Posted on 04/10/2009 10:32:45 AM PDT by DouglasKC
Consider these important facts. First, Easter Sunday is traditionally revered as the day of Jesus' resurrection—although the Bible clearly states that He had already risen before Sunday dawned in the city of Jerusalem.
Second, even though Good Friday is generally observed as the traditional day of His crucifixion, Christ Himself told the disciples that He would be in the grave for all of three days and three nights. How can three days and three nights possibly fit between a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection?
Third, the word Easter is not found in the Greek New Testament. Nor is there biblical mention of or instruction to observe Lent.
Finally, unlike the specific instruction to commemorate Christ's death, there is absolutely no commandment in the New Testament to observe the date of Jesus' resurrection. Yet today's religious customs are so ingrained in the church calendar that many would consider it heretical to question them.
Most of the world is scarcely aware that the original apostles did not institute or keep these customs, nor were they observed by the early Christian Church. Try as you might to find them, Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not so much as mentioned in the original Greek wording of the New Testament. (The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible—in Acts 12:4—where it is flagrantly mistranslated from the Greek word pascha, which should be translated "Passover," as most versions render it.)
The justification for the Lenten 40-day preparation for Easter is traditionally based on Jesus' 40-day wilderness fast before His temptation by Satan (Harper's Bible Dictionary, "Lent"; Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:13). The problem with this explanation is that this incident is not connected in any way with Jesus' supposed observance of Easter. The 40-day pre-Easter practice of fasting and penance did not originate in the Bible.
Many people still follow such practices, assuming that such activities honor God and are approved by Him. But, we should ask, how does God regard such extrabiblical customs? Consider God's instructions to those who would worship Him:
"Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32, emphasis added throughout).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes: "The term Easter was derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Eostre,' the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal [spring] equinox" (1982, Vol. 2, "Easter").
Many battles were fought over its observance date, but the Council of Nicea finally fixed the date of Easter in A.D. 325 to fall on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).
Not generally known is that "the preparation for Easter season, beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing for a week after Easter Day, was filled with pagan customs that had been revised in the light
of Christianity. Germanic nations, for example, set bonfires in spring. This custom was frowned on by the Church, which tried to suppress it . . . In the sixth and seventh centuries [monks] came to Germany, [bringing] their earlier pagan rites[,] and would bless bonfires outside the church building on Holy Saturday. The custom spread to France, and eventually it was incorporated into the Easter liturgy of Rome in the ninth century. Even today the blessing of the new fire is part of the Vigil of Easter.
"Medieval celebrations of Easter began at dawn. According to one old legend, the sun dances on Easter morning, or makes three jumps at the moment of its rising, in honor of Christ's resurrection. The rays of light penetrating the clouds were believed to be angels dancing for joy.
"Some Easter folk traditions that have survived today are the Easter egg, rabbit and lamb. During medieval times it was a tradition to give eggs at Easter to servants. King Edward I of England had 450 eggs boiled before Easter and dyed or covered with gold leaf. He then gave them to members of the royal household on Easter day. The egg was an earlier pagan symbol of rebirth and was presented at the spring equinox, the beginning of the pagan new year.
"The Easter rabbit is mentioned in a German book of 1572 and also was a pagan fertility symbol. The Easter lamb goes back to the Middle Ages; the lamb, holding a flag with a red cross on a white field, represented the resurrected Christ [rather than the sacrifice of His life, as a fulfillment of the Passover lamb, that paid for the sins of the world (John 1:29)]" (Anthony Mercatante, Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, 1988, "Easter").
Easter traditions are embraced by many who profess Christianity. Yet none of these practices are found in the Bible or the customs of the early Church. Jesus and His apostles did not establish or perpetuate such practices, which obscure the true biblical meanings and observances of this time of year. In fact, a fourth-century church historian, Socrates Scholasticus, wrote in his Ecclesiastical History that neither the apostles nor the Gospels taught the observance of Easter, nor did they or Jesus give a law requiring the keeping of this feast. Instead, "the observance originated not by legislation, but as a custom" (chapter 22, emphasis added).
Even as early as the close of the second century, the theologian Irenaeus bore witness in his letter to Victor, bishop of Rome, that some early Roman bishops forbade the observance of Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was the date of the biblical observance practiced each spring by Jesus and the apostles. At the time that the Nisan 14 Passover observance was banned, ecclesiastical authorities introduced Lent and Easter into Christian practice.
