Attending Passover

by Gerald Brown, EdD

 

Exodus 23:14-17

14 Thrice a year observe a feast for Me.

15 Keep the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread at the appointed time, the month Abib, because in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear in My presence empty-handed.

16 Also keep the harvest feast, the first fruits of your toil, of what you sowed in the field. Then keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you are through gathering in the fruits of your field work.

17 Thrice a year your every male shall appear before the Lord God.

Deuteronomy 16:16

16 Thrice a year every male among you shall appear before the Lord your God in the place of His choosing: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. No one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed;

17 every one (shall give) as he is able, according to the blessing which the Lord your God bestows on you.

2 Chronicles 8:12-13

12 Solomon then offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar, which he had built in front of the porch,

13 in the daily routine of offering according to the Moses’ com-mandment –– on the Sabbaths, and new moons, and set feasts, which are three times annually: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles.


Desire of Ages

The scribes and Pharisees, expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, had laid a trap for Him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had absented Himself from this gathering. “Then came to-gether unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As He did not go to them, they came to Him. For a time it had seemed that the people of Galilee would receive Jesus as the Messiah, and that the power of the hierarchy in that region would be broken. The mission of the twelve, indicating the extension of Christ's work, and bringing the disciples more directly into conflict with the rabbis, had excited anew the jealousy of the leaders at Jerusalem. The spies they sent to Capernaum in the early part of His ministry, who had tried to fix on Him the charge of Sabbathbreaking, had been put to confusion; but the rabbis were bent on carrying out their purpose. Now another deputation was sent to watch His movements, and find some accusation against Him. {DA 395.1}

Review & Herald

“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” Expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, the Pharisees had laid a trap for him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had absented himself from this gathering. “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As he did not go to them, they came to him. {RH, March 8, 1898 par. 1} The notion that Jesus did not attend Passover in Jerusalem on at least two occasions has been promoted as fact. The reasons suggested for this are (1) He was engaged in ministry and teaching outside of Judea and Galilee, (2) He was preparing His disciples for the trials that would soon lead Him to the cross, and (3) the religious leaders in Jerusalem wanted to kill Him. There are at least six reasons why the teaching is objectionable.

1. Six months before His final Passover, Jesus attends the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7) where there was general disagreement about whether Jesus is good or whether He misleads the people. The people keep their conversations about Him quiet for fear of the Jewish leaders. Half way through the festival Jesus went to the Temple to teach that He was sent from the Father and for this they were seeking to kill Him. (v. 14-19.) After some pointed discussion about His sanity and where He is from, He calls out that He is not self-appointed, but has been sent from the Father. (v. 20-29.) Many in Jerusalem seem to know that the religious leaders want to kill Him (v. 25), but they are not able to do anything to arrest Him. When the Pharisees hear the crowd whispering that they are trying to arrest Him, they send officers to arrest him. But Jesus tells the crowd that He is soon going away where they can not follow. They will look for Him, but they will not find Him. The Jewish leaders speculate that He might be planning to go to the Dispersion to teach the Greeks. (v. 32-36.) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus called out, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, just as the Scripture says, streams of water will flow from his innermost being.” (v. 37-39.) One of the themes for the Feast of Tabernacles is the celebration of the water that flowed from the rock, manna from heaven, the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day that covered them when they traveled through the wilderness and lived in tents. There were some who claimed that Jesus was “that prophet” and others who said He was the Christ, but others questioned that He could not be the Christ because He was from Galilee and the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. (v. 40-45.) When the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus return without Him, they said, “No man spake as this man.” The religious leaders declare that the crowd is accursed. (v. 45-49.) Nicodemus reminds them that their law does not allow one to be condemned without a hearing. They retort by asking Nicodemus if he, too, is from Galilee and that no prophet has come from Galilee.
Jesus is not only in Jerusalem, but He is at the Temple teaching on at least two different days of this festival, and speaking in a manner to draw attention to Himself. Everyone knows He is there, but try as they might the religious leaders are not able to do anything to arrest Him.

