There are many things Christians can do to get ready for Easter.
In Homewood, members of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church were encouraged to spend a few minutes each day reading a book titled “40 Days with Jesus” to get spiritually prepared for Easter.
Other opportunities across Alabama allowed Christians to prepare for Easter by examining the traditional Jewish Passover from a Christian viewpoint.
On April 5 First Baptist Church in Sulligent (Lamar Association) hosted a presentation by a representative of Jews for Jesus, Amer Olson.
As some of the material stated, “Passover is one of the most significant of all the Jewish holidays, and it was celebrated by the most significant Jew of all time — Jesus.”
Indeed, Bro. Olson helped participants see the story of redemption unfold from the Exodus to Calvary. He explained what the Jewish Passover and Jesus’ Last Supper have in common. The program was titled “Christ in the Passover.”
Brother Olson pointed out how references to Jesus can be found in the traditional seder (say-der) service observed by Jews each year during Passover.
Host pastor John Nicholson said, “The presentation was an impressive and moving experience for all of us.”
Several other churches in Alabama recently hosted the same presentation, including almost every portion of the state. It is said the presentation has been given by Jews for Jesus more than 5,000 times. This was the second time the Sulligent church has hosted such a presentation, the previous time being two years ago.
On Wednesday night before Easter, Canaan Baptist Church of Bessemer participated in a joint ceremonial Passover dinner with two nearby -congregations, Morgan United Methodist Church and Beth-El Shaddai Messianic Jewish Congregation.
The seder service, held at the Methodist church, was interpreted from a Christian viewpoint by the Messianic congregation. Approximately 150 people attended.
The music and the responsive readings were led by Beth-El Shaddai’s worship leader, Glenn Wilson.
Participants were seated for a meal at round tables, each of which had eight places. Those at each table made up a “family” with a host and hostess who represented the father and mother of the family as they passed around the symbolic foods.
At the table where my wife and I were seated, the “father” was Canaan’s pastor, Barry Cosper, and the “mother” was his wife, Cathy. Others at the table included Canaan’s interim minister of education, Don Hazard, and Canaan church members Steve and Josh Bailey and Holly Davis. Brother Hazard retired two years ago as associate pastor/minister of education at Hillview Baptist Church, Birmingham Association.
The order of service for the evening was a Haggadah containing a seder ritual adapted to show Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
It was interesting to find out that the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah 52–53 Christians understand as referring to Jesus are omitted from the yearly Scripture reading cycle by Jewish synagogues.
During the meal, the afikomen — the middle piece of three matzos — is broken, then hidden and later found. Though traditional Jewish leaders say otherwise, there is no more reasonable explanation for the activity than it symbolizes the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, who “was broken,” “hidden” (buried) and “brought back.”
Part of the seder service was reading Psalm 136 responsively, with its recurring refrain, “His steadfast love is eternal.” Fresh insights prepare the way for wonder-filled worship on Easter.
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