christians understand redemption better and help them share their faith more effectively. That’s the word from En-Gedi Resource Center, as they’re gearing up for the Passover and Easter celebration in a few weeks.
En-Gedi’s Executive Director Bruce Okkema says understanding the feasts and traditions helps Christians understand the bigger picture. “The Passover event is the defining moment in the Christian theology when we think about how Jesus becomes the Passover Lamb. He was celebrating God’s redemption from Egypt at the same time he was initiating this new celebration for us.”
En-Gedi’s Direct, Lois Tverberg says on-line resources are now available to help as Passover approaches, “We’re going to have many articles that are related to the images and the richness of Passover. There’s so many rich things that are just so much more powerful when you understand them in light of the first century Jewish culture around Jesus.”
While En-Gedi focuses igniting a fascination with the Scripture and a new love for the Bible, that can have evangelistic implications. “People get very curious and they do go ask questions of their Jewish neighbors and what they find is they all of sudden develop friendships where sometimes it’s been quite strained in the past because people just don’t know how to approach somebody of a different religion.”
Okkema is asking people to be praying as Passover approaches. “We can be praying that Christians will appreciate that heritage and we also can be praying that the Jewish people will find that Jesus really is the fulfillment of this Passover Lamb. They have the story right, they just don’t have the ending right.”
To find the Passover/Easter resources go to http://www.egrc.net.
