lenten blog |April 12, 2025

Passover from different perspectives

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for April 12th:  Leviticus 23:1-8; Psalm 31:9-16; and Luke 22:1-13.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

Since the Council of Nicea in 325AD, the date of Easter has been defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  I have to assume that since the full moon is tonight and lasting into Sunday that tomorrow is not technically the Sunday after the first full moon, rather it is still the night of the first full moon.  This is why tomorrow is Palm Sunday rather than Easter.

The lunar cycle is inherited from our Jewish ancestors, and I wish them a blessed and joyous Passover, which begins at sunset this evening.  Today’s Leviticus passage outlines the calculation of Passover’s date:  “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight …”  The month begins with the new moon and the 14th day is mid-month’s full moon.  I thank my Jewish friends for explaining something that confused me about Passover, the Jewish liberation festival, and Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year’s festival.  Exodus 12:1-2 makes clear that Passover determines the first month of the Jewish calendar, and that is repeated in today’s Leviticus passage.  So why is there Rosh Hashana? 

I have been told that Rosh Hashana has to do with the biblical feast of Trumpets.  In the period after the Hebrew biblical canon was set, this feast became associated with the New Year.  It seems that Passover is the nationalist New Year marked by the emergence of Israel as a nation once it was freed from Egyptian bondage, while Rosh Hoshana is the universalist New Year associated with the tradition of the creation of Adam, the first human.  There are other biblical texts that point to autumn as the start of the new year, probably coinciding with the new rainy season in that part of the world and the start of a new agricultural year.  Rosh Hashana’s prayers include prayers for all of God’s creation from Adam forward.

Most all the time, except when a correction needs to be added onto the Jewish lunar calendar to keep it in sync with the actual solar calendar as happened last year, Passover and Easter dates are close together.  This is why in today’s Gospel passage we hear Jesus instruct His disciples to prepare the Passover meal for them.  Jesus is in Jerusalem for Passover.  The events that define our Holy Week and Easter are, therefore, linked with Passover. 

Have you ever wondered why the authorities needed Judas to betray Jesus?  We’re told today that it was to discover a time when Jesus was relatively alone.  The entire time that Jesus was in Jerusalem He was intentionally public.  How hard would it have been for the authorities to simply track Jesus, find out when He was alone, and arrest Him?  More than this, it seems that as a close follower of Jesus that Judas could testify to or fabricate a charge that would warrant a verdict of capital punishment. 

Was Judas so profoundly disturbed by Jesus’ anointing at the home of Simon the leper or at the home of Lazarus (it depends on which Gospel you read) that this prepared him to betray Jesus?  In Mark’s Gospel, Judas marks Jesus as the one to be arrested by approaching Him and calling Him “Rabbi,” “Teacher.”  Could Judas go no further?  Was it an affront to Judas that Jesus moved beyond the teachings of His gospel and accepted the title of Messiah and even more?  Was Judas’ betrayal not merely a matter of finding a safe time to arrest Jesus, but to give the authorities the information that could be used to name Jesus a blasphemer, and thus one deserving death?

Whenever the date falls for the remembrance of these solemn and holy events, whoever is responsible for Jesus’ betrayal, are all details that lead to the same cataclysmic denouement of our Saviour’s life.  As with the Jewish New Year, there are aspects of this mystery that can only be fully known from within the faith, but they are not limited to the faithful.  Jesus dies as a human not as a Christian.  He dies for all people.  It is a universal act on the part of God.  And whatever the actual betrayal, the fact remains that Jesus was betrayed, denied, convicted, tortured and executed for us as ordinary people passed by unmoved.  On Palm Sunday, Jesus marched publicly into Jerusalem, and there taught publicly.  Jesus knew what was ahead, but went anyway.  Jesus’ commitment to the gospel and to us is humbling, and His sacrifice is distressing.  His lifelong ministry led Him to this inevitable confrontation with human authorities because Jesus would not compromise on the extent of the reign of God. 

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  I invite you to join other believers and seekers at church as we walk in our hearts, minds and souls beside Jesus in these most trying times of His life.  Our Service begins at 9:30 and if you would like to join online please send me an email at the address below for the Zoom link.

If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.

If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.