2. About three months after the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, also called the Festival of Lights, or more commonly known in our day as Chanukah. John 10:22-42. This is a festival the Jews made in celebration of the miracle of keeping the lamps lighted for eight days when there was no oil for the lamps at the time the Jews were overthrowing the Greek occupation. As He is walking in the Temple, the religious leaders surround Jesus and ask Him when He will declare whether He is the Anointed, but He tells them He has already declared to them and they refused to believe because they do not belong to His Father. They pick up stones to kill Him and Jesus asks them for which of the good works do they wish to stone Him? They reply that they do not stone Him for the good works, but for blasphemy. Jesus reminds them, “Is it not written in your Law [Psalm 82:6], ‘I said, you are gods’?” Even if they reject His teaching, His good works testify that He is the Son of God. They try again to take hold of him, but He escapes from their hands and goes once more to the place beyond the Jordan where John first baptized. Many come to visit Him there.
Jesus is not only in Jerusalem for this Jewish festival, He is in the Temple when the religious leaders take up stones to kill Him. He appears to be engaged in the traditions of God’s people as though He belongs there. Even though they try to capture Him, He escapes to safety beyond the Jordan.

3. A short time after this Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem through towns and villages, teaching. Luke 13:22-30. Someone asks Him if only a few will be saved. Jesus advises them to strain every nerve to enter through the narrow door, for many will try but will be unable to enter. They will knock on the door and ask for the Lord to open for them, but He will tell them He does not know them, nor where they come from.
Certain Pharisees come to warn Him that He should leave “this place” because Herod intends to kill Him. (v.31.) He replies, “Tell that old fox that I shall expel demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I will complete My work. I must travel on today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it will not do for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.” (v. 32-33.) Jesus laments that the people of Jerusalem have rejected His prophets before Him and they are rejecting Him also even though He has tried to nurture them as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. The people of Jerusalem will not see Him until they say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (v. 34-35.) Is He predicting the Triumphal Entry?
Jesus does not seem to be afraid of Herod or his threat on His life. Jesus behaves as if He belongs there.

4. Believing as Paul does that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:1-4), Jesus told Moses to instruct the people of Israel that all the men and boys were to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for three festivals every year. Exodus 23:14, Deuteronomy 16:16, and 2 Chronicles 8:13. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the first of these annual festivals. The Passover begins this festival with the selection of the lamb on the 10th of the month, the slaying of the lamb and preparing the home and the meal on the 14th of the month, and eating the Passover meal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the 15th of the month. Exodus 12, Numbers 33:1-4, and Deuteronomy 16:1-6. The 15th is also the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus instructed Moses to tell His people that this festival is to be observed for eternity in Exodus 12:14 & Leviticus 23:6-14. The Hebrew term used in this verse to represent the time element is ???? (Strong’s # 5769: ?ôlâm = ngoh-lahm´) and carries the meaning of time out of mind past or future, eternity, always, ancient, eternal, everlasting, perpetual, or time without end. It occurs more than 400 times in the Old Testament. It is used in Genesis 3:22 when God said that man might pluck from the tree of life and live “forever.” It is the word used in Genesis 9:22 when God said the rainbow would be a sign of His covenant with mankind not to flood the Earth through “perpetual” generations. It is the word used in Exodus 40:15 where the Lord declares that the Levites are to serve Him in an “everlasting” priesthood. This priesthood is unending and is recognized as such by Jews today.
If Jesus is the One who tells Moses to instruct the people to do something forever and it turns out that Jesus Himself is not willing to do it, upon what basis does Jesus not follow His own instructions? Is He capricious? Is He a wimp for staying away from the hateful religious leaders in Jerusalem? Is He not a man? If Jesus is their leader and He neglects or refuses to follow the instructions He gave His people, is He trustworthy to follow? It seems to be a mis-representation of Jesus to say that He did not attend the annual festivals which He had instructed His people to observe in Jerusalem. There is no scripture that states that Jesus did not attend the required pilgrimage festivals.

5. When Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth by reading from the Isaiah scroll, the people were deeply resentful when he pointed out that Elijah was sent to the widow of Serepta in Sidon and of all the lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, none of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian. These statements implied that the people of Israel did not have as much faith as these Gentiles. They led Him out of the city to the brow of the hill to throw Him down, but He made His way straight through their midst.
Right from the beginning of His ministry His life is in jeopardy, but His Father has many ways of protecting Him from their anger until the fulness of time. He would have a ministry for more than three years and He would die at the right time.

