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Easter—Would Jesus Keep It? You need the PRECIOUS TRUTH about Easter! Here we present you a
booklet that talks about whether or not Jesus would keep Easter. Would Jesus
keep it and would he even authorize it to be kept if he walked in the flesh
on the earth today? You need to know these truths.
THIS BOOKLET IS NOT TO BE SOLD. It is a free educational
service in the public interest, published by the
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved Printed in the Unless otherwise indicated, scriptures are from the King James
Version of the Holy Bible. PEOPLE in the world over each keep their holidays and they all think
that if they do it, then God will bless them because they see that God has
given the authority to keep them. But, what is the real truth regarding these
facts? Did God really command these holidays? Did God really institute them
in the beginning of the early New Testament Church of God? For millions of people, Easter Sunday is perhaps one of the
most important religious holidays of the whole year. But, if Jesus were on
earth now, would he keep it? Each and every spring there is the excite-ment of Easter in the
air. Most churches begin their preparations for their special Easter programs
about the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Mothers and children dye eggs
all sorts of colors and parents hide these eggs which are a “symbol of
Easter.” They do this so that their children can go and find them. Stores stock their shelves with holiday eggs, candy and Easter
bunnies and baskets all for sale to their customers. We can’t go to any store
without seeing the “hype” of Easter. Among things that most churches do is they gather themselves
together for a time of “Easter Sunrise” services and they watch the sun come
up. But, of all these things that people do on this one day of the
year, is there really any proof in the Bible or any historical proof that
Jesus himself or even his own disciples observed or even taught the
observance of Easter and this holiday? Did Jesus and his apostles even command and instruct the
followers to keep this by going to “sunrise services” or to go to church on
Sunday? How about any other time for that matter? These are real questions
that we need real answers for and the If Easter then was never authorized by Christ or instituted at
all by his very apostles, then just where is it that Easter came from? In
other words, if Jesus were living today among us in the flesh, then would he
even observe it at all or even encourage the observe of it at all? Answers to these questions are available. Some may take a
little research, but they will become clear to you when we truly look into
the history and into what the Bible really has to say on the very subject. Did Any Of the Apostles Write About Easter? As a great surprise as it may be, nowhere in the New Testament
can you ever find any real reference to Easter. In the King James Version of
the Holy Bible, you do find the word Easter (Acts 12:4) but, it is a
mistranslation that has been corrected in all other translations. The original Greek word should have been Pascha which correctly
is translated as “Passover” in almost all modern versions of the Bible
everywhere it appears. It further refers to the biblical Passover originally
as instituted when God had taken the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus
12:1-14). The very original apostles, from the start of the New Testament
Church to near the end of the first century, when the apostle John died, had
left us with no record of the very observance of Easter or even the very teaching
of encouraging others to observe it. From Jesus until John, there was not one
of the apostles who even gave us a hint of the observance of what today is
known as Easter Sunday. However, that did not indicate that the early Church did not
hold to a specific religious observance. Paul, after the death of Jesus and
his resurrection, plainly taught to the Church in Paul told them that he received it from the Lord and was also
teaching them the same. He further taught them of taking of the unleavened
bread and how to do it and then in the same way, taking the wine and doing
the same. We do this as often as we partake and it is done at the Passover
and it is only done by them who are in the Church of God so that we do not
take it unworthily and so we will not be guilty of the body and the blood of
Jesus (1 Cor. 11:23-27). Paul was further concerned that the members should be observing
the Passover in the right way, with the reverence and the right meaning of
it. The writings of the apostle Paul and of Luke, his traveling
companion and author of the book of Acts do mention on a regular basis
regarding the weekly Sabbath and the biblical festivals that are listed in
Leviticus 23. But, Easter is never once found anywhere (1 Cor. 5:6-8; 16:8;
Acts 2:1-4; Since Easter was never introduced by Jesus or his apostles,
then just where is it that it came from and how did it come to be in
Christianity? Easter and Its Very Origin It is not very difficult to trace the very origins of Easter
and what it represents. Many show us that the very origins are pre-Christian
as a religious holiday and that it is one that was created long before the
time of Jesus and was taken forward to the modern times through such empires
as In the Vine’s Expository Dictionary, we find that it tells us
that “The term ‘Easter’ is not of Christian origin. It is another form of
Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean [Babylonian] goddess, the queen of
heaven. The festival of Pasch [Passover] held by Christians in post-apostolic
times was a continuation of the Jewish feast…From this Pasch the pagan
festival of ‘Easter’ was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate
Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to
Christians”—W.E. Vine, 1985, “Easter”. Alexander Hislop also had touched on the very subject of
Easter. He had found that a form of Easter had been observed in many
nations, not only those who had professed Christianity: “What means the term
of Easter itself?...It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter
is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of
heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was…Ishtar”—The
Two Babylons, 1959, p. 103. Therefore, we are now finding the real truth that Easter and
its associated practices with it can all be traced back to the various pagan
traditions. Further, Hislop had explained that “the forty days’ abstinence of
Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess”—p.
