Passover and Pentecost: Redemption Journey (part 1)
Post Title: No Time Like the Present
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Biblical Judaism is unique among the world's religions for sanctifying time — according to divine instruction — creating a vibrant rhythm to life that gives every season special significance. It also imbues Jewish history with meaning, both past, and present. Within the course of a year, all the key events of Jewish history are re-enacted and celebrated.
Highlighted in Exodus 23:14-17, the three pilgrim festivals are Passover (Pesach) in the spring, Pentecost (Shavu'ot) in early summer, then comes Sukkot (Tabernacles) in the fall.
Passover is such a rich subject and an incredibly fertile area of study. Rather than walk through the symbols of a seder meal, I want to go deeper into some of the essential ideas underlying and demonstrated in Passover. I want to examine the important principles from the perspective of how they can impact the way we live.
The Exodus from Egypt — punctuated by Passover — is all about the drama of God's great redemption. It is a journey he has ordained for his people. Passover redemption is the central paradigm of the Jewish faith, celebrated annually in Jewish homes throughout the world. It is an event that you and I need to understand because we, too, are called to remember and re-enact it in the context of sharing the Lord's Supper.
The heart of biblical thinking is a focus on living. As followers of Jesus, the Feasts are another area in which we are indebted to our Jewish roots and forefathers. In this study, I am seeking to answer the question, What light does Passover shine on our journey of redemption?
The first lesson Passover teaches us is that the focus of biblical faith is on life in the present, on the here and the now.
It is not an exclusive focus, but it is the priority. Living here and now is how we redeem the time, not being preoccupied with things beyond this world or things in the future. It is a matter of paying attention to God's priorities.
A proper Hebraic understanding of eternity tells us that which is eternal is not so much an issue of duration as it is of dimension. Eternity is that which redeems the present, gives hope and purpose to the future, and sanctifies the past. Eternity is a dimension, a way of living with a different perspective.
Salvation from a Hebraic point of view is not a future escape but a present experience of God's presence and power.
In the Exodus, you have God's presence demonstrated, tangibly and visibly apparent in the luminescent cloud, also viewed by night as a burning fire. The dwelling of God's presence (shekinah) accompanied his kingdom of priests on their redemptive journey. Biblically speaking, salvation is not a free pass to some heavenly amusement park—salvation is a summons to serve the great King, the Redeemer of Israel.
Salvation is a call from heaven saying, "Come near and serve me. Become my priests and be a blessing to my world." Salvation is not focused on escape or removal from this world. It is a way of seeing this world with totally new eyes, as God's creation, in which at some point the epic final redemption of planet earth is going to come.
As the exodus from Egypt is a foretaste of that future consummation, covenantally speaking, so the exodus at Calvary is a foretaste of the new creation.
Jesus was, and we are the firstfruits of what shall be a glorious cosmic redemption. The whole planet is going to come under the kingship of the God of Israel. That means salvation in this life is more than some personal or internal experience. It is a communal reality, an event encompassing all the people of God.
The Exodus is the core event in all Jewish history; it gives them their very identity. It imbues the present and provides direction to the future because of what God did. We know with certainty that God's activity in the Passover is the result of his redemption history. It is not some meaningless, cyclical recurrence of an illusion called time.
History is a time stream that has a direction, a purpose, a goal. In the end, we shall see that from the beginning, it has indeed been His-story.
Right now, when we look at human history—even our personal history—it is like looking at the underside of a tapestry. We see threads and loose ends, and we cannot discern a picture or a pattern. But from the other side, the side of redemption, you can see a divine design woven on that tapestry which reveals a grand drama. In it, the King is revealed for who he truly is! His creation will come into partnership with him, and it shall indeed be joy unspeakable.
The prophets can only find images to try to convey what a glorious, final transfiguration it shall be.
Passover teaches us and reminds us that history is meaningful, purposeful. Therefore the here and now is ultimately significant. We have a direction regarding the future, but here and now is where we experience God's salvation, his redemption, his presence, his power. Hallelujah!
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This study is from a professionally produced transcription of the audio recording. It was edited for readability by the team at JC Studies.
Dwight A. Pryor (1945-2011) was a gifted Bible teacher of exceptional clarity and depth who earned the friendship and admiration of both Christian and Jewish scholars—in the United States and Israel—as well as the respect and appreciation of followers of Jesus around the world. His expertise in the language, literature, and culture of Israel during the life and time of Jesus and the early church yield insights that nourish every area of faith and practice.
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