Easter, a time when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave has been around for decades now, in fact since the ACs (After Christ) and it has been observed mainly to celebrate the resurrection of Christ through which we have salvation today.
Easter, Latin Pascha, Greek Pascha, is a principal festival of the Christian church, which celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion.
Easter is an important Christian festival – it’s when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Christ died on the cross on a day called Good Friday. According to the Bible, Jesus was then resurrected and came back to life on Easter Sunday.
The History Of Easter
The naming of the celebration as “Easter” is believed to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring. The only reference to this goddess comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede, a British monk who lived in the late seventh and early eighth century. As religious studies scholar Bruce Forbes summarizes:
“Bede wrote that the month in which English Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus had been called Eosturmonath in Old English, referring to a goddess named Eostre. And even though Christians had begun affirming the Christian meaning of the celebration, they continued to use the name of the goddess to designate the season.”
Bede was so influential for later Christians that the name stuck, and hence Easter remains the name by which the English, Germans and Americans refer to the festival of Jesus’ resurrection.
Controversies
Fixing the date on which the Resurrection of Jesus was to be observed and celebrated triggered a major controversy in early Christianity in which an Eastern and a Western position can be distinguished.
The dispute, known as the “Paschal controversies” was not definitively resolved until the 8th century. In Asia Minor, Christians observed the day of the Crucifixion on the same day that Jews celebrated the Passover offering—that is, on the 14th day of the first full moon of spring, 14 Nisan (see Jewish calendar).
The Resurrection, then, was observed two days later, on 16 Nisan, regardless of the day of the week. In the West the Resurrection of Jesus was celebrated on the first day of the week, Sunday, when Jesus had risen from the dead. Consequently, Easter was always celebrated on the first Sunday after the 14th day of the month of Nisan.
Increasingly, the churches opted for the Sunday celebration, and the Quartodecimans (“14th-day” proponents) remained a minority.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21). Easter, therefore, can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25.
Facts
In the Christian calendar, Easter follows Lent, the period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, which traditionally is observed by acts of penance and fasting.
Easter is immediately preceded by Holy Week, which includes Maundy Thursday, the commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples; Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, the transition between Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Along the line, Many of the pagan customs associated with the celebration of spring eventually became absorbed within Christianity as symbols of the resurrection of Jesus.
During the Middle Ages, people began decorating eggs and eating them as a treat following mass on Easter Sunday after fasting through Lent.
“This is actually something that still happens, especially in eastern European countries like Poland,” Professor Cusack said.
“The custom of decorating hard-boiled eggs or blown eggs is still a very popular folk custom.”
Rabbits and hares are also associated with fertility and were symbols linked to the goddess Eostre.
What Easter Means to People
In the spirit of the Easter Celebration, we speak to some Christians who share their opinions of what Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to them personally.
Here are their responses below.
Pastor Adelaja Alabi from Fire Fighter Prayer Ministry.
Before I’ll answer this I’ll like to refer to the Part of the Bible that says “The seed of the serpent will bruise the hell of the man and the seed of the woman will smash the head of the serpent” that was the prophecy of God which manifested on the day of easter.
There have been many things that link to Easter apart from that prophecy, you know Adam lost all the power he had and the right to relate with God when he fell. so the fulfilment of the restoration of mankind Adam fell going to the side of the seed of the woman he would bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent will bruise the heel of man.
The first Adam was the Adam that fell, and the second Adam is Jesus Christ, he was the one who restored our spirituality with God and the bible made us understand that without blood there is no atonement for sin.
if you look at what happened in the old testament, in Leviticus chapter 16 you will discover that the bible says that at the end of the year, there should be a sacrifice and Aaron should sacrifice a ram and also they will take two goats too that one will be used as a sacrifice while the other one will be used as the scapegoat which will carry all the Sins away to the wilderness.
If we look at Jesus Christ, who calls himself the son of the father and Barnabas too, *Bar Abbas* Bar means “Son Of” while Abbas means “Father”, together it’s Son of the father; And Jesus Christ calls himself Son Of God and Son Of Father. So between these two Son Of Father Lot will be cast in who will be killed, One is Without Sin and One is a Criminal.
That Criminal was the Scapegoat and the other one was Righteous and the people were asked by Pilate, Which One Should I release Unto you? Then the people Chose Barnabas the Criminal and the Righteous One to be the Scapegoat.
Now my whole point is that The New Testament Began Not in Matthew, Mark and Luke or In Matthew Chapter one, The place where Jesus Christ was Killed in any of the chapters was where Christianity Began, which Was when Salvation began.
When Jesus died and came back alive after three days, That resurrection was the joy of we Christians. As Jesus Christ rose, we also even though we are dead are raised on the last day.
It is the joy that we have, That we can triumph over Death and the power of death cannot Triumph over us. That is what Easter and Resurrection mean to me.
Pastor Favour
“It’s Just to remind ourselves of events that took place, That Christ came to
Die for humanity and he was resurrected that period is referred to today as the Easter period. The Reality of His Resurrection according to the scripture.
