There are so many things worth celebrating!
We celebrate milestones like gender-reveals, birthdays, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, and retirements. We also celebrate accomplishments like passing an exam, a job promotion, and the purchase of our first home. Often these celebrations include invitations, music, dancing, balloons, laughter, and food. In many ways, celebrating is akin to reminiscing and, therefore, an important part of our life. It causes the accomplishments and milestones to be etched deeper into who we are. Which brings us to a couple of important questions: How often do we truly get excited and celebrate God’s grace and goodness? When was the last time you rejoiced over sharing the Gospel with a friend or celebrated the repentance of a wayward family member (see Lk 15)?
It may seem a bit curious to think that God commanded His people to celebrate through the means of seven festivals, but it is important to consider the festivals as a means of remembrance. They were to serve as a reminder of God’s saving power and miraculous provision in the past. Also, they were to be a sign that He is continuously working in the lives of His people. Lastly, the festivals were to act as foreshadowing of God’s sovereign plan. When taken in that context it is no wonder God established the festivals to be celebrated!
In Ezra 6, God’s people remind us that the gracious actions of a holy God are worth celebrating also! As the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem finally concluded in the sixth year of King Darius’ reign, understandably the Jews turned their attention to celebrating and rejoicing. In the final four verses of the chapter, we read that God’s people observed the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The two festivals are linked on the Jewish calendar and by the event they commemorate: the last plague in Egypt. The Passover recalls when the angel of death “passed over” those who applied the blood of an unblemished lamb to their doors. The Festival of Unleavened Bread begins on the day following the start of Passover and is a reminder of the haste in which the Israelites fled Egypt. There was not even time for their bread to rise. God’s rescue of His people “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” is reason to rejoice and celebrate (Deut 26:8; see also Ps 136:1-3, 10-16).
We too have reason to rejoice! Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29; see also Is 53:1-9). He has given us the Holy Spirit who works to give us life and empower us to have victory over sin that permeates our “leavened life” (Gal 5:16-17). As we commemorate the fulfillment of these festivals in Christ, and remember His sacrifice through the ordinance of communion, let us rejoice! God has done great and wonderful deeds! He has saved us from the shackles of sin and given us the ability to no longer gratify the desires of the flesh!
That is good news! Send out the invitations and turn up the praise. Smile and laugh! Let’s rejoice!
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (HCSB) – “Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast or with the yeast of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”