Passover?

So which is it, Lent or Passover? I have some questions. How is it Lent conflicts with Passover because you’re not to eat meat, and yet Passover is a meal and involves a lamb? Did you know the Apostles all continued a Christian form of Passover even after Christ ascended? So did the early church fathers. And a disciple of the Apostle John, known as Polycarp, actually stood against the Bishop of Rome when they tried to change things! Polycarp said he was instructed by the Apostle John to continue the Lord’s Supper, and so did the other Apostles, and he would not cease to do what he had been taught by the Apostles to continue! What does all this mean?

I have more questions: My understanding of Lent is that it has to do with the 40 days of Christ temptation in the wilderness at the very beginning of his ministry. Okay, if that be so, then how did it get connected to something that does not happen until the very end of his ministry, his Last Supper? What do those 40 days at the beginning have to do with his crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem?

Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness, so I understand the fasting part of Lent, but that also causes it to conflict with the eating part of the Passover, which is an event that is actually part of this Easter weekend, and the Apostles taught to continue! I’m confused.

Why and when did we discontinue what the Apostles said to continue? In First Corinthians chapter eleven, the Apostle Paul actually corrects the Corinthian church on how they were treating the Lord’s Supper! He did not say to discontinue it, but to do it right! It’s right in our New Testament that the early church was doing it, a meal! Not just a cracker and thimble juice! What happened? And do we continue to ignore this part of our Bible even to this day? Why?

Polycarp and the Asian churches resisted the Bishop of Rome concerning this change from Passover to Lent. Polycarp rejected the change his whole life! The Asian churches continued even after Polycarp passed. Rome kept pressing for it. Then Constantine came to power around 300 AD. (a little past). And the church went down the Catholic fork of the road, Passover got lost somewhere, we went back into big church buildings, everything changed, eventually we entered the Dark Ages, and then finally came a Reformation where we revolted against the religion of that time! But we kept certain baggage and never went completely back, even though it’s plainly spoken of in our Bible.

I’m so confused. Is it a small matter? Is it not important? Does new traditions of man override old instructions of God? It’s right in our Bibles, folks. Along with some other things we scoff at today.

Now of course I have my opinion about all this, and my little group always does a Christian form of Passover each year. It was one of the reasons I left modern church to get back closer to our roots. But the questions I have posed here are valid. How did Easter become a one day event to wear fancy clothes, eat a tiny cracker and thimble of juice, maybe hunt some eggs a rabbit hid, and then go out to eat?

And doesn’t it seem odd that Lent, focusing on Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness, had nothing to do with the Lord’s Supper or his cross and resurrection, and yet we connect it to all that, and it just happens to conflict with having a Passover meal on Passover, 3 days before his resurrection? And the Apostles instructed the church to continue a Passover meal, verified by First Corinthians eleven, and several early church writings! Is this not very odd? Am I missing some details here? Can anyone explain?

One of the early church fathers even asked the Bishop of Rome, was he to obey man or God? I saw this writing with my own eyes! And he clarified he would continue obeying God! (Good for him!) But what about us today? Do you have answers for any of this? Or do you blindly trust your Bible College educated leaders?

This year our Passover meal will be conducted by individuals in their own home, just as it was in the original Passover as slaves in Egypt. And they were not to come out of their home as the death angel would pass over that night! This Corona Virus thing has us staying in our homes as much as possible, which just happens to be perfect for a Passover meal and Communion. So perhaps this is the perfect opportunity for people to research the questions I have posed. God will honor our true diligence in a matter, but he does not honor intentional ignorance and lack of caring.

Is God trying to tell us, his church, something? Did we fail to change with the first wake-up call of 9-11, and so now we are in a stronger wake-up call? Will we repent this time? Will we change this time? Will we get back to what Jesus actually DID this time? Or are we beyond changing, beyond the point of no return? If so, what comes next? Revelation?