P
Psychic
Guest
Some protestants claim that this chapter constracts the idea of holydays. How does that fit in?
Ahhhhhh, and you thought WE were all **psychic **and knew what you were talking about!!!*Romans 14
Paul now turns to the second issue that may be causing tension in the Roman Community. Christians who are not securely grounded in the New Covenant faith, like Jews who are still very attached to the Old Covenant Holy Days of Obligation and the Old Covenant Sabbath, should be treated with tolerance by those who understand that those feast days are no longer valid in the New Covenant. Paul addressed these Old Covenant practices in Colossians 2:16-17 when he wrote:
“Then never let anyone criticize you for what you eat or drink, or about observance of annual festivals, New Moons or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what was coming: the reality is the body of Christ.”
Paul includes in this passage a mention of the Old Covenant Sabbath which was celebrated on Saturday. For the Jews it was the only day of the week that was named and worship on this day was prescribed under the Sinai Covenant Exodus 20:8-11; 23:12; 31:12-17; 34:21; 35:1-3; Leviticus 19:3; 23:3; Numbers 15:32-36; Deuteronomy 5:12-15].
ContinuedMany Jewish Christians continued at this time to attend the Synagogue on Saturday [and the Temple liturgy if they resided in Jerusalem] and then also participated in the liturgy of the Eucharist on Sunday, which was designated as “the Lord’s Day”—the New Covenant Sabbath. Also see CCC#2174-76.
Paul is ambivalent about this behavior, understanding that these Old Covenant holy days only had significance because they pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ but he does not condemn Jews who still cling to the old practices because he knows as they grow in faith and understanding they too will see these former practices have no real function in the New Covenant but only point to the New Covenant or are cultural instead of religious. So long as what one is doing is directed to honoring God and acknowledging Jesus Christ as His divine and only begotten Son, it should not be criticized. However, Paul understands that the day will come will all these old “things” will pass away including the Temple. In Hebrews 9:6-14, which I believe is a homily he delivered to Jewish Christians on his last visit to Jerusalem in the spring of 58AD,
Paul says referring to Old Covenant worship: “Under these provisions, priests go regularly into the outer tent [the Holy Place of the Temple] to carry out their acts of worship, but the second tent[the Holy of Holies] ***is entered only once a year, and then only by the high priest who takes in the blood to make an offering for his own and the people’s faults of inadvertence. By this, the Holy Spirit means us to see that as long as the old tent ***[the Temple] *stands, the way into the holy place is not opened up; it is a symbol for this present time. None of the gifts and sacrifices offered under these regulations can possibly bring any worshipper to perfection in his conscience; they are rules about outward life, connected with food and drink and washing at various times *[purity rites] *which are in force only until the time comes to set things right.
But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, not made by human hands, that is, not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but this own blood, having won an eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement, may restore their bodily purity. How much more will the blood of Christ, who offered himself blameless as he was, to God through the eternal Spirit, purify our conscience from dead actions so that we can worship the living God**.”*
It seems Paul is addressing the “holier” days to Jewish Christians who still hold the ancient customs.All these rituals were symbolic under the Old Covenant and only pointed to Jesus the Messiah because under the Old Covenant there was no direct access to God. Under the New Covenant Christ Himself is the way to God the Father John 14:6 and Hebrews 10:19].