The Jewish Feasts – Part II

Charles Cooper

 Much of the relationship between events in the life of Christ and the Jewish feasts is a matter of speculation because Scripture does not explicitly state that the Lord “fulfilled” them. Given that this is the case, all should exercise care in the interpretation of God’s Word regarding these matters. Drawing unsubstantiated conclusions based on similarities, indirect comparisons, and misguided and overflowing exuberance leads to examples like Fruchtenbaum’s claim: “There are two main passages that deal with the details of the Rapture and in both of those passages there is the presence of a trumpet, the trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets,” (www.ariel.org/mbs118m.pdf).

This is an example of grossly overstating the significance of a textual detail and extremely shallow eisegesis. Yet this is what many people do to contrive a relationship between events in the life of Christ and the Jewish feasts. On the basis that a “trumpet” will accompany God’s call of both the righteous dead and living up into the air to meet Christ at the “rapture,” Fruchtenbaum and many others like him draw conclusions which only foster the attitude that any detail in Scripture can be forced to support any conclusion the interpreter wants. Yet, most will admit that this practice often leads to one error after the other.

Those who are untrained in the methods of good exegesis (bring out the meaning of the text) will read a passage and hurry away with a false notion of what Scripture intends, falling victim to illegitimate totality transfer, i.e., reading a single meaning into every passage where a particular word occurs. In this case, they make the mistake that “to fulfill” always refers to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Nowhere is this problem more acutely felt than in the gospel of Matthew. In connection with his account of early events in the life of Christ, Matthew states, “And he [Joseph] arose and took the child [the Lord Jesus] and his mother [Mary] by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod [the great]. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son,’” (Matt. 2:14-15) (emphasis added).

A check of Hosea 11:1, which Matthew quotes in verse 15, quickly reveals the absence of a prophetic statement. In other words, Hosea 11:1 is not a prophecy. It is a declaration of a fact that occurred almost 700 years before Hosea wrote it. The casual reader will err by not allowing the context to influence his or her understanding of Matthew’s intent. Context is the key to avoiding error. “To fulfill” does not always mean the conclusion to predicted prophecy. Part of the problem is the broad definition of the term “fulfillment.” Applying the same meaning to the term regardless of its usage leads to error. The Greek term has more than one nuance. However, before we look at the lexical meanings of the term, we need to discuss the broader topic. Is “fulfillment” the correct “word” or concept best suited to describe the correspondence or relationship between events in the life of Christ and the Jewish feasts? Does Christ “fulfill” the feasts of Israel? If so, in what sense can we say Christ “fulfilled” the Jewish feasts?

Scripture does explicitly identify the Lord Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” (John 1:29, 36), which has some connection to the Jewish Passover. The apostle Paul depicts Christ as “our Passover,” (I Cor. 5:7). Based on these two passages, there is a correspondence between at least one Jewish feast and the life of Christ. Additionally, the fact that both the death and resurrection of Christ occur on the same day of a calendar month – as do the Feasts of Passover and Firstfruits – makes it very easy to see why many casual observers of Scripture are quick to see “fulfillment.” In their minds, this is the correct way to describe the relationship between all the feasts and the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

On this matter, the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery states,

 The NT presents both continuity and innovation in regard to religious festivals. On the one hand, Jesus and his disciples are described as participating in statutory Jewish festivals. But there is an element of fulfillment and abrogation as well as observance of OT festivals…The atoning events of Passion Week are set against a background of the Passover, again suggesting Christ’s fulfillment of what the sacrificial system foreshadowed.[1]

There does seem to be a consensus among many Bible scholars that “there is an element of fulfillment” observed between the death, burial, resurrection and empowerment of the Spirit in conjunction with the first four annual Jewish feasts. “An element of fulfillment” requires care in our definition of what exactly our Lord “fulfills” in connection with each feast. For it is patently clear that not every detail of the first three feasts found “fulfillment” in the events of the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. In addition, it is more precise to speak of “fulfillment” of the Feast of Pentecost in association with the Holy Spirit than with Christ.

