1 Cor 13:1-13 “If I speak with the tongues of men  and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging  cymbal.  If I have the GIFT OF PROPHECY, and KNOW ALL THE MYSTERIES and ALL KNOWLEDGE; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, BUT do not have LOVE, I am NOTHING.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.  

LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind and is not jealous; LOVE does not brag and is not arrogant,  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ENDURES all  things.  LOVE never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. FOR WE KNOW IN PART and we prophesy in part;  but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.  
 
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; NOW I KNOW IN PART, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these  three; but the GREATEST of these is LOVE.“
 
I find it very interesting when people get hyper when it comes to their knowledge of the Bible. Everyone thinks that they are right and they have the “franchise” of the“correct” interpretation of the Bible. Quoting verse 9 “FOR WE KNOW IN PART and we prophesy in part”.  Shaul (Apostle Paul) tells us that we ONLY know in part. If this is the case, why are we so arrogant as if we know it all? I think we should emulate how Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and a direct disciple of Apostle John, and Anicetus, bishop of Rome, settled their theological differences and practices in 150-155
C.E.. They agree to disagree and left in peace without offending one another (History of the Christian Church Vol 2 p213).  If we THINK we know more, are we not supposed to be more understanding? Why can’t we handle differences of opinion in a godly way? We are so ready to shoot when we find a little bit of theological issue. What if they are right and we are wrong? Even if we are right and they are wrong but if causes another brother to stumble, are we not sinning against God? Shaul put it gently in 1 Tim 5:1-2 “DO NOT sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers,  the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.”

Verse 2 states that “If I have the GIFT OF  PROPHECY, and KNOW ALL THE MYSTERIES and ALL KNOWLEDGE; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, BUT do not have LOVE, I am NOTHING”.  Let me say this, IF WE THINK WE KNOW BETTER, LET US BE MORE GENTLE AND MORE UNDERSTANDING.

I remember many years ago when I used to have a cat. When she was still a kitten, she would react violently to any and every threat. After several years and she has grown and became old, she hardly reacts to the bark of the dog or even a real threat from a dog. She would just stop and look and walk away gently not because she cannot fight but because she knows that she can hurt the dog just like in the past.  This is what Shaul is saying in verse 11 “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”  
 
Shaul summed it all in verse 13 “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the GREATEST of these is LOVE. “ He also commanded us in the next passage after that,  “PURSUE LOVE” (1 Cor 14:1).


 

Shema Yisrael or simply  called Shema (Hebrew: שמע  ישראל‎;  "Hear, [O] Israel") are the first two words of a section of the Torah (First 5  books of the Bible) that is considered as a centerpiece of the morning and evening prayers among Jewish people. The first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism.  Shema runs like this:

 Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad. 
Baruch shem kevod malchuto L'olam va'ed


Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God the Lord is one. Blessed is
the name of his glorious kingdom for all eternity.


Shema is considered as the most important prayer among the Jews and one of the oldest liturgies (over 3,000 years old) in Judaism.  They would recite it twice a day, one in the morning and one before sleeping in obedience to Deut 6:7.  The term "Shema" is used by extension to refer to the whole part of the daily prayers that commences  with Shema Yisrael and comprises Deut 6:4–9, 11:13-21,  Num 15:37–41 and Lev 19:18.  As for the messianic believers Jewish  people who acknowledges Yeshua (Jesus) as Lord and Messiah), they would recite  the Shema and V'ahavta(meaning "And you shall love...") as stated in Deut 6:4–9 and Lev 19:18.  The way it is being recited by the Jewish people is thru their traditional song from way back, thousands of years ago.  The commandment to recite the Shema twice daily is ascribed by Josephus to Moses ("Antiquities" 6:8), and it has always been regarded as a divine commandment  (Sifre, Deut. 31.)

To the Jews, other than being recited day and night, 

1.       It is also contained in the mezuzah placed on the doorpost.
2.       It is the prayer said when dying.
3.       It the prayer uttered by millions of Jewish martyrs at the moment of their slaughter. 
4.       It is the prayer with the strongest emotional meaning even for secular Jews. 
5.       It is the password by which one Jew recognizes another in any part of the world.

Shema is one of the sentences that are quoted in the New Testament. The Gospel of Mark 12:29  mentions that Jesus considered the Shema the beginning exhortation of the first of his two greatest commandments: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, 'Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord'" (KJV). Jesus  also refers to the Shema in The Gospel of John 10:30. A group of Jews in the Temple in Jerusalem at the Feast of edication, or Hanukkah, asks him if he is Messiah, the anointed one of God. Jesus concludes his response with the words "I
and my Father are one" (KJV). This is an allusion to the Shema, which the Jews immediately recognize.

In addition, the apostle Paul reworks the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:6 vis-à-vis the risen Christ: "yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." (N.T. Wright, The Climax of the Covenant, 1994; E. Waaler, The shema and
the First Commandment in First Corinthians,  2008).

