Wedding Invitations

This past week the world gathered in awe to watch a family come together to watch their son marry his chosen bride of his heart. Weddings always fun, they are always stressful and they are always expensive This wedding was no exception to that rule.  The cost of this wedding was in the tens of millions.  A wedding fit for the grandson of a queen.  You all know who I am talking about.  Prince Harry’s marriage to American actress and activist Meghan Markle; the first interracial marriage in the British royal family in more than 200 years. The last being King George the III to Queen Charlotte in 1761. (The same King George that the 13 American colonies broke away from.)

Even if you didn’t see the wedding for yourself, it was hard to get away from.  Footage was all over the news. Coverage of the pomp and circumstance- from the dress, to the flowers, the sermon, the gospel choir and the tears of the groom- all of it was everywhere. Even the commentators covering the NBA Playoffs that Saturday night had something to say about the royal wedding.  Everyone who thought they were somebody was clamoring to have a seat at this wedding but only those who had a relationship with the happy couple ended up with an invitation.

But at the heart of all of this ceremony and celebration was a family- a kingdom- coming together to graft a new member into the family tree.

Watching what could be seen as excess splashed across the television could be a bit disillusioning until you take a step back to think.  There is a ceremony being planned right now that is more elaborate and more wonderful than what Harry and Meghan just experienced. In fact the coming celebration pales in comparison.  And it is being prepared just for you and me.

The U.K. and its Commonwealth has a Queen but we (Christians) are under the sovereign lordship of God the Father.  He is the king of the universe. He is richer than any ruler that has ever lived. He is just. He is fair. His resources are endless…..and His son is getting married.  We, the church, is His bride of choice- the bride of His heart.

In Revelation 19:6-9 we are told:

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (English Standard Version, ESV)

Twenty-nine million Americans watched last week’s royal wedding. That is only the viewership of one country. But the royal wedding I’m talking about will be watched by the universe.  Everyone will want a front row seat. But only those with a relationship with the Bridegroom will receive an invitation.  Everyone wants to be a guest at this wedding. But there is just one problem. The date is blank on the wedding invitation.  No one knows the day that the Bridegroom is coming to escort His bride to the wedding site. She lives in a perilous place. He must bring her to where is.

We are simply asked to be ready.

Be ready?  Oh He is not asking for us to have our tux starched or our dress steamed ready to go.  No In fact there is a garment at wedding waiting for each of us.  Instead He is asking for us to get our hearts right and to tell a friend.  You don’t even have to get the bleach out yourself. You just have to give your heart to Him.  He’ll do the work.  Oh you may be saying, give it to Him, but my heart has so many stains. Don’t worry. The Bridegroom has the ultimate stain remover.  He did the hardest part. He paid for the wedding in His own blood.  All you have to do is take His hand and receive the gift.

No one knows when the wedding is, but is closer than you think. You don’t have to be Oprah to come to this wedding; you just have to know the groom. It is the event of the ages and no one should miss it simply because they did not know.  My charge to you tonight is-tell a friend. Tell your friends that Jesus is coming soon. Tell your children that Jesus is coming soon. Tell your enemies that Jesus is coming.  Then show them that you are preparing your heart to meet the Bridegroom.

Be Blessed.

Waiting on an Open Door

Have you ever been waiting for an appointment that seems as if it will never come?  Your doctor’s appointment was scheduled for 9 am but the facility was already overwhelmed with patients at 8 am and so now- through no fault of your own- you are waiting.  It is not as if you didn’t follow instructions. You arrived on time (or early); but you are waiting.  You are waiting for the door to open and the tech to say, “Ms. Lady, the doctor will see you now.” So you try to be patient and read one the magazines they have provided; or you pull out your cell phone and check social media in order to pass the time.  All the while, your ears are alert to respond at the calling of your name. You are ready. You are in place, but the door just will not open- yet.

Welcome to the waiting room.

Sometimes the life of a Purpose Propelled Woman can feel just like that doctor’s appointment. However, it is not the doctor that we are waiting for.  It is our next level in God – our break though moment.  You have followed instructions and moved into position at the gentle urging of the Holy Spirit. You have showed up at the appointed time and signed in at the front desk. You are in the waiting room, but the door is not opening - for you.  In fact, it seems as if every one’s name is being called but yours.

Do not lose heart. This is not a prank.  Your break through, your promotion, the restoration of your family, really is coming. This is the right place. This is the right time. This is your door.

