Should Christians Celebrate Passover? Conservative Christian Author Answers
- Updated Apr 11, 2017
Michael Brown, a Messianic Jew, says in a column for Stream.org that Christians should be able to participate in the Passover Seder.
Brown’s column comes in response to a Christianity Today column from rabbis Yehiel E. Poupko and David Sandmel. The rabbis, who both are supporters for respect between Jews and Christians, argued that Christians should not participate in their own version of Passover Seder.
They said that the Seder meal today is not the same as it was in Jesus’ day and that it is inappropriate for Christians to have their own Passover Seders since it “is taking something that is sacred to Judaism and then turning it into a Christian event.”
But Brown says that Messianic Jews grew up celebrating the Passover Seder and then came to believe in Jesus, which make the Passover Seder more meaningful.
“Why shouldn’t they celebrate it? Why shouldn’t they teach other Christians about the beauty and meaning of the Seder, from their unique, Messianic Jewish perspective? And why shouldn’t Christians learn more about the Jewish roots of their faith?” Brown says in his column.
Brown also says that while Christians do participate in the Last Supper, the Passover meal allows them to be reminded of a more important event.
“It’s true that Christians remember this Last Supper every time they take communion. But it is only in the context of the Passover meal that they are reminded of the context of that momentous meal: Jesus died as our Passover Lamb.”
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/artisteer
Publication date: April 11, 2017
