Comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter - Essay Example

?Running head: COMPARISON OF JEWISH PASSOVER WITH ROMAN CATHOLIC LAST SUPPER AND EASTER Comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supperand Easter Insert name Insert course code Insert instructor’s name 4 May 2011 Outline Introduction Comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter Worship Analysis possible connections exist between Christianity and the world religion Conclusion Comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter Introduction There exists an enthusiastic and overwhelming comparison between the Jewish Passover and the Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter. The Jewish Passover celebrations have a rationale for remembrance of redemption from slavery bondage of Israelites by God from Egypt. The Last supper brings out the rationale for sharing of a meal by disciples and Jesus, not shared in a usual manner just before his death. On the other hand, the Easter holiday is celebrated by Christians to demonstrate the significance of the painful death of Jesus on the cross for the sake of sin redemption on humankind. The celebrations that are held to mark these events are usually in the accompaniment of beliefs, performance of rituals, and a recall of the history of the real happenings. The leadership in every Christian movement is charged with the responsibility to lead their congregations in conducting such events. The scriptures of the Bible containing relevant information in regards to the events are duly emphasized via repeated reading sessions during the commemoration seasons. Additionally, every aspect of the above issues has a comparison with another in another practice in the Christianity realms. The practices, in every form of Christian group, entail performance of reverent worship, whose conduction is similar in some groups and dissimilar in others, though all directed to the almighty God. Nevertheless, fervent connections are in existence between the Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter, where every practice in the Old Testament is balanced and linked to another in the New Testament, making the celebrations to ultimately be intertwined (Cobb John and McAfee Ward 134). The discussion in this paper seeks to establish a comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter. The comprehension of this discussion is motivated by investigating a variety of issues, the comparisons between the issues, as well as a critical analysis of the connection between them. Comparison of Jewish Passover with Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter The Jewish Passover and the Canadian Roman Catholic last supper and Easter have significant similarities. They are both symbolic events used to commemorate an act that was conducted in the traditional times and was meant for today’s significance. The practices and believes are centered on worship for God because of his redemption power for his people from suffering, which has a significance of demonstrating God’s mercy to his creation. The Jewish Passover portrays the mercies for redemption from slavery, while the Easter and last super portray the mercies in regards to offer of Jesus on the cross. The beliefs of these events are centered on the saving power of God, and that the commemoration of the events brings spiritual revival in the hearts of the believers. Moreover, the execution of the practices is only through the way of conducting worship in a tabernacle, conducting rituals and reverent reading of scriptures of relevance. All these celebrations are always celebrated following the appearance of full moon, especially in the month of March, April, or May. Nevertheless, the traditions have it that Easter and the last super cannot be celebrated before the Jewish Passover (Combier-Donovan et al 118). However, pronounced differences are identifiable in relation to rituals and history of every practice. The Jewish Passover dates back to the Old Testament scriptural representation, when the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt. The sending of Moses by God and their deliverance through a feast in the last night has always been celebrated by Jews. According to the calendar of the Jews, the Passover is celebrated in the month of Nissan and that has been a historical practice, while the last supper and the Easter feasts take place immediately after the event. The celebration is accomplished through an event that entails the performance of particular rituals. The ancient Israel, in addition to Jews today, must offer a sacrifice by slaughtering a lamb. The sacrifice represents the pouring of innocent blood for relief from bondage. The Jews today pierce and stripe a matzoh, holding it aloft, which is then broken down and wrapped well. The hidden treasure is then retrieved from the hiding place after some time. Participation in the lord’s super, according to 1Corinthians 11:15-34 and Luke 22:19-20, is the practice conduced by the Roman Catholics. The ritual entails reverent consumption of bread