Letter to the Brethren: March 18, 2021

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

As a reminder, the Spring Holy Days begin later this month.

For 2021, Passover is to be observed after sunset on March 26th. The Night to Be Observed is after sunset on March 27th. And the Days of Unleavened Bread run from sunset March 27th through sunset April 3rd.

Passover

As many are aware, the children of Israel were specifically told to observe the Passover in the Book of Exodus. Families took a lamb, without blemish (Exodus 12:5), for the sacrifice (Exodus 12:3-4). The lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth at twilight (Exodus 12:6) and some of its blood was placed upon the door of the family’s home (Exodus 12:7).

Those who took the steps God instructed were ‘passed over’ from death, whereas the Egyptians who did not do this were not (Exodus 12:28-30).

As many realize, Jesus kept the Passover annually (Exodus 13:10) from the time of His youth (Luke 2:41-42) and throughout His entire life (Luke 22:15).

Passover was observed on the fourteenth day of the month of the first month (Leviticus 23:5; called Abib in Deuteronomy 16:1 or Nisan in Esther 3:7). It occurs in the Spring season of the year.

Although Jesus changed several practices associated with it (Luke 22:19-22; John 13:1-17), our Savior also told His disciples to keep it (Luke 22:7-13). Also the New Testament is clear, that because of Jesus’ sacrifice, killing sheep and putting blood on doorposts (Exodus 12:6-7) is not needed anymore (cf. Hebrews 7:12-13,26-27; 9:11-28).

The Apostle Paul specifically taught that Christians were to keep Passover in accordance with Jesus’ instructions (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; 11:23-26).

The Bible teaches that Jesus “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) to be “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Thus, God’s plan of salvation through His Holy Days and festivals, including Jesus being the “Passover lamb,” was known before humans were placed on the planet. That is why some of the celestial bodies were placed in the heavens to be able to calculate them!

Pretty much all churches recognize that the Bible teaches that Jesus fulfilled something associated with Passover when He was killed.

We find the operation of this great Sacrifice even discussed in the Garden of Eden. After Jesus was prophesied (Genesis 3:15), God killed an animal (probably a lamb or goat), in order to cover the nakedness (a representation of a type of sin in this incidence) of Adam and Eve with its skins (Genesis 3:21). We also see this principle of sacrifice operating when Abel sacrificed a lamb from his flock (Genesis 4:2-4).

The famous Passover in the days of Moses showed the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt (Exodus 12:1-38). Moses recorded God’s instructions about this as well as the calendar (Genesis 1:14; 2:1; Exodus 12:1) and His feasts (Leviticus 23). The Passover basically became the first of these events annually picturing to God’s children His great plan of salvation.

In the Old Testament, the Passover pictured deliverance from the bondage of Egypt and God’s intervention. But, prophetically, it was also looking towards the time that Jesus would come and be our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29; cf. 3:16-17).

On Jesus’ last Passover as a human being, He continued to keep it at the time of the late evening and told His disciples to keep it (Luke 22:14-19; cf. John 13:2,12-15) and on the 14^th of Nisan/Abib (cf. Luke 22:14; 23:52-54).

Jesus, however, changed several of the practices associated with its observance.  Jesus made the unleavened bread and wine an integral part of Passover (Matthew 26:18, 26-30) and added the practice of footwashing (John 13:12-17).

Jesus in no way taught that it was not to be an annual Passover, nor did He change the time of day of its observation to a Sunday morning like those who follow Greco-Roman traditions do. Even Greek Orthodox scholars admit that 1^st and 2^nd century Christians kept Passover at night (Calivas, Alkiviadis C. The Origins of Pascha and Great Week – Part I. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1992) like we in the Continuing Church of God do in the 21^st century. Passover is only to be taken by properly baptized Christians (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29; Romans 6:3-10; Exodus 12:48; Numbers 9:14).

It probably should be added that the Church of Rome (as well as many of its Protestant descendants) officially teaches that it keeps Passover, though calling it something different in the English language and not keeping it as Jesus did (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 332).