I am reminded of a parable of Jesus, the story of the ten virgins or bridesmaids found in Matthew chapter 25.  These ten bridesmaids were assigned to meet the Bridegroom upon his arrival for the wedding. They all arrived and were in place for the scheduled time of their appointment with the Bridegroom. All ten had their lamps burning ready for him to arrive, but hours ticked by and there was no Bridegroom.  Only five of the bridesmaids had prepared for the possibility of a delay.  These five had reserve oil for their lamps and could wait out the delay without falling into darkness.

The Bridegroom (Christ) did not show up for hours but there was no way He was not coming! The wedding could not be cancelled for His promises are true. Just as the bridesmaids were in the right place, so are you.  This is your door of opportunity.  This is your season to walk in all God has for you.  All the evil one can do is hinder or slow down your blessing.  He does not have the authority to cancel your blessing for he did not have the capacity to create it.  Hindrance and cancellation is not the same thing! There is no unholy force that can stop the plans God has for you from coming to fruition. Your door will open! The question is do we have the reserve oil to endure the waiting room?

Sometimes there is a test in the waiting room. This may be the time when you hear the voices of you haters in your ears. Those voices may cause you to question the depth of your trust in the One who authored the plan called your life. This is the time to praise God.  Praise, but nothing has happened yet! Nothing that you or I can see, but so much is going on that we cannot see. God is smoothing out the rough edges of your new situation so you won’t get cut up when you walk through the opened door. Praise drowns out the voices of the naysayers. Praise shows that you trust God and His plan even when you see nothing in front of you.  So fill your ears with what God has already done. Fill the vessel of your heart with the fresh oil of the Word. Worship Him until all other voices cease.

Just as He has prepared a mansion in Glory for you, He has prepared a place for you, right here on earth.  Will you walk out of the waiting room simply because your promotion did not come the moment that you walked in? No? Good! Instead, be filled with the spirit of God until your oil reserves overflow! Do you have the reserve oil from your time in the Almighty’s throne room to endure until your name is called? I believe you do. Your break though is closer than ever before. Do not fall into the darkness of lost hope when you are so close to all that God has prepared just for you.  Have faith that when the door finally opens- and you name is called at last -that on the other side of the appointment, on the other side of waiting for that promotion, that healing, that break through- is a place in God that is exceedingly, abundantly, above all you could ever ask or think. It is all of that and more, because that is the type of God we serve.

It’s coming, wait for it

Be Blessed

xylia

Ripe Fruit

How do you know when you have ripe fruit?  We have all been the grocery store or the market sniffing peaches or thumping watermelons to make sure you taking home something ripe.  Why do we search so hard for ripe fruit?  Because ripe fruit tastes sweet!  It is the sweetness - the juiciness of that first bite that makes all tests in the produce section worth it.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! God has fruit.  With all the layers of His character that make Him who and what He is as Father, Son and Spirit- at His core He is just and He is sweet.  What flows from His core, He wants to flow out of ours.

We see them in Galatians 5:22 & 23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against these, there is no law.  This is the type of fruit you can load up on at the breakfast buffet with no guilt.  God's fruit is ripe- at the peak of perfection- and you can never over indulge.

But, when I am honest with myself, my fruit doesn't always look like His fruit.  Okay there are days when my joy looks ripe, but my patience has a bitter taste.

Ripe fruit-sweet fruit- is usually mature fruit.  Fruit that has started as a small seed.  It's been on the tree or the vine for the right amount of time. It's in good soil and has had the right balance of sunshine and rain.  The taste of the finished product is unmistakable. It cannot be duplicated with added sugar.

This is how the Spirit treats us. We are fruit in more ways than one.  He tends us like the master gardener He is.  He makes the adjustments-the pruning- in us to make our fruit ripen and our yield double. Not everything ripens in the same season, but at the end, we will be heavy leaden and overflowing with the attributes of the Almighty.

Sometimes the things that help us ripen and makes our fruit mature are challenges and heartaches that are not so sweet. In fact, they can be quite bitter.  I keep thinking of our brothers and sisters in a Charleston bible study who showed the fruit of God's spirit to a man filled with hate - a man who they did not know wanted them dead.  They opened their arms to him, welcomed him with love of Christ, studied scripture with him and prayed on his behalf.  Those nine people did not know that this bible study would be their last witness. However, it was a fruit filled witness. Their killer stated that he almost didn't go through with it because of how kind the people were to him.

