Posted by
Conservative Wordsmith on Friday, September 28, 2007 6:01:08 PM
Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin writes: Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year, began last night, September 21, in the middle of a Los Angeles, California thunder and lightning rainstorm. Yom Kippur is the final day of the ten Jewish High Holy Days that began with Rosh Hoshanna, the Jewish New Year.
I was born a Jew, and raised as a Jew, and will always love Jewish people and Judaism. However, I made a decision as an adult to become a Christian, and follow the Jew of all Jews, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that my unique way of looking at Judaism and Christianity stems from my insight into both religions, and it is important to me to build bridges between all religions, while maintaining my Jewish roots, and my Christian faith.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, and also His cousin, was baptizing people in the Jordan River before the ministry of Christ began. To me, this was a continuous Yom Kippur, not just one day a year, but every day. He was constantly telling people to repent of their sins and be baptized.
John was very adamant about the urgency of the situation - time was of the essence - there was no time to wait until a special day to repent. The message was to repent and be baptized right away, and not wait another second, because the Kingdom of Heaven was approaching.
Conversion to Judaism requires a person to be immersed in water, often in a Mikvah or Mikveh designed for this purpose. It is a self-immersion. When the person rises up out of the water, he or she is then officially Jewish, that is, "born again" as a Jewish believer.
So John was asking people to repent of their sins, be immersed in water or baptized (like in a Mikveh), and do Teshuva. Teshuva, a Hebrew word used during these ten Jewish High Holy Days, means to repent or turn away from one's sins, and change, or return to God and holiness.
One day, Jesus Himself appeared to John the Baptist, and asked John to baptize Him. A new religion was in the beginning stages of formation, and Jesus Himself, the Lord, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, founded this new religion, now known as Christianity.
John Chapter: 1
29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." - Thanks to
http://www.christcenteredmall.com/
bible/newtestament/john1bible.htm
My Handpicked Links
http://dictionary.reference.com/
browse/Yom%20Kippurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/High_Holidayshttp://www.torah.org/learning/
yomtov/yomkippur/http://www.enoch.co.il/
teshuva/steps.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Mikvahhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/
jsource/Judaism/repentence.htmlhttp://www.jerusaleminsights.com/
index.php?/content/view/228/798/http://www.christcenteredmall.com/
bible/newtestament/
matthew3bible.htmhttp://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/
lamb-of-god.htm
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http://krla870.townhall.com/youropinion/*The original date of this post was
September 22, 2007.
Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin, author of the Conservative Wordsmith Weblog, appreciates your thoughts and comments.