Remember and Celebrate

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Passover
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 12:1-16; Mark 14:22-26 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Since 2009, my wife and I have celebrated our anniversary at J. Gilberts. It’s an upscale, wood-fired steak restaurant. I don’t remember how we decided to go there unless it had something to do with the email that I got offering “$25 off your entrée with the purchase of a second entrée”.

 

Every year we order the same thing. It’s a three-course meal with a soup or salad, entrée and dessert. I love the lobster bisque; the steaks are always grilled perfectly; and the crème Brule is delightfully decadent. We even get to take the second one home. It has become an annual tradition to celebrate our marriage.

 

Israel had served as slaves to the Pharaohs of Egypt for 400 years when God called Moses to lead his people to the Promised Land. But when Moses asked Pharaoh if they could go into the wilderness, he said no. In fact, he kept saying no even when the Lord sent nine plagues upon the people of Egypt.

 

Finally, the Lord sent a plague on the firstborn. With this plague, every firstborn son – from Pharaoh to slaves to cattle – would die! The Lord told Moses that this would compel Pharaoh to let his people go. But there was one more detail.

 

The Lord would spare the Israelites if they followed his instructions. They were to sacrifice a male lamb and then spread the blood on the top and both sides of their doorframe. Later that night, the Lord would go through Egypt striking down the Egyptian’s firstborn sons… but not Israel’s.

 

Here are the Lord’s instructions for the meal.

 

⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.          NIV    Exodus 12

 

Moses gathered the elders together and told them that when they entered the Promised Land, they were to continue to observe the Passover ceremony and pass it down from generation to generation. They were to remember and celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness, his mercy and his grace.

 

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.                        NIV    Exodus 12

 

Approximately 1450 years later, a rising star rabbi and his motley crew of disciples, entered Jerusalem with great Messianic fanfare, to celebrate the Passover. But that night Jesus shared his Last Supper with them.

 

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” ²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.                                 NIV             Mark 14

 

The Passover that the Israelites observed in Egypt was a foreshadowing of Jesus. They had sacrificed a lamb whose blood had spared their lives so that they could be delivered from the slavery of Egypt. Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed his life so that his blood would spare our lives and that we could be delivered from sin.

 

That, my friend, is worth celebrating.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Happy Birthday

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Sabbath Year
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:1-7; Matthew 26:17-30 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

It’s nice when people remember you on your birthday.

 

This year was especially nice because multiple people, independent of one another, sang “happy birthday” to me. A friend from Reno sang to me during our weekly Zoom call; a Facebook friend typed it in her “direct message”; my siblings sang to me during phone calls; and our men’s church choir sang to me at our rehearsal.

 

The most unexpected was after playing pickleball. The lady who organizes our weekly games brought cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. Then before eating them, they all sang happy birthday to me! Afterwards, three of them treated me to lunch. They went out of their way to remember me on my birthday. 

 

Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. This means that they were immersed in the Egyptian culture including their gods, their values and their laws. For 400 of those years, Israel had been slaves. As a result, they were oppressed by the Egyptians politically, economically and socially. 

 

When the Lord finally freed Israel, they needed to know how to live as a free nation; how to follow the Lord; how to be holy and consecrated to the Lord. To do this, Israel needed structure.

 

They needed structure politically, socially and religiously. They also needed structure as they claimed the Promised Land so that they could withstand the pressure to “give in” to a pagan culture and the temptation to worship other gods. 

 

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave him hundreds of laws, rules and regulations that Israel would benefit from if they obeyed them. One of the tools that the Lord gave them was festivals and sacred days. This included the Sabbath Day.

According to the fourth commandment, they were to work six days but rest on the seventh, known as the Sabbath. This was to be a holy day for the Lord. It was to remind them “that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. 

In addition to the Sabbath Day, the Lord instructed them to observe the Sabbath Year.

 

⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.  NIV    Leviticus 25

 

Most of us aren’t farmers, so the Sabbath Year would appear to be irrelevant for us. However, the underlying principle still applies. It was a tool to remind the Israelites who the Lord was and whose they were. It was to remind them that the Lord would provide for them. It was to remind them that he was faithful.

 

Like my pickleball friends honored me, we need to find ways to honor and celebrate the Living God, our Lord and Redeemer. His Son Jesus did just that. He provided a way for us to remember and honor him until the day he returns.

 

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.           NIV    Matthew 26

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

I Quit!

A Series on Lent
The stories of Passion Week – the disciples
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 22:7-38 

[Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection with the purpose to prepare your heart to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. In this series on Lent, we will be looking into the stories of Passion Week. How the people who were directly involved were impacted and how that applies to us today.]

  

After three years of college at Michigan Tech… I quit! Not just transfer but quit! Even though my parents had paid for my schooling, I unilaterally made the decision without consulting them.

 

They had made every sacrifice for me to get an education. Looking back on it, I can only imagine how they felt when I told them my decision. Angry, hurt, frustrated, confused, fearful, concerned. They may have even felt like they failed as parents.

 

Luke 22 tells the story of the Last Supper. It was the Thursday of Passover week and the disciples’ gathered together to celebrate. Passover dates back to when Moses was about to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land.

 

To avoid the impending curse of the death of every first born, each Hebrew household sacrificed a lamb and smeared the blood of the lamb over their doorpost. By doing this, the curse would “pass over” their family.

 

You can picture Jesus and his disciples as they reclined at the table for Passover. Because of the excitement about everything that had recently happened, the conversation may have become quite animated.

 

After all, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead; He entered Jerusalem like a conquering king; He cleared the temple and faced down the religious leaders. Therefore, just like when Moses had freed the Israelites, the disciples likely assumed that the time had arrived when Jesus would take power.

 

Instead, Jesus said that one of them was going to betray him. Following this, they argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest. Finally, when Simon vowed that he would follow Jesus to prison or even death, Jesus told Simon that he would deny him three times before the next morning.

 

In the Gospel of Matthew version of the Last Supper, Jesus quoted this prophecy from Zechariah to his disciples.

 

³¹ “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’                 NIV

 

Like my parents, Jesus may have had the same feelings about his disciples. He had invested in them for three years. They had lived together twenty-four, seven. He had personally picked them, taught them and given them every possible advantage to succeed. Yet they failed because they quit!

 

It’s easy to judge the disciples for deserting Jesus in his hour of need. But before you do, ask yourself this. Have you ever doubted Jesus and not trusted him? Have you ever decided to go your own way? Have you ever disappointed him? Have you ever quit on him?

 

The Good News is that the story didn’t end with the Last Supper. Like the blood of the sacrificial lamb in Egypt that saved the Hebrews, Jesus is our sacrificial lamb. 

The difference is that he was raised from the dead and invites us to sit at the table with him. He is knocking at the door of our heart, waiting for us to open it and let him in.

 

²⁰ “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.                                                                                  Revelation 3             NLT

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com