Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Passover as the spotless Lamb of God. Jesus is our Unleavened Bread as Paul said, “For our sake He made Him sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21. The sinless One took on all our sin and shame at Calvary, so that we could be free and eternally saved…thank you Jesus!
Every human dies and even Jesus our Lord had to experience physical death; however God vindicated His Beloved Son and fully accepted His blood sacrifice as complete and the final payment for all of humanities sin to fulfill God’s Holy standard. Jesus then descended into the bowels of the earth and preached the Good News to those in Abraham's Bosom (a separate region of Sheol or Hell) and freed all of the Old Testament Saints (Jews and Gentiles) from their separation from God, Eph. 4:8-10. Jesus triumphantly grabbed the keys of DEATH from Satan, and was gloriously resurrected on the third day so His body would see no decay fulfilling King David prophecy, Ps. 16: 8-11; Rev. 1:18; I Cor. 15:3-4. In His love and triumph He delivered all our brothers and sister from the power of death and restored them to our Heavenly Father. We too will one day experience this glorious resurrection in the near future, when the trumpet sounds and Jesus will descend from Heaven in the clouds in all power and glory to take us home…I long for that day! I Cor.15:50-56; Col. 3:4.
But there is more and Jesus would fulfill the fourth spring feast called Pentecost; as John the Baptist prophesied that one was coming after him who was mightier than he and whose strap of his sandals he was not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Luke 3:16. Scripture tells us that after Jesus was resurrected He appeared to the disciples and over 500 of His followers at one time. I Cor. 15: 3-7. Over the next 40 days Jesus taught the Apostles concerning the Kingdom of God and ordered them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father which was the infilling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:3-5. This was to fulfill the prophecies of both Jeremiah and Joel. Jer. 31:31-34 and Joel 2: 28-29. Jesus then takes them up to the Mount of Olives and from there ascends to Heaven right before their eyes and at His second coming will return to the same place. Acts 1:9-11.
To understand the significance of the Feast of Pentecost we need to return to the Old Testament and the history of this celebration to see the amazing parallels of Jesus in this Feast. Leviticus 23:15-22 records the Feast requirements and Exodus 19-20 provides the context. According to Jewish tradition the first Pentecost occurred the day God gave Moses the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Nation of Israel had crossed the Red Sea fifty days prior passing from the slavery and death of Egypt into new life with God. So too Jesus our Lord 50 days earlier passed from death and victoriously rose back to life. Col. 2:16-17 tells us that the Feasts and the requirements of the Law are shadows of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. So let us discover the substance of this Feast in Jesus.
The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was accompanied by supernatural and terrifying signs according to Exodus 19:16, 19 and 20:18. What is extremely interesting according to rabbinical writings in the Midrash (a commentary of Scripture) “that when God gave the Torah He displayed untold marvels to Israel with His voice.” Rabbah 5:9. They believed that when God spoke His voice reverberated throughout the entire world. A respected Rabbi wrote, God’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into 70 voices, in 70 languages, so that all the nations should understand”. The Nation of Israel saw both powerful demonstrations of God in the thunder and lightning and heard His audible voice.
We are clearly seeing parallels with what happened thousands of years later on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-11. There was a sudden sound of a blowing violent wind from heaven, tongues of fire resting on each believer and they spoke in multitudes of different languages as the Holy Spirit enabled them. The response of the thousands of Jews who were in Jerusalem to celebrate the giving of the Law was stunning; and many repented and believed after Peter preached the Gospel to them that day and 3000 were saved. Acts 2:14-41. Another interesting contrast was at the foot of Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Law Israel rebelled against God and Moses by making of the Golden Calf and worshiping it...the end result was 3000 killed. Exodus 32:28. Rebellion to the first Covenant brought death in contrast to repenting and believing in the second Covenant brings life and salvation!
The Nation of Israel was birthed on the day of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai in spectacular fashion. The Church of God was born on the celebration of Pentecost with powerful signs and wonders as Jews accepted the New Covenant in Jesus blood and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the ETERNAL WORD of GOD (John 1:1-2) and He was there at Mt. Sinai in His majesty and wonder at the giving of the Torah; and once again manifests His glorious power in Jerusalem when 3000 people opened there hearts to the living Word of God.
In conclusion, Jesus fulfilled all four spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost) in His first coming as being the substance and reality of their true meaning that the Father intended. I am 100% confident that Jesus will continue in this pattern to fulfill the three fall feasts (Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles) which are God’s Calendar and the unfolding of His Eternal Kingdom plans. Jesus will once again re-appear in the last days and complete the feasts to accomplish His Fathers heart. Lord willing next week will continue this series and start with Rosh Hashanah, and Lord Jesus I long for the last Trumpet to blow!
From a friend, Bill W…if you have found these studies insightful and encouraging pass them on to a friend!