I’ve been reading a lot online this year about whether we believers should celebrate Easter or not. Some argue that Easter has pagan origins, from the goddess Asherah or Ishtar, and I have no disagreement with that! The origins of the Easter bunny, Easter eggs, hot-cross buns, and Easter lilies are undeniably pagan, yet does this mean I cannot celebrate the resurrection of Yeshua from the dead? I know this is a controversial topic, but I couldn’t resist adding my two cents.
Growing up, my father always preferred to refer to Easter as “Resurrection Sunday.” The more I think about it, the more I like this. Let me explain some of the reasons why I believe we should honor Resurrection Sunday.
When we read the gospel accounts of Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection, we discover that He was offered as our Passover lamb on the 14th day of the month, just at the same time that all the lambs were sacrificed. When my family and church celebrates Yeshua as the Passover lamb, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26), remembering that His death paid the penalty for our sin.
To fulfill Scripture, He must have been dead for three days and three nights before rising from the dead. He was dead during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, buried just before the Feast began (John 19:31). The significance of this is that His sacrifice and resurrection enables me to walk in “newness of life,” with all the leaven (sin) removed from my life (Romans 6:1-14, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Because He perfectly fulfilled Scripture, I can trust that His Word will remain true and powerful in my own life (2 Peter 1:1-4).
The Sabbath (Saturday) was the third day He was dead, so sometime after twilight that night (Sunday on the Jewish calendar), He rose from the dead. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb…” (John 20:1). The account of Yeshua’s resurrection is historically accurate and verifiable, and His resurrection on the first day of the week is the basis of my entire faith and hope.
“And if Messiah has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Messiah are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Messiah, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
In addition to Yeshua’s fulfillment of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, He was also the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits mentioned in Leviticus 23:9-14 and Deuteronomy 26:1-15. On the Sunday following the first Sabbath after Passover, a priest was to wave a sheaf of barley before God, as well as offer other sacrifices, as an offering of thanksgiving for their spring harvest.
“But Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Messiah, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
When I celebrate this feast by rejoicing that Yeshua was the firstfruits offering, I am remembering that when He comes, I will be resurrected into eternal life as well. I’ve seen very little written about this feast, so I’m hoping to stir you up to remember that this life is not all there is.
As moms, sometimes our lives get filled up with everyday details that drag us down. Have you ever wondered, “Why was I in such a rush to grow up and graduate and get married? Why didn’t someone tell me that life would just be an endless diaper-changing, dish-washing, home-schooling repetition, until finally, when my children are grown, I’ll be too old to enjoy this life anymore?” We’re all tempted to think that way, aren’t we? Every morning the alarm clock rings, and the weeks race by, going faster and faster, with time disappearing as the wrinkles and cellulite become permanent.
“…for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away” (Psalm 37:2).“My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass” (Psalm 102:11).“As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more” (Psalm 103:15-16).
Since the time of Adam and Eve’s sin, we are confronted with the consequences of our sin, which is death. Yes, that death was postponed by the death of an animal, slaughtered to clothe them in their nakedness (Genesis 3:21). But at this season of the year, I want to rejoice that Yeshua’s sacrifice causes the death angel to pass over me (Exodus 12:23, 1 Corinthians 5:7). Someday, He will return and, “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,” I will be raised, never to die again, changed from my old life of misery and futility (1 Corinthians 15:52).
“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?‘ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Master Yeshua the Messiah” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Dear moms, do you have “victory” in your life? Do you have have love, joy, and peace that passes all understanding? “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Master” (Romans 6:23). Do you have eternal life that gives you something to live for?
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Master, because you know that your labor in Master is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
No, I do not think we should celebrate Easter. It’s pagan.
But please do remember the resurrection of our Savior!
This coming Resurrection Sunday, ponder what the resurrection really means. Ponder the hope you have, the future with Yeshua you have, and the power He gives you to live victoriously today.
Cindy says
Anne,
I would agree we should honor the resurrection as it took place on the Feast of Firstfruits…but some would argue (myself included), that it wasn’t necessarily on a Sunday. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a Sabbath and is on the 15th day of the month, which is determined by the moon, not by man’s calendar. There is some controversy over whether the Sabbath mentioned in Lev. 23 is talking about the first day of the feast or over the weekly Sabbath during that week, but many believe it is talking about the first day. Most who observe the New Moon festival go by the sighting of the crescent, although there are some who go by conjunction. Whichever way it is observed, that would mean the days float through the Gregorian calendar.
Cindy says
Oh, and another thing…from my understanding, in the Greek, it also doesn’t say the first DAY of the week; day is in italics. My understanding is it says the first of the sabbaths…so, it could be referring to the counting of the sabbaths to the Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost.
Leisa says
I just wanted to comment on Cindy’s second comment about the word day being in italic and that the original Greek does not say the first day of the week. I have a literal translation Bible with a word for word translation of the original languages. It says, just as Cindy pointed out “the first of the Sabbaths”.
Laura says
It’s sad that the Christian churches have ignored the Holy Feasts of the Old Testament, even worse that we’ve replaced them with the counterfeit Christmas and Easter. We can still worship God on those days (Christmas, Easter) but how much richer and full of symbolism the Feasts are.
I attended a church growing up that started calling Easter Sunday, “Resurrection Sunday”. They also didn’t celebrate Good Friday, believing that Christ was in the grave a full 3 days. All that but still didn’t celebrate Resurrection Sunday with Passover. Now we attend a church (the only one in our tiny rural town) that celebrates Easter with all the fixin’s. Feels like I’m going backwards : (
Are there any good resources for a evangelical Christian family to celebrate the Feasts throughout the year?
