As a child, I developed a growing mistrust of the big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I didn't mind the food, or getting presents. It was just that these events seemed arbitrary, and the self-generated celebration didn't seem genuine. There was something missing.
      When I grew up, I filed these under the label "pseudo-events" and tossed in political conventions and the Super Bowl for good measure.
      As I traveled all over the world, I saw that each culture has its own holidays and pseudo-events. The calendar was packed with them.
      As I studied Eastern religions and the myths of ancient peoples, it seemed as though there was nothing "pseudo" about the events of initiation, birth and death, and sacred seasons that were both joyous and dangerous. These celebrations seemed to have real power, but where did it come from?
      Only when I became a believer did I discover the source, which all other celebrations can only reflect.
      In the desert of Sinai 3,500 years ago, the Law given to Moses consisted mostly of instructions on how to observe a cycle of feasts that would be celebrated "in perpetuity" to mark these seasons — tent pegs to hold together the universe and the concept of eternity.
      The writer of the Book of Hebrews emphasizes that the Law, including the feasts, is a "shadow" of reality "and not the very image." The feasts were not ends in themselves, but pointed to something beyond. Christ's life, death and resurrection fulfilled the Law, including the feasts. His presence in the hearts of believers fulfills the Law in them now.
      Modern Christianity has been cut off from an appreciation of this truth, in part by the technology that permeates our culture and desensitizes us to nature. But more importantly, because the church decided early in its history to sever all ties to its Jewish roots. The result — ignorance of the Law — has been devastating.
      The eight major feasts correspond to events in the life of Christ and to spiritual events in the life of believers. Whole sections of the New Testament cannot be fully understood without knowing what was going on during the feasts. Many books and passages in the Old Testament were read only on feast days. The feasts in fact are keys to biblical exegesis.
      In our community, we have tried to duplicate the way the feasts were celebrated by Jesus and the disciples, recreating the atmosphere and internalizing the experience in light of the revelation of Christ. Each year we have learned something new.
      A more complete discusssion of the feasts is available at www.trinityfi.org, but here's a brief outline:
      HANUKKAH: The festival of lights and Feast of Dedication of the Temple. Christ was announced and conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary; Christ is conceived in each believer.
      PASSOVER: This feast pictures the Jews being "passed over" by the death angel and their escape from Egypt. Christ was crucified on Passover, and He is the lamb sacrificed and eaten in the "Seder" meal that became the Lord's Supper. The meaning of all the feasts is combined in Passover.
      UNLEAVENED BREAD: Celebrated to remember the "bread of affliction" in Egypt. Christ was buried during this seven-day observance. In the Passover Seder, unleavened bread represents Christ's body, which is our sustenance.
      THE SABBATH: The day of rest from labor. Christ was the only one to ever keep the Sabbath completely according to the Law, which He did at rest in the grave. Believers do so by "reckoning themselves dead."
      FIRST FRUITS: The first sheaf of grain from the fields was offered to God. Christ was resurrected on this day, and it represents Christ's resurrection in the hearts of believers.
      PENTECOST: It is always connected with the ascension of Sinai by Moses and the giving of the Law, as well as the Shekinah glory filling the Temple. Christ poured out His Spirit on all flesh during this feast after His ascension to the Father, so the Law could be written in the hearts of believers, and the glory of God takes full residence there.
      ROSH HASHANAH: The feast of Trumpets marking the creation of the world and of the new year. Scholars have pinpointed this as the time of year when Christ was born.
      It represents the "born again" experience in each believer.
      YOM KIPPUR: The Day of Atonement, a time of great repentance. Christ was baptized by John the Baptist while this feast was being observed; it corresponds to the baptism of a believer. As the high priest was sending the scapegoat into the wilderness to remove the consciousness of sin from Israel, John saw Christ and said, "Behold the lamb (goat) of God who taketh away the sin of the world."
      TABERNACLES: The last feast of the year and the season of weddings, marked by burning massive lamps, ceremonies mixing wine and water. Christ turned the water into wine on one Tabernacles feast, was transfigured on another, and identified Himself as the light of the world and the living water during His last. It represents the transformation of the believer's mind to understand he is "seated in the heavenlies" and outside the bands of time. The feast also marks the end of time itself and the marriage supper of the Lamb.
      Each feast reveals a piece of the mystery like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle in time. When the picture is complete, we find ourselves gazing at a portrait of Jesus Christ. With that understanding, every activity in our life is part of the celebration and thus becomes holy service to God. Without it, all activities are pseudo-events and remain only idol worship.
      Happy holidays.

Ole's morning bible study is available here.