He, like Felix, was almost persuaded. Whether our witness persuades our neighbors or our enemies is not the point - we must show forth His fruit regardless of the world's response. Those bible study members gave a fruit filled witness.  My prayer today is Lord ripen the fruit in me that is still too tart to taste so that those who meet me will see His glory.

Peace

A few weeks ago, I was watching a report on 60 Minutes. They were interviewing a pastor in the Syriac Christian Church in northern Iraq as he described the day that ISIS shut down his church and he had to flee for his life.  He had only five minutes to grab what he could and leave for good.  In the middle of the interview the pastor broke down and started weeping uncontrollably – not because he had to flee or that he nearly lost his life in the ordeal- but because of the things of God that he had to leave behind.  
He was the keeper of the records.  The Syriac Church is one of the oldest churches in the world having members in the original church of Antioch listed in the Book of Acts where we were first called Christians.  His local church in Iraq had records, church history and bibles that were nearly 2000 years old. Some of them in language Jesus taught in.  He was only able to save five books, and believed that the terrorist group had destroyed the rest.  So he wept, for even though he was out of danger, this pastor was still troubled.  He did not have peace about the decision he made.
Why am I focusing on a man who I have never met; crying over books I may never read?  Because his weeping made me think.  How often do we weep about the things of God? Do we really care about the things He cares about?  Do our hearts break over the same things that break His heart?  Are we focused on and weeping over the wrong things?  Today we are going to study about something that hurts the heart of GOD.  It hurts Him when we do not have peace.
Turn with me to the Gospel of John Chapter 14 verses 26 and 27.  We meet Jesus in these verses during the Passover season, sharing His last meal with His disciples and giving His last lessons before the cross.   The verses read 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Within twenty-four hours of saying those words, Jesus’ body was in a tomb. Theses verses were a part of what Jesus wanted His followers to hold on to as He walked through His darkest hour – that He would give them His peace.
What He gave to them, He has also given to us.  When the Son came into the world, it was not just so we might be redeemed by His sacrifice and have fullness of life. He also gave His life to restore our position in the family of GOD so that we would have full access to the privileges of son-ship.  Yes sons, not sons and daughters. In 1 John 3, we are all called sons.  (Now are we the sons of GOD….) It’s all about inheritance.  In this time, sons inherited from fathers. Daughters became wives who inherited from their husbands.  A daughter inherited from her father typically when there was an absence of sons.  In the kingdom of GOD, we are all called sons.  No one comes second. None of us disinherits the other.
So we who are His sons – His followers – we will reflect His DNA – the fruit of the spirit as found in Galatians chapter 5 - Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  The more we walk in this journey of faith, the more we should begin to look like our Daddy. (I know it’s easier to say the fruit than it is to live them.  There are many days when I look in the spiritual mirror and don’t see the resemblance that I should.)
But, Jesus looks like His Father. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and He wants us to look like Them. He wants us to have peace and share in the family resemblance.  
What is peace?  Peace is more than just a state of calm.  The word for peace that Jesus would have used is Shalom - which has a more loaded meaning than the word we use.
According to Strong's Concordance (7965), Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord.  The general meaning of the root word is the entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship.  To give us, among other things, maturity, harmony, friendship, agreement, success and prosperity. 
That is lot to say with just one word.  Jesus confers us all of this when He gives us peace.
Shalom shares the same root word as Shulam, which means to be for paid in full.  The words are cousins. To have all the blessings of Shalom they must first be paid for.  Why does GOD hurt when we don’t have peace?; because He has paid for it.  In Isaiah 53, we learn that “the chastisement of our peace was upon Jesus and by His stripes we are healed.”  Shalom is a precious gift, paid for in blood, and we keep using the return policy.
How do we give our peace away?  When we are troubled and fearful about how things will turn out.  Jesus commanded His disciples (and us) to be neither troubled nor fearful.  Fear is the enemy of peace.  A troubled heart is the enemy of rest.  These two snatch the health, fullness and restoration that GOD’s peace gives us.  We become fearful and troubled when we try to straighten things out in our own strength.  