6. The religious leaders in Jerusalem do not appear to be confident enough in their position to arrest Jesus publicly. They know He is popular with the people and are afraid that the people will turn against them if they harm Jesus in the light of day. To complicate matters, Jesus is homeless, so they can’t just go to His house in the middle of the night to arrest Him. He sometimes stays with friends such as Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and sometimes stays out in the open on the Mt. of Olives or in a garden. When it comes to the time of His final Passover season, the leaders seek out the weakest link of the disciples to be their informant as to where Jesus stays at night so they can arrest Him under the cover of darkness. The religious leaders make the pact with Judas because they need to know where they can find Him at night. At the Lord’s Supper, Judas finds out where Jesus plans to spend that night and when he informs the religious leaders, they pay him the 30 pieces of silver.

There is no question that Jesus took His disciples into the territory of Tyre and Sidon, and down into Decapolis. There is no question that He was teaching them all along the way. There is no question that He was doing as much as He could to prepare them for the events that would lead to His death on a cross, limited only by their willingness to learn. What is objectionable is that He would violate His own instructions to His people to accomplish this by not attending one or more of the three required festivals. There is no need for this journey to take six or eight months, and no evidence in scripture that it did. This trip could easily have been accomplished in less than one month and would certainly have been completed in time to attend the required festivals in Jerusalem. The evidence in scripture shows that Jesus was faithful in everything He did, and that would certainly include attending the three required pilgrimage festivals each year.
To suggest that Jesus did not follow His own instructions regarding attending these festivals in Jerusalem lays the foundation for the notion that these festivals are optional and not really required because Jesus didn’t keep them. It becomes a short step from that to then say that these festivals have only a temporary value, that their typological significance was met in the life of Jesus, and they have been both fulfilled and abolished at the cross. Such teaching is contrary to the plain language of scripture that the festival is to be observed forever. The record of scripture is that these pilgrimage festivals of the Lord have eternal value and will be kept in the New Earth.
There is every reason to believe that Jesus took advantage of every one of these festivals to teach the people who came to Jerusalem from every corner of Judea, Galilee, Perea, and the Diaspora about the character of their God and His unbounded love for them. Spreading His message when the masses came to Jerusalem could only have had a huge positive effect.
**
Ellen White’s statements present a very serious problem for those who believe that Jesus chose not to attend the Passover. First, the context of Matthew 15:1 and Mark 7:1 does not hint that this is either before or after the Passover and the charge brought by the scribes and Pharisees is unrelated to that festival. The charge they bring is merely that the disciples of Jesus fail to practice the hand washing required in Rabbinic writings of the Second Temple Period. Jesus easily turns the conversation against those making the charge by directing attention to the fact that they transgress God’s commandments to honor one’s father and mother. The charge Jesus brings to their attention about themselves is a violation of not just the Mosaic law, but of the Ten Commandments, and is a far more serious charge than what they bring against His disciples. The charge brought by the scribes and Pharisees does not rise to the level of breaking any of the rules of the Mosaic law and it is no wonder that they do not press their charge further.
However, Ellen White uses Matthew 15:1 and Mark 7:1 to indicate that this conversation takes place after the Passover and that Jesus had deliberately chosen not to attend in order to thwart the evil purpose of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Such a conclusion is not merely unsupported by scripture, it is contrary to the nature of the players in the story. The scribes and Pharisees had been carefully watching His every move for many months looking intently for any violation of law and the only accusation they are able to bring against Him is that His disciples violate the traditions of the elders – the hand washing rituals promoted by the Rabbinic writers. The Rabbinic writings do not rise to the level of scripture. If Jesus had not attended Passover – one of the annual pilgrimage festivals required in scripture of all men and boys – you can be certain that the scribes and Pharisees would have quickly brought that charge against Jesus as soon as they were aware of it, and they would have made the most of it for public consumption. Such a charge, upon verification, would have given them a definite advantage in their claim that Jesus was a law breaker and could not be the Messiah. Such a story would have held an important place in our understanding of God’s plan for worship after the ministry of Jesus. Yet scripture is completely silent regarding any such charge. The evidence in scripture does not support the claim that Jesus did not attend Passover. The evidence supports the opposite conclusion.
Where Ellen White states that Jesus did not attend the “national gatherings” between the healing at Bethesda and the Feast of Tabernacles six months before His crucifixion, she describes this behavior as the “cause of perplexity” among the people regarding Jesus because He had so often taught the blessings of obedience to God’s Law. But “perplexity” is not the attitude the scribes and Pharisees would have had toward Jesus had He not actually been present at the festivals. Even though she claims that Jesus had been absent from the feasts for many months, she offers not a single verse of scripture in support of her position. Neither does she explain the absence of such a charge by the religious leaders. Rather than claiming that Jesus had skipped out on attending the required festivals, it would be in character to say that Jesus arrived at these festivals and observed them without deliberately attracting attention to Himself as He had at other times. There were many times that Jesus was very unassuming. Just as Jesus was capable of keeping the disciples from recognizing Him on the road to Emmaus, He was likewise perfectly capable of attending the festivals without drawing attention to Himself. Throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrates by word and deed that He is very disarming to those who intend to do Him harm.
Our default understanding regarding Jesus’ attendance at the required festivals in Jerusalem must be that He was in full obedience to the commands He Himself had given Moses to teach His people regarding the observance of His plan for worship. Anyone who wishes to sustain the claim that Jesus did not attend a particular festival (such as the Passover) needs to bring forward a scripture that either states such an event or requires such a conclusion by the evidence of the story. If we presume that the story recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 occurs after Passover as Ellen White does, then the story in scripture is proof that Jesus did attend the Passover by virtue of the fact that the scribes and Pharisees are not able to bring a charge against either Jesus or His disciples that they were in violation of Mosaic law. They would certainly have been more eager to bring a charge of breaking Mosaic Law than the Rabbinic traditions. Yet they are unable to do so.
The episode with the woman taken in adultery in John 8 demonstrates the desire of the religious leaders to witness Jesus doing something upon which they can base a charge that He is in violation of the Law. This event was intended to force Jesus to choose between acquitting the woman or declaring her worthy of death. If He had acquitted her, they were ready to charge Him with despising the Law of Moses, and if He declared her worthy of death, they were ready to accuse Him to the Romans as one who was assuming their authority over civil and/or criminal matters. In either case, they imagined they had finally devised a situation from which He could not escape. Had Jesus not attended any of the required festivals, the religious leaders would have been just as ready to charge Him with the violation of Mosaic Law as they had charged this pitiful woman, but throughout His entire ministry they cannot.
John concludes his gospel by reminding us that Jesus did many other things than what is written in scripture and if they were written in detail, the world would not have room for the books that would be written. To say that we can find no evidence to support His attendance at Passover cannot be a valid argument to conclude that He was not there. Moreover, it turns a blind eye to the expectations He created for His people through the teachings of Moses. Such an orientation turns the paradigm of scripture on its head.
Unfortunately, the commentary of Ellen White creates an accusation against Jesus that is more serious than the accusation brought by the scribes and Pharisees. Their accusation was that His disciples were in violation of the Rabbinic traditions, but her commentary is an accusation that Jesus deliberately chose to violate His own instructions regarding the required worship in Jerusalem. I do not believe for one moment that Ellen White intended for us to understand that Jesus was in violation of the Law He had given Moses, but that is a necessary conclusion regarding her comments. Fortunately, her accusation is without merit. The sooner we step away from her conclusions that are contrary to scripture, the better off we’ll be.
Ellen White is famous for saying “Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light.” 3SM 30.4; CM 125.2; YRP 232.3; AUCR, March 15, 1905 par. 2; RH, January 20, 1903 par. 9; SW, February 2, 1904 par. 1; PH164 6.1. In this statement she acknowledged that her writings are a lesser light when compared with the Bible and not an authority to supercede the evidence found in scripture. In the instant case, it appears that she did not analyze these passages in scripture as carefully as she should have and failed to think through the full implications of her comments. As inspiring as Ellen White’s writings are, we must not allow her writings to short circuit our own investigation of scripture and our own thinking. Just as the Jews in Jesus’ day incorrectly held the Rabbinic writings of the Second Temple Period to be of equal authority to the scriptures, we must not treat Ellen White’s writings as if they have an authority that is equal to scripture. God has not ordained any such paradigm.
For those who insist that the traditional teaching is correct, the questions remain regarding His choice to abandon His own plan for worship, even if it was just a temporary adjustment. As I questioned in the previous post:

