Slideshow image

Happy Lunar New Year. May you know the Lord’s blessing this year.

Celebrations like Lunar New Year bring families together to give thanks, to share gifts, and, among other traditional customs, to remember.

The Bible has a lot to say about festivals and feasts. Leviticus 23 describes the main Jewish festivals of Sabbath, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The sabbath celebrated the completion of God’s work at Creation. It marked the end of the first week when God rested from all he had done. Passover and Unleavened Bread celebrated the redemption of God’s people from slavery in Egypt. In fact, in the Old Testament, freedom from Egypt became the signal of God’s saving grace and the Passover a reminder of God’s covenant with his people.

The Feast of Weeks celebrated God’s provision – it was a harvest festival. The Feast of Trumpets started a month of sanctification and celebration of God’s forgiveness and grace. This month included the Day of Atonement, the solemn remembrance of God’s atoning work of salvation, and the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Israelites lived in tents for a week to remember God’s guidance and provision in the wilderness for 40 years.

Interestingly, Genesis 1:14 says God created the sun and moon to serve as signs to mark sacred times. But it’s also interesting that once established, these feasts and festivals were not linked to the course of the sun or moon. Instead, the Lord says in Leviticus 23:2, they were “my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.”

More importantly, these great feasts find their fulfilment in Jesus. As the Lord rested on the seventh day, so Jesus rested in the grave on the seventh day. And the believer’s hope of resurrection to eternal life, because of Jesus’ defeat of death, is called our “Sabbath rest” in Hebrews 4.

The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread is of course fulfilled in the New Covenant Jesus announced with the Lord’s Supper. The Feast of Weeks is Pentecost. This is when Jesus poured out the Spirit upon believers. The Feast of Trumpets, though not mentioned explicitly in the New Testament, finds connection with the trumpet blast in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – the sound to accompany the gathering of God’s people when Jesus returns.

The Day of Atonement is of course fulfilled in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. The curtain is torn in two. The way to God is open. Jesus has gone through the curtain, his blood “obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

Finally, the Feast of Tabernacles is explicitly mentioned in John 7:2. At the highpoint of this festival’s celebration, Jesus declares: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

All biblical festivals and feasts point to Jesus and are fulfilled in Jesus. It’s a reminder to us that the rhythm of our daily lives, our weeks, our months, and our years are to be placed in service of the King of all Creation: Jesus.

This Lunar New Year, I invite us to celebrate but also always to remember that no matter the festival, may our lives point to Jesus and may our lives be in the service of the King. These are his appointed feasts, and we are his appointed people.

早上好。我們即將進入農曆新年。幾天后，我們將慶祝兔年。農曆新年快樂。願你今年經歷神的祝福。

像農曆新年這樣的慶祝活動是美好的家庭活動。他們将家人聚集在一起，表达感恩，分享禮物，还有更多值得纪念的傳統習俗。

聖經有很多關於節日和節期的說法。利未記 23 描述了主要的猶太人節日。這些是安息日、逾越節和除酵節，五旬節、吹角節、贖罪日和住棚節。

每一個節日都像徵著神的主權和拯救的恩典。安息日慶祝神創造工作的完成，當神在他所做一切工後休息，這標誌著第一周的結束。

逾越節和無酵餅慶祝神的子民從埃及的奴役中被救赎出来。事實上，在舊約中，脫離埃及的自由成為神拯救恩典的標誌，逾越節莊嚴而喜樂地提醒人們神與他子民所立的約。

五旬節慶祝神的供應——這是一個豐收的節日。吹角節，在第七個月的第一天發生，開始了为期一個月的成聖和慶祝神的寬恕和恩典。這個月包括贖罪日，莊嚴的紀念神救贖的工作，以及住棚節，那时以色列人在帳篷裡生活一個星期，紀念神在曠野40年的带领和供应。

有趣的是，以色列人精確地計算了這些節日的時間， 因為神創造了太陽和月亮，以此作為神圣时间的記號，正如創世記 1:14 中所說。但有意思的是，一旦建立，這些盛会和節日就與太陽或月亮的運行無關，而是“耶和华的節期，你們要宣佈為聖會的節期”这是神在利未記 23:2 中的话。

同樣有趣的是，每一個盛大的節期都在耶穌身上得到了實現。就如耶和华在第七天息工，耶穌也在第七天安息在墳墓裡。在希伯來書 第4章，信徒因耶穌戰勝死亡而希望復活得到永生，被稱為我們的“安息”。

逾越節和除酵節當然在新約中實現了—新的應許—如耶穌在聖餐中的宣告。七七節又叫五旬節——耶穌將聖靈澆灌在信徒身上。號角節，雖然在新約中没有直接提及，但在哥林多前書15:52找到了有關喇叭的经文；帖撒罗尼迦前书 4:16 说道—伴隨神子民聚會的聲音，耶穌回來了。

贖罪日當然在基督為我們的罪所作的犧牲中實現。幔子撕成两半，通往神的道路敞開了。耶穌穿過幔子，他的血“獲得永恆救贖”（希伯來書 9:12）。

最後，約翰福音 7:2 明確提到了住棚節。在這场節日慶祝活动的高峰期，耶穌宣告說：“口渴的人可以到我這裡來喝。信我的人，正如聖經所說，活水的江河要從他們裡面流出來。”

聖經中所有的節日和盛会都指向耶穌，並在耶穌裡得到實現。這提醒我們：我們日常生活的節奏，無論是星期，月份，或年日，最終是要來服事萬物之王: 耶穌。

這個農曆新年，我邀請我們一起來慶祝，但也要記住，無論是什麼節日，願我們的生命指向耶穌，我們的生命是為服事那君王。這些是他的指定的節期，而我們是他指定的子民。

讓我們祈禱…

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum