"HolYdays Season" - Thanks-4-giving Us The Passover

Many of us look at the holiday season as an exciting time of year we really look forward to and others look at the holiday season as the most difficult time of year for them…
 
Just like there is a noticeable shift in our country and relationships during the holiday season there is also a noticeable shift in the kingdom of God during the “HolYdays” seasons…

Leviticus 23:37-38
37 These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day-- 38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord
 
In Leviticus 23 the Lord lays out a series of feast and festivals that He identifies as “HolYdays” that are unique within the year for His people…
 
Verse 38 says these days are… 38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord…
 
This means that aside from what you do week in and week out these “HolYdays” seasons are significant…
 
They are times of celebration and remembrance and foreshadowing of things to come…
 
A Christian looks at Thanksgiving beyond a national day in remembrance of pilgrims and indians…
 
We look at it from the perspective of the God who provides food from the earth for all of mankind…
 
We see it as a time to remember the gift of family God has given us…
 
We see it as a glimpse of the future when we shall have an abundance everyday and when our families will be whole and without any brokenness…
 
A Christian looks at Christmas beyond the one day to give something to those we love…
 
Christmas is the celebration of the life coming into the world that offers eternal life to all who would have it…
 
We celebrate the virgin birth and the humility of God to come to the earth in the form of a man…
 
Matthew 1:23
23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
 
We see Christmas as the promise that anchors all of our future promises of forgiveness of sins and regeneration and transformation and eternal life…
 
This year we need to focus on what our national holiday seasons really represent and not be misled by the American marketing machine or by our feelings whether they be positive or negative feelings…
 
I want to move away from our holidays and focus in on what this series is really about which is the Lord’s “HolYdays” seasons…
 
They also come annually and there is a heightened emotional state for the Lord’s people…
 
Like us with our holidays God’s people consistently missed the point of their “HolYdays” seasons too…
 
Matthew 26:1-5
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." 3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
 
The church wanted to take Jesus and have Him killed but because it was the “HolYdays” season of passover they didn’t want to upset all the people…
 
Many of us don’t like doing the family thing or work thing during the holidays because its always some kind of drama…
 
Whether we avoid the holidays because of drama or we pretend not to have hatred in our hearts because we don’t want to ruin the holidays we are all missing the point…
 
The first of the “Holidays” seasons we are going to look at is the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that we see here in Matthew 26 and we will see just how ignorant they had become of the reason for the season…
 
In Leviticus 23 all the “Holidays” seasons are laid out for us but we are just going to look at the two that make up this first season…
 
Leviticus 23:4-8
4 'These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.”
 
So God established the Passover and then a week long celebration called the Feast of Unleavened Bread for His people… But why?…
 
Deuteronomy 16:1-8
1 "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name.3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; 6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.
 
So now we see that this “HolYday” season is established in remembrance of God delivering His people who had become slaves out of Egypt…
 
But what actually happened that warrants an annual time of remembrance?…
 
Exodus 12:1-17
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat--that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.
 
So the Passover is about death passing over those who were identified by and covered by the blood…
 
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is about bread that could be taken on a journey that needed to be taken in haste and yet the people needed to be sustained for the journey while they would not be able to bake bread…
 
Exodus 13:8-9
8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.' 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
 
Holidays and “HolYdays” seasons are about remembrance…
 
Are we remembering the truth about our past and is it affecting our present and our hope for the future?…
 
Lamentations 3:21
21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
 
Hebrews 6:19
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast
 
Let’s look at how all this really begins to affect you and I…
 
Lately I’ve been talking to people a lot about connecting the dots between what we know and how that should affect our actions…
 
It’s good to know about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread but if it doesn’t affect your life the knowledge is not nearly as valuable as it could be…
 
I bet the first people to eat the Passover in Egypt and then be delivered from the most powerful king on the earth at the time then to journey and eat unleavened bread as they made their exodus I bet that knowledge had an impact on their view of that season every year…
 
Today our physical holiday circumstances should not be able to compare to our spiritual understanding of the season…
 
Luke 2:40-50
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. 41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." 49 And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. 
 
So check this out…
 
Jesus goes with His family every year to the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread in Jerusalem from Nazareth…
 
and when He’s 12… the same age we graduate our kids into the youth like we did with Jeremy this morning… Jesus decides that He is going to stay in Jerusalem instead of heading back to Nazareth…
 
Its as if the “HolYdays” season had suddenly become more to Jesus than an annual week long family trip into Jerusalem…
 
Jesus told His family “I must be about My Father’s business”…
 
Jesus knew that what He had done with the Father to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt was a foreshadowing of a greater deliverance that was on the way…
 
What was supposed to be a guiding light for people to draw closer and closer to God had become a religious holiday…
 
Colossians 2:16-17
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
 
So Jesus is talking to the church about the festival and sabbaths and passover and He’s talking to His parents about the same things trying to get them to understand that they all point to Him…
 
One of the most difficult things about being a Pastor is the fact that many people think the things you tell them are self serving and more about me than it is about them so they often refuse to listen…
 
I can only imagine 12 year old Jesus telling everyone that everything they have been doing for hundreds of years of remembering in the “HolYdays” seasons has been pointing to Him and they now need to put their faith in Him…
 
John 4:25-26
25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
 
Imagine if you woke up this thanksgiving or Christmas and as everyone went running for their gifts Jesus appeared in your living room and said “I am that which you must be thankful for”… or “In Me is the gift of eternal life”…
 
The holidays and the “HolYdays” are all about Jesus…
 
Let’s close with the culmination of the Passover…
 
John 1:21-29
21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 23 He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord," ' as the prophet Isaiah said." 24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 
 
Jesus is the “Passover” lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…
 
The lambs that allowed the children of Israel to be passed over when death came through Egypt were just a foreshadowing of this lamb that would come and abolish death altogether…

Look at how this rolls in to "Communion"…
 
Matthew 26:17-28
17Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples." ' " 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?" 23 He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." 25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it." 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 
 
And look at how this rolls in to "Baptism"…
 
John 1:30-35
30 This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." 32 And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." 35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
 
And the "HolYdays" season keeps on rolling!