Without the belief of that part of the Scripture one cannot be called a Christian because that person does not believe in his death and resurrection.”
Pastor Abiodun Habakkuk From Bible Way Ministries.
Easter and the Ressurection of Jesus Christ are not the same things. They have different meanings.
The word “Easter” Comes from the Roman word “Easterrr”, It’s a pagan Religion, A pagan festival and they’ve been in existence since the days of Esther, Wife of Ashtaroth in the Bible.
There’s no relation between Easter and Ressurection. Ressurection has a whole meaning Entirely and it Started when Jesus was Resurrected, Later on, the Christians felt like it should be Celebrated.
This is usually done Around March and April every year.
So to me, I feel if we want to celebrate the death of Jesus Christ we should call it That and Not Easter.
The resurrection of Christ to me means his raising from death after the Crucifixion on the cross of cavalry and that occurred for mankind to be saved.
Mrs Ola
“With my little understanding of the Bible, EASTER is the Christian religious festival in which Christ’s resurrection is celebrated, that is without the resurrection there is no Easter. As the birth of God brought about Christmas so Christ’s resurrection brought about Easter.
The resurrection of Jesus is as important as His birth, for through HIS death and resurrection lies man’s salvation and the hope of eternal life.
1 CORINTHIANS 15: 14 is the main reason for the season (EASTER). “And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded)”(Amplified Bible).
Right from the garden of Eden, man has deviated and forfeited the great opportunity given to him by God his creator through the deceit of the devil (Rom.3:23)
God’s glory left man and man was naked. Man sought for solutions to cover his nakedness but to no avail. God came down, and HE rebuked man for his disobedience but still had mercy on him by making a permanent solution to man’s nakedness. He got an animal, shed its blood and used its skin to make a coat for man’s covering (Gen.3)
Right from the event at Eden, it’s been quite clear that blood is required for man’s redemption.
No other person could lay down his soul except God Himself who came in man’s coat as JESUS CHRIST to perfect man’s redemption to HIMSELF. The work of redemption can only be completed by the death of the creator, shedding of the HOLY blood to nullify that of sin inherited from Adam’s blood.
That’s what brought about the birth, suffering, death and resurrection of Christ(God in man).
The event of good Friday destroys the power of eternal doom made for man by Satan, which supremacy is made known on Easter Sunday as Christ Jesus resurrected and went back(ascended)to HIS dwelling place (heaven) on Easter Monday, with the promise of His second coming for judgment on those who refused to accept HIS work of redemption.”
According to Mrs Adebisi Hilton
“Easter is also called the resurrection Sunday, it is a Christian festival to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Easter represents the revelation of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind, the sin of humanity was paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Easter is of utmost importance to me for 3 reasons, it symbolises the
-The trial of Jesus
-The death of Jesus
-The resurrection of Jesus
Jesus in one night was brought before the High Priest, the Religious supreme Court, Pilate, Herod and then back to pilate, all these trials found Jesus not guilty of any Crime.
They brought in people to make up charges against Jesus but it didn’t stick, finally, they convicted him of claiming to be the son of God, as they didn’t like that claim.
Jesus claims to be the saviour of the world Jhn12:47, Jesus said I didn’t come to judge the world but to save the world, Jesus allowed himself to be put on trials, he could stop the trials but he didn’t, he allowed it to happen because it was part of the plan to redeem the world,
After being beaten, mocked and crowned with painful thorns, Jesus was crucified, his hands were stretched out wide against the cross and nailed through the two bones in each wrist
After Jesus’ death on the cross, he was put in the tomb and a giant stone was placed in front of the cave, the religious leaders thought that Jesus’ body may be stolen by his followers so they got Roman guards to man the tomb, they plan to prevent him from resurrecting, but he did come out from the tomb, my Jesus resurrected triumphantly, this was a bad act for the religious leaders but it is a celebration to me.
Easter is a period when I fast pray and set aside time to repent and remember what Jesus did to bring my salvation and that of mankind, I thank God for the death of christ and pray that in all I say and do, May I not nail Jesus to the cross a second time, but rather uphold holiness with the fear of God until I see him face to face in eternity”
According to Mrs Lucas
“As Easter is the celebration of Christ, it is a special time for me knowing Jesus died for me and of course for the world. The Shocking part of this story to me is the moment of deception and wickedness that man showed. The first grieving incident that brought about disbelief in humans is Judas kissing Jesus. To date, I still fear kisses.
The resurrection is the Good part and since it is written that I will reign with the one who died for me and I’m also granted salvation as a result of his death.
It is as special as Christmas to me.”
From the Above Responses, we can say that “Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for our sins, and rise on the third day (Isaiah 53). Remembering the resurrection of Jesus is a way to renew daily hope that we have victory over sin.
1 Corinthians 15:13-15 says, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if the dead are not raised.”
Christianity has no point if the Resurrection didn’t happen. Christians would’ve been martyred for nothing and placed their faith in false hope.
Thankfully, the Resurrection did occur, and for those reasons, we have immense hope and assurance.
Happy Easter.
