Friday, March 30, 2007

Happy Easter

Becky was an inquisitive 5 year old and was helping her mother prepare the Easter Sunday meal. Before putting the Easter ham in the pot, her mother cut off the end and put it aside.
Becky: "Mommy, why did you do that?"
Mother: "Well sweetie that's the way that Gramma taught me."
Gramma was home for the holiday so Becky went to her and asked,
"Gramma, why does mommy cut off the end of the ham for Easter?"
Gramma: "Well sweetie, that's the way that great gramma taught me."
Great gramma was home for the holiday, as well. So off went Becky to find out why.
Becky: "Great grammie, why does mommy cut off the end of the ham for Easter?"
Great gramma: "Well sweetie, I don't know. I did it because the ham was too big for my pot."

Did I miss something when it comes to celebrating birthdays and anniversaries? Don’t they tend to be on the same day of the year? Christmas works like this and we simply made that one up.

But then again, when it comes to the anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection, why not make it uniquely special. I know, let’s celebrate it on the first day of the week that is closest to the time of a pagan festival, honoring fertility rights. Let’s name this day after the goddess Ishtar (pronounced ee-star). Let’s not have anything remotely Jewish associated with it, like the Hebrew word, “Pesach” (Passover).

Ask your pastor, WHY?
I’m sure he will pacify you with a wonderful answer.

Acts 17:11 (NIV) Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

p.s. Passover starts on April 2, making the anniversary of the resurrection on Wednesday, April 4.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure glad that Easter bunny died on a cross for me. Now I can eat ham.

Seriously though ... don't we celebrate Easter on a Sunday since it was Christ's resurrection that resulted in Christian's observance of the Lord's Day (Sunday)rather than observing the Sabbath (Saturday)? Since we know the Last Supper was the seder dinner on the first night of Passover, it would seem natural to keep Easter near the Passover as recognition of the fact that Jesus was Jewish.

Sherry

David Grant said...

This year Easter is quite close to Passover on the calendar but in some years, such as next year, Easter will be March 23 and Passover will begin April 20.

Jewish input into church thinking when the dates of Easter were established at the council of Nicea 325 A.D. was definitely not welcomed. The church leaders did not want any association with their Jewish heritage.

The same can be said for how the Lord's Day came into widespread practice. It is very likely that the Lord's Day is more a statement of anti-semtism within the church of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Suffice it to say that many of our practices that we hold to be biblically based are really beliefs that have their origins much later than the 1st century.

The timing and naming of Easter is definitely at a much later time.

Why the established church does not admit to these historical developments is a question best left for you to decide.

David Grant said...

An excellent site for dealing with the origins of the Lord's Day can be found at
http://www.biblehistory.com/The%20Origin%20of%20Sunday%20Worship.html

solnechko said...

well as for the naming... in french thay have it right : pa^ques... which comes from pesach. The "^" always replaces an "s" that used to be there...

it's the darn germanic languages that got it wrong :)

David Grant said...

darn? I was reading without my glasses and thought you said something else. :)

Jevan said...

Would you be able to repost that link? It seems to be cut off and I can't look at it.

I have become incredibly interested in the whole "Lord's Day on Sunday vs. Saturday issue", as I generally attend large services on Saturday nights, and am looking for a response to friends that joke with comments of "going to synagogue" or "7th day Adventister".

David Grant said...

I think the link is fine. I checked it on my other computers. If it doesn't work go to biblehistory.com and click on Beliefs Central. Then click Day of Worship for Roman Catholics. At the bottom of that article click on, The Origin of Sunday Worship in the Christian Church. This is the article I was referring to.

Lots of interesting stuff on this site. Browse around.