Manariwa

Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Passover”

Objectives

We begin a new series of articles on how to apply Organic Faith to certain spiritual practices. First, we deal with the unique New-Testament concept of Agape. This article will address 4 main points showing how many have misunderstood and misapplied it for so long, namely:

1. The tradition known as the Communion, Lord’s Supper or Eucharist neither comprehends nor fulfills the prophecies that Yahusha said during the Ultimate Passover Feast right before His crucifixion.
2. That Ultimate Passover Feast has been fulfilled during the Ultimate Pentecost Feast, rendering both Old Testament provisions no longer applicable, as they have been replaced by a Better, New and Living Way after the transformation period between the 2 events.
3. The Agape Love-Feast that the early disciples partook of joyfully in their homes, as duly-sanctified firstfruits or first-citizens of the Kingdom, fulfilled the prophecies of Yahusha while He sat as reigning King beside the Father in Heaven on Pentecost Day when the Spirit was poured out on those redeemed people.
4. The conventional idea of “remembering” Yahusha’s suffering and death during the various peculiar Communion or Mass celebrations today, in general, does not conform to the principles, prophecies and practices that Yahusha inaugurated through the work of the Apostles in His Kingdom in the first-century.

Defining Agape

Let us consider what Agape (referring to both Divine Love and Love-Feast) really signifies in the New Testament and, particularly, what it entails in terms of our devotion and responsibilities as part of a thriving community which was then called The Way (or The New and Living Way of Mashiach (Messiah). (Heb. 10:19-20) On the whole, this Way has not been truly and fully defined and expressed by majority of groups that profess to uphold the teachings of Yahusha (Jesus). We will compress the narrative in the New Testament and the principles regarding Agape Love-Feast while applying the concept of Organic Faith published in this blog. For a fuller perspective and to reinforce the validity of our propositions, please refer to the 2 books containing finer details of these two topics in the links given below.

Agape in Greek means selfless, giving love, perfectly portrayed by Yah’s (I Am or God) love for humans expressed through the whole Creation and His message of reconciliation in the sacrificial offering of His only Son’s death on the cross for our salvation, and the establishment of the Kingdom offered to us as our abundant, eternal inheritance. Agape extends to our corresponding love for Yah, not through rituals or religious acts, but through a “living sacrifice” (in contrast to the “dead sacrifices” required by the Law of Moses at the Temple). That is, living each day as a pleasing offering through real, organic or spontaneous acts of goodness and diligence, along with giving up comforts and possessions to bless others, all this as our acceptable offering to Yah. (Rom. 12:1) We gained Agape through a dying sacrifice; we give Agape through a living sacrifice.

This idea of Agape (Yah’s love for humans) shines through the many words and deeds of Yahusha; but we have, unfortunately, often turned our response to it, our faith that is, into a system that is conformed to or dictated by religious ceremonies and social conventions, making our “daily, organic good deeds” regimented or defined by strict organizational rules and cultural-psychological norms. (With exceptions, this assessment is fully vetted by observations and recorded history cited in our references.) This is due to the fact that Yahusha was a Yehudi (Jew) and showed reverence to the Law and the Temple’s regulations and festivals, leading our collective response to mirror an ancient rigid, legal system. And so, the debate on the role of the Law in the Faith continues, bringing no small confusion to many.

The Law versus Faith

A few examples might help.

Yahusha dealt with many big and small issues of the Law when He taught His yet unknown and unappreciated Way: the washing of hands before meals, the prohibition of work on the Sabbath, and His role and real nature as Mashiach foretold by the Law and the prophets. Yet, all He did was impart the coming righteous reign of Yah in the New Kingdom, not in Old Israel or the fallen chosen-nation overrun by false rulers (Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes) whom He condemned. Hence, Yahusha expressed Agape to His people and the whole world through His life, teachings and miracles to convince them He was the promised Savior. So, when the Pharisees questioned Him why He healed on the Sabbath, He justified His care for the sick in contrast to their selfish desire to follow the Law to the letter in order to preserve their self-righteous authority over the people. They never gave any serious thought or slight credence to the real source of the powers He possessed to inspire people, to heal the sick and to raise the dead. These same issues the Apostles would deal with among the Yehudim and Goyim (Goyim), as we all still do today. Agape Love is a difficult subject to teach or master, let alone apply in the way Yahusha did to the point of shedding blood.

