In Saturday's edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's religion section was a piece about the Passover seder, the meal that is in the Jewish tradition rich in symbolism and meaning. It seems that rather than have "Jews for Jesus" come visit and offer the seder with explanations with historical and theological implications, some Christian churches have "hi-jacked" the seder, changed the meaning of some of the fundamental elements, and have come very near to changing the entire presentation even if there are easily some parallels that can be made.
The author, Laura Lynn Brown, reports, "Some churches modify the seder to the extent that every symbol in the Passover becomes some symbol of Jesus' divinity", according to Rabbi Eugene Levy, spiritual leader of Temple B'Nai Israel, a Reformed temple in Little Rock. "For example, one element of the seder - three matzo wafers inside a cloth - symbolizes three layers of early Jewish society: the priests, the Levites, and the Israelites." Rabbi Levy has attended seders where the leader says they are a symbol of the Christian Trinity of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. When the middle mazto is broken and wrapped in a cloth, the leader likens that to Jesus' broken body and the cloth He was wrapped in after His crucifixion. Rabbi Levy says, 'That's their interpretation, but that's very far afield from the Jewish interpretation.'"
Rabbi Levy has a very good relationship with the Christian community in central Arkansas and has visited many congregations to present the seder and its proper context, and the rabbi is very highly regarded in Arkansas. He does not take away from what some of these Christian congregations are doing with what was at one time distinctly Jewish. I am not so sure that I am willing to be as gracious.
Our faith tradition has a very rich history, like it or not, that comes from our distinctly Jewish roots. Taking something as significant as the Passover seder and trying to turn it into something that it clearly is not is, for me, to take away from something in which the Lord God touched an entire nation. I think even Rabbi Levy finds this new twist somehow strange. "Some churches want to do a Passover seder very accurately. They want to model what the Jewish Passover is. What would Jesus have sat through?"
That very question is precisely what led me to attend worship one Sabbath at his temple. I wanted to know more about the faith of Jesus. What sort of worship service would He have sat through? What did He think? How did He worship? Of course I had to sit next to a smart-aleck who asked me what a Christian was doing visiting a Jewish temple. I stated that I wanted to know more about the faith of the One whom I call "Savior". My new friend very plainly told me that Jesus would likely have attended the Orthodox temple on the other side of town. I found the experience very enriching and enlightening. Almost the entire service was done in Hebrew even though there was enough English throughout that helped me to stay with the flow.
Still, during that worship service were some elements of praise that I could easily have imagined Jesus to have been an active part of. After all, did He not teach us to praise the Lord God? The whole thing was a remembrance that seemed to culminate in the Exodus much like the Catholic Mass culminates in the Eucharist, the celebration of that wondrous gift of eternal life. In each, the people had been freed from bondage. In each is contained a time of preparation, a time of reflection, and yes, even a time of sorrow. Many parallels but each distinct in its own right.
I think I would rather see the Passover as it was established with Moses and the people of Israel. Acknowledging a historic reality without trying to modify it does not diminish the reality of Christ in the Passover - "In the BEGINNING was the Word" - Christ is the eternal Covenant of the Lord our God. Without beginning and without ending - Eternal. With man, however, one step at a time but clear and distinctive steps on our journey to the Promised Land - HIS land and not our own.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
2 comments:
Wow! That must have been quite an experience.
The only synagogue that I have visited was a Messianic one, and their worship was fascinating.
There is so much tradition contained in the Jewish worship service that we read about in the Hebrew scriptures, reminding the congregation to "remember", telling the same story over and over. We may think it redundant, but sometimes maybe the only thing in worship that needs to be "new" is our attitudes.
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