Yasha Na! Jesus Saves Now!

Palm Sunday and Passover
Today is Palm Sunday (Christian Holiday) and Passover (Jewish Holiday). Our very first Sunday service as Lights of Hope Ministry (Sandusky), was Palm Sunday and Passover. We have a rich 24-year heritage as a church family. To understand who we are as Christians, we must understand our Jewish heritage.

Gal 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

When we are born again in Christ, we spiritually become the blood line of Abraham. We have a Jewish heritage. Jesus was born in the blood line of Abraham and we carry on that blood line.

The Promise: Gen 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

3 Institutions of God: The Family; husband wife and children. The Government; the social structure of law and order. The Church; the Kingdom of God manifesting on earth.

God’s Timing, Festivals and Calendar
Why do the Jewish festivals like Passover and Tabernacles fall on different days every year? The Jews have 2 different calendars and they are based on lunar cycles of the moon. There are 12 new moons each year. This does not mean the Jews worship the moon.

Jewish Civil Calendar: starts in the Fall with Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets) which is the 7th new moon. We are now in the Jewish year 5785. Rosh Hashanah means “Head of the Year.” They believe civilization started 5785 years ago with Adam and Eve.

Jewish Religious Calendar: starts in the Jewish month of Nisan (March-April). Nisan is the month of miracles.

When God delivered Israel from Egypt and established Passover, Yahweh spoke: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:1-2) This month is Nisan.

Gregorian Calendar: most common calendar, based on our Sun, being a solar calendar. implemented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, refined this by keeping leap years every four years but skipping them in century years not divisible by 400 (e.g., 1700, 1800, 1900 aren’t leap years, but 2000 is).

We are in the year 2025 A.D. meaning 2,025 years after the birth of Jesus Christ. A.D. is an acronym for Anno Domini “In The Year Of Our Lord.” B.C. means “Before Christ.” More recently the term C.E. “Common Era” is being used in place of A.D. because it is more inclusive, but still starts at the time of the birth of Christ.

Easter Sunday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox (March 21 in the Western calendar)

Passover begins at sundown on the 14th of Nisan and lasts seven or eight days. Nisan’s timing is based on the lunar calendar, aligned with the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which is why it often coincides closely with Easter.

Palm Sunday is celebrated the Sunday before Easter Sunday. This year, Palm Sunday and Passover happen on the same day.

Passover: Ex 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

Ex 12:5-8 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.

“Assembly of the Congregation” the word assembly is Strong’s #6961 qahal (kak-hal) a congregation, assembly called together. The NT Greek word ekklesia (a congregation called together) parallels qahal. Ekklesia is translated as “church.” Ex 12:6 is the first usage in the Bible of the term “assembly of the congregation,” and it relates to the sacrifice of a lamb and the blood of that lamb being a covering or protection from the destroyer, over our family and our church!

According to Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the “tenth day of month” in this passage, was Sunday, the day the lamb was brought into the house making Palm Sunday the first holy day given to the Jews. The lamb was to be sacrificed on the fourteenth day (4 days later would be Thursday). Jesus had the Passover meal with His disciples on Thursday night, 4 days after He entered Jerusalem, coming as the sacrificial Lamb. He was with His spiritual family in a house, in the “upper room.”

Palm Sunday is a Christian celebration commemorating when Jesus rode into Jerusalem during the feast of Passover.

A palm branch is a symbol of victory, salvation, and praise. Palms are spoken of in the Old Testament, and the New Testament during the time of Jesus. They will be used in Heaven right before the return of Jesus. There will be a great multitude surrounding the Throne of God with palm branches in their hands shouting, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:9) God is telling us “Lift your palms and shout, for I have given you the victory!”

Roman Triumph: a very rare and spectacular event. Certain criteria had to be met for a Roman general to be given a triumphant entry into a city and the proceeding celebration. Upon his entry he had a palm branch in his hand.

John 12:12-15 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!" 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt."

One of many prophesies of the coming Messiah Jesus 1,000 years before He came:
Ps 118:25-26 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

Save: Strong’s #3467, Hebrew, yasha` (yaw-shah'); avenging, defend, deliver (-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring (having) salvation, save (-iour), get victory. From yasha comes the word Yeshua which is Jesus’ name and it means “He shall save,” and in the NT the word Hosanna is used.
Now: Strong’s #4994, Hebrew na' (naw); "I pray," "now,"

Saved; Strong’s #4982, sozo (sode-zoe); To save, heal, cure, preserve, keep safe and sound, rescue from danger or destruction, deliver. Sozo in primitive cultures is translated simply, “to give new life” and “to cause to have a new heart.”

Spiritual warfare: Palm branches raised shouting Yasha Na in all 4 directions.