John clearly summarizes the distinctive roles served by the Old Testament and the New Testament in their defined eras: The Law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Yahusha. (John 1:17) For the Yehudi, the Law was both judge and killer of animals and humans, for sin demanded the shedding of blood. Often, animals died in lieu of sinful humans. It presaged a coming better sacrifice to erase sin and death once for all. For whereas the letter of the law kills, the Ruach (Spirit) of grace gives life. (2 Cor. 3:5-18) Hence, an eye taken out demanded an eye’s worth as payment. A life taken, a life in return. That is the extreme side of the Law, for it was full of mercy or Agape as well; yet, we constantly miss it within the bloody scenarios of the Temple and the history of Israel. The whole liberation narrative of the Hebrews from Egypt is a grand showcase of Agape for Yah’s chosen people. His protection and liberation of Israel from a powerful nation came both through might and mercy. But each step of the way, Yah also showed Agape to the Egyptians through a constant plea, Let My people go! It was both a command and request, short of saying, Please, let My people Yah! But the choice to heed His call and His concomitant desire to save and to bless obedient and just humans echoed in Moses’ pleas to Pharaoh.   

Agape, as portrayed in the lives of the disciples, and as shown by Yahusha’s example, actually involved so little of following the formal demands of the Law or what would later on develop as the church rules that came with the revival of the priesthood and temple-based worship by organized religion. Rather, it involves more of us applying Organic Faith as expressed through Agape Love in all we do. Even Paul compromised many times just to reach out to fellow-Yehudim by following rituals; although those were no longer essential acts of Agape to those who were already mature and worshipped Yah out-of-the-box (sans Temple). Depending on who we deal with, we either compromise or clarify things in order to lead them to Agape — the “more excellent way”. (1 Cor. 12:27-31; 1 Cor. 13) But unless we comprehend the excellent way, we would not know the difference.

The Agape Love-Feast

We go to the other dimension of Agape, the Love-Feast. That is, Yah’s expression of Agape for humans through the Passover and Pentecost celebrations (as yearly, legal institutions celebrating Agape Love to Israel) gradually transitioned into something new which He meant for humans to apply organically, no longer through ceremonies or rites. Holidays and traditions our own ancestors practiced for centuries tend to become mechanical as we take for granted their purposes and meanings. Often, we merely go through the motions, especially many young ones who tend to act like robots to the point of feeling entrapped and finally neglecting the practices in their adulthood. Credit goes to organizational skills of those have kept the Passover intact for millennia, among the Yehudim and also among disciples in its essential nature and elements. However, it is no longer the unified Agape (Yah’s love as shared by the disciples through their own expression of love and fellowship among themselves) that it was practiced in the first century, in form and substance.

The primary reason people celebrate the Communion today the way they do is because they coopted what Yahusha had said as a Yehudi to fellow-Yehudim and, thus, they also strive to apply it to themselves, whether Yehudim or not. But He was not addressing Goyim but men who were under the Law and who were tasked to transform the Old and Dying Law into a New and Living Law, as Yahusha intended. He was not perpetuating the Passover, as many tend to believe and do, but introducing a new one. Hence, many still use the specific elements used by Yehudi Law-keepers, making themselves Law-keepers as well in the process. (With the exception of the Greek Orthodox Church, this is true. Check our reference on what caused the first Greek converts’ practices to be reverted by the Roman Church.) But the last Passover was that – the final and ultimate Passover. Except for the 7-week transition or “reformation” period from Passover to Pentecost Feast in the first century, any other Passover after that was done outside the new dispensation of the Spirit. (Heb. 9:10) That is what He meant with, “I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom.” (Luke 22:14-16)

What happened during the coming of the Kingdom, therefore, replaced or transformed what Moses began in Egypt. After all, Yahusha came to give grace and Agape and, in the process, He had to fulfill, and, thus, render the Law no longer applicable. This is what Paul and the rest meant when they said they did not break the Law. The Law no longer applied but the New and Living Way. You cannot violate what does not exist! You only violate it if people impose it again. And that is where all the confusion arises. But it had to happen because the priests came back and along with them temple worship and all other old and newly-invented regulations. Agape totally got lost in the process, spiritually and culturally, as we shall farther prove.

