In the book of Jeremiah, God promises to establish a different kind of covenant in the future with His people:

JER 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jesus sealed this new covenant with HIs disciples on the eve of His crucifixion:

MAT 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament (covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Although Christians agree that they have entered into a new covenant relationship with God, I wonder how many of them appreciated the deep meaning of the symbol and ceremony that Christ used to make this pact with His people. Few realize that Christ was celebrating the Passover on the night of the last supper and that it was during the Passover ceremony that He established the new covenant.

LUK 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Furthermore, He instructed that HIs followers should continue to keep the Passover with the new symbols He had instituted

LUK 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Indeed, Christ is the Passover Lamb that has taken away the world's sin. The Passover is a Christian festival. It now points to Christ and always has done so. The Passover has always been a part of God's plan for the redemption of mankind and man's reconcilliation to God. Christians should, they MUST keep the Passover in order to enjoy the new covenant relationship with the Father and His Son. Paul even instructed gentile Christians to keep the Passover and the festival known as the Days of Unleavened Bread:

1CO 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul is clearly instructing the Corinthians (gentiles) to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In another passage, he also gives instructions for keeping the Passover, as he had received them from Jesus:

1CO 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Christians are instructed by Jesus, through Paul, to commemorate His death by keeping the Passover, but not to keep Easter. Easter is a pagan feast that honors Astarte, the godess of fertility. There is no commandment in the Bible to keep Easter, but rather the Passover.

Christians who believe that they enjoy a new covenant relationship with God must be renewing that covenant annually. They do so by commemorating the death of our savior, at a New Covenant Passover service. Will you be in that covenant relationship this year?

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