DIY Easter

What are you doing for Easter this year. For many families this season is heartily anticipated. There is a 40 day period of preparation called Lent; then comes Palm Sunday when people begin to remember Jesus’ last week on earth; and finally there is the weekend with Maundy Thursday (Passover), Good Friday, and Resurrection Day. Churches prepare huge celebrations, dramas, cantatas, and special services (which will be remote this year). People purchase Sunday clothing, plan Easter Egg Hunts, and large family gatherings. BUT ...

This is the year that everything External will be different. There will be no large community gatherings because of the COVID-19 epidemic. We must stay home. So what will Easter be like? Perhaps, in its own way, for one year, better, because, if we will, we can focus on the internal meaning rather than the external events.

So, what is Easter? Is it the clothing, the chocolates, the choir specials, or the crowds? Not really! Easter celebrates the atoning death and the surprising resurrection of Jesus. Easter celebrates LIFE (not life with gusto, which only distracts us from real life - but LIFE that connects with God and goodness). So, what will you be doing this Easter?

It is time for a do it yourself Easter.

How can you do that? Plan! If you have children, here is a recommendation. Purchase a Kindle version of the book “The Case of the Missing Body.” (It is 99￠, hope that does not break the bank!) It contains a nine act play, and some added stories and facts. Most of the acts only require 2-4 actors, and are written so children can understand. Pass the book around, and read the parts. Then talk about how each scene fits into the larger Easter story.

Order this book today on Amazon.com

Children learn by doing … not by sitting in a church service. This play is doing! Your family will greatly benefit if you will spend the hour you normally spend in church, reading through this play. Don’t fight the system, don’t mourn the loss of normal … just do something different, and you will be glad you did! (And talk about it for years!)

The book is on Amazon.com - click here!

This Easter is a great time for something different! A great time for DIY, with help, of course. So try it out.

And please pass this idea on, so others can enjoy Easter, wrapped in its full meaning also.

The Meeting at the Golden Gate

"In the records of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joachim, a man rich exceedingly; and he brought his offerings double, saying: There shall be of my superabundance to all the people, and there shall be the offering for my forgiveness to the Lord for a propitiation for me." (Gospel of James 1)

View of the Golden Gate from the Mount of Olives

According to an ancient legend a beautiful love story takes place between Joachim, a shepherd who tended flocks near Nazareth, and Anne, the daughter of Matthan the priest at the Golden Gate. The tale about the couple relates that they had been married a long time, and loved each other deeply. They were happy and their lives seemed perfect in every way, except that the they were childless. The Joachim and Anne had hoped and prayed for a child, but over the years had become satisfied, because of their love for God and for each other. The accepted as fact that it was not the God’s will for them to have children.

The Vision of Joachim

The Golden Legend, a book of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine completed in about 1260 AD, tells the story of Joachim and Ann. It relates how one day when Joachim went to the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles in order to offer a gift to God, a priest told him his offering was not acceptable because of his wife’s barrenness. The shepherd, who was very dedicated to God was highly distraught, for his relationship with God was pure. He wondered why the Lord would not accept an offering given in love.

The Golden Gate entrance to Temple Mount

Joachim went to pray, and read the stories of Abraham, Elkanah, and Manoah, Each of these men’s wives, although barren for many years, bore sons in old age. Upon understanding the Biblical record of these couples, Joachim realized his offering was acceptable, and immediately returned home. He selected ten of his best lambs and went to make an offering at the Temple.

View of Jerusalem from Mount Scopus

At the same time Joachim’s wife Anne became depressed, went out to the garden and sat down under a laurel tree to pray. While she was in prayer, an angel of the Lord came to her and said, “Anna, Anna, the Lord God has heard your prayer. You will conceive and give birth to a child who will become famous in the world.”

Map of Jerusalem in Temple times

Immediately Anne arose and went to the Temple to pray. As she approached the Golden Gate and was about to enter, she saw Joachim arriving at the same gate with ten lambs from the flock. The two embraced, and Anne asked her husband why he was bringing the offering. He said he had seen an angel who told him, “Joachim, the Lord God has heard your prayer.” The pair entered the Temple in order to give thanks to God.