The Apostles’ Prohibitions to the Goyim (Gentiles)

Even the Apostles who met in Jerusalem in AD 50 did not include the Communion as a necessary burden for Goyim to observe; so why are so many Goyim doing it anyway? (Acts 15) Obviously, because you cannot prohibit ordinary or common meals, which the Agape love-feasts really were! But many have imposed it as an antiquated, religious tradition required for all because they inherited that paradigm from those who perpetuated the Passover as it is without understanding that it was replaced by a New and Living Way. The New and Living Way cannot and will never incorporate any old provision or precept of the Law. It is Yahusha’s Way and must include only His will and purposes. Renaming the Passover as “Communion”, “Eucharist” or “Lord’s Supper” while basically using the old elements and meanings neither makes it a new nor a living way.              

Neither did the Apostles require Goyim to follow or observe what the Yehudim and many organized churches enforce on believers today. They only forbade certain things that even the Law had not made as unorganic practices but were already deemed unorganic or unnatural practices by virtue of conscience, logic, propriety or health reasons, namely: to avoid sexual immorality, to avoid murder, and to avoid eating of food sacrificed to idols and of blood. Sexual immorality is frowned upon or outlawed by most cultures, whether Christian or not. Even aboriginals generally consider it taboo or immoral. Murder is a universally-accepted crime. Eating food offered to idols caused Goyim to participate in idolatry. For though the first commandment condemned idolatry, being socially bound with those who practiced it was tantamount to participating in it or encouraging it. Eating blood is also proven to be an unhealthful practice, not being organic food and almost always connected to idol offerings, historically. Not only is it unhygienic, it also violates the spiritual principle that it is the life of the body and must be shed and returned to the ground where it came from, as the Temple illustrated and as Yahusha exemplified by His own death. Eating blood violates such spiritual logic.

Nowhere then does it say Goyim must observe the Passover or any feast, give tithes, use prayer beads, adore Mary and the saints, go on pilgrimages, put up worship-houses, keep the Sabbath, observe Sunday worship, practice circumcision or, most important of all, eat blood in the form of wine that is believed to transform into blood. We can argue these were not prohibited and are, therefore, allowable. (1 Cor. 10:23) But the Apostles were precisely freeing Goyim from unnecessary burdens, “except” for those 4 vital matters. At the very least, other additional burdens are optional and have nothing to do with salvation or even spiritual growth. Anyone may then do them or not. The prime reason we do Agape Love- Feast is because it is organic and biological, same with other things, such as teaching, serving, healing and other good things left to individual abilities and needs. Apostles, as such, did not need to require believers to eat together, pray and serve one another for those are organic deeds not enforced by any law but by duty and choice. On the other hand, feasts and other legal provisions are unorganic deeds no longer essential and binding upon Goyim or Yehudim.

The Yehudim indeed practiced many things required by the Law, but those were not inherent but special practices that had special historical or ceremonial value for them alone. Hence, Passover and the temple services were tied to their law and history and the tithes to their priestly provisions; all had either legal or prophetic purposes, rendering them temporary and, therefore, not universal or organic. The Law was a mere vessel, not the substance — which is Yah’s grace. All the rest of the religious obligations imposed by religions today were never taught nor practiced by the early disciples. Yes, Paul sometimes observed the feasts and the Sabbath for he was a Yehudi living among Yehudim at times. But he never imposed his traditions upon the Goyim when he lived among them. The prohibitions declared in Jerusalem were meant to establish peace among the culturally-diverse believers in the early centuries. Paul lived by example but did not introduce any new or innovated practices or beliefs. In short, the Apostles taught no new principles, practices or beliefs, whether by council, by tradition or by personal choice, which many groups only introduced after the Apostles had died. Such false flags should warn us.