104. In How, then, did 40 days’ of abstinence come in to be associated
with any resurrection at all? Hislop went on to write that “Among the pagans
this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual
festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was
celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing.”—p. 105. Tammuz was a chief Babylonian deity and husband of the goddess
Ishtar. Worship of Tammuz was so widespread in the ancient times that it also
began to spread into The Babylonians further held a great festival in the spring to
celebrate the death of Tammuz and the supposed resurrection many centuries
before Jesus even walked upon the earth (see the Resurrection Connection on
p. 18). Hislop also comprehensively records real evidence showing us that
Easter’s origins further precedes the modern Christian observance of Easter
by more than 2,000 years! Hislop further goes on to cite the fifth-century writings of
Cassianus, a Catholic monk of We then come to Sir James Frazer who describes Easter
observances entering into the established church as “When we reflect how often
the Church has skill-fully contrived to plant the seeds of the new faith on
the old stock of paganism, we may surmise that the Easter celebration of the
dead and risen Christ was grafted upon a similar celebration of the dead and
risen Adonis [the Greek name for Tammuz], which…was celebrated in Syria at
the same season”—The Golden Bough, 1993, p. 345. Why Then the Eggs and Rabbits? What about all the other customs that are commonly associated
with the observance of Easter? One Catholic writer went to explain how eggs
and rabbits had come to be connected with Easter. You will find very quickly
the absence of any link or reference to the Holy Bible when it comes to these
rituals: “The egg has become a
popular Easter symbol. Creation myths of many ancient peoples center in a
cosmogenic egg from which the universe is born. In ancient “These eggs were a
symbol of fertility for them because the coming forth of a live creature from
an egg was so surprising to people of ancient times. Christians of the Just as eggs, rabbits further came to be associated with Easter
because they were potent symbols that were linked to the ancient fertility
rites. “Little children are usually told that the Easter eggs are brought by
the Easter Bunny. Rabbits are part of pre-Christian fertility symbolism
because of their reputation to reproduce rapidly. The Easter Bunny has never
had a religious meaning”—p. 102. Honest and true scholars of the Bible freely and openly admit
that Jesus never did teach nor authorize the holiday and nor did his
apostles. In the centuries which has followed among those who call themselves
Christian, Easter has become the supplanted holiday and has replaced
Passover, the biblical ceremony that Jesus and his apostles and also Paul did
teach Christians to observe. This came to a true head with the Emperor Constantine and the
Council of Nicaea—almost three centuries after Jesus died and was resurrected
again, thus proving so far what we have been saying all along! We further find in the Encyclopedia Britannica that “A final
settlement of the dispute [over whether and when to observe Easter or
Passover] was one among the other reasons which led Constantine to summon the
council of Nicaea in 325…The decision of the council was unanimous that
Easter was to be kept on Sunday, and on the same Sunday throughout the world,
and ‘that none should hereafter follow the blindness of the Jews’”—11th
edition, pp. 828-829, “Easter”. We find first of all that What Would Jesus Himself Do Therefore? Since Easter (with all of the pagan symbols) have come to take
root by the Catholic Church centuries after Jesus’ ascension, should Christians
therefore honestly observe this holiday and encourage others to do so? To answer that very question, let’s go back to the title of
this article, “Would Jesus keep it?” Christ could have most certainly told us to observe it. So
could his apostles have also taught to us to observe it jus as their book,
the book of Acts and the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John have
all been preserved. But, nowhere can we find any support for Easter or
anything that even resembles it. What we do rather find is that they were
clear in their teaching us to observe the Passover and other biblical days
that we call today “Holy Days.” These were true Christian days that we were
taught to observe. Holy Scripture does not support this pre-Christian holiday and,
in fact, condemns pagan worship and practices of false gods (Deuteronomy
12:29-32), we know that God the Father and Jesus, the Son have had no