As we have learned, Shalom is to have completeness in GOD - to rest and rely not just on Him but also in Him. We cannot be whole without Him. Shalom is a reflection of our trust in Him. True peace is you giving God permission to complete you and allowing Him to do it.  We don’t have to fix anything. He does the perfecting - of our situation- and us Himself.  We just have to let go and not block His work.  Jesus told us His peace is different. His peace passes all understanding. It does not have an expiration date. It can’t good bad in the refrigerator. It won’t get freezer burn.  It’s fresh every day. Just eat it.  Let peace fill your belly.
When we let go and release our problem in His hands, The Holy Spirit can fill the empty places in us with peace.  Moreover, once you have been filled, let no man rob you of your peace.  Peace is too important – especially now - as the world and its system are in chaos. Sometimes it feels as if our homes, our communities, our world have been turned upside down.  But, there is no need to fear! Our hope and our peace are in the One who has already overcome the world!  As we both watch and pray, it is essential that we not lose our peace caught up in what we see.  It’s temporary.
Now that you are peace filled; and recognize the trouble around you, it is time for us to start waging peace.  I know we typically hear the phrase waging war. However, peace in Jesus’ time was a violent word, not a passive one.  In Greek, peace means to obtain quietness by removing what seeks to distract and destroy you. Peace is a command- a directive. We see Jesus use it this way when He told to the storm, “Peace be still.” The winds hushed and the storm disappeared. But peace was also a command when He greeted the disciples. When Jesus said, “Peace be unto you,” He was stopping forces seen and unseen from encroaching upon and distracting His followers. He removed those forces out of the way. When He greeted them with Shalom, it was a command that silenced the chaos in their minds and lives.  It hushed every distraction so that they could hear and discern.  We see Him speak it after He has healed saying, “go in peace” sending the healed and delivered back home with wholeness of mind. Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He has the authority to command peace into a situation; and because you are His, so do you.  It is one of the privileges of son-ship; what Daddy has you can have. Jesus looks like the Father. As Jesus is, so are we in this world. In this world, in this world. We don’t have to wait for the glory of His return to have true peace. We can have it right now.
Let no man, no force, rob you of your peace. Not only is peace a part of God’s DNA, it is a part of the armor we wear as Christians. Put on the whole armor of God and shod your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace. Wage peace.  Speak Shalom into your day and allow the Holy Spirit to feed you the promises of the Father and through His word.  Speak peace into the lives of those cannot speak it for themselves. Command peace through prayer as you walk through your neighborhood so that distractions can be removed, ears can be opened and salvation can take place in those homes. So many people in our lives cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit whispering to them because the chaos in their lives is too loud.  They need peace.  Bring His peace onto your job, into that committee meeting and even into the line at the grocery store.   You have, through Christ, what many people do not even realize they need.  If you want to give a gift in this season, give the gift that was given to you. Give Shalom.
In the days of the Old Testament tabernacle, the Father instructed that Aaron and his priestly descendents to bless His people in His name by speaking peace into their lives. That blessing is found in Numbers 6:24-26: YHWH bless you and keep you. YHWH make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. YHWH lift up His face upon you and give you SHALOM.  
The Father has always desired that we have peace. We have to be willing to embrace His peace and share it.
When I was at EJA, my teacher taped a prayer on the corner of my desk that read “Lord grant me the serenity (the peace) to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” It was on my desk because I thought that I had to fix everything, and when I couldn’t solve the issue, I would freeze in fear.  I know a little better now, and I am learning that I cannot fix anything on my own. It is the Almighty who does the fixing- the restoring.  What I need to do is let go. 
When we started this journey, I introduced you to a pastor who was weeping over an issue that he could not change.  No matter how troubled he was, he could not alter the situation. He needed to let go and exchange his troubled heart for God’s peace.  Is that you today?  Are you hearing that there is something in your life that you need to let go?  Or maybe you need the courage to speak peace into a situation? Or that you need take your hand off and allow God to change the hearts of those around you?  