If Jesus is the One who tells Moses to instruct the people to do something forever and it turns out that Jesus Himself is not willing to do it, upon what basis does Jesus not follow His own instructions? Is He capricious? Is He a wimp for staying away from the hateful religious leaders in Jerusalem? Is He not a man? If Jesus is their leader and He neglects or refuses to follow the instructions He gave His people, is He trustworthy to follow?

Finally, if Jesus really did avoid going to Jerusalem for any of the required festivals because He wanted to avoid unnecessary confrontation with those in authority, does that serve as a model for those who will be confronted with the national Sunday laws when they are enacted and enforced in the last days? The argument that Jesus didn’t attend the festivals that scripture requires will be brought to bear against those who practice keeping the Lord’s Sabbaths holy. This is an argument that will be brought from within Christianity as evidence that temporarily giving up Sabbath keeping is acceptable in times of crisis and that avoiding confrontation with authority is part of the model of the life of Christ. Such an argument is deceptive, a misrepresentation of the life of Jesus, and should find no confirmation among God’s people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Desire of Ages

The scribes and Pharisees, expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, had laid a trap for Him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had absented Himself from this gathering. “Then came to-gether unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As He did not go to them, they came to Him. For a time it had seemed that the people of Galilee would receive Jesus as the Messiah, and that the power of the hierarchy in that region would be broken. The mission of the twelve, indicating the extension of Christ's work, and bringing the disciples more directly into conflict with the rabbis, had excited anew the jealousy of the leaders at Jerusalem. The spies they sent to Capernaum in the early part of His ministry, who had tried to fix on Him the charge of Sabbathbreaking, had been put to confusion; but the rabbis were bent on carrying out their purpose. Now another deputation was sent to watch His movements, and find some accusation against Him. {DA 395.1}

Review & Herald
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” Expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, the Pharisees had laid a trap for him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had absented himself from this gathering. “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As he did not go to them, they came to him. {RH, March 8, 1898 par. 1} The notion that Jesus did not attend Passover in Jerusalem on at least two occasions has been promoted as fact. The reasons suggested for this are (1) He was engaged in ministry and teaching outside of Judea and Galilee, (2) He was preparing His disciples for the trials that would soon lead Him to the cross, and (3) the religious leaders in Jerusalem wanted to kill Him. There are at least six reasons why the teaching is objectionable.

1. Six months before His final Passover, Jesus attends the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7) where there was general disagreement about whether Jesus is good or whether He misleads the people. The people keep their conversations about Him quiet for fear of the Jewish leaders. Half way through the festival Jesus went to the Temple to teach that He was sent from the Father and for this they were seeking to kill Him. (v. 14-19.) After some pointed discussion about His sanity and where He is from, He calls out that He is not self-appointed, but has been sent from the Father. (v. 20-29.) Many in Jerusalem seem to know that the religious leaders want to kill Him (v. 25), but they are not able to do anything to arrest Him. When the Pharisees hear the crowd whispering that they are trying to arrest Him, they send officers to arrest him. But Jesus tells the crowd that He is soon going away where they can not follow. They will look for Him, but they will not find Him. The Jewish leaders speculate that He might be planning to go to the Dispersion to teach the Greeks. (v. 32-36.) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus called out, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, just as the Scripture says, streams of water will flow from his innermost being.” (v. 37-39.) One of the themes for the Feast of Tabernacles is the celebration of the water that flowed from the rock, manna from heaven, the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day that covered them when they traveled through the wilderness and lived in tents. There were some who claimed that Jesus was “that prophet” and others who said He was the Christ, but others questioned that He could not be the Christ because He was from Galilee and the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. (v. 40-45.) When the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus return without Him, they said, “No man spake as this man.” The religious leaders declare that the crowd is accursed. (v. 45-49.) Nicodemus reminds them that their law does not allow one to be condemned without a hearing. They retort by asking Nicodemus if he, too, is from Galilee and that no prophet has come from Galilee.
Jesus is not only in Jerusalem, but He is at the Temple teaching on at least two different days of this festival, and speaking in a manner to draw attention to Himself. Everyone knows He is there, but try as they might the religious leaders are not able to do anything to arrest Him.

2. About three months after the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, also called the Festival of Lights, or more commonly known in our day as Chanukah. John 10:22-42. This is a festival the Jews made in celebration of the miracle of keeping the lamps lighted for eight days when there was no oil for the lamps at the time the Jews were overthrowing the Greek occupation. As He is walking in the Temple, the religious leaders surround Jesus and ask Him when He will declare whether He is the Anointed, but He tells them He has already declared to them and they refused to believe because they do not belong to His Father. They pick up stones to kill Him and Jesus asks them for which of the good works do they wish to stone Him? They reply that they do not stone Him for the good works, but for blasphemy. Jesus reminds them, “Is it not written in your Law [Psalm 82:6], ‘I said, you are gods’?” Even if they reject His teaching, His good works testify that He is the Son of God. They try again to take hold of him, but He escapes from their hands and goes once more to the place beyond the Jordan where John first baptized. Many come to visit Him there.
Jesus is not only in Jerusalem for this Jewish festival, He is in the Temple when the religious leaders take up stones to kill Him. He appears to be engaged in the traditions of God’s people as though He belongs there. Even though they try to capture Him, He escapes to safety beyond the Jordan.