Yahusha Shows the Examples and Sets the Pattern, not Humans

How we express Agape both as a virtue and as a spiritual, social or cultural norm must give honor to the teachings of Yahusha given to the Apostles. There are no other organic ways to do so other than what the early believers showed. Any rationalization that justifies the communal reduction of the joyful and satisfying Agape into a formal, ceremonial, bread-and-wine, funeral-to-resurrection tradition solemnly observed in sanctuaries are of later innovations by well-meaning but uninspired teachers. We all have homes where we can eat normal meals to express spontaneous Agape in fullness. That is what the early disciples were doing daily and joyfully.

Yahusha, early on, even made breaking bread such a spontaneous, organic and pleasant act by doing it with thousands or with 2 or more people in the fields, in the homes, on the hills or by the shore to show His preeminence in the essential process of nourishing poor people who were hungry and needing a leader to bring life and meaning into their oppressed existence. And yet, we have turned His most-organic, most-savoring human act He had inaugurated in Eden through Adam and Eve eating fruits from trees (common meal, breaking of bread, family dinner or formal banquet — all one and the same) into an unorganic, artificial, ritualistic and strict religious observance in formal settings. No matter how one justifies these innovations, the words of Yahusha and the record of the Apostles put all our intentions into question and doubt. They are not of faith, hence, not according to Organic Faith.

Is it not amusing how people make so much drama of raising the bread as if it were the Lord or the Lord’s flesh itself? It is not! We ARE the Body of Yahusha. Consider why Yahusha raised the bread: The Passover was partaken around a low table and they reclined as they ate. Surprisingly, Yahusha brought out the subject of betrayal, a thorny issue that roused the Apostles. But Yahusha’s concern at that moment was to dismiss the betrayer and did so after dipping a piece of bread with Judas. He then continued to declare His real intentions and the true significance of Passover. Naturally, He took a loaf of bread, perhaps, and raised it to get the Apostles’ attention as they were filling themselves with the meal after all the work they had done at Jerusalem.

Embroidery depicting the Passover with reclined partakers

By the way, Da Vinci’s famous depiction of the Ultimate Passover was a commissioned, classic work intended for a private chapel where the formal Eucharist was held; hence, it used symmetrical lines and forms in keeping with the conventional religious, cultural and artistic norms of his time. All in all, it shows quite an entirely different scenario from the simple, spontaneous realities that existed and transpired during the actual event. Art imitates but often misrepresents. So does religion, sadly.

What Happened to the Paschal Lamb

And so, Yahusha took the bread and prophesied what would happen to Passover — His body He was offering was unleavened, pure, like the bread. No one knew exactly how that tied to the coming Kingdom and when it would arrive. The bread and wine were both pointing to the Kingdom as the necessary sacrifices on the cross to appease Yah and do away with sin and death. His body and blood Yahusha at Calvary would seal the Kingdom’s arrival. Those two elements foretold the coming reality of Yah’s grace in the form of the Body of Yahusha, which would be the embodiment of the Kingdom on Earth through the community of believers who would inaugurate that Kingdom when He would have sat on His heavenly throne. The wine, which they drank formerly that pictured His blood on the cross, would become the Gift of Renewed Life given to the Body of Believers: Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit).

In short, the Passover Feast was a prophetic and metaphoric symbol of Mashiach’s death hidden in the Law of Moses which was awaiting its fulfillment by Yahusha on the cross, not in the Kingdom. By offering Himself as the Lamb of Yah on the cross, He became the real Paschal offering that would finally put to death the body of sin (the sinful nature), and, it follows, render the Law fulfilled by shedding His blood for the washing of the sins of those who believe. Hence, there is no reason whatsoever to practice or continue Passover in its old form (Yeduhi-style) or in its new form (organized church-style) since that prophetic metaphor has been accomplished on the cross, not in the Kingdom. That is what He meant when He said, I will give My body for the forgiveness of sins. No more animal sacrifices; therefore, no more Passover, no more Law. Note that He neither said He would eat of the paschal lamb again nor required it to be eaten again. For the old body of sin must die and be taken away before a New Body Living in the Spirit can be given to replace it.

