There’s no doubt that Jesus resurrected on Sunday. But the Gregorian calendar that we use today was not in existence during the time of Christ. In fact, it is different from the Hebrew calendar which has 30 days every month.
Now, to my main question: is Easter celebration supported by scripture? Did the apostles celebrate Easter? I prefer discussions supported by verses.
Thank you.
Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb. Passover was a yearly celebration in the Old Testament. It occurred in the Jewish month of Abib which translates to around early April. The Law of Moses required that all the sins of the people be transferred onto the Passover Lamb by the laying on of hands by a Zadokite High Priest.
The Passover Lambs were chosen from a flock out of Bethlehem. Just like Jesus was from Bethlehem.
The Passover Lambs were then paraded down the streets of Jerusalem with all the cities inhabitants throwing palm branches in front of the parade shouting “blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh”. Remember when Jesus did the same thing by entering Jerusalem on a donkey, and all of Israel shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” "Hosanna in the highest heaven!?”
A fulfillment of Jeremiah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The Passover Lamb was then put on display and inspected for blemish for 4 days, just like Jesus was inspected in the Temple, in the days leading up to Passover and then tried and found innocent before Pontius Pilate.
The High Priest in the Temple after slaughtering all the lambs on Passover would finally come to The Passover Lamb and would yell out in a loud voice “I thirst" and the High Priest would be given a drink.
Then the High Priest would offer up The Passover Lamb. After slaying the Passover Lamb the High Priest would yell out “It is finished” and the sins of the people would be covered.
Jesus Christ as High Priest just before he made the Passover Sacrifice (gave up his life) yelled “I THIRST!” at the exact time the High Priest in The Temple. Jesus then exclaimed “IT IS FINISHED” exactly as the High Priests in The Temple and then he died as the final sacrifice.
As you can see, Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the Law of Moses. There’s no place in scripture that can fault Him for stepping outside of this Law. If you line up what they did during Passover time in the Old Testament, and the events from Jesus’ birth to His death, it’s a perfect match!
Instead of celebrating the OT Passover, we celebrate the resurrected Christ during Easter, the perfect Passover Lamb. We keep this blessed memory in our hearts because we who are born in Him, also have that promise of a resurrection.
Hebrews 9:11-12
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
I like how you have articulately explained the Passover feast and how Jesus signifies the Passover Lamb.
As far as I know, Jesus himself introduced a new covenant with his followers whom he was soon going to die for, which is the lord’s supper. In my opinion, that replaced the Passover and I can give verses to support my point of view.
Matthew 26: 26-29
" 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The Passover feast of the OT bears resemblance to the Lord’s supper in the following ways:
-OT Passover required a lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
-In the NT, lord’s supper requires unsweetened wine, unleavened bread and remembrance of of Jesus who as you rightly pointed signified the Passover Lamb in the OT
NT has several verses in support of the Lord’s supper, but not the same case for Easter.
If you ask me, Hebrews 9:11-12 explains more about why Jesus Christ is the perfect priest for us as sinners. It has nothing to do with Easter.
So what?
Events transpired very quickly between the last supper and Jesus’ crucifixion.
The last supper took place on Thursday night. After this supper, Jesus retreated to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane where he was arrested. He was then tried by the Jewish religious leaders in the middle of the night (which was contrary to Jewish law).
On Friday morning, very early, these Jewish religious leaders took Him to Pontius Pilate. They demanded that he sentence Jesus to death. Now remember on the previous night, Pontius Pilate’s wife had had a troubling dream and she told her husband not to be involved in the matter, for Jesus was innocent. Therefore, Pontius Pilate was moved not to make any judgment and this caused a delay. He then decided to send Jesus to appear before King Herod. That was still on Friday morning. King Herod sentenced Jesus immediately and by Friday noon, Jesus was nailed to the cross and He died three hours later. Texts suggest the sequence of events took less than 18 hours (from the last supper to crucifixion).
So whether it’s the Lord’s supper or Resurrection, we are commemorating the same belief which is His everlasting victory over mankind’s eternal damnation. For those who believe in Him…
The Roman Catholic church hijacked the story of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and renamed it Easter. The name Easter is taken from the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar who was the goddess of sex and fertility. That’s why they introduced also Easter eggs and bunny. True Christians should avoid these practices because they’re ungodly.
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Christmas is also a pagan tradition. Jesus Christ never asked people anywhere to celebrate his birthday. He was existing even before his birth. He is the lord of creation.
The Vernal/Spring Equinox (Easter) and the Winter Solstice (Christmas) are astronomical events… quite apart from and independent of the liturgical celebrations/or ritual interests of the Pagans and Christians that mark them. These astronomical events (behind the annual four-seasonal cycles) take place naturally/automatically and will happen even if Christians and Pagans or even humans never existed. They will happen as long as the earth continues to spin on its axis the same way round the Sun.
All this mharo is pointless because you forget that these events lead to or culminate in ‘the paschal mystery’ that is the passion/suffering, death and the resurrection of Jesus. The bread is broken and the wine drunk every Sunday the day on which the Jesus rose from the dead. Easter is always on a Sunday. It is the first Sunday. @Purple nailed it. The Passover and Easter celebrations overlap. (It is the time of the Equinox).
Luke 22.17
And he took (the Passover/Paschal) bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them (his disciples), saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in memory of me.”
And so my friends Christians commemorate every Sunday. Every Sunday is an Easter Celebration!
Again, you have given an eloquent sequence of events leading to the nailing of Jesus Christ on the Cross. No one has a doubt about that.
However, you are not giving verses in support of Easter Celebration.
Exactly. This is what I was coming to. Easter celebration was a pagan practice that the early Church adopted and tried to justify. That’s why it’s so hard to find NT verses in support of the practice.
I urge that we stick to the scripture. Can we get verses from the Bible in support of Easter and Christmas? If they are not in the Bible, where did they originate from and what was the motive?
This is confusing. Is the lord’s supper equivalent to the Easter or the Catholic mass? Passover was celebrated once every year. You seem to indicate that it is celebrated every Sunday. Why is it so?
By the way, let’s stick to the scripture.
First find us verses from the Bible indicating that everything Christians believe is explicitly stipulated in the Bible. Back your Sola Scriptura presumptions with Scripture.
Scripture is part of History. The events, festivals, traditions that the Scriptures depict take place in space and time. The Jews had a liturgical calendar to regulate their sacred space and time. When the Scriptures mention events like the Passover, Pentecost, etc, it doesn’t have to inform you in black and white that they are based on a solar calendar, it goes without saying. It is apparently common sense. If you are unaware then its up to you to find out how their annual celebrations were structured. Sanctimonious and pompous ignorance will only spawn unreason and make you conscientiously stupid. A text without a context is a pretext for bull shit.
There are no NT or OT verses to support this nonsense. Christ was a very conservative person and he can’t tolerate the shit that accompanies these festivities.
There goes the Catholic! I see why reformation was necessary.
Scripture is the sole source of authority on faith matters. The moment you put away scripture and then claim to use your own traditions you step miles away from the intention of Christ.
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.
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It doesn’t matter whether what you call nonsense is accompanied by NT or OT verses. The Christian faith is not based on the casuistry of biblical polemics but on the Person of the risen Lord. The Lord of Easter! In the eyes of his religious contemporaries the Christ was not ‘a very conservative person’… Far from it Jesus of Nazareth was condemned as an imposter and executed for his radical and even dangerous revolutionary rhetoric.
Matthew 10.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn“‘a man against his father,a daughter against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.