Jews for Jesus is an organization dedicated to proclaiming that Y'shua (Jesus Christ) is the Messiah for all people--Jews or Gentiles. Jews for Jesus was started in 1973 by Moishe Rosen, a Messianic Jew who has used creative means (such as distributing humorous literature, non confrontational testimonies, and dramas) to reach out to his people.

Tuvya Zaretsky, who heads up Jews for Jesus in Los Angeles, said in a recent interview,

"Some Jews believe that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because Joseph, of the line of King David, was not His real father. Joseph's lineage is given in the Gospel of Matthew. It's interesting that Mary's lineage is given in the Gospel of Luke--she, too, was of the line of David."

When asked if one becomes less Jewish by believing in Jesus, Tuvya replied,

"Jews are still Jews by ethnicity and national heritage. Choosing to believe in Jesus does not negate that. If you study the Old Testament law, histories, and prophets, you real realize that accepting Y'shua as Messiah makes you more Jewish. With Christ's resurrection power inside of you, you can truly obey God's law and serve Him. We do not believe in a dead creed, but a living Savior, and our actions should show that. We are seeing a Messianic movement among the Jews that is unprecedented since the First Century."

On Sunday night, March 28, Calvary Chapel welcomed David Garrett from Jews for Jesus. He stood at the front of the sanctuary behind a table laid out with the traditional Jewish "seder" meal, a celebration of Passover (called "Pesach" in Hebrew). Garret explained that Passover began in 15th Century B.C. when God called Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, where they had been enslaved for 400 years.

In the 15th Century B.C., God told Moses to instruct each Israelite family to take a lamb without blemish, sacrifice it, and spread some of its blood on the door posts and lentils of their houses. This would spare the people inside the house from the last plague--the death of the firstborn child--which was sent to the Egyptians for refusing to let God's people go. The Angel of Death would pass over the house that was marked with blood from the Passover lamb. (see Exodus Chapter 12)

"Jesus was Jewish," Garrett began. "He celebrated the Passover every year that He was on this earth. He is also clearly pictured in all the symbols of Passover and in the message of Passover itself. The message of Passover is the promise of Redemption, and the story of Passover is our liberation of bondage from sin. As I explain this traditional Passover setting, I hope that you see it as more than just a simple explanation of a commemorative meal--as an object lesson of the life and mission of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world."

All four gospels tell about Jesus celebrating His last Passover with His disciples. The Gospel of Luke stresses the importance of the preparation of the Passover.

During the days leading to Passover, there could be no leaven (yeast) found in a Jewish home. In the Bible, leaven was considered a symbol for sin. Even in the New Testament, The Apostle Paul referred to it as something to be purged from our lives. So the preparation process to remove leaven from a Jewish home can take several days or weeks. The woman cleans the house of all bread, cookies, donuts, and anything else with leaven in it.

Passover begins at sundown the night before. The man of the house will come home from work and take a wooden spoon, a feather, and a white linen cloth to hunt for any overseen leaven that needs to be removed. The wife, not to disappoint him, will have hidden a corner of a piece of bread somewhere in the house. The husband finds it, scoops it with the feather into the spoon, wraps it in the linen cloth, and removes it from the premises. Then the head of the household will come back in the house, put on a white kingly robe and a crown-like hat, come to the table, and announce to his family (his mizpokah) that Passover has begun.

The Haggadah ("Telling") book is opened, and the Head of the Household reads from it. Everyone has a pillow on his or her chair to relax and enjoy the Passover--to show that they are now free from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

The wife then gets the honor to put a white cloth over her head (a sign of reverence for God), light the white Passover candles, and say a blessing: "Blessed art Thou O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us by Thy commandments and commands us to light the lights of Passover."

Incorporated with the celebration of the seder is a family meal that can last three hours, but Garrett did the abbreviated version. Normally each person at the table would get a place setting and a cup that would be filled with red wine four times during the seder. The first cup is the Cup of Blessing. The second cup is the Cup of Affliction. The third cup is the Cup of Redemption, and the fourth cup is the Cup of Hallel (praise).

One tradition that keeps the people's interest during the long meal involves the matzo tash, a white cloth with three compartments in it (matzo is the unleavened bread eaten during the Passover season). The head of the household opens the matzo tash, takes out the middle matzo, and breaks it in half. Half goes back in the matzo tash, and the other half is wrapped in a white linen cloth. This is called the afikomen (a Greek word for "that which comes after"). The father of the family has the children close their eyes while he hides the afikomen.

Next, the youngest person at the table gets to ask the Four Questions of Passover.

First Question: Why is this night different from every other night?
Second Question: Why on this night do we eat only unleavened bread?
The Third and Fourth Questions are linked together: Why on this night to we eat the bitter herb, and why do we dip the vegetable in salt water?

At this point in the presentation, Garrett held up the seder plate which held six spots for the various symbolic food items of the Passover meal. The roasted egg (betzah) reminds us of the sacrifices brought to the Temple. The shank bone of a lamb represents the Passover lamb eaten by the Jewish people before they left Egypt. The Charoset (a sweet mixture of apples, raisins, nuts, and honey) represents the brick mortar the Israelites used to build Pharaoh's construction projects. The Bitter Herb (an onion, horseradish root, or romaine lettuce) is called maror, and it reminds us of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. The garden vegetable, usually parsley, is called karpas. It represents life and is dipped into salt water--the tears of the enslaved Jewish people. The mystical red horseradish marks the sixth spot on the seder plate, giving the plate the appearance of the Star of David.

At the end of the meal, the children search for the hidden afikomen. Whoever finds it brings it back to the head of the family, and it is unwrapped from the white linen cloth, broken into olive-sized pieces, and given to each person at the table.

Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, celebrated Passover with His disciples. After dinner, He took the bread, and after giving thanks, He broke it and said to His disciples, "take and eat; this is my body which has been given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." Then Jesus took the third cup, the Cup of Redemption, and after giving thanks, He said, "take and drink. This is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me."

Jesus showed His disciples that He loved them and was providing a way of redemption, to be free of sin. Jesus paid the price when He died on the cross. The middle matzo shows that Christ, the second person in the Trinity, allowed His body to be broken, put in a tomb, and resurrected to bring new life. Notice that the matzo itself, the rectangular-shaped unleavened bread, is both pierced and striped--a symbol of Christ's wounds to heal us (in Psalm 22 King David wrote about the Messiah having His hands and feet pierced, and in Isaiah 53:5 the prophet said "by His stripes we are healed." Also, Jesus said "I am the bread of life," (John 6:35), and He was without leaven (sin).

There is another place setting and cup at the seder table--the Cup of Elijah. The children open the door to see if Elijah is there. The Gospels state that John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah. When John stood baptizing in the Jordan River, he looked up, saw Jesus, and declared,

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29)

For more information about Jews for Jesus, call Tuvya Zaretsky at (310) MESSIAH; (310) 637-7424. Or visit the Web at www.jewsforjesus.org