A century later the Syriac Didascalia recorded the attempts of teachers in Rome to reconcile Jesus' words that He would be entombed "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40) with a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection. According to their reasoning, Jesus' sufferings were part of the three days and three nights of Scripture. Friday morning from 9 to noon was counted as the first day, and noon to 3 p.m. (which was darkened) was considered the first night. Three in the afternoon to sunset was reckoned as the second day, whereas Friday night to Saturday morning constituted the second night. The daylight part of Saturday was the third day, and the night portion to Sunday morning was the third night.
In other words, the three days and three nights in the grave that Jesus said would be the sign that He was indeed sent from God were transformed into a period of two days and two nights, or a total of no more than 48 hours. This has subsequently been reduced even further in modern times by figuring from late afternoon Friday to early Sunday morning, which takes away another 12 hours or more. Such reasoning has to discount or somehow explain away Jesus' clear promise that He would be entombed three days and three nights.
Easter and Lent are nonbiblical and were not observed by the apostles or the first-century Church. The biblical record shows, however, that the early Church diligently kept other observances, the New Testament Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, just as Jesus and the apostles had done (Matthew 26:17-19; Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 11:23-26). These were supplanted in later years by the customs and practices of Easter and Lent.
Passover is an annual reminder of Jesus' sacrificial death to pay the penalty for our sins (Matthew 26:26-28). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a celebration that focuses on a Christian's need to live in sincerity, truth and purity (1 Corinthians 5:8). The nonbiblical festivals of Lent and Easter, added decades after the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, only cloud the true significance of Christ's life, death and resurrection and the purpose of His coming.
The Passover, instituted in Exodus 12, continues by Jesus Christ's example and command—but with a change of symbols. Jesus' death fulfilled the symbolism of the sacrificial Passover lamb (Matthew 26:17-28; John 1:29). However, the New Testament Passover has been improperly replaced as an annual memorial of the death of Christ by Easter. We are commanded to commemorate Christ's death, not His resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
Jesus Christ's promise was fulfilled exactly as He said, a fact that is made clear when we study and compare the Gospel accounts. These records give a clear, logical explanation that is perfectly consistent with Christ's words. Let's focus on Jesus' last days on earth to gain the proper perspective and understanding of how and when these events occurred.
Jesus said that, like the prophet Jonah, He would be entombed three days and three nights and that He would be raised up the third day after His crucifixion and death (Matthew 12:39-40; 17:23; 20:19). Putting these scriptures together, we see that He was resurrected at the end of the third day after His death. Luke 23:44 shows that He died around the ninth hour (Jewish reckoning), or 3 p.m. He would have been buried within the next few hours so that His body could be entombed before the approaching Sabbath (John 19:31).
Jesus' resurrection could not have been
on a Sunday morning because John 20:1-2 shows that He had already risen before Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, arriving "while it was still dark." Therefore, neither could His death have occurred Friday afternoon, since that would not allow for His body to be in the grave three days and three nights. Clearly, the Good Friday-Easter Sunday explanation and tradition is without scriptural foundation.
Notice also that John 19:31 mentions that the Sabbath immediately after Jesus' death was "a high day"—not the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday evening to Saturday evening), but one of the annual Sabbaths, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6-7), which can fall on any day of the week.
In fact, two Sabbaths—first an annual Holy Day and then the regular weekly Sabbath—are mentioned in the Gospel accounts, a detail overlooked by most people. This can be proven by comparing Mark 16:1 with Luke 23:56.
Mark's account tells us, "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mark 16:1). However, Luke's account describes how the women who followed Jesus saw how His body was laid in the tomb. "Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils" for the final preparation of the body. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56).
Mark tells us that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath, "when the Sabbath was past." Luke, however, tells us that they prepared the spices and oils, "and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." How could the women have bought spices after the Sabbath, yet then prepared them and rested on the same Sabbath?
That is obviously impossible—unless two Sabbaths are involved, with a day between them. Once we realize this, the two accounts become clear (see "The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection," p. 18). Christ died near 3 p.m. and was placed in the tomb near sunset that day—a Wednesday in the year 31. That evening began the "high day" Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on Thursday that year. The women rested on that day, then on Friday purchased and prepared the spices and oils for Jesus' body, which could not be done on either the Holy Day or the weekly Sabbath. They then rested again on the weekly Sabbath before going to the tomb before daybreak on Sunday morning, at which time they discovered that Christ had already been resurrected.
