Truth or Tradition?

Have we unwittingly become just like the Pharisees?

But he answered and said unto them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Matthew 15:3

There is a redeemer. His name is a Jewish name. It is Yeshua, His name means "Salvation" and He kept Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits - not Easter... and He taught His disciples to do the same.

And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. Matthew 26:18-20

After two days was [the feast of] the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put [him] to death. Mark 14:1

Over time, "tradition" has morphed our Savior's Hebrew name and it became the Greek Iesous, then the Latin Iesous. Now in modern English, it is known traditionally as Jesus. Most dictionaries will even tell you there was no letter 'J' in use prior to the 14th century in England. Certainly we can know He will come and establish His Kingdom on the earth with the same name... as Yeshua.

From this we can learn to return to Passover and skip the Easter bunny eggs.

Every knee will bow to Him, every tongue will recognize that He is Lord. He will keep His promises to Israel, and they will be literally fulfilled. The King will return to Zion and regather His people.

He wants us to be living in the manner to be ready for His return. To do that we must repent, we must return to do His ways, to walk in His light and unchanging path. The key to understanding repentance is to understand God gives us His teaching and instruction for living because He loves us and He never changes His mind. He teaches us some very simple guidelines about how we are to live. It's the original message of the Deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that message any longer.

Type the term in for yourself and you will see that The Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, defines "Easter":

"mistranslated "Easter" in Acts 12:4, AV, denotes the Passover (RV). The phrase "after the Passover" signifies after the whole festival was at an end. The term "Easter" is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of "Pasch" held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast, but was not instituted by Christ, nor was it connected with Lent. From this "Pasch" the pagan festival of "Easter" was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity" (W.E. Vine, 1940)

So imitate the Messiah, seek the truth and walk away from our traditions toward our Risen Saviour. One of the best ways to do that is to start by returning to keep the celebration of Passover, just as Yeshua taught His disciples. They did not have an Easter ham with hot cross buns at the Last Supper. They ate unleavened bread.

Passover was instituted forever. Paul understood this.

His instruction is found in I Corinthians 5:7-8:

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth."

Rest assured, the gospel, the Good news is that Jesus the One who is Yeshua will return. How, then, should we live today? In His truth or by our tradition?

"Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1: 22

What does this all mean?

It means that it is now time for you to repent and return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. Do it now and...

Let the countdown to the Feast of Weeks begin in your life.