and wine in a worship mood. The Roman Catholics perform this in a belief that a conversion often takes place where the elements become the body and blood of Jesus and one should ultimately consume them. The Roman Catholic regard the last supper as a fundamental ground for the scriptural Eucharist as well as the Holy Communion. Additionally, The Easter has been traditionally practiced by the Roman Catholics in Canada on the Sunday that comes first after the foremost complete moon of spring. The historical practices are marked by conducting Religious services, performance of Easter egg hunts as well as offer of gifts in USA. The Roman Christians must observe the period pass via reverent Prayer, Whipping etc. The significance of the practices in history and rituals conduction demonstrates commitment to the belief in God as well as his redeeming power. The celebrations require that Christians take them symbolically in their revelation that is believed to occur in the spiritual realms (Combier-Donovan et al 118). Worship The central characteristic of Jewish worship is recitation. The prayers that often have directions and commentaries are led while the congregation has to recite the spoken words. The leader also reads the prayers from a traditional book constituting of written prayers. Three prayers are a mandatory requirement for recitation by those regarded as observant Jews. The emphasis for recitation is more on Jewish holidays as well as Sabbath days. The Jews also consider quorum prayers as more viable in the synagogue especially for male better than solitary prayers. Additionally, community customs as well as sects act as determinants for what the length and content will be in a Jewish service as it occurs in most other churches. The conduction of prayers should also be accompanies by a forth and back sway, though this is not mandatory. Their worship services are often conducted on Saturday and every service usually has a distinct format of performance. The worship is also accompanied by singing of hymns and bowing down in honor at some defined stages in the worship (Kelly 212). On the other hand, a variety of methodologies is evident in the Canadian Catholics worship of God. However, the main method of executing worship of a community is via the Eucharistic liturgy. The Eastern Catholics and the orthodox refer to the worship as Divine Liturgy while the western Catholics call it mass. Therefore, in contrast to the Jews worship of central recited prayers, the Canadian Roman Catholics tradition is marked by the mass as the structure of worship. Traditionally, the martyrs’ catacombs in Rome have been utilized as centers of worship in the celebration of the Easter and the last supper. The significance of this depicts itself in the connection between Christ’s death on the cross, the performance of mass and ultimately the effect of strengthening the faith of the church. This kind of worship, however, was not observed in the Jews worship. More so, the catacombs of martyrs were used by the Roman Catholics as altars for the celebration of the earliest forms of the Mass, making the tie between the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, its re-presentation in the Mass, and the strengthening of the faith of Christians. Furthermore, a mystical reality was valued in the Roman Catholic masses, regarding them as instruments for the renewal of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Brockman & Habito 38). The worship of the Roman Catholic and the Jews is comparable owing to the offer of reverence to the almighty God. The singing of hymns and the reading of scriptures is a common form of worship in all these foundations. The worship fits the materials discussed in class in regards to observed similarities in worship offered at definite places of congregational meeting, where sacrifices are offered. The pronounced differences that have been observed in the two forms of worship have created a rationale for development of interest in this field (Frost 2) Video presentations for Jewish worship services Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=video+in+line+with+Catholic+teaching&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&tbm=isch&ei=QLDSTarGH4vEvgPu4Oi5DQ&sa=N&start=60&ndsp=20&biw=1024&bih=578 Analysis possible connections exist between Christianity and the world religion Jewish religion is directly connected Christianity in a massive number of ways and beliefs. There are comparisons, parallels, as well as rationales that create opportunities for dialogue in many settings. The first connection item lies in the fact that the earliest Christians being Jews maintained the Jews festivals observance. The most striking connection is that of observing this on similar dates as the Jews had been celebrating them on their calendar. The substitution of the symbolism of the earliest Jewish symbols and interpretations by the early Christians into their own versions creates parallels that can be seen in worship up to date. The New Testament also records the traditional form of practice to