Steve says
I do not understand why there is such discussion that the Feast of Firstfruits is on some other day than (Sunday – Roman designation) the first day of the week? It does not matter whether “day” is in italics or not. The determinate description is “first.” All days were numbered up to 7, 7 which is the Sabbath.
Leviticus says:
Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
This verse specifically describes the Feast of Firstfruits. The New Testament supports this designation using cardinal numbers. There is no question as to what Leviticus says. It is straightforwardly stated according to the rules of grammar in both Hebrew and English.
Any form of interpretation which denies a literal foundation of intent, removes the possibility of God being a true and faithful witness and thereby removes God’s opinion from discussion.
As to the term “the first of the sabbaths” one needs to be careful that the term sabbaths, if you do dictionary work, means the first of the sevens. This is a term which describes “week” in English. The first is understood to mean in our venaculor “Sunday.” You can capitalize sabbath if you want, but it does not change the meaning. The context here clearly determines that the word “sabbaths” does not mean the seventh day because of the use of the ordinal number “first.” The context has to mean the first of the series of days which total seven or week.
So this blog is faithfully accurate with regard to this.
Kraig says
I just wanted to say thank you for the article about remembering our savior’s resurrection. It is so easy to get caught up in trying to decide what day it should be, what time he was buried, what time he arose that we forget the fact that He did arise! What a blessing to know that our faith, unlike any other religion of the world, is based upon one who is “ALIVE!” We should celebrate the event, period! It is what gives us life! It is the core of our salvation from death. “O death where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
Therefore Paul writes in Romans 10:9, “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
anonymous says
Thank you Kraig! Good point!
MarkSpizer says
great post as usual!
Anne says
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs005/1102838631876/archive/1109613961454.html
Another case for remembering the resurrection, the core of our faith and hope!
Barb says
Indeed, remembering Yeshua’s death and resurrection are significant, but the thing that bugs me is that if the Messiah rose from the dead on a Sunday (which could have been confused with the Sabbath or High Sabbath), it has given the “church fathers” a reason to proclaim that through Jesus, resurrected on a Sunday, changed the Sabbath to Sunday! Every year for the last six years of my life, I am faced with the question, “why do I hate to see the birth, death and resurrection of the Messiah observed by the Gregorian calendar? And the answer comes with a question….Does it not seem weird to anyone that the pagan festivals were celebrated on these dates long before Yeshua was born, and that somehow, his birth, death and resurrection were “coincidentally” celebrated on these exact same dates? From a secular point of view, then, Jesus is no different than any of the other fake deities that were born, died and apparently “resurrected” on these dates. I try to explain the significance of this to my family and friends because the Messiah is HOLY, set-apart, shown throughout the feasts as a sign and a memorial, and I don’t know about anyone else, but we have to set him apart so that we can fully recognize his holiness. I am starting to understand how the firstfruits fits in with the resurrection and I think that it is so awesome. It is unfortunate, though that Pesach this year falls on almost the exact dates of easter, but I am looking forward to the restoration where we will be in one accord and enjoying the feasts without any doubts or differences.
Rachael says
I am with you! Once I found out, years after I got saved, that in fact my Jesus was a Hebrew and HIS Hebrew name was Yeshua, I never wanted to look back to what I called anti Semite political lies that were forced onto the church thru Rome. Check out Constantine 325ad in the Nicene letter and church father contributions to this split! Over time – generations forward no one is the wiser until the Lord opens our eyes! Jeremiah has already said it well: 16:19 the Gentiles shall come to the Jews from the ends of the earth and say: SURELY our forefathers have INHERITED LIES, vanity and things wherein there is NO profit.
I have come from afar and declared to my Jewish brothers-to the Jew first/per scripture-that I have their Hebrew Messiah. Sadly what they have seen from the church is that chiristians serve a pagan god And have killed Jews, The Jews erred that Salvation would come to the Gentiles, but the Gentiles erred because they have NOT taken the gospel back to the Jews. They have disquised their Messiah to look Pagan so now we can’t make them Jealous PER SCRIPTURE- because they don’t see their Messiah in the church body! So sad! Who will rise up in your communities to defend the Jewish Messiah – be a dissenter- of the system that has refaced and NOT set apart the Holy of The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob? Ruth is the great example for Gentiles. John 4:22 you Gentiles worship what you don’t know, for Salvation is of the Jews! What does that mean? Follow in the Steps of the Hebrew Messiah as Ruth did!!!
Rachael says
I am not saying John 4:22 is about Ruth- it’s Yeshua speaking to the gentile woman at the Well. sorry my writing was sliding together as we have been So trained on scocial media to shorten or make a blurb comment. Sorry. Could have used better grammar.
Anne says
LOL! No, it’s good! Thank you very much for your comment!
Eileen says
I am not very eloquent in explaining things but here it goes:) Truly there is not much to go on in the scriptures for this. One has to dig it out and study.
It is known that Jesus died on Wed 3pm. Do the math – 3 days and nights later HE ROSE! The day after he died was the first of Unleavened Bread, a Sabbath. The next day is the Wave Sheaf day. Count 50 from there, and you have Pentecost (Firstfruits as one body, Jesus the First) after completing 7 Sabbaths. Surely WE SHOULD Celebrate God’s Feasts that He has invited us to do. 1 Thes 4;13-17 Heb 11:40