Recitation of Shema was commanded by God in Deut 6:4-9 as a testimony to the Jews (and to us all) that God is existing in compound unity.  If we look carefully the shema, it says there, Shema (hear) Yisrael (Israel) Adonai (the Lord) Eloheynu (our God) Adonai (the Lord) Echad (is one/united).   The repetition of Adonai in-between Eloheynu is forced and grammatically appears as over description.  However, this is a revelation of the compound unity of the Triune God (Trinity).  This message was given away by the use of the word Echad.  Why Moses did use the word Echad which means compound unity (united as one or simply one in compound form) instead of  the word Yachid which means one (and only one)?  If he did use the word yachid then there is nothing more to say. However, he used Echad declaring to the Jews and to all people about the compound unity of God. Every time a Jewish person would recite the shema, he is practically confessing with his mouth the compound unity of God and it is also a testimony to him day and night.

For us believers, this is a wonderful truth that we can ponder upon day in and day out. Isn`t it a good thing if we recite the shema day and night as part of our  prayers in the morning and at night time.  Come to think of it, they are Scriptural verses anyway and was commanded by God that even Jesus recited it Himself.  I don`t believe that you have to do it  legalistically especially if you don’t feel doing it but for a believer who wants to obey this command and wants to joyfully confess God`s compound unity  together with God`s chosen people, then we are free to do so and nobody should  stop us or judge us. After all, we have freedom in Christ!

Passover is probably the  best known of the Jewish holidays simply because it ties with our Lord`s Last Supper, which was a Passover Seder.   We believe without a doubt that what Jesus (Yeshua) did on that night was very messianic in nature and a lot of its observances and practices are types and shadows pointing to Jesus.

Passover begins on the twilight of the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. It is the first of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Shavu’ot and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it represents the beginning of the harvest season in Israel, but little attention is paid to this aspect of the holy day. The primary observances of Passover are related to the Exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery. This story is told in Exodus 1-15. Many of the Passover observances are instituted in Exodus 12-15.

The name “Passover” refers to the fact that the angel of death “passed over” the houses of the Jews and God
fearers, those who placed blood in the door post, when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt. In Hebrew, it is known as Pesach, which is based on the  Hebrew root meaning “pass over”. The holiday is also referred to as Chag
he-Aviv (the Spring Festival), Chag ha-Matzoth (the Festival of Matzahs), and Zeman Herutenu (the Time of Our
Freedom).

Many of us know about the first Passover in Egypt and the last Passover of Jesus with His disciples but we kind of neglect many of its significance in relation to our faith.  Probably the most significant observance related to Passover that we fail to see is the removal of chametz (leaven) from the homes. The removal of the leaven is also a symbolic way of removing the“puffiness” (arrogance, pride) and ultimately the sins from our souls.  In many instances, the Bible equated leaven with sin (1 Cor 5:7-8, Luke 12:1)

The prohibition against leaven is beyond question.  Leaven in Hebrew literally means "sour." The term "leaven" refers to any fermenting product such as yeast or baking powder.  Another Hebrew word for leaven used in Exodus was sehore (Exo 13:7) which means“swelling”.  Eating of bread with leaven during the feast carried severe consequences,
as mandated by God in the Scripture (Exo 12:15; 13:7). All leaven or anything made with leaven are to be removed from the dwelling places should not to be found anywhere in the land (Deut 16:4).  Chametz includes anything made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt). 

The process of cleaning the home of all chametz in preparation for Passover is an enormous task.  Most of them would start at least a month prior to start cleaning their homes not only with anything with leaven but everything that are undesirables and considered garbage. They would spend several days scrubbing everything down, going over the edges of their stoves and fridges and eventually the whole house. The spring cleaning practices was taken from this. After the cleaning is completed, the morning before the seder, a formal search of the house for chametz is undertaken, and any remaining chametz is burned.  For them, as they clean their houses of leaven and dirt, they also
prepare themselves spiritually as they approach the holy day.

These practices would give us a lot of lessons.  The  removal of leaven from among us is a  physical manifestation of spiritual truth.  Apostle Paul said in 1 Cor 5:7-8, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.”

Some people would argue that practicing this is legalistic but is there anything unbiblical about this?  If we can learn something about these practices that will make our walk with God better, why not do it in the  context of our faith instead rather than completely reject it?  Are we sinning against God if we intentionally refrain from eating anything with leaven during the time of Passover/Unleavened Bread just as He commanded the Israelites in the Scripture(Ex. 12:14-20; 13:6-8; 23:15; 34:18;  Lev. 23:6; Deut. 16:3, 8)?  If we do not judge those brethren who came from catholic who won’t eat meat during the holy week, are we suppose to pass judgement to those who won’t eat leaven during the Passover?  Since we are doing our sping cleaning in time for the season, why not remove the leaven from among us both spiritually and physically in time for the season?  It is just a thought.