It is clear in the gospel of Matthew that the verb “to fulfill” can have multiple meanings. In Matthew 5:17, the Lord Jesus explicitly states, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.” It is my conviction that this verse explains what we should mean by “fulfillment.” That said, we must also define what Matthew means by “to fulfill.”

In the opinion of many, Matthew 5:17 begins the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. Since Matthew is the only writer in the New Testament to include this vast amount of material that we identify as the Sermon on the Mount, he is the best interpreter of his intent.[2] An awareness of the content of Matthew’s material makes it easy to understand why the section begins with a disclaimer. Without it, and given the content, one could easily conclude that Jesus was not loyal to the law. On six occasions, Jesus corrects false interpretations of the Torah (Matthew 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, and 43) and sets himself up as its interpreter.

The Lord’s presentation of the true meaning of the Torah might suggest that he saw no value in the law. Thus, to counteract that idea, this section begins with the promise of the Lord’s unswerving devotion to the law and the prophets. Verse 17 begins with, “Do not think.” This verb occurs in the N.T. in the sense of a false assumption (Acts 8:20 and 17:29). It always occurs in a context in which an erroneous assumption occurs. Matthew tells us what the mistaken assumption is: “that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.” Given what the Lord says, this is a very real possibility.

The sense of the verb to destroy literally means, “to put down.” But Jesus did not come to put down the “the law or the prophets.” Here we could also offer the translation “to abolish,” “to annul,” or “to repeal.” The phrase “the law or the prophets,” is another way of referring to the entire Old Testament. Matthew will again use a similar phrase in 7:12 and 22:40. Luke uses the same phrase (Luke 16:16) as does John (1:45) and Paul (Romans 3:21). The Lord addresses the entirety of the Old Testament by his comments.

Matthew repeats the negative (to destroy) before stating the positive (to fulfill). Many scholars are not sure of the Lord’s intent with this statement. To fulfill is the Greek infinitive of the verb plēroō (πληρόω), which means to fill completely, fulfill, bring to completion, realize.^[3] Now we receive some help with the Lord’s intent. “To fulfill” is the opposite of “to abolish, annul, or repeal.” In a literal sense, this verb refers to filling something with something else. We fill a jug with water. Metaphorically, a person is filled with joy.

Regarding the meaning of Matthew 5:17, one author concludes, “The meaning in this instance cannot be determined by word study alone but must be established from the context.”^[4] We suggest that the “context” is the whole book of Matthew. An investigation of the gospel of Matthew reveals that his use of the verb “to fulfill” is multi-dimensional. For example, as we earlier demonstrated, he states, “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” In connection with the Lord Jesus’ return from Egypt with his parents after the death of Herod, Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 and seemingly indicates the fulfillment of prophecy. Yet, upon closer examination, one discovers that Hosea 11:1 is not a prophecy, but a statement of fact regarding God’s call of the nation of Israel from Egypt. This event occurred more than seven hundred years before the prophet Hosea wrote his book. This and other examples prove that Matthew uses “to fulfill” in a special sense at least in some of the occurrences of the term in his gospel. Is Matthew 5:17 one of them?

Perhaps, J.R. Daniel Kirk in his article, “Conceptualising Fulfillment in Matthew,” has best caught Matthew’s intent. He writes,

 The narrative embodiment we suggested for prophetic fulfilment (sic) is helpful here. First, it allows us to recognise (sic) that Jesus is replaying the law-giving moment of Israel’s story. It also enables us to recognise (sic) once again the measure of continuity between the shape of the OT text cited and the event in Jesus’ life, while also allowing us to recognise (sic) that Matthew indicates that a new and different substance has come when Jesus ‘fills it up’…In this case, the facet of the Israel story that Jesus fills up is the law, and as before the new substance is different from the old while taking much the same shape.

… It is only when the law scene of Israel’s story is played by Jesus that it takes on the fuller meaning, the new substance. It is only in Matthew’s story that we come to see that the laws point to something beyond themselves—something that Jesus himself brings to light.

