The Light of God’s Love
By Joel C. Rosenberg
Jesus said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” Matthew 26:18
As the cooler, rainy season begins to wind down in Israel these days, spring approaches. And with spring comes the celebration of Passover in the Holy Land. Passover’s commemoration of the Exodus (about 3,500 years ago) is the beginning of the Jewish festival year, for it marks the beginning of Israel’s national history. By placing their faith in God and obeying the command to cover their doorposts with the blood of lambs, the Jewish people were spared from God’s punishment. That rescue and further safety from the pursuing Egyptian army as God parted the Red Sea’s waters were defining events in Jewish life. In these events, the Lord of history was foreshadowing the coming Lamb who would be slain to rescue the world from sin.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus faced the cross and the obedient fulfillment of Isaiah 53, when “the punishment that brought us peace was on Him.” However, before the pain, the betrayal, the crushing separation from His Father, Jesus first wanted to celebrate the Passover with his beloved disciples. With food, foot-washing, story-telling, prayer and song, Jesus and the twelve gathered like the whole nation of Israel was gathering.
Of course, Jesus left that Passover meal with his men and walked with them to their garden camping ground in order to pray as He anticipated the arrest that was sure to come. He obeyed His Father’s will and as a sheep is led to the slaughter, Jesus was obedient to the point of death on a cross. But the grave could not hold Him! These spring days, His resurrection is celebrated with joy and church bells ringing through the city of Jerusalem. People gather at the Garden Tomb at sunrise and all over the country to shout with song, “He is risen!”
At The Joshua Fund, we count it a privilege and joy to join in these celebrations with the Christians of the region! We exist to educate Christians around the world about God’s love for Israel and her neighbors–calling followers of Jesus to “learn, pray, give and go.” We are grateful stewards of the donations we receive to provide humanitarian relief and encourage pastors and Christian leaders in the Epicenter so they might endure and thrive. Since 2006, we’ve been able to see God’s hand at work through the ministry He’s given us.
This year, as in the past, we have worked with our many partners to provide special Passover baskets to needy Israeli Jewish families. We’ve also helped provide Easter gifts for Arab Christians. With one in four people living below the poverty line in Israel, there are far too many people who need help with the basic necessities of life. These baskets included juice, chocolates, cookies and honey; always gifts appropriate to the recipient, such as matzot for the Jewish families. Ethiopian families, single mothers and many other struggling individuals were given a “cup of cold water” in the name of Jesus.
One group of people included in the distribution of holiday gifts were Holocaust survivors and their families. In the midst of joyful holidays, the spring in Israel also includes “Yom HaShoah” at the end of April. In Hebrew this means “Day of the Catastrophe” or “Day of the Calamity.” Sirens wail for two minutes during the morning and people stop their cars along the side of the road and stand in honor of the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Poems are read. Special services are held to remember and to declare the intention to praise the Lord despite the mysteries and pains of such a horrific loss.
We, at The Joshua Fund, are tremendously honored to mark this time of remembrance by serving survivors and their families and educating a world that is too quick to forget what really happened to the Jewish people. We, as Christians, step out in faith and care for Israel.
At the beginning of the Jewish prayers of remembrance and mourning we find the Lord speaking in Ezekiel 38:23 – “Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” This is our prayer at The Joshua Fund–that we might magnify the name of the Lord in the Epicenter, that we might shine the light of His love into every dark and lonely place. Thank you for sharing that vision with us. May you shine His light into the dark places in your community too. May He be known in the nations.
