How Churches Can Celebrate Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits

Here are ways that churches, whether large or small, can celebrate the Biblical holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. These activities work for individuals and families as well as youth groups.

At this time of year there are many church events that are focused on Easter. With a few small shifts, your church and community can start collectively taking part in the Biblical holidays - including the days that the Savior actually died (Passover) and rose from the grave (First Fruits - during the week of Unleavened Bread). Making this change will help people to better understand God's word, by having first hand experience with the celebrations it calls for. We will also honor the Creator by doing what he said!

Many of us have heard that taking part in the Biblical holidays is difficult or boring, but that's not the case! Scripture gives a few instructions (the largest of which is avoiding yeasted or raised breads during Unleavened Bread), but leaves plenty of room for creativity in our celebrations! Worship and the word are at the center of festivities but there are plenty of opportunities for connecting with others, playing games, and having a joyful time in this holiday season. 

If your church has worship nights, fellowship meals, or youth retreats on random days, you can certainly schedule things like that during the Biblical holidays as a way to worship God. Ditch the Easter bunny and celebrate the holidays that Jesus took part in!

How churches can observe Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits:

-Host a Passover meal. 

-Hand out recipes for unleavened bread.

-Have a class or demonstration on making unleavened bread - for adults or children! 

-Drive for a food pantry.  

-Children's recital or play. Choose songs related to the Messiah's resurrection, or Bible passages about the Exodus or Last Supper for them to act out.

-Worship night.

-Celebrate the Messiah's resurrection on First Fruits. Leave out the bunnies and eggs. 

-Make an Exodus themed escape room or obstacle course.

-Movie night.

-Fundraiser or drive to support refugees.  

-Prayer service.

-Fellowship meals during Unleavened Bread. 

More posts about celebrating these holidays:
How to host a Passover Meal as a Believer in Messiah
The Beginner's Guide to the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Passover Crafts for Kids

Here's When the Biblical Holiday Dates Are in 2027

This is when the Biblical holidays happen in 2027.

If you're looking for next year's dates for Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles you have come to the right place. These holidays have historic and prophetic meaning in Scripture and believers today can take part in that by adding these dates to their calendars!

While the Bible gives specific dates for each holiday, the Gregorian calendar doesn't match up with the Creator's calendar so the dates land a little bit differently each year on our modern calendar. There are also a few different ways to calculate the start of the year and because of that some groups will observe them at slightly different times. What I'm sharing here is the most commonly used set of dates. Whether you go by this calendar or another, mark your calendars for these set apart times!

When do the Biblical holidays happen in 2027?

Passover - April 21-22

Unleavened Bread - April 22-29

First Fruits - April 24-25

Shavuot - June 10-11

Feast of Trumpets - October 1-2

Yom Kippur - October 10-11

Feast of Tabernacles - October 15-22

A couple of things about this: according to this calendar, days start in the evening at sundown. This means that Passover starts on the evening of April 21 and goes through the evening of the 22nd. If you do not observe days as starting in the evening, then celebrating Passover the day of April 22nd would be appropriate. 

In the Bible, the Feast of Trumpets and Shavuot are both one day holidays. Some traditions today celebrate those for two days each, so certain sects will add an extra day after the dates given here.

There are also some different schools of thought for when First Fruits should be celebrated. Some people will celebrate it the first Sunday after Passover (which would be April 24/25th this year), while others will observe it fifty days before Shavuot, which puts it on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

It's also important to note that while all of these are special times, some of these days are considered Sabbaths which means we shouldn't work on them. These Sabbath days are the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and the first and last days of Tabernacles. This means that believers should request off from work or arrange to be away from their business on those days, as well as refrain from shopping, errands, and yard or household projects and chores. 

Sabbath days for 2027:

First Day of Unleavened Bread - April 22-23
Last Day of Unleavened Bread - April 28-29
Shavuot - June 10-11
Trumpets - October 1-2
Yom Kippur - October 10-11
First Day of Tabernacles - October 15-16
Last Day of Tabernacles (The Eighth Great Day) - October 21-22

As well as all weekly Sabbaths, of course.

You have the opportunity to celebrate what God has done by joining in on the Biblical holidays this year! 

Related posts:
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
Why the Biblical Holidays Are for All Believers
Six Reasons Believers Should Keep the Bible's Holidays Today

Legal Issues in the Book of Acts (That No One Talks About)

Discover the book of Acts from a different perspective, where we focus on what was pertinent to believers at the time: legal issues surrounding faith in the Messiah! The question of who could worship in what way was central to the response of people when they heard the Gospel. Examining the book of Acts through this lens will also help us to make sense of why Paul and other members of the early church were frequently in trouble with civic and religious leaders, often for conflicting reasons. Here we will mostly focus on events in Acts 16, 17, and 18 but this issue runs throughout the book of Acts and is imperative to understanding the New Testament and the world of the early church.

How do we know there were legal problems in Acts?

