The Calendar Conundrum
If there is one commodity that we all wish we had more of, it has to be time. While God lives outside of time, he has authored history and has created time to shape our existence. His creation demands following patterns of time.
God gave the Israelites their appointed times and seasons, and the biblical calendar was vitally important for them. Leviticus 23:1-2 says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.” The Jewish festivals are, in order: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Shavuot (Pentecost), the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Purim and Hanukkah came later, both of which celebrate God’s miraculous protection of the Jewish people.
Jesus has fulfilled, or will completely fulfill in the future, all of the Jewish festivals. On Passover his blood was shed. He was crucified and buried during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He rose from the dead on Firstfruits. The Holy Spirit was given on Shavuot (Pentecost). He will return at the sound of the trumpet (Feast of Trumpets). He will bring judgment to the nations (Yom Kippur). He will establish his kingdom and we will tabernacle with him forever (Feast of Tabernacles)!
This year Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread fall on April 22-29. According to scripture, Jesus celebrated these holidays on the days instructed by God: “The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.” Leviticus 23:5-6
Jesus strictly followed the Jewish calendar and celebrated the appointed times according to biblical command. Easter, or Resurrection Day, and his death on Passover are intimately connected. But Easter this year was celebrated a month ago. Easter in March? Passover in April? Why the discrepancy? It’s a conundrum!
The Calendar of Jesus
The biblical calendar of the Israelite community is the calendar which is followed by Jewish people today. It is a lunar calendar based upon the cycle of the moon. Each month begins on the new moon, when the first sliver of moon becomes visible. In ancient times, the new months were determined by observation. When people observed the new moon, they would notify the Sanhedrin (religious supreme court). When they heard testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses that the new moon occurred on a certain date, they would declare the rosh chodesh (first of the month) and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.
The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar loses about 11 days every year and a 13-month lunar gains about 19 days every year. The months on such a calendar “drift” relative to the solar year.Without going into too much depth, a lunar year is adjusted by leap months and years so that the festivals fall in the same season every year. Therefore, the biblical, Jewish festivals are celebrated by Jewish people “at their appointed times” as commanded by God in Leviticus
Before explaining how the calendar we follow and the Christian festivals we celebrate became separated from the calendar of Jesus, let me say: We honor the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus (Easter) and the birthday of Jesus (Christmas) by the church! They are important days to celebrate the Lord, remember his life, and proclaim the gospel. However the following history is important to understand.
The Church’s Mistake
Jesus faithfully celebrated the Jewish holidays. He always used the Jewish festivals to teach and to proclaim his Messiahship. Why then do we know so little about the festivals and the calendar that were so special to Jesus?
The answer may shock you. Unfortunately, most, if not all church fathers were covertly or overtly antisemitic. Meaning, they had an intense dislike of Jews. As early as 150 AD Christians argued that the nation of Israel had been replaced by the church, and that “We who are…served of Christ are the true Israelitic race” (Justin Martyr). Shortly thereafter, Emperor Constantine went on to decree…
“It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the Jews…In rejecting their custom, we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed [according to the day of the week rather than according to the biblical, Jewish calendar]… it would be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communications with such wicked people [the Jews].”
The church was separated from the Jewish people, Jewish festivals, and the Jewish roots of our faith because the church fathers chose to do so. In doing so they harmed both the church and the Jewish people. The intense desire to replace the Jewish people and to establish a “new” and “separate” religion drove the early church fathers to sin. Tragically they succumbed to the sin of antisemitism.
In the 4th century, Chrysostom, considered one of the gentler of the saints, said, “The synagogue is worse than a brothel…the cavern of devils…a den of thieves…a house of ill fame…I would say the same thing about their souls. As for me I hate the synagogue and I hate the Jews for the same reason.”
Church history does not get any kinder. The church continued to distance itself from the Jewish people, and the Jewish people from the church. By the Middle Ages, a typical forced confession for Jewish people persuaded to “convert to Christianity” included these words: “I renounce the whole worship of the Hebrews, circumcision, all its legalisms, unleavened bread, Passover, the sacrificing of lambs, the feast of Weeks, Jubilees, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and all other Hebrew feasts…I renounce absolutely everything Jewish…”
The Jewish roots of our faith that meant so much to Jesus were anathematized by the early church. Whether you know it or not, you are a victim of this tragic history. As are Jewish people who misunderstand Jesus and what it means to accept him. It’s no wonder that in our ministry we have to work so hard to overcome such a devastating history when sharing Jesus with Jewish people.
Correcting the Conundrum
In order for us to reclaim the Jewish Jesus, reconnect to the Jewish roots of our faith, and help Jewish people understand the true Jesus, we have to do several things:
Understand History: It is critical to be educated on where we have come from as a faith community. When the wounds of the past are uncovered, they can be healed. We would highly recommend you read a book entitled, Our Hands are Stained with Blood. I know the author, Dr. Michael Brown, and he has done an excellent job of articulating the history of the church and the Jewish people. You can find the book on our website.
Teach Correctly and Practice Wisely: Jesus needs to be put back into his rightful Jewish context. We encourage the church to recognize the Jewish festivals. All of them were celebrated by Jesus and point to his life and ministry. Christians can miss rich connections to the life of Jesus when we don’t fully understand his Jewish identity. The biblical text comes alive when we understand Jesus’s Jewish context! It is critical to remember that none of this is a desire to come again under “works of the law” (see Galatians 3). It is a “get to” not a “have to.” It’s beneficial, not essential. We live in freedom in our Messiah. Be cautious about where you get your information and discern in community.
Bless Jewish People: We believe that when Christians are better connected with the Jewish roots of their faith, they are better equipped to love and honor the Jewish community well. We believe that understanding how antisemitism in church history has affected the Jewish people will open up more effective communication.
Jesus was Jewish and he loved his people deeply. We must follow in his footsteps and share the message of our Messiah with his people. He is the greatest gift we can give back to them.
by Murray Tilles
Founder and Executive Director