Our Jewish Jesus

In a recent blog, I shared several Hebrew scriptures about the birth of the Messiah that were fulfilled by Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus. These are just a few of the more than 300 prophecies that were fulfilled by Yeshua. I also said that many Jewish people are probably surprised to learn that everything about Yeshua was Jewish.

Today’s blog, “Our Jewish Jesus,” is about a holiday, Passover, that Jewish people, worldwide, commemorate during the spring. The Passover story is rich with meaning and deliverance for the Jews from their enemies, which, we know, has even greater significance at this current, perilous time for Israel and Jews throughout the world.

For those unfamiliar, thousands of years ago, the early Jews, then known as the Israelites, lived in Egypt where they were harshly mistreated as slaves. The Egyptian pharaoh ordered that all Israelite male babies be killed because the Israelite population was growing exponentially. God heard the cries of His people and Moses, one of the most prominent men in the Hebrew Bible, entreated the Egyptian pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt so that they could go to Israel (then known as Canaan) to worship the LORD.

Despite awful plagues that came upon the Egyptians, pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. The final plague was the killing of the firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal.

God, however, instructed the Israelites to slaughter a perfect, spotless lamb and to place the blood of the lambs on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their homes. Animal sacrifices were commanded because, according to Jewish law, “ … the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul,” Leviticus chapter 17, verse 11.

In Exodus 12 it says that when God saw the blood upon the Israelites’ doorposts, He would pass over those houses and that the firstborn in those homes would be spared. He commanded His people to commemorate this Passover deliverance forever, which is why Jewish people celebrate Passover every year.

The firstborn has always been an important concept in Judaism. Following their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites were instructed to consecrate the firstborn son to the Lord.

So, you may be wondering, what does Passover and all of this have to do with Yeshua?

In the book of Luke, in the New Testament, it says, “When Yeshua (Jesus) was born, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord. ‘ ” Luke chapter 2, verses 22 and 23.

Also in the New Testament, we read in the book of John, who was Jewish, “The next day Yochanan (John) was coming toward him (Yeshua) and said, ‘Look! God’s lamb. The one who is taking away the sin of the world,’ ” – John chapter 1, verse 29.

Yeshua had to live a sinless life in order to be the perfect lamb who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Peter, a Jewish fisherman who followed Yeshua, said that it was the precious blood of Yeshua, a lamb without blemish or defect, who redeemed people from their sins – 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 19.

It might also surprise you to know that Yeshua celebrated the Passover with his disciples. 

Matthew, who was Jewish, records the following – “On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?’ ‘As you go into the city,’ he told them, ‘you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there,” Matthew chapter 26, verses 17 and 18.

During this Passover meal, Yeshua took some of the unleavened bread and blessed it and instructed his disciples to eat it. He also took a cup of wine (the cup of redemption – the third cup in the Passover meal) and instructed his disciples to drink it.

For those familiar with Christian traditions, this is now known as the Lord’s Supper (communion) which takes place in churches and Messianic synagogues throughout the world.

It is important for both Jews and Christians to understand the significance of this beautiful holiday of Passover which reminds Christians of the Jewish roots of our faith. 

Finally, I’d like to say that there are a growing number of Christians who commemorate Passover with seder meals. In addition to wanting to explore and emulate their Jewish roots, followers of Yeshua are drawn to Passover because they identify with the freedom (from sin and death) that God gave to the Israelites in delivering them from Egypt. Those who follow Yeshua, including me, also believe that the matzah, (unleavened bread) which has stripes, that is eaten during the Passover, represents the 39 stripes that Yeshua received as he was beaten and whipped resulting in stripes upon his body prior to his crucifixion.

We also believe that the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites’ homes was a foreshadowing of the blood that Yeshua, the Perfect Sacrificial Lamb, shed for all mankind for the forgiveness of our sins. And we see this parallel in the lamb bone that is on the plate of every Jewish seder meal. 

There are also other aspects of the seder that clearly point to the Messiah – his death, burial and resurrection. Passover is a prophetic and visual expression of Yeshua, the Messiah. At the end of every seder, these words are said, “Next year in Jerusalem,” which is a prayer of hope for Jews who wish to live safely in their Jewish homeland, Israel, and in God’s most beloved city of Jerusalem. Let it be so, dear Lord, let it be so.

