Christians Can Learn From the Origins of Easter
A commentary by Larry Walker
United Church of God pastor, Bend, Oregon
Easter, the highlight of the religious calendar for most Christian churches,
is now upon us again. For the Jewish community, this is also the Passover
season. Most of us have probably noticed that Easter and Passover fall
during the same time of the year, often within a few days of each other.
It may come as a surprise to know that Easter is an outgrowth of the
Passover-especially since these days are celebrated so differently.
The story behind the commonality and contrasts of today and how they
developed is a vital part of the legacy of contemporary Christianity.
The New Testament reveals that Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul and the
early Church kept the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, not Easter.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ninth Edition): "There
is no trace of the celebration of Easter as a Christian festival in the
New Testament or the writings of the apostolic fathers . . . .
The first Christians . . . continued to observe the Jewish
festivals . . . as commemorations of events of which these
had been the shadows. The Passover, ennobled by the thought of Christ
the Paschal Lamb, continued to be celebrated . . . , and
became the Christian Easter."
The history of this transformation should be taught in all churches
as part of heritage of the Spring festival season.
The motivating force behind the changeover from Passover to Easter was
a fierce determination to distance Christianity from Judaism. The Bible
establishes the date of Passover as the 14th of Nisan (the first month
of the Hebrew calendar). Early Christians continued this observation
as a memorial of Christ's death.
Others (especially non-Jews) began celebrating the festival on Sunday
in honor of Christ's resurrection. The bitter controversy that erupted
led to a decision by the Roman Emperor Constantine requiring all Christians
to adopt the same day. Church historian Philip Schaff points out that "the
feast of the resurrection was thenceforth required to be celebrated everywhere
on a Sunday, and never on the day of the Jewish Passover . . . . The
leading motive for this regulation was opposition to Judaism" (emphasis
added).
The biblical name "Passover" was changed to "Easter," the
name of the Teutonic goddess of Spring. The Passover lamb was replaced
with Easter ham (biblically forbidden as "unclean" and not
to be eaten). Searching for and removing leavening from homes ceased,
and Easter egg hunts began. The evening Passover service gave way to
an Easter sunrise service.
Over the centuries Easter has become enshrined as an almost universally
observed Christian tradition. Time has also mellowed the anti-Semitic
attitudes that spawned the massive changes from Passover to Easter. The
replacement of biblical injunctions with customs from other religions
is seldom questioned today.
However, we would be well-advised to reconsider the biblical instructions
regarding Passover and other Holy Days God established. Paul tell us
that these festivals offer "a shadow of things to come" in
God's plan of redemption (Colossians 2:16 -17). Jesus even warned that
it is possible to worship God in vain by following humanly devised traditions
rather than the true forms of worship described in the Bible (Matthew
15:9; Deuteronomy 12:29-32).
I do not want to rain on anyone's Easter parade. But shouldn't you want
to learn about the Holy Days of the Bible, the ones that Jesus Christ,
the apostles and the early Church observed? Shouldn't you want to learn
why they considered these days so important and how they teach us about
Jesus Christ and His role in God's plan?
To learn more, request or download the free booklets God's
holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind and Holidays
or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? |
