by James R. Adams
As a Christian with a Jewish upbringing, I’ve often been puzzled as to why Easter is not more prominent and central to the believer and the church as a whole? Why can we, as the church, not more clearly articulate its exact relevance to society and use its amazing power for evangelism? After all, we try to correct the misunderstanding and wrong focus of Jesus’ birth being called “the holiday season” or “X-mas,” we rightly say “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but as regards the Resurrection Day, it seems we have lost the cutting edge of what it really is and how its clarity can be used to give hope, joy, purpose, and forgiveness to a needy and waiting world.
TERMINOLOGY
The word Easter seems to have come from an Anglo Saxon Pagan festival (yes — blame the Brits again!). It was originally called Estera or Eostre — there are several spellings — and it was celebrated from at least the seventh century and dedicated to a Teutonic goddess of fertility (hence, many say, the bunny and egg symbols). So, more accurately and Biblically, we would be better to use “Resurrection Day.”
Although we should know the facts and be informed, and we could take further time to argue over the origins and pagan nature of Easter, and for that matter Christmas, I do not want to waste time on something that’s just words and not critical to a lost world. What we can see clearly is Jesus never mentioned or kept Easter and the New Testament doesn’t reveal Easter ever being a part of the early church. However, Passover and the Resurrection were the focus of their faith, and not just once a year!
More relevant than arguing over what we call it is the background, purpose, and real meaning of the season of the Resurrection. I would humbly propose a few thoughts for the pastor in you, the Sunday school teacher, the home leader, the parent, the school teacher or daycare worker, or any growing church member. We should be able to articulate and evangelize better around the incredible reason for this season — Jesus’ resurrection — which uniquely offers life to all who come and believe in Him. (1 Corinthians 15: purpose (verse 14), joy (verse 15), forgiveness (verse 17), a future (verse 18), and hope (verse 19).)
It’s not about eggs, candy, Peeps, and bunnies. Has Satan confused us with the background and purpose so we lose our ability to preach its centrality to the message of new life and hope only found in Jesus? Part of the problem is we have forgotten our roots and the Biblical basis of the Resurrection season. Now I know this may be a shocking reminder, but Jesus was Jewish! As were all his disciples, and apostles, and writers of the New Testament (with the possible exception of Luke).
A FEW BASIC QUESTIONS
What is the basis of what is commonly called Easter? What did the disciples and Jesus celebrate in the upper room the night before he was betrayed and suffered death for us? The answer is … the Passover. And Jesus is the fulfillment of every minute detail of the Passover as instigated by God in Exodus 12 and as celebrated still today by every Jewish family in their homes.
This event gives us the correct context for Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension — the blood of the personal lamb sent by God applied to each home so God’s wrath can pass over and freedom can ensue. So, what did the Passover Festival entail and what does it mean?
The Passover is a major focus of the children of Israel’s deliverance and beginnings as a nation — the beginning of the calendar year to them (Exodus 12:1-2). It has been celebrated for over 3,500 years with a set format for thousands of years. It looks back to slavery and God’s amazing provision of deliverance. It looks to the Lamb — a personal, all-sufficient, and redemptive substitute to all who acted by faith and applied the results of its death, the blood, to their house and life. Lastly, it looks forward to new life and purpose in the Promised Land which God prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16 as a fourth generation freedom from slavery.
Space does not permit me to go into depth regarding the Passover Order of Service or, haggadah, but it is the family meal Jesus celebrated in the upper room (Matthew 26:17-30). That meal is the basis of our Lord’s Supper or breaking of bread, Communion service, and its meaning should be clear — He is still our Passover, sacrificed for us, our Lamb as John described Him (1 Corinthians 5:7 and John 1:29).
A CUP AFTER THE SUPPER?
In 1 Corinthians 11:25 “… He took the cup when he had supped saying this cup is the New Testament …”
Ironically, understanding what this means requires a simple look at the very part of religious Judaism that frustrated me growing up — tradition. The meticulous, unchanging, preserved tradition of Jewish practice enables us to know exactly what the Bible is talking about. In the Jewish Passover service at home, the service revolves around four cups: two before and two after the family supper. So, we know it’s the third cup, called “the cup of redemption” in the haggadah, that Jesus used to refer to himself.
We also have the amazing ritual of the Afikomen, which is Aramaic for “One who is to come” or “desert.” In this tradition, the middle portion of three unleavened breads is shown, then wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden by the father. After the supper, the children search for the hidden bundle and when it is found, everyone partakes of it.
And lastly, according to Jewish tradition (Leviticus 23:4-14), three days after the Passover the Feast of Firstfruits is celebrated, clearly referring to Jesus’ resurrection.
MY PROPOSAL
So, what I am proposing is nothing dramatic or terribly new. You don’t have to become Jewish (or go back) — that’s what the book of Hebrews is all about! However, my plea would be to get back to a Biblical basis of celebration and witness of the true meaning of Easter or Resurrection season. Let’s see it contextually as it was and is — our hope, our joy, our foundation of forgiveness. Truly a waiting world needs that.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bokser, Baruch M. The Origins of the Seder: The Passover Rite and Early Rabbinic Judaism. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1984.
Dobrinsky, Herbert C. A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs: The Ritual Practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish, and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America. Hoboken, N.J., and New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1986.
Eusebius of Caesarea, An Ecclesiastical History to the Twentieth Year of the Reign of Constantine, 4th ed., trans. (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1847), p. 221.
Feeley-Harnik, Gillian. The Lord’s Table: Eucharist and Passover in Early Christianity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
Fredman, Ruth Gruber. The Passover Seder: Afikoman in Exile. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
Goodman, Philip. The Passover Anthology. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1961.
Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, vol. 1, 4th ed., trans. James Steven Stallybrass (George Bell and Sons, 1882), pp. 289–291.
Joselit, Jenna Weissman. “The Call of the Matzoh.” In The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880–1950, pp. 219–263. New York: Hill and Wang, 1994.
Nick Sayers, “Why We Should Not Passover Easter,” http://www.easterau.com.
Segal, Judah Benzion. The Hebrew Passover, from the Earliest Times to A.D. 70. London Oriental Series, vol. 12. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1963.
Schauss, Hayyim (Shoys, Hayim). Guide to Jewish Holy Days: History and Observance. New York: Schocken Books, 1962.
Weinreich, Beatrice S. “The Americanization of Passover.” In Studies in Biblical and Jewish Folklore, edited by Raphael Patai, Francis Lee Utley, and Dov Noy, pp. 329–366. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1960.
An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed., s.v. “Easter.” (Walter W. Skeat, 1893).