"These men are advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." -Acts 16:2

"They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king, one called Jesus." -Acts 17:7

"This man is teaching people to worship God in illegal ways." -Acts 18:13

While many of us take religious freedom for granted today that was not the situation the early church found itself in amidst the Roman Empire. In the culture of the time, worshiping the approved gods was considered a mandatory civic duty. Most citizens were legally obligated to make sacrifices and observe other religious customs. This observance was thought to appease the local gods, who in turn would provide good harvests, military success, temperate weather and so on.

This means that if famine struck your area, or if your soldiers didn't fare too well in battle, everyone thought the problem was that not enough had been done to appease the gods. Anyone not participating in local religious customs was believed to be to blame. Imagine the pressure you would be under if all your neighbors thought it was your fault every time there was economic hardship or a fire or a battle was lost!

However, one group had legal exemption from participating in the state religion of Rome. That group was the Judeans - people from the tribes of Israel who worshiped YHWH. They were allowed to worship God and participate in their own customs in place of Rome's. Other people groups generally did not have the option to not participate in the Roman religion or to pick a religion for themselves. 

And this is what so much of the fuss is about in Acts.

Two main debates raged:

1. Should worship of the Messiah be legally granted if it fell under worship of YHWH?

2. Who should be allowed to worship the Messiah? Could members of the northern tribes of Israel be included, along with those with no physical ancestry in Israel?

There was a huge amount of concern throughout the book of Acts that these things would not be permitted, which is why we see verses like:

"These men are advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." -Acts 16:21

The illegal 'customs' would have been the new practice of non-Judeans or non-Israelites worshiping the God of Israel through the name Yahusha or Jesus. Roman citizens could not just decide to worship a 'new' god, because of their civic duties to local deities. They were worried they would be persecuted, or even killed, for worshiping the Messiah.

A huge portion of the events in Acts have to do with Paul explaining, or attempting to explain, that it was not illegal for anyone (even non-Israelites) to worship Jesus, because he was the goal that God's plan was getting at all along.

Why were religious leaders upset with Paul?

I used to assume that religious leaders just didn't accept Jesus, and that's why they were so mad at Paul. But that's not what was going on. Sure many people at that time did not believe Yahusha was the promised Messiah, but different sects disagreed all the time...we see that many times in the Gospel where the Sadducees and Pharisees argue about issues such as eternal life. That's not why they cared about what Paul was up to.

They cared because they believed it would cause them to lose their official permission to practice their religion. Let's take a look at what's going on...

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas had gone to Thessalonica where they preached and caused "certain Jews to become angry." These religious individuals were so upset, they leveled a serious accusation.

"These men have caused troubled all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king, one called Jesus." -Acts 17:6b-7

The religious leaders here are angry that Paul's teaching goes against...what? Scripture? No. They are angry he is teaching against Caesar's decrees. In fact, they charged them with what was known as heteron basileia - the declaration of there being another king. Which was not just having an obscure idea, but something considered to be treason. 

While sometimes Paul is accused of breaking religious rules, the concern here is that he's acting against Caesar's decrees. Scholars note that the implication of this is the above exemption we talked about above...that this specific group of people were permitted to to practice their own religious customs instead of the Roman way. While they had permission, they seemed concerned that the attempts of Paul to include others in this could land them in trouble with the authorities. Verse 8 tells us that the crowd and the authorities were greatly agitated by this, so it seems fair to say that Paul and Silas were pushing everyone's limits.

Then while in Corinth in Acts 18:12 a group of Jews made a 'united attack on Paul' and brought him to Gallio, the Roman proconsul, or provincial governor, in the Roman Empire. They told him that Paul was persuading people to worship God in illegal ways.

What is Gallio's response? Scripture tells us he blew them off before Paul could even start to defend himself.

Gallio said to them, "If you were making a complaint about a misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involved questions and words and names and your own law - settle it yourselves. I will not judge this." -Acts 18:14-15

Gallio saw the argument as one that involved the intricacies of a religious sect that was already approved. He really didn't care what they did or said - they were exempt from taking part in the state Roman religion. This is a viewpoint Paul shares, believing since it was legally acceptable to worship YHWH, it was also legally acceptable to worship YHWH in the form of the Messiah, and to thus abstain from idol worship. 

Rome agreed with Paul when Gallio declared this had nothing to do with him. This was transformative for the people of Corinth at the time. Paul saw this as official permission that it was legal to worship the Messiah there.

What's wild about this is that this is the last of the persecution of the early church that we see in Corinth! In every other letter Paul writes to churches, he mentions recipients being persecuted. But not in 1 or 2 Corinthians. Having established legal precedent through the Gallio the proconsul, citizens of Corinth were not persecuted for worshiping the Messiah.

We see something similar happen not terribly far away in Athens, though this time it is not fellow worshippers of YHWH who are upset with Paul. This time he was disputing with "Epicurean and Stoic philosophers," (Acts 17:1). Paul is arrested and brought to trial at Mars Hill. There he is accused of advocating foreign gods. This was an issue not of xenophobia, but of genuine concern for what would happen if the official local deities like Athena and Zeus were not worshiped. We expect Paul to explain the importance of worshiping Jesus, because only he can forgive sins and grant eternal life. But Paul's defense is that YHWH is already being worshiped in the form of the unknown god, therefore he is not advocating for anything against the law.