The Unleavened Bread Prophetic Figure

The other prime aspect of the prophetic metaphor He declared at the Ultimate Passover pertained to Unleavened Bread, which He said He will not eat until He eats it again in the Kingdom when it is fulfilled. (Luke 22:14-16) That meant He was fulfilling it first on the cross as Unleavened Bread and replacing it with a new kind of figure or paradigm in the Kingdom where He would partake of it again. (Again, no more lamb, only bread.) This He finally did when Pentecost Day came later when the Spirit was given and He was publicly proclaimed by Peter as seated on the right side of the Father as King over His Kingdom. (Those who wait today for a Kingdom are depriving Him of that honor and power.) As symbolized by the Unleavened Bread (pure and sinless offering), He offered His incorruptible body on the cross as the perfect sacrifice required by Yah in lieu of the animal bodies which could not remove sins. Having, therefore, done that on the cross, He then finally took away both the requirements of the Passover pertaining to the lamb and unleavened bread. Neither of the two are of any use or significance, as Yahusha precisely wanted to replace them with a Better New and Living Way.

Replaying or reenacting the Passover as it is or as it is done today by many, even if we call it by His name is incorrect and useless. What replaced it – the Agape Love-Feast — is what we read in the New Testament narratives but which we do not see or we simply neglect because of religious strictures planted in our minds by the false or uninformed teachers.

Peter proclaims the Good News of the Kingdom come on Pentecost

The Passover Fulfilled on Pentecost

What happened on Pentecost Day should finally remove the blinders that prevent us from understanding the idea of Agape (Love-Feast) as the simple yet sublime container of Agape (Divine Love) among believers. For as the Law had required, Pentecost commanded the Yehudim to bring 2 loaves of bread to the Temple as wave offerings. They were leavened and were meant to be sanctified food for the priests as their provisions from Yah through the work of the people who brought their first-harvest offerings to the Temple. (Lev. 23:17) On that Ultimate Pentecost (just as Yahusha had fulfilled and finished the Law on Unleavened Bread, He would do the same for Leavened Bread), Yahusha fulfilled His promise to eat the bread in the Kingdom with His disciples. The bread He now referred to meant the Kingdom (the leavened bread of the Kingdom in Matt 13:33) which He inaugurated on that day through the work of the Spirit Who was poured out and received by repentant and baptized believers as their gift from Yahusha. (Acts 2:14-38)

As such, the firstfruits of the Kingdom (first converts and first to receive the promise of salvation through Yahusha’s work, sacrifice and resurrection) fulfilled the prophetic metaphor of the “bread of the firstfruits” (leavened bread) worthy to enter the Kingdom and to partake of the Pentecost Bread as royal priests and holy nation of Yah. (1 Pet. 2:9) Naturally, on Pentecost Day, no Yehudi ate Unleavened Bread, only Leavened Bread, as the Law stipulated. So, what did the first converts or firstfruits eat in their homes? Of course, leavened or ordinary bread! And they ate it with the Spirit Who represented the presence of Yahusha in their lives. He is the Head of the Body, and the Head eats to nourish the Body — Yahusha did eat with the firstfruits! More than that, the Spirit also represented the fulfillment of Yahusha’s promise to drink the wine “new” in the Kingdom. (Matt. 26:29) Whereas, He drank the wine or the Blood of the Covenant (fulfilled through the blood He offered as sacrifice on the cross) with the Apostles on Passover Feast, He now drank it new (new blood and new figure) with the firstfruits through the Spirit as the Living Blood flowing through the Body of Believers, the Kingdom on Earth, as they drank and ate. (1 Cor. 12:13)

Agape Love-feast depicted on a wall

Breaking Bread as Common Meals

The Agape or Love-Feast that became the daily and common expression of love and fellowship among believers were simple, ordinary meals the New Testament simply called “breaking of bread”. It was not a ceremonial rite or special feast they had formally ordained but a joyous gathering of Kingdom-citizens fulfilling the most common and organic, cultural and biological task of nourishing their bodies – the ordinary meal and ordinary drink. And in their case, they broke bread as a way of eating a piece or sharing a whole loaf of bread among themselves. People carried their food in bags or baskets as they worked in the fields and lakes; whereas we have them served in restaurants or at take-out counters. Today, we have food served in individual plates, whereas they passed around a whole bread or piece of roast or even a cup or two. While they broke bread then, today we slice it or bite straight on it. These cultural norms have nothing to do with Agape (divine love) or with Agape (love-feast). Whatever the mode or practice we have in any cultural context, the nourishing of the body and spirit is the prime concern of Yah and, so, of each one of us. See how the ancient believers early on abused it and feasted without considering the needs of others. (1 Cor. 11:17-22) We read ceremonial or doctrinal requirements into the text because we were taught by church-educated teachers; but Agape (divine love applied in a meal is the union of the two meanings in one meal) is the whole point in the simple, ordinary meal, but we miss it because we see through our preconceived ideas of the Lord’s Supper or Communion.

