It’s probably not very common that Passover and Purim fall on the same night. Actually, according to the Jewish calendar, it is impossible (Purim is in the last month and Passover is in the first month). But since the Christian calendar many centuries ago separated the calculation of Easter from the Jewish reckoning of Passover, it often occurs that Passover and Easter are celebrated at different times, even though historically Jesus was crucified on Passover.
Tonight begins the celebration of Purim, the holiday that celebrates God’s deliverance of the Jewish people in the days of Esther. In synagogues all around the world tonight, the scroll of Esther is read with children booing (or rattling noisemakers) at the sound of Haman’s name.
But on the Christian calendar, tomorrow is Good Friday. At our house this week, with the help of 10 former IBEXers out from California, we’re reading through the events in the life of Christ during Passion Week. And so tonight we remember the events of the Last (Passover) Supper and Jesus’ arrest.
It certainly is an interesting conjunction of celebration of historical events. Purim is a time of great festivity (and often drunkenness), whereas the Last Supper was a time of great sobriety. Purim is a time when God’s deliverance of his people from physical destruction by Haman is celebrated. The Last Supper commemorates the time when Jesus set in irreversible motion God’s deliverance of his people from eternal destruction.
thanx