Easter Days – The story behind Easter lies in the New Testament of the Bible which narrates how Jesus was arrested by the Roman authorities because he claimed to be the Son of God and later crucified. His resurrection three days later marks the occasion of Easter.
Easter is a Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiday falls on April 21 this year and will be celebrated all across the globe. According to the New Testament of the Bible, Easter occurs three days after the crucifixion of Jesus by Romans.
The Easter days are celebrated in most parts of the world by Christians. The Easter days signify the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter concludes the “Passion of Christ”, which begins with a 40 days period of fasting.
Lent and is concluded by the Holy Week. Holy Thursday (celebration of Jesus’s last supper) and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday is a part of the Holy Week which ends on Easter Sunday.
The resurrection of Jesus, as described in the New Testament of the Bible, is essentially the foundation upon which the Christian religions are built. Hence, Easter is a very significant date on the Christian calendar.
Origin of Easter
The earliest Christians celebrated the resurrection on the fourteenth of Nisan (our March-April), the date of the Jewish Passover. Jewish days were reckoned from evening to evening, so Jesus had celebrated His Last Supper the evening of the Passover and was crucified the day of the Passover.
Early Christians celebrating the Passover worshiped Jesus as the Paschal Lamb and Redeemer. Some of the Gentile Christians began celebrating Easter on the nearest Sunday to the Passover since Jesus actually arose on a Sunday.
This especially became the case in the western part of the Roman Empire. In Rome itself, different congregations celebrated Easter on different days. Although, as Christianity drew away from Judaism, some were reluctant to base the Christian celebration on the Jewish calendar.
Passover
The day before his crucifixion, Jesus observed Passover with his disciples. This event is known as the Last Supper. Passover is the time that Jews remembered their freedom and exodus from Egypt. During this Passover feast, Jesus told his disciples that the bread symbolizes His body that would be broken and the wine, his blood, which would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:17-30)
The Last Supper is remembered today in churches and religious services through the act of taking Communion and sharing bread and wine to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus was arrested after the Passover meal while he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was then taken before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, for trial.
Christian and Pagan Traditions
There are different traditions surrounding the lent season they are listed below;
- In Australia, bunnies are considered pests that ruin crops and land. Aussies celebrate with their native marsupial, the Bible, which has large ears and a pointier nose.
- In Poland on Easter Monday, boys try to soak people with buckets of water. This tradition has is rooted in the baptism of Polich Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 996.
- In Greece, the morning of Holy Saturday is known as the annual “pot throwing” where residents throw pots out of windows. It is a tradition used to mark the beginning of spring and new crops being gathered in new pots.
- In Europe, there are large bonfires called Easter Fires that are lit on Easter Sunday into Monday. The Saxon origin is that the fires will chase away winter and Easter will bring spring.
Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for our sins, and rise on the third day. (Isaiah 53).
Remembering the resurrection of Jesus is a way to renew daily hope that we have victory over sin. According to the New Testament, Easter is three days after the death of Jesus on the cross.