As with the formula quotations and their references to the prophets, so here with reference to the law, Jesus does not embody what was always the sensus literalis [literal sense] of the OT Instead, the OT gives shape to the ministry of Jesus such that, in retrospect, the OT can be seen as a witness to something greater than itself whose substance has come with the one who fills the shape of its story with new meaning.[5]

If the reader has a problem following Kirk’s logic, his point is as follows: Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognized that events from the history of the nation of Israel gave rise to or made up a template for the life of Jesus Christ. They both are the seed of Abraham. They both had a miraculous conception. They both are sons of God. They both developed in Egypt. They both came to the land from Egypt. They both were tempted in the wilderness. They both were baptized at the Jordan River. They both received God’s law.

It is self-evident that Matthew decided to take the events of Israel’s history and demonstrate that Jesus Christ is an exact parallel with a completely different outcome. The nation of Israel failed, but Jesus succeeded. God had two sons: Israel and Jesus. One son (Israel) failed to live up to God’s standards. The other son (Jesus) did succeed in living up to God’s standards. In this sense, he fulfills the law and the prophets. Since so much of the O.T. presents only the shadows of a greater reality, Christ helps us to see what God ultimately intended by his commands, statues, and laws.

How does this relate to the feasts of Israel? We think it best to speak of a pattern fulfillment. Technically, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not fulfillments of the first three Jewish feasts. Rather, there is a pattern of activity seen in the Lord’s actions that parallels Israel’s Passover. Israel has her Passover and we saints have ours. We like to think of it this way: God acts in a certain manner in accord with certain circumstances. He will always act this way whenever this set of circumstances is repeated. To release the enslaved, God provides a sacrificial lamb. The events in Christ’s life did not replace Israel’s requirements to celebrate the feasts. On the contrary, Jews who recognize Christ as their Messiah are to celebrate two events: the physical and spiritual release from enslavement through God’s Passover lambs.

Leviticus 23 explicitly identifies four of the seven Jewish feasts as perpetual statues. The feasts of Firstfruits (23:14); Pentecost (23:21); Atonement (23:31); and Tabernacles (23:41) are without question to be celebrated perpetually. On four separate occasions the text states, “It is a statute forever throughout your generations.” Therefore, one can hardly expect the Jews to cease the celebration of these feasts. In fact, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Jews continued the celebrations of the feasts until the destruction of the second temple. Acts 21:15-30 relates by the mouth of James the continuing role of the temple in the lives of the Disciples of Christ many years after the Lord’s resurrection.

 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. 17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24  take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26       Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28  crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30  Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

 

Acts 12:3-4 reports activities connected with Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread under the administration of Herod Agrippa I. These passages in the book of Acts make clear that the law and feasts were actively maintained long after the death and resurrection of Christ among the believers who were mostly Jews at this point.

Given the role of the law and the feasts after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is incorrect to speak of “fulfillment” in a traditional sense regarding the Lord’s relationship to the Jewish feasts. Rather, he conjoined the physical realities with the spiritual ones. Both were to be celebrated side by side.

In the only direct identification of the linkage between the Jewish “Passover” and the death of Christ found in the N.T. (I Cor. 5:7), Paul states, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Of interest is the final sentence of verse 7: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Literally, the Greek says, “For our Passover has been sacrificed—even Christ.” Clearly, Paul sees a connection between the Passover of Israel and the death of Christ for God’s elect. The force of the metaphor is this: Christ is our Passover. In essence, he is altogether necessary to achieve the Passover blessings for us. In Israel’s Passover, the first-born survived the night of death. As our Passover, we receive life through the blood of the Lamb of God. Israel’s Passover dealt with physical life; our Passover deals with spiritual life.

We see in the N.T. that Christ followed the pattern of the Jewish feasts with new memorials for those who experience his salvation. This does not mean that Jews were to stop their memorial celebrations. They were simply to add the new memorials to the celebrations they already enjoyed. A completed Jew in Christ celebrates the physical release of the Jews from Egyptian bondage and their spiritual release from sin’s bondage—Passover. Gentiles can only celebrate the Passover from sin’s bondage. Relative to the Jewish feasts, their significance relates to three issues: (1) a memorial to physical deliverance from Egypt; (2) a memorial to the harvest of barley and wheat; and (3) a memorial to the forgiveness of past sins.