3. A short time after this Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem through towns and villages, teaching. Luke 13:22-30. Someone asks Him if only a few will be saved. Jesus advises them to strain every nerve to enter through the narrow door, for many will try but will be unable to enter. They will knock on the door and ask for the Lord to open for them, but He will tell them He does not know them, nor where they come from.
Certain Pharisees come to warn Him that He should leave “this place” because Herod intends to kill Him. (v.31.) He replies, “Tell that old fox that I shall expel demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I will complete My work. I must travel on today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it will not do for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.” (v. 32-33.) Jesus laments that the people of Jerusalem have rejected His prophets before Him and they are rejecting Him also even though He has tried to nurture them as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. The people of Jerusalem will not see Him until they say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (v. 34-35.) Is He predicting the Triumphal Entry?
Jesus does not seem to be afraid of Herod or his threat on His life. Jesus behaves as if He belongs there.

4. Believing as Paul does that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:1-4), Jesus told Moses to instruct the people of Israel that all the men and boys were to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for three festivals every year. Exodus 23:14, Deuteronomy 16:16, and 2 Chronicles 8:13. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the first of these annual festivals. The Passover begins this festival with the selection of the lamb on the 10th of the month, the slaying of the lamb and preparing the home and the meal on the 14th of the month, and eating the Passover meal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the 15th of the month. Exodus 12, Numbers 33:1-4, and Deuteronomy 16:1-6. The 15th is also the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus instructed Moses to tell His people that this festival is to be observed for eternity in Exodus 12:14 & Leviticus 23:6-14. The Hebrew term used in this verse to represent the time element is ???? (Strong’s # 5769: ?ôlâm = ngoh-lahm´) and carries the meaning of time out of mind past or future, eternity, always, ancient, eternal, everlasting, perpetual, or time without end. It occurs more than 400 times in the Old Testament. It is used in Genesis 3:22 when God said that man might pluck from the tree of life and live “forever.” It is the word used in Genesis 9:22 when God said the rainbow would be a sign of His covenant with mankind not to flood the Earth through “perpetual” generations. It is the word used in Exodus 40:15 where the Lord declares that the Levites are to serve Him in an “everlasting” priesthood. This priesthood is unending and is recognized as such by Jews today.
If Jesus is the One who tells Moses to instruct the people to do something forever and it turns out that Jesus Himself is not willing to do it, upon what basis does Jesus not follow His own instructions? Is He capricious? Is He a wimp for staying away from the hateful religious leaders in Jerusalem? Is He not a man? If Jesus is their leader and He neglects or refuses to follow the instructions He gave His people, is He trustworthy to follow? It seems to be a mis-representation of Jesus to say that He did not attend the annual festivals which He had instructed His people to observe in Jerusalem. There is no scripture that states that Jesus did not attend the required pilgrimage festivals.

5. When Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth by reading from the Isaiah scroll, the people were deeply resentful when he pointed out that Elijah was sent to the widow of Serepta in Sidon and of all the lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, none of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian. These statements implied that the people of Israel did not have as much faith as these Gentiles. They led Him out of the city to the brow of the hill to throw Him down, but He made His way straight through their midst.
Right from the beginning of His ministry His life is in jeopardy, but His Father has many ways of protecting Him from their anger until the fulness of time. He would have a ministry for more than three years and He would die at the right time.

6. The religious leaders in Jerusalem do not appear to be confident enough in their position to arrest Jesus publicly. They know He is popular with the people and are afraid that the people will turn against them if they harm Jesus in the light of day. To complicate matters, Jesus is homeless, so they can’t just go to His house in the middle of the night to arrest Him. He sometimes stays with friends such as Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and sometimes stays out in the open on the Mt. of Olives or in a garden. When it comes to the time of His final Passover season, the leaders seek out the weakest link of the disciples to be their informant as to where Jesus stays at night so they can arrest Him under the cover of darkness. The religious leaders make the pact with Judas because they need to know where they can find Him at night. At the Lord’s Supper, Judas finds out where Jesus plans to spend that night and when he informs the religious leaders, they pay him the 30 pieces of silver.