Big Cats in Heaven

Is heaven for real? Yes, says Colton Burpo, who, at the age of 4, says he visited Heaven during a critical illness and surgery. In the book and movie, “Heaven is for Real,” Colton sees things in Heaven he could not otherwise have known (a sister who died in her mother’s womb; a youthful ‘pops,’ his dad’s grandfather); angels singing to him, and Jesus’ beautiful eyes and multi-colored horse.

Why has this book and movie gained so much attention? Could it be because it comes from the perspective of a young child, too young to be tainted by our adult cynicism or maybe it is because most of us know so little about Heaven and, somewhere in our deepest psyche, we NEED to know what might lie ahead of us following our death.

In his great book, “Heaven,” by Randy Alcorn, of Eternal Perspective Ministries, Alcorn states that “we have failed to explore and explain the Bible’s magnificent teachings about Heaven,” and that is so true!

The New Testament is filled with examples of what happens after death to those who know and love Christ Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Jesus told the thief on the cross – ‘TODAY you will be with me in Paradise,’ Luke 23:43.

Paul said that to die was “to be with Christ and to be absent from the body was to PRESENT with the Lord,” 2 Corinthians. 5:8.

I found the book, simply called, “Heaven,” shortly after my mother passed away about three years ago. To say that my mother and I were close would be a tremendous understatement.

God had drawn me to Himself in 1977 at a spiritual retreat in Morgantown, West Virginia. The fact that I was there was nothing short of miraculous because I had grown up Jewish in Brooklyn, NY. But questions to the deeper meaning of life (and death) plagued me since childhood and, having tried everything else, I was led by God, through a series of miraculous events, to the retreat.

There, after much wrestling with “what would my Jewish mother think?” I came to realize and understand that Jesus is truly the Jewish Messiah and I surrendered my life to Him, hook, line and sinker. My mother was devastated and immediately flew to Morgantown to deprogram me from the cult she thought I was in.

But after 10 years of prayer by me and many others, my husband and I had the awesome privilege of praying for my mother to receive Jesus as her Messiah as well. So our lives were intertwined deeply as mother and daughter and sisters in the Lord.

And although she was sick and suffered with chronic pain for more than 30 years, her death still hit me like a ton of bricks. I implored God to teach me about Heaven and to show me where my mother was after her passing.

God immediately spoke to me through Hebrews 11:4, which, speaking of Cain and Abel, states, “By faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.”

God told me that my mother – even though dead – would still speak. And so that is what has happened as, now knowing what it feels like to lose a parent or other loved one, I have shared the love and comfort of God with many others who have lost loved ones. And I have shared the miracles of Heaven that God subsequently revealed to me.

I implored God, “I NEED to know what my mother is doing right now,” and was led to a verse in the Song of Songs 4:8,  in which, God, speaking to His beloved, says,

“Come with me from Lebanon my bride, descend from the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ den and the mountain haunts of leopards.”

For those who may not know (I didn’t!), Mount Hermon is a cluster of very high mountains in the Golan Heights in Israel.

Why was this so miraculous? It is because my mother’s maiden name is Herman (just a slightly different spelling from Hermon) and because she (and I!) love cats of every kind – little cats, big cats, fat cats, pretty cats, and every other conceivable variation of cats! In our lives together, we had given each other dozens of books and DVDs on cats.

So I believe that God showed me that at this very moment, my mother is hanging around with the big cats! Man, do I want to be there too!

Alcorn states that, “Biblical Christianity does not give up on humanity or the earth. We long for what the first man and woman once enjoyed – a perfect and beautiful Earth with free and untainted relationship with God, each other, animals and our environment. “

He goes on to state that the Bible is filled with clues to the nature of the Eternal Heaven: Heaven is a city. Cities have buildings, culture, art, music, athletics, goods and services, events of all kinds. Cities have people engaged in activities, gatherings, conversations and work.

Heaven is also described as a country. God promises us a New Earth – where we can expect to find earthly things – atmosphere, mountains, water, trees, people, houses, cities, buildings and streets.

“The Biblical doctrine of the New Earth implies something startling – that if we want to know what the ultimate Heaven, our eternal home, will be like, the best place to start is by looking around us,” Alcorn states.

In fact, Alcorn has a whole chapter dedicated to animals in heaven.

And so for now I just tell my mom every day – pet, feed, play with and love on those big cats for me! Can’t wait for the day when we can do so together.