“He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Luke 24:44-47 NIV
On hindsight, all becomes clear! “Life is lived forwards but understood backwards!”
“This famous quote by 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaardhighlights the paradox of human existence: we can only find meaning in our experiences (struggles, joy, decisions) by looking back in hindsight, yet we must constantly make choices and move forward into the unknown future.” (Source: Google AI)
How well this quote fits the experience of the disciples! Why had they been so dull…so unbelieving…whenever Jesus had spoken of His impending death? Much as they had believed Him to be the Son of God, they could not make the connection between the Scriptures they were schooled in from childhood and the words Jesus spoke of His coming suffering and death.
Their minds were clouded by the anticipation of a showdown with Rome. They fervently believed that Jesus could do it…like waving a magic wand and causing every vestige of Rome’s presence to disappear.
How foolish! How childish! They had yet to grasp that Jesus was about sin! Not Rome! Sin…the great chasm between themselves and a holy God. Not all the blood of bulls and goats poured out in a sacrificial river, could ever be the bridge between themselves and the Father Jesus had mirrored. Only God Himself could provide the perfect sacrifice, and He, Jesus, was that sacrifice…the Father’s greatest gift of love.
All the mysteries of Jesus’ words…His deeds…His actions…His eager move towards Jerusalem…the climax of all His prophetic utterances…the bloody, broken figure hanging on a cross…came together, in a flash, in His final revelation on the Mount of Olives. In a lightbulb moment of understanding, they saw it all!
What joy! What celebration! What ecstasy of hope! The disciples, all eleven of them, were infused with an expectation that rose above mere human optimism. They had inadvertently lived and walked with the God of the universe, who had come to them in human form! Was this possible…but it was true!
Jesus cautioned them, in their zeal, to wait. They must not rush off, in the heat of His disclosure, to fulfil a commission for which they were not yet prepared. Something more was needed than mere knowledge and enthusiasm. Their human energy must be controlled and directed by the indwelling presence of God Himself…to tame their fleshly nature and to provide the authority and power to fulfil so great a task.
The promise and coming of the Holy Spirit must fit perfectly into the fulfilment of the festivals God had required them to celebrate year after year. Seven feasts, in order, each one a picture of the Father’s great work of redemption.
Their journey to the Promised Land, in all its phases, was a picture and a preparation for their spiritual journey through life.
The feasts fulfilled…
The Sabbath…the weekly celebration of God’s rest…the exchange of useless self-effort for grace…God’s gift to those who believe.
““Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Exodus 20:8-11 NIV
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.”
Hebrews 4:9-10 NIV
The Spring Feasts
Passover…the first of the annual feasts predicted…
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.”
Isaiah 53:7-8 NIV
Jesus…God’s Passover Lamb…
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
1 Peter 2:24-25 NIV
Unleavened Bread…the removal of leaven, the symbol of sin… a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.
“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”
Zechariah 13:1 NIV
“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
Firstfruits…the promise of the harvest to come.
“Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.”
Psalms 16:9-10 NIV
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV
Pentecost…the celebration of the ingathering of the harvest… outpouring of the Holy Spirit…
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
Joel 2:28-29 NIV
“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
Acts 2:32-33 NIV
It was all there…in the Scriptures!
The feasts yet to be fulfilled…
The Autumn Feasts
“The three fall festivals of Israel—the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles(Sukkot)—are considered prophetic and yet to be fulfilled. These feasts are generally understood to represent end-times events, including the second coming of Jesus, national repentance for Israel, and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.” (Source: Google AI)
Since Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts, perfectly and in order, we can be sure that He will also fulfil the autumn feasts.
The disciples were to wait…for the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, who would come in His wisdom and power upon them first…and then upon all people…This was the birth of the church…Jesus’ body…His representative and agent to finish what He started. They were to begin where Jesus ended…to proclaim the New Covenant to fulfil and complete the Old.
To be continued…