There is no question that Jesus took His disciples into the territory of Tyre and Sidon, and down into Decapolis. There is no question that He was teaching them all along the way. There is no question that He was doing as much as He could to prepare them for the events that would lead to His death on a cross, limited only by their willingness to learn. What is objectionable is that He would violate His own instructions to His people to accomplish this by not attending one or more of the three required festivals. There is no need for this journey to take six or eight months, and no evidence in scripture that it did. This trip could easily have been accomplished in less than one month and would certainly have been completed in time to attend the required festivals in Jerusalem. The evidence in scripture shows that Jesus was faithful in everything He did, and that would certainly include attending the three required pilgrimage festivals each year.
To suggest that Jesus did not follow His own instructions regarding attending these festivals in Jerusalem lays the foundation for the notion that these festivals are optional and not really required because Jesus didn’t keep them. It becomes a short step from that to then say that these festivals have only a temporary value, that their typological significance was met in the life of Jesus, and they have been both fulfilled and abolished at the cross. Such teaching is contrary to the plain language of scripture that the festival is to be observed forever. The record of scripture is that these pilgrimage festivals of the Lord have eternal value and will be kept in the New Earth.
There is every reason to believe that Jesus took advantage of every one of these festivals to teach the people who came to Jerusalem from every corner of Judea, Galilee, Perea, and the Diaspora about the character of their God and His unbounded love for them. Spreading His message when the masses came to Jerusalem could only have had a huge positive effect.
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Ellen White’s statements present a very serious problem for those who believe that Jesus chose not to attend the Passover. First, the context of Matthew 15:1 and Mark 7:1 does not hint that this is either before or after the Passover and the charge brought by the scribes and Pharisees is unrelated to that festival. The charge they bring is merely that the disciples of Jesus fail to practice the hand washing required in Rabbinic writings of the Second Temple Period. Jesus easily turns the conversation against those making the charge by directing attention to the fact that they transgress God’s commandments to honor one’s father and mother. The charge Jesus brings to their attention about themselves is a violation of not just the Mosaic law, but of the Ten Commandments, and is a far more serious charge than what they bring against His disciples. The charge brought by the scribes and Pharisees does not rise to the level of breaking any of the rules of the Mosaic law and it is no wonder that they do not press their charge further.
However, Ellen White uses Matthew 15:1 and Mark 7:1 to indicate that this conversation takes place after the Passover and that Jesus had deliberately chosen not to attend in order to thwart the evil purpose of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Such a conclusion is not merely unsupported by scripture, it is contrary to the nature of the players in the story. The scribes and Pharisees had been carefully watching His every move for many months looking intently for any violation of law and the only accusation they are able to bring against Him is that His disciples violate the traditions of the elders – the hand washing rituals promoted by the Rabbinic writers. The Rabbinic writings do not rise to the level of scripture. If Jesus had not attended Passover – one of the annual pilgrimage festivals required in scripture of all men and boys – you can be certain that the scribes and Pharisees would have quickly brought that charge against Jesus as soon as they were aware of it, and they would have made the most of it for public consumption. Such a charge, upon verification, would have given them a definite advantage in their claim that Jesus was a law breaker and could not be the Messiah. Such a story would have held an important place in our understanding of God’s plan for worship after the ministry of Jesus. Yet scripture is completely silent regarding any such charge. The evidence in scripture does not support the claim that Jesus did not attend Passover. The evidence supports the opposite conclusion.
Where Ellen White states that Jesus did not attend the “national gatherings” between the healing at Bethesda and the Feast of Tabernacles six months before His crucifixion, she describes this behavior as the “cause of perplexity” among the people regarding Jesus because He had so often taught the blessings of obedience to God’s Law. But “perplexity” is not the attitude the scribes and Pharisees would have had toward Jesus had He not actually been present at the festivals. Even though she claims that Jesus had been absent from the feasts for many months, she offers not a single verse of scripture in support of her position. Neither does she explain the absence of such a charge by the religious leaders. Rather than claiming that Jesus had skipped out on attending the required festivals, it would be in character to say that Jesus arrived at these festivals and observed them without deliberately attracting attention to Himself as He had at other times. There were many times that Jesus was very unassuming. Just as Jesus was capable of keeping the disciples from recognizing Him on the road to Emmaus, He was likewise perfectly capable of attending the festivals without drawing attention to Himself. Throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrates by word and deed that He is very disarming to those who intend to do Him harm.
