A flower in various stages of growth
Picture by Jerry Torres
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of Holy Week
As you can see from the title of this week’s blog, this week’s blog is very different.
Three weeks ago at a Saturday men’s Faith Group meeting Nick Rico mentioned to me what he learned from reading Rabbi Jason Sobel’s book Mysteries of The Messiah. Nick pointed out how Pentecost was tied into Exodus. I came home, read chapter nine, which Nick referred to, a couple of times, and thought about what Rabbi Sobel said, and then The Holy Spirit connected the dots, and all I could think was
WOW!!!!!!
The rest of our blog will be an attempt to help you connect the dots. All of this is happening during Holy Week, the timing couldn’t be better. The Holy Spirit is working in all of our lives.
After the Jewish people were led by God out of Egypt, God established The Passover as a Feast whose purpose was to remind the Jewish people what God did in freeing them from slavery.
You know this.
TWO DAYS after the Passover there was a Feast called FIRST FRUITS (Leviticus 23) and on that Feast the people offered a wave offering of barley and sacrificed a Lamb.
Wait a minute – Barley and lamb are not fruits.
So why was the holiday named First Fruits?
The First Fruits was an acknowledgement of God’s provision and blessing in the first harvest of that and every year thereafter.
The Feast was set up by God to occur the First Day after the Shabbat of Passover. Shabbat was Saturday, the next day was Sunday (what we now call Easter).
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Emphasis mine, 1 Corinthians 15: 20-23
I will quote Rabbi Sobel. “The fifty-day countdown between Passover and Pentecost began on the second day of Passover, which was also a Biblical holiday known as FIRST FRUITS.” Emphasis mine, Mysteries of The Messiah Page 136
FIFTY DAYS After FIRST FRUITS, PENTECOST was established by God, to celebrate the end of the grain harvest, and a time to give thanks to God for His provision.
First Fruits as the words imply mark the beginning of the harvest.
Jesus died on Good Friday (Jesus died BEFORE the end of the day), Day 1. On Saturday, He rested, the same as God rested in the Creation Account, Day 2, and rose on the Third Day, Day 3, a new day Establishing the 8th day, a day of REDEMPTION, and Jesus rose as THE FIRST FRUIT, The Light of the world, and He was the SACRIFICIAL LAMB for our sins.
FIFTY DAYS After FIRST FRUITS, NOT GOOD FRIDAY, PENTECOST occurred, and The Holy Spirit was infused into the Souls of the Apostles and shortly afterwards into the three thousand people who were drawn to where the Apostles were staying.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Emphasis mine, Acts 2: 38-39
Jesus said Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. Emphasis mine, Luke 6:44
The word fruit is mentioned forty-five times in the New Testament.
But what does it mean?
Saint Paul said In Galatians 5: 19-23:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law Emphasis Mine Galatians 5: 19-23
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
And
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Emphasis mine, Matthew 5:14
This is where The Holy Spirit connected the dots for me and we pray for you.
Jesus died on the day of Preparation for Passover.
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. Emphasis mine, John 19:31
Jesus died on what we now call Good Friday, the sixth day of the week, and rose two days later on Sunday, which established a new day according to Rabbi Sobel, the Eighth day which we call Easter Sunday, and every Sunday thereafter we celebrate His Resurrection, and that first Easter Sunday was called First Fruits by the Jewish People.
So, if you haven’t guessed so far where The Holy Spirit connected the dots for me and we pray for you:
When you were Baptized The Holy Spirit was infused in your soul.
By learning and praying for an increase of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control., you are activating The Holy Spirit to lead you into doing the will of God your Father and living in the Love Joy and Peace which Jesus experienced while He lived and Died on His cross.
Remember: Bishop Barron in one of his talks stood in front of a picture of Jesus Crucified and said, “This is a picture of Joy.” I had always believed this and Bishop Barron confirmed my thinking.
And
Because of your Love, Joy, and Peace, you will become a Bright Light in a very dark world.
We wrote about a year or so ago about Ryan finding Joy in jail after he learned and prayed every day the “Nine” Fruit of The Holy Spirit. That Ryan became a bright light filled with Joy in an institution that is created for just the opposite effect, testifies beautifully to this.
What I also realized was how deeply the Old Testament ties into the New Testament, and frankly, we haven’t even scratched the surface of what Rabbi Sobel wrote in this chapter. Do yourself a favor and buy Mysteries of The Messiah and learn how God wants you to be Good Fruit, and a Light in a dark world.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy, and Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Kindness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Notice we changed the Prayer in our blogs, to the Nine Fruit of The Holy Spirit a few weeks before this blog.
I am overwhelmed by all the pieces that came together for this blog. Nick mentioning the chapter number, The Holy Spirit prompting me to reread Chapter Nine, two or three times, The Holy Spirit connecting the dots, so that I now understand the history of the term Fruit of The Spirit, Jerry’s picture, comment, and Bible quote, Ryan needing help Tuesday, we spent an hour together, and both were pumped when the hour was over, and lastly all of this is the week before Holy Week which you will read during Holy Week.
We have stated many times that this is OUR Blog – The Holy Spirit, You with your pictures and comments, and me, and today’s blog demonstrates it.
Please Learn and PRAY every day for an increase of The Fruit of The Holy Spirit, live in The Spirit of Truth, and become a bright Light in a dark world.
Gail and I pray all of you will enJoy an Easter filled with the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Picture:
Another flower picture. I like that the plant is in various stages of growth, both blooming and budding. The pollinating or feeding looks good too.
1 Corinthians 3:7 – Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. Picture by Jerry Torres
If you think about what Jerry wrote, and the scripture he quoted, this ties in beautifully with our blog, and we received his picture two days before we wrote our blog. Talk about The Holy Spirit working in my, and we pray, in your life.
If you’re reading the blogs in A Catholic Moment, our weekly email, or Linkedin you are trying to GROW in your love of God. I believe that’s all God can ask for.
Celebrate!!!!
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