Wine, Not Grape Juice

Despite the fact that Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:3-10) and the Greek term used in the New Testament (oinos) refers to wine (cf. 1 Timothy 3:8), various ones have claimed that it was grape juice, and not wine, that was used for Passover–even though that was impossible. The Jews, themselves also, use wine at Passover (Hisrch EG, Eisenstein JD. Wine. Jewish Encyclopedia. 1907, pp. 532-535).

How do we know that grape juice was not possibly used by Jesus?

Grapes are normally harvested around September and Passover is usually in the Roman calendar month called April (though like this year, it is in late March). In Jesus’ day, they did not have modern sterilization or refrigeration. Hence, grape juice would have spoiled between the time of harvest and Passover.

Others have also noted that it was IMPOSSIBLE for Jews to have stored grape juice that long (Cf. Kennedy ARS. Hastings Bible Dictionary. C. Scribner Son’s, 1909 p. 974). Therefore, only wine, which can remain unspoiled for even many years would have been used. (The use of alcohol, like wine, is endorsed during the Feast of Tabernacles in Deuteronomy 26:14, but not required.)

Christians are not to be “drunk with wine, wherein is excess” as Paul wrote (Ephesians 5:18, KJV). Only a very small of wine is normally consumed at Passover (about a teaspoon full or less–and as little as one drop can be used).

Passover Was on the 14^th Not the 15^th

Some have been confused about the date of the biblical Passover.

The Bible teaches that it was to be kept on the 14^th day of the first month of God’s calendar (Leviticus 23:5).

In the 6^th verse of Exodus Chapter 12, it states that the lamb is to be killed “at dusk” (GWT and Jewish Publication Society translations). The 8^th verse says that they are to eat the flesh that night. It is to be roasted and eaten that night. And, yes as one who has killed lambs, one can easily kill, roast, and eat a lamb ‘of the first year’ (Exodus 12:5) between sunset and midnight—which is basically what the children of Israel did on the recorded Passover in Exodus 12.  And technically, they had until morning to have eaten it per Exodus 12:10. Now the Bible is clear that the angelic Passover occurred “on that night” (Exodus 12:12), the same night of the 14^th.

The Bible teaches that Jesus was only to be sacrificed once (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:28; 10:10-14). In the New Testament, it is clear that Jesus kept His final Passover (Luke 22:14-16), and was killed. The Bible shows that Jesus was removed from the stake prior to the 15^th. Why? Because the 15^th was a “high day” (John 19:28-31), specifically the first day of unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:6). Hence, Jesus kept and fulfilled the Passover on the 14^th.

Early church history also records that Passover was kept on the 14^th of month of Nisan by faithful Jewish and Gentile Christian leaders in the first, second, and third centuries (Eusebius. Church History, Book V, Chapter 24) and that it was kept in the evening (Calivas).

Most leaders who profess Christ claim to observe some version of Passover, though many have changed the name, the date, the time, the symbols, and the meaning–and now call it Easter, because of a pagan goddess.

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ was the Passover lamb sacrificed for us and that we are to keep that Feast with unleavened bread:

⁷ Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8, NAB)

Notice that the feast is to be kept with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The Apostle Paul realized that Jesus was a substitute for the Passover lamb that the Jewish people used. He also taught that Christians should still continue to observe Passover.

But basically how were Christians to do this?

The Apostle Paul explains:

²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-29)

So, the Apostle Paul taught that Christians were to keep the Passover in the manner that Jesus observed His final Passover with the bread and wine. And that was at night as remembrance or memorial–a memorial is an annual, not a weekly event.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church correctly notes that “Jesus chose the time of the Passover… took bread, and…he broke it” and also gave it to be eaten.

It is documented in the Bible that Jesus broke unleavened bread and passed it to His followers to eat. Jesus also passed the wine to His followers to drink a small amount. We in the Continuing Church of God pray, break and distribute unleavened bread, and distribute wine for His faithful followers to consume. Yet, the Church of Rome (like many others) no longer breaks unleavened bread (it uses a whole ‘host’) nor does it usually distribute wine for its followers to drink (the distribution of wine is considered optional by the Church of Rome, and it is often not done in Protestant churches).

What About ‘As Often…You Proclaim’?

How often should Passover be taken?

Jesus stated, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Consider that it is Jesus’ death that this commemorates.