interest in Easter and do not therefore approve of it. Jesus in fact, is diametrically opposed to religious rituals
that supposedly seek to honor Him but in reality, are rooted in the worship
of false pagan gods and customs. He makes clear this very distinct difference
between pleasing God and pleasing men when we see in Mark 7:6-9 Jesus telling
his disciples that people will honor God with their lips, but their hearts
are far from him and that they worship God in vain by teaching the
commandments of men and we reject God by keeping the traditions of men! Easter is most certainly a true tradition of man and not of
God. But it’s more than that. It is a pagan tradition of men that, like most
other traditions involved in the worship of false gods, is abhorrent to the
true god. Jesus and his very apostles would never have sanctioned its keeping
because it mixes paganism with supposedly Christian symbolism and ritual. It
is rooted in ancient pre-Christian fertility rites that have nothing to with
Jesus at all! In reality, most of the very trappings that are associated with
Easter reveal that the holiday is actually a fraud that is pawned off on
unsuspecting and well-intentioned people. God wants us t worship in spirit
and truth (John Even the very timing of the events that are used to justify
celebrating Jesus’ resurrection on a Sunday morning—that He was crucified on
the afternoon of “Good Friday” and was raised before dawn on Sunday
morning—are most assuredly false and an examination of the scriptures show us
this proof as well. For those who truly want concrete proof that Jesus was indeed
the Messiah and the Savior of all mankind, Jesus himself spoke of ONLY one
sign and that he would be in the grave for THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS just
as Jonah was in the belly of the fish (Matthew 12:39-40). Therefore, try as hard as one can, there is no way to come up
with three days and three nights from late Friday afternoon to Sunday morning
before daylight. At most, this amounts to just barely more than a day and a
half. Either Jesus was mistaken or those who claim that he had died on Friday
and was raised on a Sunday are the ones who are mistaken. You cannot have it
both ways—you MUST choose one or the other! The Teachings of Jesus’ Are Consistent! If Jesus were to walk on the same streets and roads he walked
so long ago, would he then observe Easter? Certainly he would not! But he
would be consistent with what he taught then because he does not change
(Hebrews 13:8). For example, he would be observing the same annual Passover
in the same manner as he had then instructed (1 Cor. 11:23-26; John
13:15-17). He would observe the Days of Unleavened Bread also in the same way
that he had inspired Paul to teach to the Christians (1 Cor. 5:6-8). He would
also keep the same other teachings. Anyone who desires to be right with God who wants to be a true
disciple and follower of Christ, the Master Teacher, will then carefully take
a real and honest look at his beliefs and practices and see whether they
agree or not with those of the Bible and of Christ so that they will try to
honor God without keeping the ancient pagan customs which violate the
commands of God (Deut. 12:29-32; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1). Easter, just as we
have seen in this article, is filled with idolatrous traps and we need to
avoid them at all costs. By simply claiming that something is Christian or is done to
honor God does not make it right before God. Easter doesn’t truly represent a
Jesus Christ that was resurrected. Rather—as difficult as it may be to admit—it
really continues on the very practices and observances of the pagans that has
followed thousands of years ago to honor the false gods. If we are to escape
what is coming upon the world who place the world ahead of God, then we need
to repent of following those false traditions that do not honor Christ
(Revelation 18:1-5). God truly desires for us to honor and obey him according to His
commands in His Word. Then He can truly use us to fully represent His Son, our
Savior and Messiah—Jesus Christ who will return to the earth. There is
nothing great of a calling that can be truly extended to all who are being
called into the very
Additional The The Plain Truth About Easter Herbert W. Armstrong The Resurrection was not on Easter
Sunday! Easter is not a Christian name, but the title of the idolatrous
"queen of heaven." Here's an explanation of the true origin and
meaning of Lent, Easter eggs, and sunrise services. The Precious Truth Magazine The Worldwide Mailing Address: Michael W. Stevenson 801-548-5414 |