Looking for something the entire family will enjoy this weekend? Watch the old, old (1956) movie, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, wiith Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, and Anne Baxter. . You might want to watch it in two sittings because it is long, but you and your children will learn many, many lessons about the meaning behind Easter - not Easter with eggs and bunnies, but the real meaning behind Easter - Jesus's betrayal, crucifiction and resurrection and why Christians remember this Holy Week as a time of commemoration and celebration.

What is the significance of this day – a day in the life of Jesus, the One whose life we remember during Holy Week?

Two thousand years ago Jesus, like every other good practicing Hebrew person, traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate a very holy day on the Jewish calendar: Passover.

For anyone who has watched the Ten Commandments you will remember the scene in Egypt when Moses and God collaborated to convince Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go.

Who were the children of Israel and why were they in Egypt?

Joseph – the one with the coat of many colors, had been sold to Egyptian slave tracers by his brothers. His brothers played a bad trick on him. But God… He was watching. A loving Father, God turned the bad deed into a good outcome. Years later when there was a famine in Israel (not called Israel yet) Joseph’s dad, Jacob, sent his sons to Egypt to buy some food. The brothers were united and Joseph invited his family to stay in Egypt until the drought was over.

Fast forward many years (400+). The descendants had become slaves to the mighty Pharaoh. They wanted out!

God called on Moses to do His work – lead Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt and back to the land God had promised Abraham so many generations ago. By the way- the reason the children were called the children of Israel is that when God called Jacob to be the father of 12 tribes, he changed his name to Israel.

The way God decided to get the Pharaoh’s attention was to send plagues and “turn up the heat” until Pharaoh had no other choice but to let the people go.

Do you remember the last and convincing plague? The angel of death arrived in the land taking the first born male of every family. But God… He was watching and told the children of Israel what they could do to avoid death.

He told them to slay a perfect lamb and wipe its blood on the doorposts. Then the angel of death would PASS OVER the homes that had been “protected “ by the blood of the lamb.

Finally Pharaoh relented and let the slaves go.

Thus began the celebration of remembrance: Passover.

Now, thousands of years later Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate and remember God’s everlasting promise. “I will never leave you.”

Passover is celebrated with a meal, a meal where each portion signifies Jesus life, death, and resurrection. During the Passover meal, called the Last Supper or Holy Communion, Jesus spoke with his disciples giving them a new commandment. He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV).

The word “Maundy” comes from Latin, meaning , “it is commanded.”

Jesus came to exchange ten commandments for two commandments. He came to make the way to God straight.

LOVE GOD LOVE EACH OTHER