Its blood was placed on the top and sides of the doorpost to each home, and the angel of death passed over each house with the blood of the lamb. Exodus 12 tells how God instituted the Passover sacrifice of a lamb. John the Baptist prophetically introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) – meaning Jesus was the Passover Lamb. It celebrates that Jesus brought salvation to the world – to all who believe in His name – through His death and resurrection. What is the meaning of celebrating Easter?Įaster is the most joyous day of the Christian year because it celebrates that Jesus defeated death, once and for all. Romans 6:4 “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 4:25 (ESV) “ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”ĥ. Many churches worldwide still use a variation of this word to refer to “Resurrection Day” because Jesus was the Passover Lamb.Ĥ. Other scholars believe the English word Easter comes from the Old High German word eastarum, which means “dawn.”īefore Easter was called Easter in the English language, it was called Pascha (from the Greek and Latin for Passover), going back at least to the 2 nd century and likely earlier. For instance, in our own Roman calendar, March is named after Mars, the god of war, but celebrating Easter in March has nothing to do with Mars. The 7 th-century British monk Bede said the month when Easter was celebrated in the Old English calendar was named after the goddess Eostre, and that’s where the word Easter came from, although he stipulated that the Christian festival was unrelated to the goddess’ worship. The English word Easter has unclear origins. To answer this question, we need to unpack two questions: 1) What is the meaning of the word Easter, and 2) What is the meaning of the Easter celebration? 1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.” 1 Corinthians 15:14 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”ģ. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”Ģ. Acts 20:7 (NIV) “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Sometimes it coincides with Easter – like in 2022 – and sometimes, it doesn’t.ġ. What about Passover? Passover also falls between late March to mid-April, but it follows the Jewish calendar. The Eastern Orthodox Church follows the same rule for Easter, but they have a slightly different calendar, so on some years, the Eastern church celebrates Easter on a different day. This means that the day of Easter varies from year to year, but it’s always between March 22 and April 25. In AD 325, Emperor Constantine of Rome decided that the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection should not be at the same time as the Passover because that was a Jewish festival, and Christians “should have nothing in common with the murderers of our Lord.” Of course, he overlooked two facts: 1) Jesus was a Jew, and 2) it was actually the Roman governor Pilate that sentenced Jesus to death.Īt any rate, the Council of Nicaea set Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox (first day of Spring). By at least the 2 nd century, but probably earlier, Christians annually celebrated the resurrection during the Passover week (when Jesus died), which began on the evening of Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar. Very soon after Jesus ascended back to heaven, Christians celebrated Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by meeting for worship and communion on Sunday, the day Jesus came back to life (Acts 20:7).
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