Community on Columbia

The Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ disciples on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, celebrated on the 50th day after Passover. According to Jewish tradition, this was also the day God gave the Ten Commandments to his people. Mount Sinai was the shadow. Pentecost is the reality for us. The law is now written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). The Holy Spirit dwells within us. Pentecost is also associated with baptism: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38).

Read the Notes on Pentecost

Pentecost and the Threshing Floor

Baptism and the Mikvah

The Passover was a major sacrifice, yet one distinct from all others. It did not originate in the Law, for it was instituted before the Law had been given or before the Covenant had been ratified by blood. It looked back to God’s rescue of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt and their Exodus toward the Promised Land. Jesus revealed at His Last Supper that the third cup and the afikomen consumed in the ceremony were pictures of his body and blood.

Notes on Passover

The Jews were commanded to rid their homes of anything leavened before Passover, and eat only unleavened bread during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus expounded on the meaning of this symbol: “…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6) “… and of Herod” (Mark 8:15). The pre-Passover elimination of leaven shows the importance of sweeping out from our lives anything that “puffs us up” in these different ways.

Notes on the Search for Leaven and the Meaning of the Afikomen