Who celebrates the Easter holiday?
Many non-Christians celebrate Easter with candy and eggs, but few know anything about the holiday. Easter began in 325 AD when the Emperor Constantine presided over the First Council of Nicaea and attempted to establish Easter as the day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. This ruler used to worship Eostre (or Ostara) and hated Israel. He wanted to distance Christianity from Judaism. April was dedicated to a popular pagan goddess named Eostre (Easter). This goddess of the spring was celebrated with feasts for fertility and ‘morning’s dawn.’ How does Easter relate to this goddess?
Waking up early in the morning (dawn)
Feasting on candy. Easter dinner.
Eggs and rabbits represent fertility.
Often Christians really don’t know exactly what Easter is about. One year, in my late 30’s a church asked us to pass out Easter flyers in a neighborhood. Walking door to door with my kids, I examined the announcement which proclaimed “Join us for Resurrection Sunday.”
“What is that? Resurrection Sunday? I thought we were helping with Easter?” I knew that the messages on Easter Sunday revolved around the death of Jesus, but until that moment, I had no idea that we were actually celebrating the death and resurrection!
How should Christians celebrate Easter?
I am the LORD your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.(Exodus 20:2-3 AKJV)
Jesus said this is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:38). We are to have nothing to do with any other god or goddess!
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. You shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Turn you not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:2-4 AKJV)
But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16 AKJV)
Peter is quoting the Book of Leviticus. The Hebrew word qāḏôš (kaw-doshe') means to be set apart, separated from. What are we to be separated from? Anything that is sin. Breaking the first commandment is sin.
The Online Christian Church will have nothing to do with this holiday. As Christians, we should not associate with that which is dedicated to other gods, including Easter for it is the name itself denotes a goddess and is based around worshiping her.
What is Passover?
Jesus died during one of the most sacred Jewish holidays, Passover, which is the foreshadowing of what our Lord would go through and accomplish with His death. We will talk about Passover and its connection to Jesus when this holiday occurs.
If you still desire to celebrate Easter, consider this:
Jesus is God and became man.
The night before He was captured, He sweated blood, asking God to find a different way if possible.
Doctors state this can happen due to extreme stress
Jesus chose to obey God and allowed Himself to be taken, knowing what would happen. He did this to pay the price so you could be in a relationship with God! Once He was taken:
Jesus was blindfolded and struck repeatedly
The abusers demanded that He prophesy and tell them who struck Him
Jesus was whipped with a “cat of nine tails”
A whip split into nine ends with metal in each end
The metal would tear off chunks of flesh with every lash
Most believe He was whipped at least 39 times!
A crown of thorns that was nearly 2 inches long was pressed down upon His head
They beat Him with a read - like a bamboo rod over the head
Nails were placed into His hands as He was strapped to a cross
To breathe while hanging on the cross, He had to use the shredded muscles on His back to lift himself up.
Every breath was torture!
This is what Jesus suffered for you. This is what we should be celebrating. Does thinking about this make you feel like hunting eggs and binging on candy? How does the Easter holiday honor our God and what He has done? What do eggs and chocolate have to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus?
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