It is said that there is no BIBLICAL basis for celebrating Lent, or Easter, and that the reasons cited for doing so, take us away from TRUTH. It is said that fasting and abstaining cannot bring us closer to doing the WILL of *GOD*, and this is true, yet, it can bring us closer to *GOD*, in that, as we give up certain things of the world, we are peeling away a bit more of the natural being, and stepping into the spirit! I am FOR celebrating Lent, and Easter for a few reasons, one of them being it brings us closer to CHRIST JESUS as we SHARE in HIS sufferings for a short while, while FOCUSING upon HIS unprecedented GIFT of LOVE, which has POSITIVE return for devotion, diligence, and continuance in HIS name! We GROW from self-denial, which if sincerely motivated, increases aligned behaviour, and HAS the potential to see us growing more so, throughout the entire year, instead of for a short while...
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Jesus Christ never gave us Holy Days [holidays], and Easter is not to be found in the Bible, except in the King James Version at Acts 12:4. That particular translation for the word “Easter” was an anachronism, and was later corrected in the Revised Edition as, “Passover.” However, Christians do follow traditions of the Church, and especially those which commenced with the Apostles or early Church fathers. Nowhere are Christians forbidden to offer a free expression of affection for Jesus Christ. Sadly, sometimes in history, the Church got carried away with its power and introduced something celebrative, more for preventing paganism, than for the celebration itself.
The Roman Catholic Church celebrates a Mass every day, and that celebration is the Eucharist, from Mt.15:36; 26:27, [Gk. eucharisteo] which means: “thanksgiving.” The Protestant’s similarly commemorate Christ with fellowship [Gk. kiononia], which means “fellowship or Communion.” Hence the Mass emulates the thanksgiving and praise to God – similarly as Christ gave before and during the Last Supper, and the Protestant services emulate Christ’s words at the Last Supper to affect fellowship with God.
Jesus did not tell the Roman Church to celebrate a Mass with all the pomp, or the Protestants to comply only once a month, but he did tell all disciples to remember his death burial and resurrection [Mt.26:26; Mk.14:22; Lk.22:19; 1Cor.10:16; 11:23]. One Church body uses the word “Eucharist,” the other “Communion” yet it was Jesus who emphasized to do this act in “Remembrance” [Gk. anamnesis] of Him.” Does any church call this worship “Remembrance Sunday” or solicit that there will be “Remembrance” on the first of every month?
My point here is to demonstrate that a particular sectarian mode of worship may not be found exactly as presented in Scripture, but it may have at its root what God had intended – the spirit of the law, not the letter. In all cases, Protestants and Roman Catholics, including Greek and Russian Orthodox, etc., meet Jesus’ requirements for “remembering” Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Further, the early church, met on the first day [Sunday] of the week in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ [Ac.20:7].
So what has this to do with Easter? Well, a whole lot, but not from the point of view of a direct command of Christ, but from a willing desire of “Remembrance,” because Easter celebrations are about Jesus Christ’s Resurrection – but before a resurrection, there has to be a death and burial – so “Good Friday” [Christian Passover].
That said – let us hold to the truth of history and the primary doctrines of the church. We cannot be dissuaded from truth, simply because people misunderstand or close off their hearing. To reiterate, the facts are simple – Jesus never instituted holidays! However, all Christian holidays were memorialized by the hierarchies of the Eastern and Western Churches, so the holidays are not to be considered primary doctrine. But they may be considered secondary doctrine, commissioned and kept out of respect and love. Similarly, the Bible talks in terms of the death and resurrection of Christ, not simply his death.
Tertullian [circa 150 AD] testifies that the Pascal Feast celebrations ran fifty days as a continuous Sunday service, with standing prayer vigils, fasting and “Communion” every day. Later controversies arose between the Eastern and Western Churches over the celebration of the birth of Christ, with the East celebrating the Feast of Epiphany, January 6th, and the West as December 25th [the same day as the pagan Sun worship]. Apparently, renaming of a particular pagan day of worship, with a Christian identification, was thought of as, “bringing in the sheep.”
In all, the resurrection of Christ is better suited to the word, “Pascha” and not the Saxon or German “Easter,” even though “Pascha” comes from the Jewish Passover feast – the killing and eating of the lamb. Though the Jewish lamb [Pesach] never resurrected, the Messiah did. The two Jewish feasts, Passover and Pentecost [Heb. Shabouth, or Shavout] ran concurrently back to back, for a period of fifty days [Lev.23:6-7].
The resurrection of Christ has nothing to do Easter Bunnies, or Cadbury chocolate. It has nothing to do with Saxon terminology or the German goddess “Austron” or the Indo European goddess “Astarte,” however, it has a great deal to do with the proper exegesis of Church history, and the original languages of Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew, and the proper understanding of the Jewish calendar of feasts.
What better name could be given to the feasts surrounding Christ’s sacrifice, resurrection and gift, than the Pascal Feasts.
Interesting, think?!?
THE *GODHEAD* should be celebrated EVERY day, but this is not the case for many people, so the Churches since the beginning, have designated particular times of the year to awaken, and feed the NEED for THE LORD; to renew FAITH, and FAITHFULNESS, and so on! Bad thing? NO WAY! People NEED to be reminded, to be inspired, to find ways to inch closer to HIM, and to understand more completely the beauty of HIS GIFT of LIFE, along with HIS sufferings in order to salvage us from this world....
In the days of the ancients, there was all sorts of celebrating THE LORD, and I think it is fitting that we find ways, and reasons to do the same, IF the reasons are HONEST, and WORTHY!!!
Sometimes the constant arguing over SACRED SCRIPTURE, and the traditions of the Churches, makes me pause, and tired! Pagan roots are all over the Churches, though it is cited that there is reason for this happening, perhaps mostly, to inspire the pagans to participate IN CHRIST JESUS, and to bring all peoples into the fold! In no way have the Church founders approved of pagan rituals, instead they sought to end them, by drawing what TRUTH there was in them, that there would be a common ground on which to WORSHIP THE LORD *GOD* ALMIGHTY; loosely is my adding of this, they call this refining the pagan traditions!!!
I just read a quote by a Woman who says that Lent is not Christian, it is Catholic:))) I am sorry, but I do not believe that those of CHRIST should be separated by Dogma/Doctrine! I think it is a shame that Churches have spiraled in too many, opposing directions, but we are of ONE FOLD, and our MASTER is the same!!!
Easter or not; Lent or not; this IS a time of celebrating the GREATEST GIFT imaginable, and I believe with all my heart that it IS right to use this time to bring understanding closer to the heart, that it anchors deeply, and lasts forever...
REV. LWINSOR © 2014
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
I don't see how anyone could find fault with this tradition, in that, it INCREASES the spirit, and brings CLOSER THE GLORY OF *GOD* to the FAITHFUL...
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