A Biblical Worldview: Which Should Christians Observe? Christ's Passover - Not Easter

[Rick Shabi] If you say you believe in Christ and follow the Bible, let me ask one simple question: In a few weeks, will you be observing Easter or Passover—not the Passover of the Jews, but the Passover that Jesus Christ Himself instituted for the New Testament church.

If you answer Easter, you are NOT following Christ, the Bible, the apostles or New Testament commands.

Shocking? Perhaps. But let me prove to you why Passover, as instituted by Jesus Christ and as observed by the apostle Paul, is the same one kept by the Gentile Christians of New Testament times and the early Church. They all kept Passover, every year on the same night that Christ did.

Buckle up, because you are going to get an education on what Christ and the Bible really teach if you intend to follow Him and how His Passover got changed to a pagan holiday called Easter.

So, let’s delve into this, seeking only the truth from God’s Word.

Let’s start with Christ’s own words, when He observed the Passover on the night before His crucifixion. After He instituted new ordinances for keeping the Passover for going forward, He said,

John 13:13-15

“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

Yes, He said that, as an example for New Testament Christians to observe, if they are following Him. Let’s look a little closer at that night of the last Passover and what He did, and what He said.

That night, He sat down and ate the Passover meal of the Old Testament with His disciples. But after supper ended, He instituted NEW ordinances that Christians should keep going forward, all in remembrance of Him, His example and sacrifice, and His death.

Let’s look into that evening, beginning in John 13:1-2,

“. . . when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended . . .”

Going on, we read in verses 5-9, how He introduced the foot washing service, where He took the form of a servant and donned an apron worn by the lowliest servant of the household, and began to wash the disciples’ feet.

After that service, He gave the command to do as He said, as we read above, finishing that command with the following words in verse 17,

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” He also instituted the bread and wine symbols you are familiar with, as we will discuss in a moment.

But, let me ask, now that you know what He said, shouldn’t you be doing as Christ did and as He commanded His followers to do?

So, have you ever washed one another’s feet, as part of a religious “Passover” observance at your church?

He set the standard for humility that we must have if we are ever to be in His Kingdom with Him for eternity.

On that same night, Christ also introduced the symbols of taking unleavened bread—which represented His body, broken for us—and wine that symbolized the blood He shed that our sins may be forgiven, if we claim His sacrifice.

You can read His very words in Matthew 26, but let’s fast-forward 20+ years after Christ’s death and resurrection and see that the New Testament Church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles who believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, were doing the very same thing Christ commanded us to do.

In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, the apostle Paul, some 20+ years after Christ’s death and resurrection, recounts the instructions he received from the Lord:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’

“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Notice, he states twice, “do this in remembrance of Me.” Not a suggestion, but a command, because the Passover service has deep meaning for all true Christians. It is a night of solemnity as we remember and recommit our lives to God, recognizing Christ’s sacrifice for us, which makes forgiveness of sins and eternal life possible.

Paul and the Gentile church were keeping the Passover Christ instituted, just as He commanded, more than 20 years later!

Christ didn’t do away with Passover, you see. He imbued it with new meaning, symbolizing His own sacrifice and commanded His disciples to observe HIS Passover in this new way, going forward, as a remembrance of Him and His death forever.

His sacrificial death is the most important thing that has happened in human history. He is our Passover Lamb. He was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb that Old Testament Israel sacrificed, and the Jews eat today.

He is now the Lamb and our Savior, as it clearly tells us in the New Testament. Now, mankind can have salvation, if we follow Him, and DO AS HE SAYS.

Notice Paul says, “as often as you observe it.” This doesn’t mean it must be observed “often”—every week like some churches say. It means every year, annually on the same date Christ took the Passover and established what those committed to Him must do. Just once a year.

We do it as He did—once a year on the night HE ordained it to be done. It is the Lord’s Passover, not the old Jewish Passover.

But, let me ask, how many of you who claim to be Christian, have ever taken of the unleavened bread AND wine as symbols, on the night of the 14th of Abib, just as Christ did? It’s not enough for your priest to take the wine for you. Every Christian is to do it as Christ did—once a year at His Passover service.

Also, in Paul’s writings, in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, we find a powerful declaration:

“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Here, Paul explicitly calls Christ “our Passover.” Again, He commands us to “keep the feast.” What feast? Clearly, the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread, just as Christ and the early New Testament Church did.

But somehow, somewhere along the line, a foreign, strange holiday called Easter came into being and replaced what the word of God says to keep forever as a remembrance of Christ. How and when did that happen?

Consider the following from the insightful article, “Would You Stand With Polycarp?”

“One of the great controversies among Christians at that time (this is decades after Christ and the apostles) was the continuing observance by Polycarp and others of the Passover on the biblical date of the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan in the spring in the northern hemisphere. The church of Rome and other western congregations had shifted to the observance of what would later be called Easter Sunday.”

Yes, Polycarp and the Church of God founded by Jesus Christ Himself were keeping Passover on the 14th of Abib just like Christ and the apostles did. They were being challenged by what is now known as the Catholic church, to keep Easter. The Catholic church, wanted to do away with Passover and, instead of observing the death of Christ, wanted to replace it with a sunrise service that would incorporate pagan practices.

History shows a significant conflict between what God’s church, which adhered to Christ’s Passover), and the church in Rome, which began to adopt the practice of Easter.

Irenaeus records “Neither could Anicetus (the bishop of Rome) persuade Polycarp not to observe (the Passover), ‘because he had always observed it with John the disciple of the Lord, and the rest of the apostles . . . and neither did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it, who said that he was bound to follow the customs of the presbyters before him.’”

Later in 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicaea, the church now known as the Catholic Church outlawed the observance of Passover and replaced it officially with the pagan-inspired holiday of Easter.

From Passover, which is a commanded commemoration of our Savior’s death, that church changed it to a celebration of fertility with imagery of eggs and rabbits, which no longer commemorates our Savior’s death. And the Protestant religions just followed along with the Catholics, rather than adhering to the words of the Bible and our Savior.

Let me repeat again: Christ didn’t abolish the Passover; rather, He infused it with deeper, New Covenant significance. Significance you need to know and observe today.

How sad and how deceived the religions of today are that they have hidden this truth from you!

So, have we made you think? Can you now recognize that what you have been taught is not the pure truth of the Bible, but a falsehood dressed up to look like a Christian festival? Do you now see that if you observe Easter instead of the Passover, you are not honoring God at all?

Do you really want to do what God says to do? Do you want to follow Christ and His commands as the Bible has recorded for us? Or will you choose to follow error?

You need to look into this further. Don’t just assume God is pleased with what you are doing. God does not want you to keep Easter.

You can learn much more about the history of which we spoke and God’s clear commands. Look into the Bible yourself, open it up and read the words yourself. Keep an open mind, and ask God for direction. Let Him know you are seeking the truth. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.

Go to ucg.org/PassoverNOTEaster and learn more.

We’ve accumulated many resources for you to examine, including the account of how the Catholic church outlawed this very holy time of Passover that Christ Himself instituted. Take this opportunity to learn the truth.

We sincerely hope you will choose to align your practices with the Word of God and observe the Passover that Christ, the apostles and early New Testament Church did, and the true Church of God still does today.

Visit this link and be sure to share this video with others who, like you, are seeking the truth.