The Last Supper or Things that Get Lost in Translation

The season is fast approaching that we will celebrate the sacrifice and victory of our Savior upon the cross. Yes beloved I realize that it is February and for many of us there is snow on the ground.  Yet all I can think of is spring.  We exist in the present, yet we prepare for the future. It will be here before you and I know it, and I want my mind renewed and ready for all the blessings that God has in store for us in this upcoming season. 

Jesus shared His last pre-cross meal with His disciples during this spring season nearly 2000 years ago.  This meal still causes believers to ponder and cry out as the ancient Israelites did when GOD gave them their first meal in the wilderness – Manna – What is it?

It is a valid question.  We should examine and understand the gifts that have been placed into our hands.

 As I began to study and prepare for this lesson, I went online and learned that many believers are still having this discussion about the last supper of Jesus.

 Is it Communion?  Is it the Passover? Or is it something else?  When I partake of the bread and wine what am I doing and what I am joining myself to? Was Jesus giving us something new on that faithful night with the disciples? Or was He doing something even more precious?

We have an awaiting bridegroom who desperately wants to reveal his true self to his bride.   Now, just like anyone in a relationship you don’t want to give away the treasure of who you really are to someone who does not value that gift.  So here is what Yeshua decided to do. He wrapped himself and His plan into a puzzle and those who truly value Him would seek Him and this type of embrace from Him.

We have the honor of Kings, to seek out the intimate things of GOD.

Today, we are going to delve into the world of history and custom; emblems and patterns; truth and tradition.  However, the heart of Jesus’ last meal is something far more precious than the parts.  This meal is about courtship, betrothal and provision. 

First things first, let’s set the context.  The Last Supper is a meal, so let’s set the table.

Who is partaking in this Last Supper –                             Jesus and His disciples

Where is taking place –                                                      The Upper Room, Jerusalem

When is it taking place –                                                    14th of Nisan (the 1st month of the Biblical year)

approx. 30 C.E. (1st century) evening

What are they eating – a regular meal? -                        No. Jesus is specific.

In Luke 22:8 - Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

Jesus says again in Luke: 22 14 -16, 14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve[a] apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus called His last meal the Passover.

What is the Passover?

Passover is the reliving of the Israelites last night of slavery to the Egyptians. The night the death angel went through Egypt to kill the uncovered First Born.  This was the only plague that the Israelites had instructions to follow and a choice in whether or not each house would participate.  Blood was smeared on the doorpost and lentil of each home, a lamb inspected, killed & roasted; bread was baked with haste –without leaven - and a meal eaten. If the Israelites did not follow the instructions given by God and accept the sacrifice of the Lamb, they would have the same fate as the Egyptians.

The meal became known as the Seder, which means order. Out of the chaos of bondage comes the order that emanates from deliverance. There are three major foods at this meal were- bread, lamb and the fruit of the vine.

During the Passover meal a child usually asks “Why is this night different from all others?”

Why?  This is the night of the four I wills of God.

Exodus 6:6&7

6 “Tell the Israelites, ‘I am Yahweh. I will bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians, and I will free you from slavery. I will rescue you with my powerful arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 Then I will make you my people, and I will be your Elohim. You will know that I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians.

 Four cups of wine were drunk at the Passover meal based upon those verses.

• The Cup of Sanctification – based on God’s statement, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians”
• The Cup of Judgment or Deliverance- based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you from slavery to them”
• The Cup of Redemption – based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm”
• The Cup of Praise or Restoration – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God”

Do this as my Zikaron.

Not remembrance but reliving.  Every subsequent Passover was to be eaten by the participants as if they were eating with Moses and the 1st generation of Israelites leaving Egypt.  It was not, to memorialize what had been done but to relive – to gain the personal experience of the hand of God delivering the person from bondage.  That was the mind-set that the disciples were coming to the Passover table with Jesus on the evening of the 14th of Nisan.

Everything was established in the beginning; but everything was not revealed.

For the Israelites to Passover and be delivered they had to make a choice. To have their breakthrough they had to partake of the Messiah.  Did they know it was Him? No, they just had a puzzle piece – not the big picture.

What the disciples and the previous generations did not know was that Jesus was the creator of the Passover. He was the first to set this table; and with Jesus leading the Seder meal the hidden things were about to become visible. 

The table is set and the guests are seated. Let’s start.

The Modern Passover meal takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete (It will probably take that long to teach it.) and as in Jesus’ day it is in two parts - dinner when the first two cups are drunk and desert when the last two cups are drunk.  Jesus followed this pattern, but for the sake time we are going to focus on desert.  Desert is where the fun stuff happens.

The third cup, the cup of Redemption is eaten -after supper- with desert.  We have a special desert at this meal call the Afikomen.  It is a matzoth - pierced, covered in stripes and without leaven- which is pulled from the middle of a stack of three matzos. Desert is broken in half, wrapped in a towel or napkin and hidden in the room. When it was time for desert the children were sent to look for it and when it was found the kids held it for ransom. The Leader must buy it back from them in order to go forward with the meal.  To find the Afikomen was to find great treasure.

To seek and find the Messiah is precious thing. It is a thing to be cherished as the Messiah Cherishes you.  The Afikomen is the last morsel of food given at the Seder.  Once Jesus receives the Afikomen in His hands, He says the words that we know so well.