The fact that two Sabbaths are involved is confirmed by Matthew 28:1, where the women went to the tomb "after the Sabbath." The Sabbath mentioned here is actually plural in the original Greek and should be translated "Sabbaths." Some Bible versions, including Alfred Marshall's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Ferrar Fenton's translation, Green's Literal Translation and Young's Literal Translation, make this clear.
Once we realize that two Sabbaths were involved—first an annual Holy Day, which was observed from Wednesday evening until Thursday evening, and the normal weekly Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the fulfillment of Christ's words becomes clear.
The Savior of all humanity died near 3 p.m. on Wednesday and was buried shortly before sunset that day. From Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset is one day and one night; from then until Friday sunset is two days and two nights; and from then until Saturday sunset is three days and three nights. Jesus Christ was resurrected at the end of this three-day and three-night period, near sunset on Saturday. Thus He was already risen long before the women came to the tomb before daylight on Sunday morning.
Jesus Christ's words were thus perfectly fulfilled, as verified by the Gospel accounts. He was not crucified on Friday afternoon, nor was He resurrected on a Sunday morning. The biblical evidence shows the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition to be a fabrication.
A correct harmonization of all the facts demonstrates that Jesus died near 3 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon, was entombed near sunset and was resurrected near sunset on Saturday, exactly three days and three nights later—just as He had stated. These are the facts, the correct biblical chronology that verifies the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
The chart on page 18 gives a day-by-day chronology of these events as described in the Gospel accounts.
Actually, the principal festivals and holidays observed by mainstream Christendom are a poor and pale reflection of true biblical teachings. Easter and Lent are a poor substitute for the wondrous truths revealed by keeping God's feasts.
The New Testament Church continued to observe the annual Passover to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, but used the new symbols of bread and wine that He instituted (1 Corinthians 11:23-28). Today the members of the United Church of God commemorate this eminently important event in the same manner, in accordance with Christ's instructions. Again, the Bible contains no record of the Church observing Easter or Lent during the time of the apostles, nor any biblical command to observe Good Friday or Easter Sunday, especially since Christ did not die on Good Friday and was not resurrected on Easter Sunday. Instead, the apostles faithfully followed Christ's instructions to observe the biblical Passover "in remembrance" of Him (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25). GN
***Sarcasm aside, I notice that you have not answered my questions or statements from the last post.
But I did. I said WE all fail miserably to live up to a Godly standard. If you want me to specify how I fail physically and spiritually on that list I’ll be glad to. But what is your purpose?***
I was attempting to delve into the idea that the Church, not demi-Jewish interpretations of the Old Testament, is responsible for determining not only canon, but the entire theology of Christianity.
This is not about you; rather, it is about who is responsible for determining what we believe.
I don't think the main focus of the article was on the name. The focus was on the Lord's feast days and how the traditional church changed God's instructions by replacing HIS Passover with a holiday that incorporated pagan customs and rituals and changed the focus, meaning and application of the Passover.
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
This is when the Lord Jesus himself observed the day he created. Yet the traditional church says it's fitting to ignore the word of God.
***Wow. You have the gall to go through a chapter and insinuate that the instructions given by the Almighty therein are somehow invalid, or too difficult? ***
I guess that you have missed my point to a degree which surpasses even my expectations.
***You need to spend sometime studying. You missed a big one, right there in the middle - one that every “Christian” claims is not only valid... but something they succeed in doing “most of the time” (because they are Christians):
...you shall love your neighbor as yourself... Leviticus 19:18***
You are very far from the mark.
***Now, for freezing sacrifices, if you would read further, you would know that to NOT offer sacrifices without the Temple in Jerusalem is actually obedience - and no freezing would not count.
Guess what, farmers in the Land of Israel do not reap the corners of their fields... just like they are instructed to do.***
We are not in the Land of Israel; you may be, but the majority of folks posting here are not. My question is for those who are not. Do you answer for them?
***The corner of your beard? Do you read Hebrew? Do you know what a corner is? No, you won’t be damned for shaving (if you read further you would know that NONE of this is about being “damned” - they are about obeying they One that loves you). ***
Are you saying that one can disobey God (without further instruction from the Church) and it doesn’t matter? This is a fascinating religion. Does it have a name?
