As the Christian calendar moves closer to our Easter celebration, this Sunday we sing our hosannas to the King during our Palm Sunday service. On this day we remember how hopeful our Jewish brothers and sisters were for a King for Israel as Jesus entered Jerusalem while the crowds were singing their own hosannas to the King. As Christians we believe that Jesus indeed is our King – our heavenly King soon to return.
We celebrate this season by setting aside the 40 days leading up to Easter as a time to reflect on our Lord, His words and our relationship with Him. We do this with prayer and fasting of food or even fasting of bad habits. The 40-day period of Lent is meant to encourage us to seek and follow Jesus’ example of prayer and fasting as He Himself did for 40 days in the wilderness before starting His formal earthly ministry.
For the season of Lent our churches often prepare specific programs that are followed, with some pastors preaching a special sermon series, possibly using a daily or weekly devotional for the congregants to follow. We take this time to improve our knowledge of the Scriptures and our prayer life to enable us to become more like Jesus because God tells us to “Be Holy as I Am Holy.”
This year our church is still in the interviewing stages and we do not yet have a permanent pastor, and so we did not have a specific program to follow as a congregation throughout Lent. I pray those of us that may be able to only attend church online or whose churches may not have formal programs have taken this into consideration as we approach our Easter celebration and we are preparing our hearts by having some special prayer and devotions at home to become closer to and more knowledgeable of our Savior. This is where independent Bible study, prayer and fasting intersect to be of great encouragement in our walk to be like Jesus.
As we celebrate Palm Sunday, those of the Jewish faith will be celebrating Passover this week. Passover is the remembrance of the Hebrews’ freedom from slavery and their exodus from Egypt. This holy week is celebrated using the symbolism of the meal God directed for His people to eat while in Egypt as their houses were marked with the blood of a lamb so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” their dwellings. Death of the eldest child of every family in unmarked homes in Egypt was the final plague sent by God and the one that set the Jewish people free.
Passover will forever be intertwined with our Easter celebrations because it is this same Jewish holy observance that brought Jesus to Jerusalem to offer His life for ours. Passover is also set apart by those of the Jewish faith as a time for reflection and renewal because every one of us needs to recognize where we have been in the past and to be forever thankful for how much God has done to deliver us from our human slavery to sin.
I was delighted recently to read the stories reported by CBN of several of the freed Israeli hostages as they related personally renewing or beginning a new faith journey with God while suffering in captivity. This indeed makes for greater and more meaningful Easter and Passover celebrations. Many of those quoted told of celebrating Shabbat even if they had never done so before because in this horrible time of trial they were drawn to God and remembered their religious heritage. One hostage held for 505 days told of a beautiful miracle as a small bottle of grape juice, used for fiddush, the Shabbat blessing, never ran out or spoiled.
If you want to prayerfully thank and praise our faithful God for His care for our brothers and sisters in Israel you can read of these wonderful stories of renewal at https://cbn.com/news/israel/testimonies-faith-gods-presence-darkness-gaza-captivity.
Our God is the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that the Jewish people read about in their Scriptures and love. As Christians we worship the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – recognizing that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
There is no mistake that the Christian and Jewish celebrations run side by side along the same themes of reflection, fasting and renewal. God is consistent in all that He does. Our Bible tells us in Hebrews, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
May you be blessed in celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry once again this Palm Sunday while singing hosannas to our King – the King of Kings!
Editor’s note: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
