Elsewhere we see that the mixed multitude
that came out of Egypt with the Israelites were suppose to observe
the Sabbath (as long as they were with the Israelites).
Exodus 20:10
The seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD
your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter,
nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates.
Yet, a Gentile was forbidden to eat the
Passover lamb unless he WAS circumcised.
Exodus 12:43
… No outsider shall eat it. But every
man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then
he may eat it. A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. … When a
stranger sojourns with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let
all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he
shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat
it.
This may explain why Paul seems to institute
a new observance, different from a traditional Passover seder, (1Cor. 11:17)
for the Gentile believers.
A New Religion
As Christianity
began to grow among the Gentiles, however, a new religion emerged. This
was never the intention of the early followers of "the Way". What was NOT
holy became holy, and what was holy lost it's holiness.