***Each one of your points is offensive, as so many others on this thread... because you mock the very words of the Creator of the Universe...***
Offensive to whom? To Christians? Or to pseudo Jews? I do not mock God; far from it. I mock those who seek to re enter the womb.
***Go read Psalms 119, and read how a man after G0d’s own heart speaks about His commandments. Take the time to count each time “commandment, law, statute, ordinance, testimony,” etc. is used. Then ask yourself if someone who loves G0d should speak lovingly of His instructions (even those that he does not understand), or use them to mock others.***
I spell God with an O, not a 0, by the way. Why do you spell His Name with a 0? I do not mock anyone who worships Him. I mock those who use Him to advance their own agenda or to garner wealth and power.
I worship and adore Him. I went to Good Friday mass last night and knelt before God and wept at His sacrifice for us in thanksgiving and reverence. I do not spell His Name with a zero.
He rose the following day--the First Day of the week, the First Day of a New Creation.
It's unfortunate that this central event in our salvation is called in English "Easter" since it leads to misunderstanding. I wonder if these agruments over semantics are avoided in these countries where the name of this Sunday clearly states what it is--our Passover Feast.
Greek - Paskha
Bulgarian - Paskha
Danish - Paaske
Dutch - Pasen
Finnish - Pääsiäinen
French - Pâques
Indonesian - Paskah
Irish - Cáisc
Italian - Pasqua
Lower Rhine German - Paisken
Norwegian - Påske
Portuguese - Páscoa
Romanian - Pasti
Russian - Paskha
Scottish Gaelic - Càisg
Spanish - Pascua
Swedish - Påsk
Welsh - Pasg
I believe Christ established a Church (Ekklesia) and on His return to the Father promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide it until His return.
Incidently, the name for this Sunday in the Catholic Church is Dominica Resurrectionis.
A very happy Easter to everyone!
***Have a great Easter.***
Thank you and to you as well. Vaya con Dios.
See post 182...
Oi.
Like clockwork.
LOL... it all just amazes and saddens me.
One can’t go a holiday without this anti-Christ deceit being spread to lead folks astray. Very sad.
There is no discrepancy. The synoptics all agree that the sun had risen, the context of John indicates that it was dark when they had left the house, but is silent on if the sun was up when they arrived.
To me that is dangerous ground. If you let someone else determine what you believe (your words) then you're prone to be misled and deceived. God sends his spirit to us to lead us to truth. His truths, the words he wanted to preserve, are in scripture. Tradition is changeable, malleable and prone to shift with time and culture.
And that is exactly what has happened. Tradition (and othe factors) have shifted Christianity away from God's revealed holy days and has substituted other days.
As YOU define them.
Christ's birth, death and resurrection reveal to all those with eyes to see the days that should be holy to us.
The incarnation of God as man? Holy.
His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross? Holy.
His resurrection from the dead? Holy.
The dangerous ground lies beneath the man-made proto-Hebraeic legalisms I'm reading here.
God sends his spirit to us to lead us to truth.
And His spirit is not present in a scornful and malinspired rebuke of the joyful celebrations of His Resurrection.
Intentional or not, such sowing of misinformation and disinformation can only have that result.
It goes beyond sickening to vulgar.
I agree. The gentile Christians were not placed under the levitical dietary restrictions
Ac 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Nor under levitical calendar
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Absolutely not:
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Lev 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
And the chapter continues with God specifically telling us when and how to observe HIS holy days.
This is God defining his holy days. Not me.
So you would elevate your tradition over the word of Christ our Lord? Others did that and were chastised by the Lord.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition
The words of Christ our Lord are NOT misinformation. They are not disinformation. They the revealed words of the Lord telling his servants WHICH days we are to consider holy.
Choose scripture or tradition.
Do you honestly believe that Paul would call scriptural commandments of God "weak and beggarly elements"?
What Paul is referring to here is gentiles who wanted to return to worshipping pagan days. The ONLY scriptures Paul had were the books of what we call the "old testament". It would have been blasphemous for him to call the words of the Lord "weak and beggarly elements".
Christ, through His Church, elevates His traditions over your interpretation of His Word.
The words of Christ our Lord are NOT misinformation. They are not disinformation.
But your misinterpretation of His Words ARE.
Mark 7:9 is an admonition to those who would leave His Church to make stuff up on their own.
I'm quite certain that St. Paul, a father of the Catholic Church, would call your interpretations of scriptural commandments of God "weak and beggarly elements?"
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