To be honest, the Agape meal is given to us by His Creation, prepared by us and which we then eat by inviting Yahusha to partake with us, so we can proclaim His death and resurrection and savor His entire work of love and salvation anytime and anywhere we wish. Yet today, the meal only happens weekly and at one preferred place only and in a manner set by doctrines or laws. Where is the sense of grace, freedom and salvation in both the Agape of Yah and the Agape of believers? We have, in fact, sidelined His Agape by our distorted Agape-version. We do not even include children because they do not qualify to sit at the table! Sad? No, preposterous! This has happened since we brought back the temple and the priests to administer at the table, instead of allowing Yah to administer the Spirit’s revelation in clearly-illustrated events in Scriptures and not in later departures.

What Anamnesis really signifies (Click to access article linked)

Remember or Think of Yahusha?

Finally, one compelling reason many still adhere to the Passover elements and principles in celebrating Communion comes from the Yahusha’s statement: Do this in remembrance of Me. (Luke 22:19) Let us break it down.

Do this: People think that Yahusha referred to the Passover or its elements (unleavened bread or His body, and wine or His blood) as the starting or even the focal point of the practice. That may seem quite obvious to us all; but Yahusha was pointing to the fulfillment of the Passover in the Kingdom, not the Passover, as that would be in the Israelite kingdom. We have to remove this thought and think with Yahusha’s mind (Paul said so). (1 Cor. 2:16) Interpreting Scriptures properly requires us having His mind, not ours. So, when He commands DO THIS, we do it His way. Understanding the fulfillment of Passover then is of prime importance in order for us to know and to do what we need to DO, in the first place.

In remembrance of Me: This second part is the more sticky issue as it involves a close study of the original word used to get to the core of what Yahusha meant. “Remembrance” is the usual translation of the Greek word anamnesis, which really means “to think of” or “to bring into mind (or put one’s mind upon) something or someone”. As such, “to remember” or “to put into remembrance” falls short of the Greek basic meaning because it demands the recollection or the bringing into mind something one has witnessed or personally experienced. For the Apostles, it was applicable, for they were with Yahusha all the while that He taught. But for us, we cannot remember as eyewitnesses. We can only “think of Yahusha” through the revelation of the Spirit in the written word. There is even no need to try to recall His blood gushing from His open wounds or the pain and agony He felt when He was nailed or speared. Such things He did go through; but are all finished, past and have served their purpose – to save us from sin and death. He does not require us to suffer His own pain as well, but only what we should, could and already go through in our own lives. His sufferings bore our sins away from us; our own sufferings we must now bear to sanctify ourselves even more that we may remain in His grace. Otherwise, we may become proud and turn away from Him.

What Do We Think of?

Finally, we need to resolve what Yahusha wanted the Apostles to “think of”: the Passover, the crucifixion, His body or blood, or He Himself. He simply meant, Think of Me. He could not have meant the Passover or of food or drink, therefore. Neither His death nor His resurrection, for He had not done those at that point. He was referring to His whole Person and Being as Lord and Savior. Here I Am, alive; I said I will leave you to go to Abba; so think of Me living eternally while we are apart as you come together in a meal. We are not required to recall any particular thing but His encompassing work as Creator, Savior and King, all rolled into one in His Being. In short, He wants us to think of His Agape and the fullness of it through the DOING or the partaking together of food in an Agape Feast! He commanded the DOING; we must follow or DO IT His way. And that way is a New and Living Way (Pentecost-freed), not an Old and Dying Way (Passover-bound). Passover, after all, was a sign of slavery in Egypt and slavery in sin. Pentecost was a sign of abundance of harvest in the Promised Land and, thus, salvation and grace in the Promised Kingdom of Yah that Yahusha will raise and deliver into Heaven. How should we eat a meal as Kingdom-citizens today? The choice is so easy, if you think of it. Or is it? (For a more detailed discussion on the word Anamnesis, please refer to this article.)

