According to the biblical calendar, the day of the Resurrection falls out April 24th of this year.

Why then are the churches celebrating the Resurrection this Sunday and why do they call it Easter and why the symbols of eggs and bunnies?

First, why the date change? This was done in the first Christian council, the Nicaean Council in 325 A.D.  While they did a good job in defining the divinity of the Messiah, the one who ordered this council, the Emperor Constantine, asked that the date of the Jewish Feasts be changed so to separate Israel from the Church. The reason for the change of date, was written in a letter to the Nicaean Council. This is from the Letter of the Emperor to all those not present at the Council of Nicene. (Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib. Iii., 18-20.)

We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course… to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews.

Heartbreaking isn’t it!

Unfortunately, at the core, the reason was because of his dislike for the people of God. By moving away from the Jews, he also moved away from the Word of God, for the Jews celebrate the Feasts according to the proper date on the biblical calendar. By Constantine’s time, as Yeshua prophesied in Revelation, the church had then become Pergamos, that is, married to the state. And so, Constantine changed the definition of the true church of God and identified as Christians all those who belong to his kingdom. This then is the beginning of the introduction of the tares into the Kingdom.

And of course, the first to pay for this were the Jewish people for this was part of the beginning of Christian antisemitism that would last for at least the next 2000 years. The Catholic church and later the Protestant churches adopted this new date.

 

What about the name Easter?

Because at that time the Romans had a feast called Easter, they adopted this name for the Resurrection of the Son of God. The origin of Easter goes back to the Babylonians who worshipped Astarte or Ishtar, a goddess dedicated to a cult of fertility. Later in history, the cult spread to the Europeans, who called this fertility goddess Eostre or Oster.

This festival was celebrated on the spring equinox with rabbits and brightly colored eggs. Rabbits were adopted because they are very fertile and have an incredible reproductive record. Eggs are also representative of new life, and it’s believed that decorating eggs for Easter dates back to the 13th century.

But, while the origin of the name Easter is pagan, it is not Eostre or Ishtar that Bible based churches will celebrate this Sunday. It is absolutely fine to celebrate Easter this weekend for as Paul, answering a similar problem said: We know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one…    1Corinthians 4-6a

So long as we know the origins of things, so we can properly worship our God, then during this resurrection week-end, we can have all the chocolate bunnies we want to eat and the great advantage is not only that we will celebrate the Resurrection twice, this week-end and on the 24th of April, which is the right biblical date, but we will be able to speak about the great value of the resurrection.

Let us go to the pure Word of God and see how these three feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and the Resurrection happen almost at the same time and how they together, speak so well of what Yeshua did and is doing for us.

  • The first Feast is: Passover which occurs on the 14th of Nisan and which begins the Biblical New Year. This year, according to the Gregorian calendar, Passover will fall out on April 22nd . This Feast celebrates our salvation. This is when the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed. It was on this day, about 2000 years ago, when Yeshua was crucified. This Feast lasts only one day.
  • The second is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It takes place one day later, on the 15th of Nisan. This day symbolizes the purity and sinlessness of the Messiah. This Feasts lasts 7 days and will begin on April 23rd to April 30th .
  • The third Feast is placed within these two Feasts; it is the Feast of Firstfruits, that is, the Resurrection. It occurs on the 16th of Nisan which falls on April 24th this year.

In these three feasts we can see the full redemptive picture each believer has in Yeshua, describing our own journey from earth through to Eternity.

In Passover we see our salvation. In Unleavened Bread we see our sanctification, since it speaks of holiness, And in Ha Bikkurim, (Firstfruits) lasting one day, we see our resurrection, soon to occur for all believers. Notice that the Resurrection occurs within the Feast of Unleavened Bread which keeps on going, as our sanctification never stops. We will always learn and grow in the knowledge of the Lord even through Eternity. And so, the resurrection then is the bedrock on which our faith rests and it is with this precision that Paul really began 1Corinthians which is the  chapter of the resurrection; as he begins his exposé on the Resurrection in 1Corinthians 15:3–4 by saying; For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures,   and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Of first importance. This is one word in the Greek, protos. It designates what is foremost, the first of all things, the thing of prime importance. Here we see the three first feasts fulfilled; the same Trilogy: that Yeshua died, that He was buried and that He rose.

Passover – Unleavened Bread – Resurrection

 

Click here for the complete message: A Trilogy of Redemption: