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WHY
CELEBRATE
EASTER?
by
Eugene
M.
Walter
Does Easter Sunday really commemorate the resurrection
of Christ? Where, in the Bible, are Christians com–
manded to keep Easter ? We strip bare the FACTS of
history in t his article!
O
N ONE
Sunday morning
each spring, a st range
and bewildering phe–
nomenon takes place in cit–
ies, towns and countrysides
around t he world.
1nstead of sleeping late as
usual, many thousands are going
to get up early on this day–
very
early. They must be at
their destination well befare
sunríse.
The occasion? A game of golf?
A fishi ng trip? No, not on this par–
ticular morning.
lt' s Easter-But Why?
l nstead, they will meet with friends
and, of all things, watch the sun
rise! And as if this were not strange
enough, this is all part of a
re/i–
gious service!
On this very same day, millions
of others will be preparing to do
something unusual , too. This will
be one of the two or three times
duri ng the year when they will
darken the door of a church! Or
perhaps it would be better to say
decorare
the door of a c hurch , for
they will have purcbased fashion–
able new clothes especiaJiy for the
occasion.
Sorne, because their 40 days of
March 1982
partial abstinence called Lent will
be over, will once again freely
indulge themselves. Others anticí–
pate a family reunion, a big ham
dinner or, perhaps, a fashion show
ora parade.
And the ch ildren? They are
absolutely delighted with the choc–
olate rabbits, the colored eggs and
the prospect of exciting egg-hunt–
ing and egg-rolling games on the
lawn!
This is Easter-()ne of the big
holidays of the Western year!
But what is its purpose? What is
it supposed to commemorate? And
why all these incongruous activi–
ties? Why watch the sun rise on
th is day? Why purchase new
clothes for it? Why eat ham for
dinner?
Why rabbits? Why not a puppy
or a kitten ? They can lay j ust as
many eggs as a rabbit. But then,
WHY
eggs?
Wouldn' t oranges or
onions roll just as well?
To a world steeped in tradition,
these customs seem normal. But
when you stop to think about it,
what real sense do the activities of
this day we call Eas ter make any–
way?
And wby is Easter observed on a
Sunday? Why not on a Tuesday,
Thursday or Monday ?
T o this question many will
immediately reply tbat Sunday was
the day on which Christ rose from
the dead and that bis resurrection is
the very reason for observing Eas–
ter.
But is it ?
W
AS
Christ resur rected on a
Sunday? Are you sure? Have you
ever proved it from the Bible?
And what has the Easter rabbit
to do with Christ's resurrection?
When Was Chrlst Resurrected?
Shocking though it may be, either
the Good Friday-Easter Sunday
tradition is a fable-()r you have no
Savior! Jesus gave only one sign to
prove that he was the Messiah.
That sign was the length of time he
would be dead and buried .
Notice Jesus' own words con–
cerning this
ONLY SIGN
that would
prove his Messiahship:
"An evil and adulterous genera–
tion seeketh after a sign; and there
shall no sign be given to it, but the
sign of the prophet Jonas: For as
Jonas was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly; so shall
the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the
earth" (Matt. 12:39-40).
Did Christ mean what he said ?
Did he really expect to be buried in
the earth for three days and three
nights- a full 72 hours?
Notice Mark 8:31: "And he
began to teach them, that the Son
of man must suffer many things,
and be rejected of the elders, and of
the chief priests, and scribes, and
be killed, and
AFTER
three days r ise
again."
Did you grasp that? Jesus did
not say "after a day and a half." He
said "after
THREE DAYS."
Now consider!
If
Jesus were cru–
cified and buried late on Good Fri–
day, then one day after would be
Saturday evening, and two days
after would be Sunday evening , and
three days after would be Monday
evening.
But J esus rose long before Mon–
day evening! Either he was not cru–
cified on Good Friday, or he did
not fulfill his sign and he is there–
fore an impostor and not the Mes–
siah!
Did Jesus fulfill bis sigo? In
Matthew 28:6 we read this testimo–
ny of the angel at the tomb: " He
(Jesus] is not here: for he is risen,
39