(Read Part 1) Foreshadowing Christ "The blood of bulls and goats" (Heb. 9:13; 10:4) was shed on a million occasions in the Old Testament for man the sinner. Now, what we must remember is, that the blood shed by the innocent animals in the Old Testament not only became a covering for sin before the days of the earthly ministry of Christ, but also, it became a foreshadowing of what God would do as we move through history. It foresaw what would take [...]
By PAUL J. SCHARF, M.Div. Editor in Chief Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:13) Hopeless. Helpless. That is how they felt as they began their journey away from Passover in Jerusalem on that first Easter Sunday afternoon. We know nothing about them except one of their names—Cleopas (Luke 24:18; cf. John 19:25)—and that they were "sad" (Luke 24:17). The entirety of their view of life at [...]
By PAUL J. SCHARF, M.Div. Editor in Chief There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. (Luke 23:32-33) The crowd that had gathered was growing larger and the scene was becoming more intense. The atmosphere was fueled by a mixture of curiosity, disgust, hatred and raucous jubilee. They [...]
(Read Part 1) Was the Lord's Supper instituted during a Passover meal? In Matthew 26:26, the text says that "Jesus took bread." The Greek word for bread here is ἄρτον. This is simply the common word for leavened bread. In fact, it always means leavened bread. There is another word for unleavened bread, and in fact many times in the gospels this word—ἄζυμος—is used to mean Passover (cf. Matt. 26:17). Beginning at Passover, observant Jews will not have any yeast or leaven in [...]
The Prophesied Blood Sacrifice It seems to me that one of the most dramatic events in the history of the world took place in the life of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 21, we have the story of how Christ instructed His disciples as to how they should find a donkey and bring that animal to Him. If the keeper of the donkey objected, they were to simply say that the king needs him. They brought the donkey; Christ climbed astride that donkey, [...]
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. (1 Cor. 5:7) One of the things that I will tell you many times is that I want you to question the assumptions. You ought to do this when listening to a sermon—even my sermons—or when listening to the news or even hearing something from a friend. What are the assumptions that underlie the assertion that [...]
