PASSOVER, EASTER TEACH US VALUES.

Byline: James Bemis Commentary

With the eight days of Passover overlapping with Easter observances, this weekend provides an occasion for many in Ventura County to celebrate their faith.

This coinciding of religious holidays invites reflection on the symbolic links between the Passover and Easter celebrations and the historical bonds between the Jewish and Christian religions. As Pope John Paul II observed, the Jewish people are the ``older brothers'' of Christians, and their traditions play a vital role in the development of Western civilization. Without learning the meaning of Jewish history and tradition, Christians don't really understand their own.

Passover commemorates the Israelites' flight from Egypt to the Promised Land, as told in Exodus. God commanded Moses and Aaron to prepare their people for escape by sacrificing an unblemished male lamb and marking the side and upper doorposts of each house with its blood. After offering a share to the Lord, the Israelites were then to eat the lamb, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

This was the Israelites' last meal in Egypt before their redemption from slavery. That night, an angel executed judgment by killing all the firstborn of Egypt, ``passing over'' only those houses with the lamb's blood on its doors. One of the most important traditions of the Jewish people is recounting each year their exodus to freedom, handing down the story from generation to generation. This exchange takes place at the dinner table in the beautiful Seder ceremony, fulfilling the biblical command that the history of Passover perpetually be retold.

At the Seder, foods symbolize the Israelites' experience: lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, parsley and an egg (suggesting the renewal of life), and salt water, representing the slaves' tears. The Haggadah is read together, teaching the Passover story through parables, songs, legends and psalms.

Passover foreshadows the Easter celebration. Christians also believe they are saved by the unblemished, sinless Lamb of God in the paschal (Greek for ``Passover'') sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose body is given up as an offering to God and is shared by the people in the Eucharist. As in the Passover, the appearance of the blood of this lamb is a sign of redemption.

The passion of Jesus' death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter Sunday forms the central drama of Christianity and, like the Passover story, is retold and re-enacted by generation after generation. As the Seder honors the Israelites' last meal in Egypt, the Eucharist commemorates Christ's Last Supper.

Further, both Passover and Easter are celebrated in memory of deliverance: As do their Jewish brethren, Christians believe the Lord leads them out of slavery. For the Christian, Easter delivers the faithful from the bondage of sin into the Promised Land of grace, from darkness into light, from death to everlasting life.

In our age, we've become arrogant because of our modern achievements and are foolishly bedazzled by technological advancements, forgetting how limited our capabilities really are. Modern man's ego has swelled to the bursting point, an occurrence that would be funny it it weren't so sad.

This weekend, though, we're reminded of our true nature, not with the false pride of modern humanity but as men and women humbly seeking wisdom, inspiration and comfort from above, as our ancestors have for thousands of years. For those who consider religion important to their lives, Passover and Easter celebrate the most important ties that bind - both horizontally among generations past, present and future, and vertically with their Creator.