Messiah in the
Passover by Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser.
Since this book is a
work by multiple authors (20+) you can approach reading it as a
reference work. It is divided into five parts.
Biblical Foundations
I was looking for
background on the Passover and how it informs Christianity. This book
does that well and much more. I received my copy just before Easter
so the information I appreciated first of all were the chapters on
the Gospels and the treatment of the questions around whether or not
the Last Supper was a Passover Seder and the chronology of John’s
Gospel.
Passover and Church
History
The Presidential
Message on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan 2018) has
been in the news of late, bemoaning the fact that many of our younger
generation do not know what the Holocaust was. This book should be on
every Christian’s shelf for this reason alone. It contains a wealth
of history that is directly related to similar events in the
twentieth century that we call the Holocaust. For example, Jews were
required to be identified by badges sewn onto their clothing by The
Fourth Lateran Council (circa 1215).
Jewish Tradition and
the Passover
Although the
earliest writings we have on the traditions of the Passover are from
the third century, the Messianic Analogies (p. 178) are intriguing
and thought provoking.
Communicating the
Gospel Through the Passover
The insights and
allusions to Messiah in this section are good and communicate well.
However more interesting to me is the idea that the words Seder and
Haggadah have the meaning of Order and Telling. This answered for my
long standing question, how did the Jews as a people survive for
millenniums while keeping their identity as a people. I believe this
section shows us their calendar and liturgy kept them united. There
is a lesson here for Christians.
Celebrating Messiah
in the Passover
Practical guidelines
for participating in a Passover Seder. Complete with recipes and
resources to guide you through your own celebration. I am planning to
have one next Passover/Easter.
The end material
includes 9 Appendices, 7 indices, a substantial bibliography, a good
recommended reading list, a glossary, and abbreviations.
My take away is
this, Rom 11:18 “remember it is not you who support the root, but
the root that supports you”
My thanks to Kregel Academic for providing me a copy for an unbiased review.
