As we all know Easter is next Sunday, and Passover is this Thursday. I'm not sure how many of you were able to go to the fireside with Daniel Rona a couple months ago, but it was a definite eye opener for me. The things he taught that night is what sparked my interest in studying about the Passover and the relation it has to Latter-day Saints. He was born in Israel and later converted to the Church. So he is a Jew and a Mormon and continues to live in his homeland in Israel giving LDS tours there.
I am going to begin by giving a little background of the tradition of Passover, which is celebrated by the Jewish people, and tie it in with what I'll be talking on. The holiday's name - Pesach, meaning "passing over" or "protection" in Hebrew, is derived from the instructions given to Moses by God. In order to encourage the Pharaoh to free the Israelites, God intended to kill the first-born of both man and beast. To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that God could identify and "pass over" their homes.
The day before Passover, which is the first full moon after the first day of spring, is the preparation day. Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. As the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before, this year the first night of Passover is this Wednesday March 27th. Biblical days always begin with 12 hours of night. The first day of spring was last Wednesday and so the first full moon after is this Thursday. It's kind of hard to explain.
To understand the passover and how it relates to our belief in Jesus Christ we have to go back in time before Christ was born. As I try to explain this, see if you can compare their belief in the passover of sacrificing a lamb to our belief of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There were no sacrifices on the preparation day. The people waited until the 9th hour of the day, which in our time would be 3:00 p.m., and in that hour sacrifices were started North of the altar so that by sundown 3 hours later, Passover could begin with the Pascal Lamb sacrifice.
For this sacrifice, the Priest will have interviewed everyone in the congregation and he will have found out their mistakes, they will have confessed, and he will take them one at a time and repeat their mistakes so that everyone would have to hear as he placed visually the sins on the head of a goat or a lamb that they had chosen, which was the first-born and was without blemish.
So they had to see it and hear it as the sins were placed on that animal and then that animal would be tied with a red ribbon and then it was escorted out the Eastern gate of the Temple. That Eastern gate has three names. The gate beautiful, the gate of forgiveness, and the gate of mercy. So what was the animal doing? Symbolically taking thier sins, marked with a red ribbon so that no one could kill it. It had to die on its own outside the Temple.
We can symbolically place Jesus Christ as that Lamb without blemish and the first-born, the only begotten Son of God. We confess our mistakes and place them on the Lamb of God and the red ribbon signifies when He sweat great drops of blood from every pore.
Certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign, but he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (MATTHEW 12:38-40)
Jesus was crucified on what we call a Thursday. After Christ had suffered and died on the cross, a man named Joseph went to Pilate, the governor, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation (Luke 23:53-54).
Three days later, on the day we now call Sunday, cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre. (JOHN 20:1-2)
Peter and the other disciple ran both together and he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. (JOHN 20:4-7) Later, Mary stood outside the sepulchre weeping; she also stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. The fact that several people are mentioned to be stooping means it must have been a small entrance.
Two men stood by them in shining garments and said unto them , "why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." (Luke 24:1-6) Mary turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. (JOHN 20:14-15) Jesus called her by name, and she turned herself, and saith unto him Master. (JOHN 20:16) He was alive again! She saw him, and Jesus said to her, go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (JOHN 20:17-18)
That evening Jesus appeared to ten Apostles (Thomas was not with them). If today we went to a loved ones funeral and then saw them a few days later as if they hadn't even died I think we would act the same way as these Apostles reacted. As they were speaking , "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit." (Luke 24:36-37) I don't know about you, but I'd definitely almost have a heart attack. We'd think "WHOA!" and think we saw a spirit. But to prove that He was truly the Savior, Christ said to them, "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:38-39) They were startled. Jesus reassuringly comforted them.
Three days after this Thursday, Passover, is Easter, the day Christ rose or was resurrected almost 2000 years ago. If we could imagine that we were there at that time we would probably not understand that anyone could rise from the dead, since Jesus was the first to overcome death. Christ showed his resurrected body to many. The New Testament has a record of over five hundred people seeing Jesus.
All of this took place in and around Jerusalem, far away from the America's, but at this same time we know from the Book of Mormon that there were people on this continent also. For 600 plus years, the prophets on the American continent were prophecying to the people that Jesus Christ would save them from their sins by suffering and dying and that he would visit them after he was resurrected.
So Christ told the people in Jerusalem, "Hey I've gotta leave. There's other people in other lands that I need to show myself to." So Christ left and came to the people in the American continent and came down from the Heavens as the people marvelled. And Christ said to them, "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Isreal, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."
And the multitude of people went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come." (3 Nephi 11:14-15) So how did these people bear record that it was really him? well "... when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him." (3 Nephi 11:16-17) Hosanna is a Hebrew word which means "save us, we pray." So when they said "Hosanna" they were expressing their faith that they knew it was him. We must have faith and know that he died for us and rose the third day.
God in Heaven has provided a way through His mercy for us to be forgiven and when we know that and accept it it is beautiful. And it was Job who posed what might be called the question of the ages: "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14) Christ's answer rings down through time to this very hour "Because I live, ye shall live also." (John 14:19) Job later said, "...I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job 19:25-26)
All shall be resurrected. It is a free gift to all. It doesn't matter how righteous you are or how wicked, it doesn't matter if you're male or female, white, black, green, or blue. All will be resurrected. (Alma 11:42-45) I have always wondered if dogs will live again. As I was studying the other day I was surprised, the scriptures say all creatures also will live again.
If it wasn't for Christ's resurrection we would all die and that would be the end. Satan knew that if Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit that they would become carnal and eventually die and he thought that when we're dead that would be the end of our progression. What he didn't know is that God would provide a way to escape death through Jesus Christ's resurrection. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Spring time is one of my favorite seasons. You look around outside at all the trees and grass and plants and notice that everything is dead. I think of spring as the resurrection of plant life and trees...the return to life from death. Soon we'll be able to look around at all plants and trees and see the color of life... green.
President Hinckley said, "Easter is the day when we celebrate the most significant event in human history - the resurrection from the grave, the return to life from death of the Son of God."
President Hunter once said, "Easter is the celebration of the free gift of immortality given to all men, restoring life and healing all wounds."
I know that Jesus is God's Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way. In a coming day WE shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with our tears. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Hymn 136 I know that my redeemer lives lyrics.
Given by Dustin Palmer in April of 2002
http://www.holidays.net/passover/story.html
http://www.israelrevealed.com/
http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=daniel+rona&hc=0&hs=1