In John 10:22, he tells us that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah - or the Feast of Dedication in English.

Hanukkah celebrates a historical event in 165 BCE, led by the Maccabees family, which ultimately won the Israelites their religious and political freedoms.

​Join us in this lesson as we explore the historical background leading up to this holiday and how the impact of this victory was still inspiring the Zealots – including Paul – in the first century.

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​Scholars have long recognized that Jesus was not born on December 25th. 

So when was he born?  Does the Bible give us any clues as to the time of year of his birth?

The answer is yes!  

Join us as we explore a trail of clues in the Gospel of Luke that points us to Jesus' birth being in the fall, around the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Considering the importance that God places on his Appointed Feasts and His plan of redemption, it would only make sense that Jesus, our redeemer, would be born into the world during the feast that celebrates redemption.

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​In today's lesson, we look at the final of the seven holidays – the Festival of Tabernacles. 

This festival is the dress rehearsal for Heaven, and it celebrates the fullness of redemption! And it is the only holiday we are commanded to celebrate with Joy before the LORD. 

Understanding the Festival of Tabernacles is central to understanding the message of the Gospel of John and how the "word" came to "tabernacle" among us. 

We also find Jesus attending this dynamic festival in the Gospel of John.

It is through understanding the first-century context of Tabernacles that the words and actions of Jesus come alive and enrich our reading of the Biblical text.

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​In today's lesson, we explore how the Feast of Trumpets - the first day of the seventh month - became a New Year's celebration - Rosh Hashanah.
 
In the cultures surrounding ancient Israel, the purging of sins from the king, the city, and the people marked their New Year's celebrations.
 
In Babylon, their New Year's festival - called Akitu - even included a scapegoat ceremony to remove the sins from the king. 
 
A New Year's ritual is one of rebirth and the renewal of time so humanity can enter the new period of time free of their sins.
 
Join us today as we explore this ancient ritual and see how closely it resembles our modern New Year's practice.

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References:

"Seasonal Renewal in Ancient Mesopotamia" in Britannica

Lupercalia Festival:  ​en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia

Februus - god of the underworld - 

Antagonyms: ​www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html 

In today's lesson, we explore the Feast of Weeks holiday. The holiday is called Shavuot in Hebrew, and in Greek, Pentecost. 

This is the holiday we see in Acts chapter two when God delivers the Holy Spirit as a gift from Heaven. 

What's going on at this event? What does this event tell us about the power of community? 

We see tonight how in a very concrete act, God is showing us that His presence has moved out of the "Temple" in Jerusalem and now resides wherever there is a group of "living stones" (1 Peter 2:4-5) gathered together in worship. 

Finally, we explore evidence from the first-century Jewish culture that helps us build a foundation for the background of this event and some of the traditions surrounding the events of God coming down on Mount Sinai.

For more on Act 2 Pentecost in light of first-century interpretation of the events on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20), see this journal article from Scandinavian Jewish Studies:

Theresa Abell haynes, "Voices of Fire: Sinai Imagery in Acts 2 and Rabbinic Midrash"

https://journal.fi/nj/article/view/102389

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In today’s lesson, we explore the meal that Jesus had with his disciples – what we refer to as the Last Supper – and see how it compares to the elements found in the traditional Passover celebration meal that today we call a Seder.

We’ll also look at a seating chart of the meal and see how knowing the basic seating arrangement in the first century helps us understand some things going on in the Gospels.
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In particular, we will see the absolutely genius manner in which Jesus interacts with Judas. I believe you will find it most enjoyable once you understand the Passover table and the references from the Old Testament. 

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Today's lesson is the second in our series on God's Appointed Feasts – sometimes called God's holidays.

Today's lesson focuses on the first of the seven Biblical holidays – Passover.

Passover was the central holiday in the collective consciousness of the Jewish people in the first century. 

This holiday celebrates when God overthrew the Pharaoh and delivered the nation of Israel. 

Many in Jesus' day longed for God to once again show up on Passover to deliver the Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Roman empire. 

"God has done it in the past," they said, "and he can certainly do it again!"

It is this holiday – the Passover – that Jesus is going to the cross as the Lamb of God – God's Passover lamb. 

And just like that first Passover lamb from Exodus 12 - those covered in the blood of Jesus will be set free from the tyranny of sin! 

Jesus IS our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed on our behalf (1 Cor. 5:6-7).

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Today's lesson kicks off our upcoming series on God's Appointed Feasts found in Leviticus 23.

