Why No Easter Service?

Why No Easter Service?

Hardin Valley Church of Christ (Knoxville, TN)

Why No Easter Service? • Why do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but not Easter? • Why do you have an Easter egg hunt, basket of candy, etc. (at home), but not have an Easter church service?

History of Easter • Easter is “an annual church celebration commemorating Christ’s resurrection” (Webster’s Dict.) • “Easter” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word eastre, meaning “spring” or “dawn goddess” (Webster’s Dict.)

History of Easter • “Easter” was the name of a German Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility (Ostara); an annual spring festival was held April in her honor going back to 300 B.C.

History of Easter • “The earliest written evidence for an Easter festival appears in the ‘paschal controversy’ over the correct date for Easter, which began with the correspondence in A.D. 154 between Polycarp … and Aticetus …” (ZPEB, vol.2, p. 180)

History of Easter • The subject of Easter was debated in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. primarily to determine what relationship it would have with the Jewish Passover (NS-HERK, pp.43-47)

History of Easter • At the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, the date for Easter was fixed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox – “spring equal night” (anywhere from March 22 to April 25) • Year 2017: March 20, April 11, April 16 (Easter)

History of Easter • There are numerous references to “Easter Sunday” after the 7th century • Easter can be traced to Jewish, pagan, and Catholic traditions, but not the New Testament

History of Easter • “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament…” (EB, vol.7, p.859)

History of Easter • “That the early Christians kept with special honor the anniversary of the resurrection itself is more a of matter of inference than of positive knowledge. No writer before Justin Martyr seems to mention such a celebration” (CE, vol.3, p. 159)

www.catholic.com • Question: My husband, a non-Catholic Christian, read in an Evangelical magazine that Easter and Christmas should not be celebrated because they are based on pagan rituals and worship.

www.catholic.com • He says that Easter began with worship of the goddess of spring and that we should not have a Christmas tree because the Bible prohibits the worship of trees adorned with silver and gold.

www.catholic.com • How can I assure my husband that these holidays celebrate only the birth and the resurrection of Our Lord? • Answer: First of all, who do you know that worships Christmas trees?

www.catholic.com • Nobody that I know; that’s for sure! Just as people can be Christianized, so can their customs and celebrations. Christianity is a powerful thing because it is the power of God on earth. Catholic Christians have always believed this.

www.catholic.com • So they Christianized trees at Christmas and eggs at Easter. Who remembers the Christmas tree or Easter as pagan things? One has to dig deep to find pagan worship in them. It is better to rejoice that they have become vehicles for celebrating the love of Christ.

Easter’s Other Holy Days • “Mardi Gras” (lit. “Fat Tuesday”) or “Carnival” (farewell to meat) • “Ash Wednesday” is the first day of Lent • “Lent” – (lit. “spring”) - 40 days (excluding Sundays) of fasting before Easter

Easter’s Other Holy Days • “Palm Sunday” – triumphal entry • “Maundy Thursday” – (command) foot washing • “Good Friday” – crucifixion • “Holy Saturday” - vigil • “Easter Sunday” – resurrection

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. (KJV)

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? • “Easter” is a mistranslation found in the KJV of Acts 12:4 (a majority of the versions have “the Passover”) • The Gr. words are “to pascha,” meaning “the passover” (29 times in the NT)

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? • The Passover is an eight-day Jewish festival including the days of unleavened bread, from Nisan 14 to Nisan 21 (Ex. 12:15-20; Lev. 23:5-6; Deut. 16:1-4)

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? • Consider the immediate context: • This took place during “the days of unleavened bread” (v.3) which includes the Passover (Lk. 22:1)

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? • Consider the immediate context: • Herod Agrippa I wanted to “please the Jews” (v. 3), so he waited until the Jewish holy days of the Passover were ended (compare Mt. 26:5)

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? “Why this translation then in the KJV? One of the instructions given to the translators by James, King of England, was that they were not to change any of the accepted terms found in the Bishop’s Bible …”

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? “ … (which was more or less the basis for the KJV). Before that version, Tyndale and Coverdale had used the word ‘Easter’ at this place; and hence, it had become a ‘customary’ rendering of this verse before it was …”

What About “Easter”in Acts 12:4 (KJV)? “… incorporated in the KJV” (Gareth L. Reese, New Testament History: Acts, p. 430)

Christiansand Religious Holy Days • NT Christians were told to remember the Lord’s death each first day of the week (Mt. 26:26-29; Acts 20:7) • The Lord’s supper is done “till he comes”, which implies Jesus rose from the dead (1 Cor. 11:23-26)

Christiansand Religious Holy Days • NT Christians were not told to remember the Lord’s resurrection once a year on Easter (remember, the day of Easter moves!)

Christiansand Religious Holy Days • NT Christians were told to abstain from unauthorized “holy days” (Gal. 4:9-11; Col. 2:16-22) • There is no NT authority for the observance of a religious “holy day” called Easter

Christiansand Religious Holy Days • Observing Easter as a civil holiday may be allowed (Rom. 14:5), but not as a religious “holy day” • We do not observe Easter as a religious holiday

Christiansand Religious Holy Days Three ways for a Christian to observe a day: 1. As any other day 2. As a non-religious holiday 3. As a religious holy day (not authorized by the NT)

Christiansand Religious Holy Days Three ways for a Christian to observe a tradition with a religious connection (like washing) 1. Not at all (Mk. 7:5; Lk. 11:38) 2. In a non-religious way (Jn. 13:8) 3. In a religious way (Mk. 7:3-4) – not authorized by the NT

The Resurrection Is Important • The resurrection was foretold in the OT (Psa. 16:8-11) • We cannot be saved without the resurrection of Christ (Rom. 1:4; 4:25; 5:16-18; 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 15:17-19; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:3-5)

The Resurrection Is Important • However, no “holy day” celebration commemorating the resurrection of Jesus exists in the Bible! • Why tell others of the resurrection by using an unscriptural practice derived from paganism?

Christians and True Worship • Let us avoid empty religious traditions (Col. 2:8, 16-23) • Let us worship according to God’s word only (Col. 3:16) • Let us worship God every Sunday, not just “Easter Sunday” (Acts 20:7)

Why No Easter Service?