Tuesday, March 30: Together or separate?

While Passover occurs on the first full moon after spring begins, Easter occurs on the first Sunday of spring. After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the tradition of Passover continued with additional significance for the followers of the Son of God. Most of the first Christians were Jews, who understood the fulfillment of Passover in the death of Jesus. Sadly, this became a schism with “quartodecimanism,” which comes from the Latin “quarta decima,” meaning fourteen. Most of the Messianic Jews continued to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus beginning on the eve of the 14th of Nisan, while most of the Gentiles preferred celebrating the same event on the following Sunday. That continues to this day!


The saddest part is that God’s intent of Jew and Gentile worshipping together began separating very early on in the life of the Church. Polycarp, Eusebius and many of the early Church fathers agreed with the Jews, but as time went on, the schism increased. It got to a point of complete separation. An analogy of the situation would be if I invited you to a party of my friends, who you never had met. Once you arrived at the party, you had me thrown out and remained with my old friends and your new acquaintances. God’s chosen people shared the Gospel with the Gentiles, and then the Gentiles cast the Jews aside and continued on their own!


How sad that the knowledge of Jesus as Messiah did not hold the two together, but instead, other interpretations pushed them apart. Paul tells us of the earliest separation of beliefs, as Peter was continuing in the custom that Jews were not to eat with Gentiles. This was not a law from the Torah, but certainly was the custom of the time. Paul called Peter out for this faulty conclusion in Galatians:


11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.             Galatians 2:11-16


Today, we do exactly the same. Drive down the street and see the different denominations. Calvary Chapel believes in expository teaching of the Word, along with the pre-tribulation rapture. Baptists believe that without being baptized in water, a believer is destined for hell. The Church of Christ believes that there should be no musical instruments involved in the worship of God. Pentecostals and Church of God believe that everyone baptized in the Holy Spirit must speak in tongues. Presbyterians adhere to strict Calvinism, with an emphasis that our lives are pre-destined. Wesleyan Methodists take the other side of this argument, adhering to an Arminian approach. Catholics believe in purgatory, and along with most Episcopalians, believe that the Book of Revelation was fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.


Constant disagreement seems to drive us more than the love of Jesus as our Savior. Are there going to be denominations in heaven? Interestingly, in reference to that time, the word Church is singular! While we all seem to have our own beliefs and interpretations of God’s Word, we should not separate based on small, doctrinal disagreements! I guarantee that each one of us will find a doctrinal flaw in our own beliefs when we get to heaven! What we cannot get wrong is the absolute knowledge that Jesus died for our sins. Without receiving Him and His forgiveness, we are lost! That is what Easter, and Passover, are all about. Let’s celebrate what our Lord did for us!