Hence, DO THIS TO THINK OF ME, which is the proper rendition we have missed, means we put into mind the whole Nature and Being of Yahusha as expressed by His earthly life of perfect Agape Love at the moment we partake of the Agape Love-Feast, in order to show to one another that we have entered into the Covenant of Peace and Grace He established through His death, sealed through His resurrection and enforces through His reign in Heaven. We also show to the world that we are the Body of Yahusha which the Spirit indwells and enables with spiritual power. That power cannot be appropriated if we remain in Old-Testament-anchored provisions and precepts. Pentecost marked the end of the Old Testament era and allowed the firstfruits to cross over into the New Testament era; and the fulfillment Yahusha prophesied, accomplished and enforces requires a New and living Way represented by new provisions and principles we have fully presented.

Leaving the Passover Paradigm of Darkness and Unwholesomeness?

Why then do we remain stuck under the Passover darkness, seemingly awaiting the death of Yahusha as we eat unleavened bread and drink His blood, or mourning His death and grieving in our own sinfulness, when we can be basking in the joyous light of Pentecost, claiming the amazing gift of the Spirit reviving our spirits and hearts as we eat ordinary, natural and nourishing food and being filled by spiritual bounties of forgiveness, abundance and the coming resurrection at the return of Yahusha? Which one fulfills the prophecy of Yahusha properly and technically? Which one offers a more liberating way of expressing Agape in its fullness? The unfinished feast (that is, the yet unoffered, unresurrected and unglorified, human Yahusha) or the fulfilled feast (that is, the offered, resurrected, glorified and reigning divine Yahusha)? We either break the “bread of sorrows” or partake of the One Wholesome Body of Yahusha. (1 Cor. 10:17)

Once we clearly see this transitional process the Apostles ushered in through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we see how we have failed to follow the line of thinking Yahusha meant for us to follow. And once we see this finally, we also understand why believers are so divided and engaged in conflicts and disputes – not acting as one whole Body. (1 Cor. 1:10-13) Peace and grace are seldom widely exhibited within cities and, least of all, in a global scale. When Yahusha said He will bring with Him the world when He is raised, He meant to bring as many people as He could all the way to where He is in Heaven. But how could He bring quarrelling and battling people with Him and present with pride to Abba, saying, “This is My Body which I have redeemed and have raised up to Heaven to present as the fruit of My Agape to You that it may dwell in Your Holy City of Jerusalem, My Yahuah (Lord or God)”?

Could we be any clearer than this?

Summary

The transition and transformation Yahusha expressed through metaphoric words to unknowing disciples (Peter would fight to prevent Yahusha’s arrest), the Spirit would later on reveal to them: The Passover unleavened bread was raised as Yahusha’s body sacrifice on the cross. The wine was drunk as His shed blood to introduce the New Covenant. When He died and resurrected, He proved He is Mashiach.

Then Pentecost Day came with Yehudi offering leavened bread at the Temple. Along the way, they saw the disciples now full of the Spirit, declaring Yahusha as Savior and reigning King. The Body or Kingdom had been inaugurated, the “raised or leavened bread” (resurrected by Yahusha’s own, as prophesied both by the dough rising through the yeast and the literal raising by priests in the Temple — Matt 13:33, Lev. 23:17) now empowered by mighty signs by the Spirit of Life dwelling in their bodies, individually and collectively, preached the Good News of the Kingdom come. At the answer of 3,000, that Body grew even bigger that day. A leavened, raised and glorified Kingdom ruled by the King seated beside the Father in Heaven. Hallelujah!!!

Did Yahusha fulfill His prophecies at the Passover? Yes! When? On Pentecost Day. And what do we still do today? We partake of or participate in the Body of Yahusha (we commune as His Body of believers) as if we were still unleavened, unofferred and unfulfilled — still living in our sins, unforgiven and unresurrected, as such. We have been raised to newness in Yahusha through baptism and refreshed by the Ruach. (Isa. 28:12) The New Covenant set up a New and Living Way. We either agree or not with a covenant set up by a greater Being. Should we not then be expressing the Agape we received by taking the Agape like we would on Pentecost Feast: leavened, fulfilled, forgiven and refreshed? Not as a religious feast but as the reality of fulfilling Yah’s love and grace in our renewed bodies revived in the Ruach or Spirit.

So, why do we remain today tied to the bread of sorrow and the blood of suffering as we fellowship, and not to the Living Bread of Life and the Blood of Eternal Refreshing? So many people for too long have dwelt in the darkness of the former. Is it not time to be set free and receive what Yahusha had offered the firstfruits of the Kingdom? You can be among the finalfruits of the Kingdom. Our rewards are no less valuable. The first shall be last, the last shall be first. Sunset shall be just like the Sunrise. One unending glorious day in Yahusha!

The Agape of Yah became the organic and ordinary meal partaken of by believers when they gathered in their homes, not even in synagogues or at the Temple. The home is the ultimate place of love; but the buildings have also replaced the homes, and many unorganic things and practices have also taken over our lives. Disciples brought whatever food they could bring during such gatherings and shared it equally as one big family. Everyone had enough. Why? Because they ate to be fulfilled, as Yah meant for us to do in every meal. It is not a fast. Today, the Lord’s Supper is a mere sip and bite, or just a bite of thin wafer. Organic? No, it is unnatural and ceremonially farcical in the face of all the evidences shown by the believers, no matter how we value our religion and doctrines. The Truth and the New and Living Way must never be compromised in favor of distorted, old, dead, unfounded and invented beliefs and practices. The deception and ignorance must make way for freedom and reason – not to mention honor we must render to Yah.

Conclusion

We will never be able to replace natural or organic food we need to nourish our natural or organic bodies with artificial, devitalized or unorganic food processed by efficient, high-tech machineries or means. Whereas organized religions have deprived millions today from being nourished by Yah’s genuine Agape and the firstfuits’ organic Agape, we must move and act in order to take back what Yahusha worked so hard to fulfill that wonderful and sublime task of establishing His Kingdom on Earth in the first century. The Apostles had prophesied the coming of wolves who will introduce heresies. What we believe to be true or right today could be the heresy they warned the disciples back then. There is only one way to find out. Look back to history and seek the guidance of the Spirit to lead you along the way to understand how the Agape became the rituals we practice today.

It will be difficult for so many who have believed and lived long under the old way to change. It is likewise difficult for anyone to call people to do so, for who will listen to someone who thinks differently from the vast majority? But there is an easier way to do it. Let Yah decide the matter. He wrote the record. Certainly, He can lead anyone to think the way He thinks. Many today think a pastor or priest has all the right answers. No, only Yah does. If all the evidences we have shown here do not bear any value or do not carry any weight at all in comparison to the conventional beliefs, then, so be it. Anyone is free to remain in their old ways of doing things. But if there are those who see the literal, prophetic and spiritual logic in Yah’s work through the Spirit, one is obliged to turn around and proclaim and practice His New and Living Way.

We have provided clear and sufficient evidences to prove how the Agape of Yah became the organic meals or Agape Feasts partaken by the early disciples in their homes. Each individual has now the responsibility to consider whether the revelation we presented is what Yah has shown it to be or it can be practiced in a way other that the way He revealed it. Do we hear the word and yet do not hear? Do we see the word and yet do not see? Or do we hear and see by the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) that we may hear and see as He leads us to understand?   

Pray for the wisdom and courage to be true in Yah.

References:

1. The Agape: A Celebration of Love (The New and Living Way of Pure, Joyful and Simple Christianity) (Free eBook)
2. Organic Faith: Rest and Refreshing in the New and Living Way (eBook)
3. Organic Faith: Is there such a thing? (Series of articles)
4. Organic Faith, Episode 1: Is there such a thing? (Podcast in 3 parts) (Podcasts)

(Paintings/photos shown above courtesy of www.google.com per Fair Use Clause)