Christ’s death reconciles us to God (Romans 5:10) and Jesus gave His life for our salvation (John 3:16-17; Hebrews 5:5-11). His death teaches us that Christians are not to have sin reign over our mortal bodies (Romans 6:3-12). The Christian Passover is the annual commemoration of Jesus’ death.

Jesus DID NOT say to do this ceremony AS OFTEN AS YOU DESIRE, only that when you do it, you are proclaiming His death. The Greek term for often in 1 Corinthians 11:26, hosakis, is used one other time in the New Testament. It does not mean as often as you desire UNLESS the Greek term for “you desire,” thelo or ethelo, is also present (which it is in Revelation 11:6; the only other place in the Bible this particular term is used). However, since this is NOT present in 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul is NOT telling us to observe the Lord’s Passover as often as WE desire, but that when we are observing it on Passover, it is not just a ceremony, it is showing Christ’s death.

Furthermore, Paul wrote this:

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

Paul is clearly teaching that to take this bread and wine, one must examine oneself. The deleavening that is supposed to accompany Passover helps us focus on our faults and sins, and thus helps fulfill this command from Paul to examine ourselves. As deleavening can take lots of effort, this also supports the concept of an annual examination (people were not removing leaven every day or week).

The New Testament records that both Jesus and Paul taught to observe the Passover in the Christian manner.  And that was an annual observation.

Footwashing

Footwashing helps show humility and that even the followers of Christ still tend to have areas that need to be cleansed (cf. John 13:10).

Jesus taught that His followers should do this:

¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.  ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.  ¹⁶ Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:13-17)

Relatively few who profess Christianity wash feet like Jesus said to do.

But we in the Continuing Church of God follow Jesus’ instructions on this annually.

Passover Sources Outside of Scripture

It is not just in the Bible that we see that Passover was kept annually by Christians. History records that the faithful kept Passover annually on the 14^th from the time of the original apostles and throughout the ages (Thiel B. Continuing History of the Church of God. 2^nd edition. Nazarene Books, 2016).

There is some interesting information in the corrupted text known as The Life of Polycarp (this document seems to be based upon writings in the second century, but the extant version we now see contains information/changes that seem to be added in the fourth century; see Monroy MS. The Church of Smyrna: History and Theology of a Primitive Christian Community. Peter Lang edition, 2015, p. 31). What is interesting is that it suggests that the Passover observation in Asia Minor may not have first come to Smyrna from the Apostle John, but even earlier from the Apostle Paul (Pionius. Life of Polycarp, Chapter 2).

The Life of Polycarp suggests that New Covenant Passover with unleavened bread and wine was to be observed during the season of unleavened bread. It states that heretics did it another way. And that writing is also supportive of the idea that the unleavened bread AND wine were taken, and were taken ANNUALLY.

History records that the biblically-listed apostles (including Philip and John) as well as Bishops/Pastors Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito, Polycrates, Apollinaris, and others kept the Passover annually on the 14^th (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book V, Chapter 24 verses 2-7). The Roman, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican Catholics all consider those leaders to have been saints, yet none of those faiths follow their examples on this.

Bishop/Pastor Apollinaris of Hierapolis in Phrygia of Asia Minor wrote around 180 A.D. telling Christians to keep Passover on the 14^th:

The fourteenth day, the true Passover of the Lord; the great sacrifice, the Son of God instead of the lamb, who was bound … and who was buried on the day of the passover, the stone being placed upon the tomb.

Jesus ate and kept the Passover on the 14^th, was killed on the 14^th, and was buried on the 14^th. This was not on the 15^th, and in the year of His death, this was NOT on a Sunday. Jesus would have taken the Passover just after sunset and would be killed during daylight and be buried before the sun set again (to start a new day).

In the late second century, Bishop/Pastor Polycrates of Ephesus sent a letter to the Roman Bishop Victor when Victor tried to force the observance of Passover on a Sunday instead of the 14^th:

Polycrates wrote, “We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’…I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus.