Joachim meets Anne at the Golden Gate

Nine months later Anne gave birth to a daughter and gave her the name Mary because the years of bitterness and waiting had come to an end. The elderly couple cared for their daughter and brought her up in the Lord. When she became a young woman she was betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph, and from this holy couple was born the Child named Jesus.

Over 250 great stories about Israel

More about this anecdote, and other stories related to the Holy Land can be found in the new book, Israel: Stories for Your Journey, available on Kindle for $1.99.

St. Marks Church, the place of the Upper Room

Peter “went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 12:12

The entrance to Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Monistary

The woman in black said that the church was old and said the church held records that proved the congregation existed in the first century, AD. From what she told us, this is the oldest church in all of Christianity. It is called Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Church and was built on the site where Jesus held his last supper, where the disciples met when they were in hiding, and where the early church met from its formation. If what the woman told us is true, this is the place where the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost and the successor was chosen for Judas Iscariot.

Where Ararat Street meets St. Mark's Street

The building is on a hidden, out of the way street called Ararat. It is not particularly noticeable but historically, it is in the right location for the early church in old Jerusalem. It is not too far from the Temple Mount, near the route that the priests would have passed as they walked across the bridge from the upper class Upper Jerusalem residences to the Temple Mount. But the building is not on the Upper Bridge it's in the Tyropoeon Valley which is between the Temple Mount and the upper city.

The ancient inscription, discovered in 1940

As the woman took us on a tour of the sanctuary, we were told about an inscription which reads, “This is the house of Mary, mother of John, called Mark. Proclaimed a church by the holy apostles under the name of the Virgin Mary, mother of God, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. Renewed after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year A.D. 73.” Some doubt its authenticity for several reasons. She also showed us a portrait of Mary the mother of Jesus painted by Saint Luke on a ancient piece of leather.

The painting by St. Luke on leather

The ancient church itself is not visible by the general public, for it would be buried under rubble from the destruction which took place in the days of Titus, when Temple Mount was pushed over and all of Jerusalem was destroyed. The lady in black said that the upper room still existed there but it was 30 to 60 feet below the level of the ground and no one could go there. The closest people can get is the basement of the church that exists today.

A travel brochure, more at www.KosherCopy.com

In about two months we will visit Jerusalem and walk by the ancient church. If you would like to travel with us, view more information on this website (link). If you would like to read the story behind ancient sites in Israel and Jerusalem, read the book, Israel: Stories for Your Journey. Much more information about the upper room can be found in this new book - The Case of the Missing Body: A Walk-Thru Drama for Easter

Discerning the things that Matter

     Yesterday we looked at how our lives can waver, running from hot to cold spiritually. This can happen because distractions consume life and siphon our focus from where it belongs.
     One of the distractions cast before us at Passover and other times is legalism. We are told “you must” and forced into a performance mode in order, as we are told to please God.
     Jewish people spend a great deal of time cleaning their homes for the Passover in order to obey the command, “For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses.” (Ex 12:15) They have two sets of plates, and really take to heart a reading from the Mishnah which says, “the hametz must be searched for by the light of a lamp.”
     In chapter five of Spring: Connecting with God (Kindle), we look at how cleaning the house takes precedence over spiritual preparation. The real reason God tells us to clean the leavening is because God desires for us to clean our own lives. This is captured in Proverbs: “As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silversmith; remove the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness. Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.” (Pr 25:3-7)
     People love to “do something” rather than “look inside ourselves;” for this reason we can become consumed by effort. In the New Testament Jesus chides Mary for becoming consumed by work, rather than allowing herself to look inward spiritually. (Luke 10:38-42)
     The reason God tells us not to eat leavening is so we will identify with the slaves who left Egypt and did not have time to let the bread rise. But what we often do not tell clearly is how Moses prepared the people spiritually, telling them through the process to see the hand of God in the events of the Exodus. The Jewish people are told to take a lamb in their home for 3 days, to put the blood on the doorpost, and to see how God protects those spiritually prepared.
     Removal of leavening is symbolic of clearing the evil out of our lives. God wants us to focus on Him, not the cleaning of a house. Two weeks ago we looked at Spiritual Preparation for Passover in this blog. We need to clean our homes and remove the leavening with prayers and preparation, immersing ourselves into the real reasons why God wants us to do things rather than just going through actions.