ME: "Come join my husband and I for Passover dinner at our house on Friday April 10!"
THEM: "I don’t get it — why is it a Passover dinner and not just dinner with family and friends? All those feasts were done away with in the New Covenant."
ME: "Were they? Can you show me where it says that?"
THEM … … … … "Well, where does it say they are to be kept?"
ME: "Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." Mat 24:15-20
"Hey, didn’t Jesus get the memo that in the New Covenant the Sabbath was no longer to be kept?"
"Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." Acts 10:10-14
"Hey, didn’t Peter get the memo that in the New Covenant the dietary laws were no longer to be kept?"
"When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus." Acts 18:20-21
"Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Cor 5:6-8
"Hey, didn’t Paul get the memo that in the New Covenant the feasts were no longer to be kept?"
THEM: … … … …
ME: "I guess not."
Here's my take on the blog I just read.
About the abomination of desolations: Israel even today is slowly becoming a rabbinocracy. I spent over a year there. Try driving by the neighborhoods inhabited by the ultra-orthodox, the Chassidim. They'll stone your car, or even throw rocks at you for showing up to a movie theatre ticket window before the Sabbath has ended. Try escaping when you can't drive safely.
About Peter: He had a hard time leaving the ceremonial law behind. He thoughtlessly mentioned to a host that he wasn't supposed to eat with Gentiles, which was Jewish law but not Old Testament law (there's a difference). God had to get him beyond this. I grew up Jewish, and I still avoid certain foods, given the choice. And I've been saved for over 30 years.
Leavening: "B'dikat chametz" they call it. It's part of the Passover preparation. See the Jew for Jesus video called "Christ and the Passover" for a demonstration of how they would scour the house for any kind of leavening as the Passover approached.
No, we're not under ceremonial law. Paul could use the typology of the law as he did in the example just above. Peter had problems leaving it behind. And escaping Jerusalem with its travel restrictions would be hard with the orthodox in charge.
A great addition to a classical curriculum would be Jewish studies. Classical education can help with the epistles, but Talmudic education clears up much of the confusion about what Jesus said and meant. Lack of Jewish studies is one of the reasons Christian theology becomes slanted towards a Greco-Roman interpretation of the Bible.
I meant to say that you can't drive by the Chassidic neighborhoods ON THE SABBATH. Sorry, I left that part out.