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Picture

​(Stephen’s tomb very near where Christ was buried)



​Did Jesus Rise on Easter?

 The Bible is very clear in matters of historical events.  The original texts give great details to pinpoint the timing of crucial happenings.   Did Christ rise from the grave on Easter?  NO!  The Bible is very clear that He died on Passover and rose the first day of the week after Shabbat.
 
So what is the big deal if we call it Passover of Easter?  Passover and Easter are two different celebrations.

  1. Passover is a biblical holiday that recalls the event of the death angel passing through the land of Egypt.  When God called His people out of Egypt to go into the Promised Land He commanded them to sacrifice a lamb, roast it, and eat in preparation for the long journey.  God told them to sprinkle its blood over the doorposts of their houses.  When the death angel passed through the land, it would passover the houses that had the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the doorposts.  Those who did not obey God’s command were visited by the death angel, which killed all the firstborn males of the household. (Exodus 12).  The sacrifice lamb of Passover pictures Jesus the Messiah.  He became our complete Passover sacrifice when He died on the cross. 
  2. Easter is a pagan holiday that celebrates the day Ishtar (Easter) became a goddess.  According to mythology, Ishtar is Baal’s wife.   Baal chose her as a human to become his wife so he had to make her into a god.  To prove she had the powers of a god she supposedly made a rabbit lay an egg.  

 
          
Easter and Passover are two different events.  They occur in same time of the year. Both events are based on the lunar calendar so they often happen close to each other.  Easter happens on the spring equinox of the Julian calendar.  The spring equinox is when the sun shines on the equator and the length of day and night are the same. Easter is the first Sunday after the spring equinox.
 
Passover begins Nisan 14 of the Jewish calendar.  The Jewish calendar has 12 months of 29 or 30 days.  Every two or three years the Jews add an extra month to reconcile the calendar.  Nisan 14 is in the spring in March or April, depending on the leap year.  This year Passover begins April 22.
 
Easter is a pagan holiday that celebrates the goddess of fertility with rabbits and eggs.  Passover is a biblical holiday (originally called holy day) that celebrates God’s deliverance of His people.  It specifically pictures the death of Jesus the Messiah as the sacrificial lamb.
 
The most common argument I hear in defense of Christians celebrating Easter is, “that is not what it means to me.”  One of the problems in our churches is we make it about us.  CHURCH SHOULD NOT BE ABOUT US BUT ABOUT WORSHIPPING GOD!  The question we should be asking is what does it mean to God?  The most holy day in the church is celebrated with rabbits and eggs.  We name the celebration after a pagan goddess on her day she was deitized.  We have even made it a tradition to serve ham at our family meals on Easter.  Is there anything more sacrilegious we can do to offend God on the holiest day in the church?

It is time God’s children return to the Bible as the basis of their practice of worship.  We are much like God’s people in the book of Amos.  God tells Israel in Amos 5:21
 
“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell your solemn assemblies.  Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.  Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of the viols.”
 
The reason God gives for rejecting their worship is they were also worshipping pagan gods.  Lets stop making excuses for our traditions and return to worship that glorifies the one and only true God of Heaven!
 
  © Dr. Steven L Smith 2016
 
  

 


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