These holidays are central to Jesus' ministry and God's plan of redeeming the world!

In this video, we will briefly introduce the holidays and then look at the concept of redemption!

God is redeeming the world. The Bible is a book about redemption.

But what does the word redemption mean? Do we have a sufficient enough understanding of this ancient concept that we can begin to see it all over the Bible?

Join us as we introduce God's Appointed Feasts and unpack the concept of redemption.

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Free Resource:  God's Appointed Feasts - Spring Holidays - click here.

Free Resource: God's Appointed Feasts - Fall Holidays - click here. 

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Understanding God's Appointed Feasts is critical to understanding Jesus, the New Testament, and God's plan of redemption. 

This is an introductory video to highlight how Jesus is fulfilling God's redemptive plan through action on each of the holidays.

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​In today's lesson, we look at the connection between the events in Exodus, where God delivers the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the Acts chapter 2 – Pentecost event – where God delivers the Holy Spirit.

To make this connection, we must know about the Biblical holiday system God implements in Exodus and Leviticus. 

The holiday of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) is not a Christian holiday, and Pentecost is the Greek word used for the holiday of Shavuot - the feast of Weeks - found in Leviticus chapter twenty-three. 

When we understand the holiday system and the associated symbolism of each holiday, the world of the New Testament opens up in ways that most cannot imagine! 

God commanded the holidays, and Jesus and the disciples observed the holidays. And most important, Jesus fulfills the holidays! 

How much more then should we be paying attention to God's canlendar?

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Today's video explores the Last Supper as a Passover Seder. 

The Gospel writers include details about the meal found within traditional Passover Seder celebrations. 

We can even discern where some of the disciples would have been sitting relative to Jesus that evening by looking closely at these details. 

Finally, we explore an element of the celebration called the Afikomen.

​Many scholars believe that the piece of unleavened bread (matzah) that Jesus identifies as his body is, in fact, the Afikomen.

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​In this week's lesson, we look at the details about the Passover in Exodus chapter 12. 

We can then compare the details about Jesus that are included in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. 

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are nested within the holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.  

The Gospel writers, in particular, are sure to include seemingly small details that help their audience point back to Exodus 12 and the original Passover Lamb. 

The New Testament writers see Jesus as God's Passover Lamb that has been offered to redeem the whole world.

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​In this video, we begin short three-part series on Passover. 

Passover is the most important holiday within the Hebrew Bible and for the nation of Israel. 

This lesson takes a ten-thousand-foot view of the Passover holiday and how it connects throughout the Old Testament and into the events surrounding Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. 

We look into the "four expressions of redemption" (Exodus 6:6-7) and how it relates to the Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples the night before his death. 

Understanding the Biblical Holidays (Leviticus 23) and how they relate to Jesus is a goldmine for Christians to help them better understand the Gospels and so much of the New Testament

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The fastest growing religious cult in the 1st century surrounded the worship of a god called Mithras. Many link the birthday of this god - December 25 - to the dating of the Christmas celebration as we know it today.

Mithras was envisioned as a powerful god who had the ability to control the cosmos. There are no sacred writings from this cult, only the sculptures found within the Mithras worship sites - called Tauroctony.  The Tauroctony tells the story of Mithras through the symbols of the zodiac.

Due to the discovery of the Procession of the Equinoxes by Hipparchus many in the ancient world were looking for a god that was bigger than the cosmos. By the time of the advent of Jesus the world is primed to be looking for a God that has the power to enter the cosmos and bring shalom. 

Join us in this faith lesson as we explore the origins of this mystery cult. 

For further study I recommend the work by David Ulansey. 

You can find an article on the Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras at David Ulansey's website. A link is provided here: http://www.mysterium.com/mithras.html

I also recommend an article that was published in the Journal of Biblical Literature on the cosmic symbolism found within the gospel of Mark. A link provided here: http://www.mysterium.com/veil.html

Gethsemane - COVOID-19 Zoom edition!

This latest video is a recording of a class conducted on Easter Sunday during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recording is of a Zoom class which explains the audio.  As skill with Zoom increases, so will the overall quality of video production. 

Jesus and his disciples ate their final meal together. From the upper room, they walked past the Temple, through the Kidron Valley, to a place called Gethsemane. 

The Gethsemane itself provides insight into the events of that night. 

Join us as we explore what the Gethsemane is and how we can better understand the events of that fateful night.