YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

Most of Christianity celebrates Christmas and Easter every year. Here’s a challenge for you. See if you can find one scripture to substantiate New Testament Christians keeping Christmas and/or Easter. If New Testament Christians celebrated those days, wouldn’t you expect to find Bible references showing they did? The days that you will find mentioned in the Bible are Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.

Aren’t all of these days just Old Testament celebrations? Aren’t they Jewish holidays? What about the New Testament, were these days celebrated after the resurrection of Christ? Luke records in Acts 20:6 that after the Days of Unleavened Bread, Paul boarded a ship with some fellows at Philippi and arrived in Troas five days later. From there, they continued on their journey. Paul decided not to stop at Ephesus this time because he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter? No! To celebrate Pentecost. These verses show that after the death and resurrection of Christ the early church still celebrated the Passover and Pentecost. Why? Because these days have significance to Christians.

All of the Feast days are recorded in Leviticus 23. “These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies”(verse 1). When did these become appointed times? At Creation God divided the day from the night and said “let them be for signs, and for seasons”(Genesis 1:14). By following the translations of Leviticus, you will see they were for signs and feasts. This indicates that from the very beginning, God’s plan called for feast days.

Have you seen the movies Exodus and The Prince of Egypt? Charleston Heston played the part of Moses in Exodus. You may recall that he went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go.” But do you remember why Moses asked Pharaoh to let the Israelites go? It was so “they might hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” One of God’s appointed times was approaching. This feast points squarely to the Passover. The Israelites were not allowed to go into the wilderness to keep the Passover, but they kept it in Egypt, to Pharaoh’s great regret.

There is reason to believe that even before this, God already had His appointed times. When Abraham took his son Isaac up to the mountain to sacrifice him to God, could this have been the Passover season?

God always had His “appointed times”and the occasions when God acted in history often took place on his “appointed times.” As a result of God’s action, the day took on the meaning of God’s action. The 14th day of the first month took on the meaning of the Passover because on that night, God passed over the houses of Israel and took all of the first born of Egypt. So for all of Israel, all of these appointed times took on names and customs that were related to important times in their history. They and the world forgot that there is a transcendent meaning to those days.

Some say these days only had application to the Jewish people. Is that right? From the very beginning these days had a “Jewish” or historical meaning, but more important, they pointed to the work and ministry of Christ. Like a chameleon, these days took on the color or meaning of their time or background. For a time they took on a “Jewish”or historical meaning, but all along they were pointing to something higher.

In 1 Corinthians 5:8 Paul wrote a letter to a Gentile church that was observing the Days of Unleavened Bread – they had put leavening out of their houses. Paul makes this unusual statement “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leavening, but with the leavening of sincerity and truth. Jesus Christ is tied to the Passover. Paul urged them to keep the feast at a higher and different level. There is a transcending meaning to the Passover that reaches beyond the meaning of anything the Jews had known up until this time. Now it finds its meaning in the sacrifice of Christ.

There is an assumption that the 14th day of the first month became important because Israel was delivered from Egypt on this day. But what if Israel was delivered on this day because it was one of the “appointed times”of God from creation? The Passover did not become a Christian festival because Christ was crucified on that day. Christ died on that day because it was one of the appointed times of our Creator.

There is a thread that runs through the Bible and it is unbroken. This thread is the plan of God. From the beginning God had a plan and has consistently worked it down through the ages. Christmas and Easter don’t show God’s plan. His festival, His appointed times, contain an outline of that plan. The festival gives us a point where we can pick up that thread. Everything from creation, to God telling Abraham to sacrifice his only son, to the Passover and the death of Christ points to God’s plan to save mankind and make us His very own sons and daughters.

Teenagers have asked for a YEA lesson to help them understand why we celebrate “Jewish” holidays. But are the days we celebrate really “Jewish”? The days we celebrate and those mentioned in your Bible do have Jewish historical significance, but they are Christian in their meaning and application. The early church observed the same Holy Days that most Christians today dismiss. These days are not merely Jewish. Christ is to be found in each one of them. The Holy Days do have some Jewish and historical significance. But all of them point to Christ and His great plan for you and for me. These celebrations have vital significance to Christians.

God is constant. He doesn’t do one thing now and a thousand years from now change His entire plan. “For I am the Lord – I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). James 1:17 says that God does “not change like shifting shadows.”