Notice in his letter, Polycrates:

1) Said he was following the teachings passed on from the Apostle John.
2) Said that he was being faithful to the teachings of the Gospel.
3) Relied on the position that teachings from the Bible were above those of Roman-accepted tradition.
4) Said he was being faithful to the teachings passed down to him by earlier church leaders.
5) Showed he was then the spokesperson for the faithful in Asia Minor.
6) Said he and his predecessors observed the time of unleavened bread.
7) Refused to accept the authority of a non-biblical Roman tradition over the Bible.
8) Refused to accept the authority of the Bishop of Rome–he preferred to be separate (cf. Revelation 18:4).
9) Stated that his life was to be governed by Jesus and not opinions of men.

Would you follow the example of Jesus and the Apostles like Polycrates did?

Related to Polycrates, the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God published the following:

History has recorded for us the words of one church leader from Asia Minor. His name was Polycrates, living around the end of the second century. (Marx GO. WHY CELEBRATE EASTER? Plain Truth. March 1967)

Polycrates had been … part of “the catholic church of God.” (Lesson 50 – I Will Build My Church, Part 2. 58 Lesson: Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, 1965)

Polycrates came from that area in which Paul spent most of his tin1e -in Asia Minor, near Ephesus. This is also where John spent his last days. Here we have Christiam still remaining true to the faith! (Hoeh H. A True History of the True Church. Radio Church of God, 1959, p. 16)

During Polycarp’s ministry he had trained a minister in Asia Minor. His name was Polycrates. As a very young boy he may have known the Apostle John. Polycrates continued to faithfully observe the Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan. (THE HISTORY OF GOD’S CHURCH PART 2. Youth Bible Lessons, Level 9, Lesson 10. 1986, p. 3)

The “catholic church of God” mentioned above was NOT the Roman Catholic church as it adopted Sunday in violation of scripture–but the true Church of God, of which we are a continuation of. For more information, check out the free online book: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church.

Because faithful early Christians kept Passover on the 14^th, they and others who did so were labeled Quartodecimans (Latin for fourteenths) by many historians.

The early Christians realized that Passover had to do with God’s plan of salvation. Notice that by 180 A.D., Bishop/Pastor Melito of Sardis wrote:

Now comes the mystery of the passover, even as it stands written in the law…The people, therefore, became the model for the church, and the law a parabolic sketch. But the gospel became the explanation of the law and its fulfillment, while the church became the storehouse of truth…This one is the passover of our salvation. This is the one who patiently endured many things in many people…This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven. This is the lamb that was slain.

Passover was kept annually on the 14^th of Nisan by the faithful and others in later centuries. Catholic scholars (Eusebius, Socrates Scholasticus, Bede) record this occurred in the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th-8^th and later centuries. Various Church of God writers have traced its observance from the time of the apostles to modern times (e.g. Dugger AN, Dodd CO. A History of True Religion, 3rd ed. Jerusalem, 1972 (Church of God, 7th Day). Thiel B. Continuing History of the Church of God. Nazarene Books, 2016).

Greco-Roman scholars recognize that aspects of Passover, like footwashing, were also observed by those they considered to be early faithful Christians (e.g. Thurston, H. (1912). Washing of Feet and Hands. In The Catholic Encyclopedia).

Passover is the first annual feast listed in the 23^rd chapter of Leviticus.

Passover helps picture salvation and grace for Christians. It should be noted that early Christian writings most often refer to it as the Passover and not “the Lord’s Supper.”

While some may ‘spiritualize’ away the necessity of Passover’s observance, leaders considered to be saints by the Greco-Romans and the Church of God did keep it literally.

We in the Continuing Church of God still do so today.

We in the Continuing Church of God keep Passover and include the historical, and biblical, practice of washing one another’s feet.

Passover shows that God had a plan before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20) to send Jesus to die for our sins, that God loves us (John 3:16), that God can deliver us, and that His Son suffered and died for us. Passover shows that Christians are freed from sin by His death and not to remain in sin (Romans 6:1-5).

But simply accepting the sacrifice of Jesus is not all there is to God’s plan of salvation.

Various people keep the beginning of God’s feasts of salvation by somewhat recognizing Passover and/or Pentecost, but never go on to know the “depth of the riches” (cf. Romans 11:33) of God’s grace (2 Peter 3:18) pictured by the other biblical feasts.

Christ is not only the author/beginner of our salvation (Hebrews 5:9), but is also the finisher of our salvation (Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 1:1-9).  His true followers keep His Spring and Fall Holy Days.