Posted April 16, 2003
Do true Christians celebrate Easter?
One of my earliest childhood recollections as a churchgoer is that attending church services on Easter Sunday was a litmus test of one’s status as a Christian. People who came to church seldom if ever throughout the year would be sure to be there on Easter Sunday. We considered this day as the most important service of the church year in celebration of the risen Christ.
I have been a minister for many years, yet I will not be conducting Easter Sunday services this week. In fact I haven’t observed Easter for four decades. Nor do I observe Christmas, the other main holiday of mainstream Christianity. Over the years, I have known and worshipped with thousands of others who do not keep these days.
How can this be? How can I consider myself a Christian, let alone a minister, and yet fail to observe the two main holidays that are understood to honor the resurrection and birth of our Savior?
This may come as a shock to some, but neither Peter, nor Paul, nor any of the apostles kept Easter or Christmas. These holidays are not even mentioned in the Bible. The word Easter in the King James Version of Acts 12:4 is an erroneous translation that is correctly rendered "the Passover" in modern translations. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary explains: "rather, after the Passover; i.e., after the whole festival was over. (The word in our King James Version is an ecclesiastical term of later date, and ought not to have been employed here.)"
Many other aspects of what had been Passover were eventually changed, including the date and manner of observance. Both Easter and Christmas became Christian holidays long after the death of the original apostles. Both are hybrid days that include customs adopted from other religions and given Christian significance. This transformation constitutes a major development of church history. You can ask your pastor about this or search for the word "Easter" our Web page for additional information.
In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul presents the Sabbath, festivals and new moons as "a shadow of things to come." Many Christians recognize the Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread and other Holy Days mentioned in the Bible as a source of profound spiritual truths that can expand our understanding and appreciation of the many roles Jesus Christ fulfills in the plan of God. "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20 that "Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." This reference to firstfruits hearkens back to a ceremonial waving of the firstfruits of the early grain harvest in Israel (Leviticus 23:9-14).
A wealth of exciting symbolism is embodied in these and other Holy Days mentioned in the Bible. I encourage you to learn more about these days. It will enrich your understanding and appreciation for the plan of God. You’ll find much more information in our free booklets Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? and God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for all Mankind.
In a recent U.S. News & World Report cover article about Christianity, James D. G. Dunn laments, "Perhaps the most tragic shortcoming of the emergent church in the second and third centuries was 'its failure to realize that the biggest heresy of all is the insistence that there is only one ecclesiastical obedience, only one orthodoxy.'" That is a good lesson for us today—and tomorrow.