Our default understanding regarding Jesus’ attendance at the required festivals in Jerusalem must be that He was in full obedience to the commands He Himself had given Moses to teach His people regarding the observance of His plan for worship. Anyone who wishes to sustain the claim that Jesus did not attend a particular festival (such as the Passover) needs to bring forward a scripture that either states such an event or requires such a conclusion by the evidence of the story. If we presume that the story recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 occurs after Passover as Ellen White does, then the story in scripture is proof that Jesus did attend the Passover by virtue of the fact that the scribes and Pharisees are not able to bring a charge against either Jesus or His disciples that they were in violation of Mosaic law. They would certainly have been more eager to bring a charge of breaking Mosaic Law than the Rabbinic traditions. Yet they are unable to do so.
The episode with the woman taken in adultery in John 8 demonstrates the desire of the religious leaders to witness Jesus doing something upon which they can base a charge that He is in violation of the Law. This event was intended to force Jesus to choose between acquitting the woman or declaring her worthy of death. If He had acquitted her, they were ready to charge Him with despising the Law of Moses, and if He declared her worthy of death, they were ready to accuse Him to the Romans as one who was assuming their authority over civil and/or criminal matters. In either case, they imagined they had finally devised a situation from which He could not escape. Had Jesus not attended any of the required festivals, the religious leaders would have been just as ready to charge Him with the violation of Mosaic Law as they had charged this pitiful woman, but throughout His entire ministry they cannot.
John concludes his gospel by reminding us that Jesus did many other things than what is written in scripture and if they were written in detail, the world would not have room for the books that would be written. To say that we can find no evidence to support His attendance at Passover cannot be a valid argument to conclude that He was not there. Moreover, it turns a blind eye to the expectations He created for His people through the teachings of Moses. Such an orientation turns the paradigm of scripture on its head.
Unfortunately, the commentary of Ellen White creates an accusation against Jesus that is more serious than the accusation brought by the scribes and Pharisees. Their accusation was that His disciples were in violation of the Rabbinic traditions, but her commentary is an accusation that Jesus deliberately chose to violate His own instructions regarding the required worship in Jerusalem. I do not believe for one moment that Ellen White intended for us to understand that Jesus was in violation of the Law He had given Moses, but that is a necessary conclusion regarding her comments. Fortunately, her accusation is without merit. The sooner we step away from her conclusions that are contrary to scripture, the better off we’ll be.
Ellen White is famous for saying “Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light.” 3SM 30.4; CM 125.2; YRP 232.3; AUCR, March 15, 1905 par. 2; RH, January 20, 1903 par. 9; SW, February 2, 1904 par. 1; PH164 6.1. In this statement she acknowledged that her writings are a lesser light when compared with the Bible and not an authority to supercede the evidence found in scripture. In the instant case, it appears that she did not analyze these passages in scripture as carefully as she should have and failed to think through the full implications of her comments. As inspiring as Ellen White’s writings are, we must not allow her writings to short circuit our own investigation of scripture and our own thinking. Just as the Jews in Jesus’ day incorrectly held the Rabbinic writings of the Second Temple Period to be of equal authority to the scriptures, we must not treat Ellen White’s writings as if they have an authority that is equal to scripture. God has not ordained any such paradigm.
For those who insist that the traditional teaching is correct, the questions remain regarding His choice to abandon His own plan for worship, even if it was just a temporary adjustment. As I questioned in the previous post:

If Jesus is the One who tells Moses to instruct the people to do something forever and it turns out that Jesus Himself is not willing to do it, upon what basis does Jesus not follow His own instructions? Is He capricious? Is He a wimp for staying away from the hateful religious leaders in Jerusalem? Is He not a man? If Jesus is their leader and He neglects or refuses to follow the instructions He gave His people, is He trustworthy to follow?

Finally, if Jesus really did avoid going to Jerusalem for any of the required festivals because He wanted to avoid unnecessary confrontation with those in authority, does that serve as a model for those who will be confronted with the national Sunday laws when they are enacted and enforced in the last days? The argument that Jesus didn’t attend the festivals that scripture requires will be brought to bear against those who practice keeping the Lord’s Sabbaths holy. This is an argument that will be brought from within Christianity as evidence that temporarily giving up Sabbath keeping is acceptable in times of crisis and that avoiding confrontation with authority is part of the model of the life of Christ. Such an argument is deceptive, a misrepresentation of the life of Jesus, and should find no confirmation among God’s people.