We see Paul continue to insist throughout Acts that he "hasn't offended Biblical law, Temple law, or Caesar's law," (Acts 25:8). This isn't him crying that he should be left alone because he's not breaking the law, but an attempt at explaining there is no legal problem anywhere with worshiping the Messiah. I believe that is why he appeals to Caesar in Acts 25:11...his goal wasn't to get out of prison as quickly as he could, but to make the legality of worshiping Jesus known as widely as possible.

This helps us to see that spreading the Gospel was not just about sharing a strange new idea or trying to convince people to accept the Messiah. We can see better the challenges the disciples and adopters of the faith were facing when they chose to serve the Messiah.

Related posts:
Paul's Legal Defense at Mars Hill in Acts 17
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Does God Offer a Covenant of Vocation or a Works Contract?

Understanding the Meaning of Colossians 2:16-17 - Shadow of Things to Come

This post is going to take a look at Colossians 2:16-17, which is a Bible passage that is frequently misunderstood or taken out of context. We will see that this is not a license to take part in any holiday of our choice, but a reminder to those under religious oppression that they are able to take part in the Biblical holidays like Passover because of the work of the Messiah.

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." -Colossians 2:16-17

Many people believe that this verse is a license to essentially do whatever you want, not only with food, but when it comes to holidays. They believe it's up to each of us to decide what holidays to take part in and we are given a free pass to avoid judgment. This is the verse that is most frequently used whenever anyone raises objections to certain Christmas customs or Easter practices. People are quick to say whatever they are doing is okay because this verse says not to let anyone judge you.

But you can only view this verse from that perspective if you are looking through some very dirty lenses.

On this blog, we have discussed time and again why the New Testament does not teach or permit eating animals that God said were off limits. I'll link to those posts below for anyone not familiar with why that is.  

Many Christians today think Paul's phrasing here in Colossians gives them license to trade in the Biblical holidays that God commanded his people celebrate, for manmade religious holidays like Christmas, Easter, Lent and so on. Some take it to mean it's okay to celebrate anything and everything from Oscar Night to Halloween. 

But let's look at the phrasing. Colossians doesn't say, "Don't let anyone judge you for taking part in cultural holidays." God's word says, "Don't let anyone judge you for taking part in Sabbath days."

It specifically lists feast days, new moons, and the Sabbath. What's significant about this? These are all holidays and markers found in the Bible. Scripture doesn't say don't let anyone judge you for taking part in the world's holidays, it says don't worry if people condemn you for taking part in God's.

And while many translations use something like 'religous festival' we know this is referencing the Biblical holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, Trumpets, the Day of Cleansing, and Tabernacles, and not any manmade holiday that happens to be religious, such as Christmas. We know this because of verse 17. These holidays are a shadow of the things to come! 

God's Biblical holidays were designed to tell the Gospel story and speak of his promises. All of these holidays point to things yet to come and still be fulfilled. While manmade holidays can be fun and even have spiritual signficance, these were not designed by the Creator to be shadows of the ultimate story of his work.

So what Paul is saying is not to let anyone judge you for the Bible holidays you keep or for honoring the Sabbath. And doesn't this fit better with what we see today? Believers who keep the Sabbath or celebrate Passover and Unleavened Bread instead of Easter are routinely criticized by other believers. That is not a surprise to God.

This also fits better with the rest of the text and the world that Paul lived in at the time of this writing. In ancient Rome, worshipping certain gods and goddesses was considered a civic duty, and those not taking part in the customs and celebrations were often blamed for any great or small calamity in the area. So would it make more sense for Paul to encourage people to not fear condemnation from others for skipping those festivities, or for him to say, 'Don't worry what other believers tell you - God's Sabbaths and holidays don't matter'? Keep in mind, much of the New Testament shows us how hard Paul worked to set a legal precedent that believers didn't have to take part in the worship of Roman gods.

If we back up to verse 15 we can see that this fits with this understanding of what Paul is getting at, because he's talking about principalities and powers being disarmed and the Messiah having made a public spectacle over them. Paul doesn't think it's fine to ignore the Sabbath and the rest of God's calendar because ungodly principalities have been disarmed, he thinks all can now celebrate God's holy days because they are no longer held in the clutches of those powerful entities that would keep them away. 

So what are we supposed to not have people judge us about? Doing things God's way. We know that this passage is refering to both Biblical dietary commands, and the holidays and Sabbaths created by God. We see this because Paul said they are shadows of things still to come and that the substance of these things belongs to the Messiah. So don't let anyone judge you for living out your faith in the Messiah!

To recap, we know that while many pastors and Christians believe that this passage means you can ignore God's holidays and replace them with anything you want, that's not what the Bible teaches and is not what Paul intends to say here.

Colossians 2:16-17 is not about celebrating Christmas or Easter because:

1. Because it's talking about God's holidays and Sabbaths! 

2. Paul told believers elsewhere to keep the feasts, and worked to do so himself.

3. Paul worked to establish legal precedent for believers in the Messiah to not take part in Roman holidays and worship.

Related posts:
Mars Hill and Paul's Legal Precedent to Worship Jesus
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
Understanding Mark 7:19 and the Messiah Declaring All Foods Clean