Instead of “fulfilling” (in the traditional sense) the Passover, the Lord instituted a new memorial for those who would experience release from sin. Events connected with the last supper our Lord participated in during his early ministry support this conclusion. The last supper in which the Lord Jesus participated was not the Feast of Passover, and so was not the occasion for the eating of the Passover lamb. The following observations will prove this true:

Jesus arose from supper “before the Feast of the Passover” had begun.

•  “Now before the Feast of the Passover when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father…during supper…Jesus…rose from supper.”

(John 13:1-4)

• All four gospels note that Jesus was reclining at the table with his disciples. The Passover supper was to be eaten in haste while standing with staff in hand (Ex 12:11). The lamb eaten was to be “roasted with fire” (Ex 12:8–9) rather than boiled or stewed as for a sop.

• It was during the supper that the Lord instructs Judas (the betrayer), “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27). John 13:29 indicates that the other disciples supposed that Judas was going to buy things needed for the feast. Where would one find a store open in Jerusalem on the Passover night? Therefore, he was not going to buy for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which follows Passover. Furthermore, why would he buy things for the Passover meal, which was already in progress? It would only be appropriate and possible to buy such supplies on the Preparation Day of the Passover. This point alone proves our case.

• After the supper in the upper room – in fact, the next morning, the Jews would not enter the Praetorium where Pilate pronounced his verdict concerning the Lord Jesus because they did not want to defile themselves and thus not be able to eat the still to come Passover meal.

“Then they lead Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled,

but could eat the Passover.

(John 18:28)

• John specifically identifies the Preparation Day spoken of in each one of the gospels as “the Preparation Day for the Passover,” rather than Friday, the usual preparation day for the weekly Sabbath. Many hours after the supper in the upper room it was still the Preparation Day for the Passover. The sixth hour according to Roman reckoning was about 6:00 a.m.

“Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He (Pilate) said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’”

(John 19:14)

• The context of John 19 explicitly identifies the Sabbath day of Preparation as “a high day”, together with mention of the Passover in v. 14. Jesus is dead and buried and it is still the Preparation Day of the Passover. In fact, the Jewish leaders wanted him buried before the Preparation Day ended and the Passover began.

“Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath

(for that Sabbath was a high day),

the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.”

(John 19:31)

• The crucifixion of Jesus began at the third hour (9:00 a.m.) on the Day of Preparation. Thus it was noon when darkness fell upon the land (Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44).

“And it was the third hour when they crucified him.”

(Mark 15:25)

• It is at the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.) with only three hours remaining on the Day of Preparation that our Lord cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” This was the time for the Passover lamb to be slain at the Temple (1 Cor. 5:7). Also see Mark 15:34.

• Luke 23:54 informs us that Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb on the Preparation Day nearing 6:00 p.m., when the “High” Sabbath, the Passover itself, would begin. John 19:42 adds that the nearby tomb had to be used “on account of the Jewish day of preparation” that was quickly ending.

On or about what year did the 14^th day of Nisan occur on a Thursday between 40-50 years before the destruction of the second temple? The prophetic clock of the prophet Daniel began with the decree of Cyrus on the 20^th day of the 12^th month (Elul), exactly 3300 years after the first day of creation (Modified Egyptian calendar). Since the destruction of the second temple occurs after Daniel’s prophecy of 483 years ends (counting 12 months a year with each month containing 30 days), we believe the Lord’s birth occurred just short of 400 years after Cyrus’ decree. Using Daniel’s prophetic timeline, the death of Christ would have to occur in the year 3725, 3732, or 3739, because these are the only years during which the 14^th of Nisan occurs on a Thursday.

Since our Lord began his ministry at about 30 years of age and died three plus years later, 3732 is the best possibility for the year of his death. This puts his death on Thursday, the 14^th of Nisan, just a little less than forty years before the destruction of the second temple. Thus, there is conformity regarding the timing of the Lord’s death and the Passover, with both occurring on the 14^th of Nisan.

The Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread are memorials to the physical deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. The Feasts of Firstfruits and Pentecost are a memorial to the grain harvests. The Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths are a celebration of the forgiveness of sin for the nation. Deliverance, food, and forgiveness are the three most important doctrinal concepts associated with the feasts.

The correspondences between the feasts and events in the life of Christ have limits. The primary ones are these:

• The events in Christ’s life took place in precise temporal sequence, i.e. the exact day and month on which the Jewish feast historically occurred.

The Feast of Passover celebrates God’s sacrifice and redemption of the firstborn sons of Egypt and Israel, respectively. The deliverance of the firstborn in Israel and the death of Egypt’s firstborn set this special occasion apart. The death of the Passover lamb occurs on the 14^th day of Nisan; there is no exception to this date. Exodus 12:14 states, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” Leviticus 23:5 declares, “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight (between three and six o’clock) is the Lord’s Passover.” Both passages establish that Nisan 14 is the only day of the year the Passover lamb is to die.

Clearly, one would be shocked if the death of the Lamb of God did not occur precisely on this very same date. This vitally important detail guides the correspondence between the Feast of Passover and our Lord’s death. And so, of course, there would be great difficulty in getting the Jews to see that any benefits from the death of the Lamb of God could occur in some other month and still retain the significance and typological exactness necessary to convince Jews that such an event could be a reality. Passover is a perpetual statue. Everything about it is perpetual, which certainly includes the day and month on the Jewish calendar.

Please remember

the Jewish night-day

begins at six o’clock PM.

 Notice the diagram below:

 

Night                           Thursday                       Day

Fifth Day of the Week

6 PM               12 Midnight                 6 AM               12 Noon          6 PM

 The Passover lamb died on the 14^th of Nisan at twilight (between three and six o’clock). They ate the Passover supper on the night of the 15^th (one day ends and another day starts at 6 PM in the Jewish system). If the death of the Lord Jesus ultimately corresponds to the first Jewish feast—Passover – it is necessary that he also die on the 14^th day of Nisan, sometime after 3 o’clock, but before 6 o’clock. Furthermore, if the death of Jesus has significance for the Feast of Passover, then it should be easily discoverable that he died on Nisan 14. Yet there seems to be some question as to whether the Lord died on the 14^th or 15^th of Nisan. First, Scripture proves that the Lord died on the day of preparation for the Feast of Passover. Second, we will show that the day of preparation could not have been a Friday.

• The physical deliverance of the Passover corresponds to the spiritual deliverance of the death of Christ.

 Originally, God commanded the Jews to kill a lamb and put some of its blood on the doorpost of their homes. That same night they ate the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs while fully dressed. The purpose of the Passover was to prevent the death of the firstborn of the children of Israel at the very time that God brought judgment upon the Egyptian firstborn in order to secure the immediate release of all Jews from bondage in Egypt. No other Jewish person was under a threat of death – only the firstborn. This is a very important point to keep in mind. The Passover did not buy the forgiveness of the Jewish people, nor did it accomplish atonement for them. The Feast of Passover is about the firstborn — those who die and those who live physically. God passed over Israel’s firstborn, but killed the Egyptian’s firstborn. It was the blood of the lamb that saved Israel’s firstborn from physical death.

The point of correspondence between the death of Christ and the Feast of Passover involves God’s firstborn Son, the application of his blood and the spiritual release of God’s elect. Luke 2:7 clearly identifies the Lord Jesus as Mary’s firstborn son. The apostle Paul specifically identifies the Lord Jesus as “the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). The writer of the book of Hebrews also refers to the Lord Jesus as “the firstborn” (Heb. 1:6).

It is also clear that God allowed his judgment to fall upon his firstborn Son in order to cause the release of his elect from sin, which held all men in bondage. The Lord Jesus serves as both the firstborn who must die and the lamb whose blood brings about the spiritual safety of God’s elect. His judgment allows his blood to save. The apostle Paul states, “For those [elect] whom he [the Father] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).