Basic HTML Version
OUTDOOR EASTER FIRES
(obove) ore o trodition in much of Europe doting bock
to eorly pre-Christion times. Colorfully dyed Eoster eggs (below, opposite poge)
hove been troced by scholors to eorly Egypt.
of the pagans and their astonishing
similarity to certain "Christian" cus–
toms today, Watts was moved to
write. "At first sight it is surprising
to find so many of these stories and
symbols of death-and-resurrection
in so many different places. The
points of resemblance between the
Christ story, on the one hand, and
the myth and ritual of ancient and
'pagan' cults, on the other, is at
times startling enough to Iook like a
conspiracy"
(op.
cit.
p. 22).
A "conspiracy"?
The answer may be clearly seen
in the historical record of how this
festival crept into the professing
Christian Church, and in comparing
this festival with the evidence from
the Bible.
The Bíblica! Tradition
Search tbrough the Bible and you
will
find no evidence that either
Christ, the apostles, or the New Tes–
tament Church ever observed Easter
Sunday.
Admittedly, there is one verse in
the King James Version of the Bible
which mentions " Easter." In that
verse "Easter" is a flagrant mis–
trans lation! The original Greek
word used in Ac ts 12:4 is
pascha
PLAIN TRUTH Morch 1973
meaning "Passover." Modero trans–
Lations clear up this difficulty by
translating the word properly.
Further, a careful study of the
New Testament proves the time of
Jesus' resurrection was not Sunday
morning, anyway. (Have you ever
wondered how three days and three
nights - see Matthew 12:40 - can
be squeezed between Friday eve–
ning at sunset and Sunday morning
a
t
sunrise? Obviously, there is
something wrong with the popular
tradition. Our free booklet
The Res–
urrection Was Not on Sunday
clearly
explains the true timing and se–
quence of events.)
But
if
the early Christians did oot
celebrate Easter, then what did they
celebrate? Why did early translators
mistakenly translate a word mean–
ing Passover as "Easter"?
Here is the answer. The Passover
was a solemn holy day in ancient
Israel (see Exodus 12). Israel 's God
" passed over" the enslaved Israelites
and slew the firstborn children of
their enemies - of Pharaoh and the
Egyptians. The Passover was com–
memorated every year in the spring
on the 14th of the Hebrew month
Nisan, in the evening, by eating
roast lamb and herbs (see Exodus
12). This was a statute instituted for
observance forever (Exodus 12: 14.
24).
In the days ofChrist, the Jews still
observed the Passover. Christ aod
His disciples observed it. This sol–
emn holy day is mentioned by name
48 times in the Old Testament, and
28 times in the New Testament.
In Luke 22, we discover that,
while Jesus and
His
disciples kept
His final Passover. Jesus changed
the manner of its observance. When
the hour for eating the Passover
supper carne, Jesus instituted the or–
dinance often referred to as the
"Lord's Supper" or "Communion."
He told His disciples to drink of the
cup, symbolizing His blood which
was about to be shed for our sins,
and to eat of tbe unleavened bread,
symbolizing H is body which was
about to be broken for our physical
sins, as a remembrance- a memo–
rial - of His supreme sacrifice
(Luke 22: 14-20).
Thus Jesus changed the emblems
of the ancient Passover, which had
been instituted forever. He did not
do away with this solemn holy day.
Rather, He simply
changed
the way
it was to be observed. The Passover
lamb, symbolizing the Messiah, was
no Ionger to be killed; rather, the
taking of the wine and the unleav–
ened bread now symbolize the Mes–
siah's - Christ's - suffering and
death for our sins.
But what, you may wonder, does
this solemn biblical holy day have
to do with Easter?
There is no record in the New
Testament of the early Chrístians
ever observing Easter. But there is
evidence that, as Cbrist com–
manded, they continued observing
the Passover each spring. on the
14th of Nisan, commemorating
Christ's sacrifice for our sins! How.
then, did Easter creep into the pro–
fessing Christian Church?
" The Age of Shadows"
The correct translation of Acts
12:4 shows that Luke, the writer of
11