today’s Christians in I Corinthians 5:7-8, when it advocates for purging the old leaven to create room for a replacing lump, as a human being is ample when unleavened. This is a representation of what the traditional Jews did practically in their worship and celebrations (Ha-Levi, Para 2). The festival of celebration in the early Jewish community was referred to as Pasch, with the meaning of passing over. Therefore, the connections between the Passover of the Jews and the Christianity are inclusive of the wave-sheaf offer. Theological teachings for Christians advocate for the wave-sheaf as a representation of how Jesus was offered to God on the day commonly called the Good Friday. They often relate the time of the offer as that of the offer of the wave-sheaf in the traditional realms of the Jews. The act of sacrificing a paschal lamb on the holiday of Passover for Jews is also expressly compared to Christianity. The studies that have been conducted in this area reveal that the original apostles kept this practice in remembrance during their time. This was in a bid to celebrate the Easter at the same time in the Jewish calendar, when the traditional Jews used to sacrifice their paschal lamb for Passover celebrations. The lamb was often sacrificed on the 14th day in the month of Nissan according to the Hebrew arrangements. The main reason for the apostles’ adoption of this lies in their maintenance of the fact that the crucifixion of Jesus occurred on the same day (14th) as the paschal lamb sacrifices by the Jews (Ha-Levi, Para 1). The sayings of Apostle John in the New Testament are taken seriously according to (John 1:29). The theological teachings retrieve the Jewish sacrifice of a lamb as a symbol for how Jesus was crucified, as a sacrifice for the sake of sin redemption. There is a divine connection between the reasons for the paschal lamb offer, which was meant for redemption of the Israelites from the slavery annals of pharaoh in Egypt, and the death of Jesus on the cross for sin atonement for the Christians. Therefore, the death of Jesus is often taken as a continuity of the history in the Old Testament as well as a revelation of the Old Testament symbolic acts. The influence of the so-called Holy Communion or Eucharist and partaken by the Christians today has its origin from the last supper that Jesus Shared with his disciples. The taking of wine and bread elements in a belief that their conversion would take place to the body of Christ and blood on drinking reflects the words of Jesus to his disciples during the last supper session. The eating of the unleavened bread by the Jews as a custom strongly relates to the Christianity today in accordance to the scriptures in John 6. These refer to Jesus as the bread of life since people no longer practice the eating. The bread of life of Jesus is a symbol for eternal life to Christians after the earthly living. However, these comparisons have always created room for dialogue in the academic and spiritual realms (Ha-Levi, Para 1). Conclusion There exists an enthusiastic and overwhelming comparison between the Jewish Passover and the Roman Catholic Last Supper and Easter. The history, leadership, rituals, as well as the beliefs of the Jews and the Roman Catholics have rampant comparisons and parallels. However, these religions are found to have worship that is centralized on one act. The Roman Catholics at Canada center their worship on mass, while the Jews center it on recitation prayers. More over, a variety of connections exists between the Jewish worship and Christianity in all ways. The connections are not up to date understood by Christians, a course that has led to denominational conflicts, and thus it is ample that these connections significance be established. There also exists a divine connection between these materials and ones in class, hence the sources are valid, and the aim of the investigation was achieved (Becker & Morali 55). Works Cited Becker, Karl J. & Morali, Ilaria. Catholic Engagement with World Religions – A Comprehensive Study. Orbis Books. 2010. Brockman, David R. & Habito, Ruben L. F. The Gospel among Religions: Christian Ministry, Theology, and Spirituality in a Multi-faith World. Orbis Books. 2010. Cobb, John and McAfee, Ward. The Dialogue Comes of Age: Christian Encounters with Other Traditions. MN: Fortress Press, 2010. Combier-Donovan, Catherine et al. 2010 Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays: The Almanac for Pastoral Liturgy: Year C-II. NY: Liturgy Training Publications, 2009. Frost, martin. Easter: nature, development and practices. Martin frost Web Services, Inc. 12 May 2011. http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/easter1.html Ha-Levi, David. Jewish Passover Customs and Their Relation to the Christian Passover: Elimelech David Ha-Levi Web Services, Inc. 2005-2011. 12 May 2011. http://the-jewish-passover.tripod.com/customs.html Kelly, Maureen. Children's Liturgy of the Word 2009 - 2010: A Weekly Resource - Celebrating the Lectionary. NY: Liturgy Training Publications, 2009-2010. Read More