World Mission Society Church of God

The Sacred Assemblies of the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Resurrection Day 2017

Nation | Korea
Date | April 10, 2017

And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15).

Jesus Christ, who came to the earth as the Savior two millennia ago, kept the Passover of the new covenant with His disciples. Just as it was commanded by Jesus and written in the Bible, the Sacred Assembly of the Passover was held in the Churches of God all around the world in the evening of April 10 (the fourteenth day of the first month by the sacred calendar).

In the midst of the fervor of the movement to preach to seven billion people that began at the beginning of last year, the brothers and sisters around the world, who had been discharging their duties as the messengers to share the blessing of salvation with many people, received the feast of life with joy and gratitude. On the following day of the Passover (April 11) and on Sunday (April 16), the Sacred Assemblies of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Resurrection Day were held in a godly manner according to the regulations of the feasts.

The Sacred Assembly of the Passover: blessings to escape disasters, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life

The Passover, which God appointed for mankind’s salvation and forgiveness of sins, is the first feast among the seven feasts in three times. The Passover means the disasters pass over us, and has God’s promise of many blessings.

More than 3,000 members participated in the Sacred Assembly of the Passover that was held in New Jerusalem Pangyo Temple, the main temple of the Church of God. Mother gave thanks to Father for promising the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the blessing to escape great disasters to heaven’s children, who were destined to die because of their sins in heaven, through His own flesh and blood. Mother prayed the same grace would come upon all the children of God across the world. “Let us be proud of being the blessed sons and daughters of God. There are still souls who haven’t come to God as they have not heard of the news of salvation. Let’s have compassion for them and preach the gospel boldly,” Mother enlightened the members.

ⓒ 2017 WATV
The members of the New Jerusalem Pangyo Temple at the Sacred Assembly of the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month by the sacred calendar (April 10)

Before the Holy Supper ceremony, the feet-washing ceremony was conducted. Saying, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:14–15), Jesus set an example of the ceremony and commanded us to do the same. The members washed each other’s feet and participated in the ceremony, following the example of Christ.

During the Holy Supper service, General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol introduced the meaning of the Passover, and explained how the Israelites escaped the disaster through the Passover and got freed from slavery in Egypt 3,500 years ago. The history of the Old Testament times is a prophecy that would be fulfilled in the New Testament times. Through the Passover of the new covenant established by Jesus, mankind could finally be freed from slavery of sins. “What happened in the past is a lesson for the future. Let’s put our heart and soul into saving the world so that all people can be protected by God from disasters which can happen anytime and anywhere and go to heaven together,” Pastor Kim Joo-cheol emphasized (Ex 12:4–13; Mt 26:17–28; Mt 24:3, 21; 1 Th 5:1–3; 2 Pe 3:6–12; Zep 1:14–18).

In the holy evening, when God Elohim’s infinite blessing showered down on all the Church of God members and their families, the members remembered the noble love of Christ, who granted His flesh and blood as the free gift to mankind for peace and salvation, and ate and drank the bread and wine of the Passover.

The Sacred Assembly of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: the path of sacrifice we follow with preaching

On April 11 (the fifteenth day of the first month by the sacred calendar), the following day of the Passover, was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast to commemorate the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In the time of Exodus, the Israelites were released from slavery after keeping the Passover, but they had to suffer in the midst of crisis where the Egyptian army was chasing them, until they crossed the Red Sea. To remember the day, this feast was appointed, and the Israelites meditated on the sufferings by eating bread made without yeast and bitter herbs.

The prophecy of the feast was fulfilled when Jesus, who promised the forgiveness of sins through the Passover, was taken by the priests and people, oppressed, mistreated, and crucified, in order to pay the terrible cost of all mankind’s sins. The members commemorated Christ’s sufferings through fasting from the midnight of the Passover until three in the afternoon the next day.

During the service of the Sacred Assembly of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Mother gave Her deepest thanks to Father, who did not avoid the pain of death, only concentrating on saving His children. When Mother asked that the children of Zion could have Father’s noble love and sacrifice and preach the gospel mightily to lead people to salvation, the members expressed their thanks and repentance with tearful “Amen” and once again engraved the mission to preach upon their hearts.

“Jesus endured indescribable, excruciating pain because He regarded His children’s life as more important than His safety. When we fulfill the evangelists’ duty with mature faith, regarding others better than ourselves as Jesus did, we can turn people from the way of sins and lead them to the way of repentance,” said General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol. He repeatedly emphasized that preaching is the noble way to follow the path of Jesus, which is connoted by the word cross, and requested utmost efforts to preach to seven billion people so that we can quickly fulfill the salvation of mankind which Christ desired to the point of death (Mt 26:59–27:31; 2 Ti 4:1–5; 1 Pe 5:8–10; 2 Th 1:5).

Sacred Assembly of the Resurrection Day: implanting hope for resurrection and heaven in the hearts of seven billion people

The day after the first Sabbath following the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which is Sunday) is the Resurrection Day. In the Old Testament, it was called the Day of Firstfruits, which originated from the day when the Israelites landed the Red Sea, shaking off the Egyptian army with the power of God. In the Old Testament times, this feast was performed by waving a sheaf of the first grain harvested in spring.

Jesus, who died on the day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was resurrected according to the prophecy of the Day of Firstfruits as the “firstfruits” of those who had fallen asleep (1 Co 15:20). The members gave thanks to God for breaking the power of death and granting the living hope for resurrection to all mankind, and attended the holy worship of the Resurrection Day on the first day after the Sabbath.

The Resurrection Day worship service began with Mother’s prayer of thanks. Mother gave thanks for allowing the children, who were destined to die due to the wages of sins in heaven, to have hope for resurrection and heaven, and earnestly hoped that they would all realize the noble love and sacrifice that God Himself had shown us from the Passover to the Resurrection Day.

The Bible says that the righteous will be resurrected to receive the glory of heaven, and the wicked to be punished with judgment and hell (Jn 5:28–29). General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol prayed that all the members would live according to the will of God and be clothed with the blessings of resurrection of the righteous and of change. “I hope the faith and fervor of the early Church saints, who made all their efforts to preach the gospel without fearing any trials and persecution, will be ‘resurrected’ in our hearts, so that we can quickly complete the mission to preach to seven billion people,” he said (Lk 24:1–10; 1 Co 15:2–4; 1 Th 4:13–18; Rev 20:11–13).

After the worship, the members broke the bread in commemoration of the work of Jesus who gave the blessed bread to His disciples and opened their spiritual eyes. Mother encouraged the members who sincerely kept the feasts to “engrave God-given love upon the hearts and deliver the new covenant, the promise of salvation, to seven billion people whose future safety and peace are not secure in the age of disasters.”

The members expressed their will: “While keeping the feasts, we’ve realized once again how blessed and happy we are to have hope for heaven. We will do the mission of Christians by conveying the news of love and life to the world, so that the grace of God will not be in vain.”