Luke 22:19b “This is My body which is given [broken] for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

He then takes the cup – the 3rd cup - the cup of Redemption

20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 

Was Jesus doing something new?  No. He was bringing wholeness to what He started in the beginning.  Remember Jesus is the author of the Passover. What Moses received; Jesus gave him and He gave it with eternal purpose. But He did not tell Moses everything. The Afikomen and the cup of Redemption have always been a part of the Passover Seder. Their meaning has been the same from the beginning, but the meaning (just like the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle) was veiled.  Jesus was ripping up the curtain that clouded their understanding so all could see.

Jesus was saying, “I am more than just your rabbi.  I am the bread that came down from Heaven. I am the manna that fed you in wilderness. I am the one who promised to redeem you from the foundation of the world. I promised it to Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and I am here to do what I promised. Peter gets it later on calling Jesus in his letter, the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world.  This moment had been planned from before the beginning of the world.  The Passover is a love note written in code to His beloved and Jesus is decoding the message.

Jesus says, “This do in remembrance of me.” Remembrance in the Greek of this verse is Anamnesis-which is the Hebrew Zikaron. Jesus was saying the next time you do this and every time after, Do this with revelatory knowledge. Relive this moment with me.

Afikomen is a Greek word that entered in to the language of the Passover in the late first century.  It means, “He is here.”  So why is a gentile word grafted onto a Hebrew ceremony?  It’s all about language. Biblical Hebrew has no present tense. In it the future and the past are only separated from the present by a second. You are entering the future and leaving the past all of time. So in Biblical Hebrew a thing is either perfect or imperfect; complete or yet to be completed. Akifomen is used to state that Messiah Jesus- our Passover- dwells in the midst of your reliving of this meal.

Back to the table.

After taking the 3rd cup, they sang a Song of Praise and ended the meal leaving the fourth cup (on your chart) untouched.

Why end the meal with the 3rd Cup?

The 3rd cup of Redemption has another name.  The cup of Betrothal.

The church has another name what is it?  The Bride of Christ.

What is another name for Jesus? The Bridegroom.

Jesus was given three gifts at His birth - (gold, frankincense, myrrh) – and they reveal Him as four different things -  Prophet, Priest, King & Bridegroom.

Jesus is operating as the Bridegroom and is following the custom of the Bridegroom as set forth in Judean tradition.  At the table with the disciples, He recites the Betrothal promise that every Hebrew man said to his bride before going away to prepare the honeymoon chamber.

John 14 1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

The Groom would leave to prepare a place fitting to establish His wife. 

Jesus was in the midst of a transition – His transition from rabbi to the suffering servant foretold in Isaiah chapter 53.  Jesus left the table to render payment of the Bride’s price to Bride’s father or guardian. 

Jesus paid a Bride’s price, but He does something interesting. According to Deuteronomy, a bride’s price is required when the groom violates the bride and the bride is no longer virginal.  The perspective groom pays a virgins price of 50 shekels for the privilege of obtaining her as a wife and He can never divorce her.

But Jesus didn’t violate His bride. He had been faithful and gentlemanly to her from the beginning.  It is she who had not been faithful to Him. Because of our break away from God at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis, we emancipated ourselves from the Almighty’s covering and submitted ourselves to a new guardian – the prince of this world, Satan.  Not knowing we were entering bondage by joining him. Usually when the bride was found unfaithful, the marriage does not happen, she is stoned to death.  Our groom Jesus said I want her anyway and I will pay to restore her purity.

Jesus now has to pay the price – the blood on the cross- to get us, His bride-back. To ransom or redeem us; just like the Afikomen desert after the Passover meal.  He pays it to the representative of the world’s system the Roman Authorities in the form of crucifixion.

Now, right now, He is preparing a honeymoon chamber fit for His Virginal Bride.

Sometimes it took months to prepare a honeymoon chamber and only the groom’s father could give the final okay that the chamber was ready and that the groom could go back and collect his bride. 

The four cup of Passover, the cup of Restoration could not be drunk by Jesus until the Bride was in her rightful place. Full restoration is the Bride at Jesus side at the wedding feast when He returns in splendor.

Until then, we practice, we prepare and make ready for that day. We relive the betrothal meal of the Passover with Him until the wedding is upon us.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 

Jesus is in the business of keeping promises down to the smallest detail. He will fulfill every promise He has given in His word. Whether given in word or in picture puzzle.  No “I will of God” will be left unanswered. The wedding feast is being prepared. He who shall come will come and will not tarry.

Bride be ready.

Be Blessed.