To some Easter weekend is a time for painted eggs, chocolate bunnies, and fine meals with family. For others, the weekend is a time to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, linked with the Passover.
I can’t say anyone has ever asked me if I’m hosting an Easter egg hunt, but I have been asked almost every year about our services for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I am not into painted eggs and chocolate bunnies, nor am I into observing religious holidays which the Bible says nothing about.
Mistranslation Of Easter
Some might be confused at me saying that the Bible says nothing about Easter. In fact, in your KJV, you can read,
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. (Acts 12:4)
The problem is the translators erroneously rendered the Greek πάσχα as Easter. Every other time the word appears in the KJV, it’s correctly translated Passover. What is the difference between Easter and the Passover? Should Easter be celebrated as the time of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection?
The Biblical Memorial vs The Origin of Easter
The Passover was a feast which originated with the final plague God brought against Egypt (Exodus 12). The Hebrews were to keep the feast as a memorial of their freedom from Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:1). Passover began on the evening of Nisan 14 (Leviticus 23:5) when Jesus and His disciples ate the feast (Luke 22:8, 15), and continued into the day upon which He was put to death (John 18:28). When the apostle Paul refers to Jesus as our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), it was not just a loose image – Jesus was sacrificed on the day of the Passover!
Passover is a specific day each year found in the Hebrew calendar. Easter is a computed day, the first Sunday on or after Spring Equinox. In the past 100 years, Easter has been as early as March 23 and as late as April 25. The anniversary of an event takes place on the same day each year. Easter does not celebrate the anniversary of Jesus’ death or resurrection.
It is believed that Easter was originally a celebration of the Saxon goddess Eastre, and had nothing at all to do with the dearth or resurrection of Jesus. The fact that the Bible says nothing about it should result in us not observing the day. Despite the intent to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, it is not our place to create a holiday on which to do so. In fact, we are not even told to keep the Passover in the New Testament.
Jesus our Passover Lamb
How then do we remember the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection? What does the Bible say? It is not about a pagan memorial being Christianized. It is not even about the Passover feast, during which He was put to death. The apostle Paul tells us,
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
We don’t remember the Lord by celebrating Easter. Not even by keeping the Passover do we correctly remember the Lord. It is by the weekly eating of the Lord’s supper (Acts 20:7) that we correctly remember His sacrifice for us.
Links: YouVersion | GROW magazine
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