Easter

A Celebration of theResurrection of Jesus Christ

Easter in North America

• Easter, increasingly called “Resurrection Day” by Christians, is their most important holy day.

• North American Easter practices and customs include both Christian and non-Christian elements.

• The events of Easter arehistorical, that is, they happened in a particular time and place,so they are not just symbolic.– In this presentation, first look at the historical

events surrounding the Resurrection.– Then look at non-Christian elements that were

added later to the celebration.

What is Easter?

• An annual celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (His rising from the dead)

• A moveable feast (festival, not held on the same date each year) that can come as early as March 22 or as late as April 25

• The First Nicene Councilin 325 AD decided to use alunar basis to set the date:

the first Sunday after the first full moonon or after March 21(the Vernal Equinox = beginning of Spring)

Jesus of Nazareth

• lived for about 33 years (4BC – 30AD) in Israel

• The Bible indicates that He was called“the Christ” (in Greek), meaning“the Chosen One” or “the Anointed One.”This title identified himas the long-awaited“Messiah” (in Hebrew).

Old Testament Prophecies

• Hundreds of predictions revealed aspects of the life of this special Servant of God. He would be:– God’s unique representative on earth.– the leader of God’s people.– the Lamb of God who would

personally take the consequenceof mankind’s evil anddisobedience on Himself.

• God’s punishment for evil anddisobedience was death. Jesus willinglychose to die as a substitute sacrifice for others.

• God required a perfect sacrifice. Because Jesus was God in human form, He kept God’s Law perfectly, and thus was the only one able to meet God’s requirement.

Holy WeekThe week before Easter

• Palm Sunday – a week before Easter – Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of

Passover– the crowd welcomed Him by placing their coats

and palm branches on the road andshouting loud praises of “Hosanna! Blessed is Hewho comes in theName of the Lord!”

• Monday – Thursday– Jesus preached and taught

in and around the Temple in Jerusalem• Wednesday

– The plot against Jesus was formed

Holy WeekThe week before Easter

• Maundy (or Holy) Thursday– the night Jesus celebrated the Last Supper

with His 12 closest followers and mandated the Communion (eating bread anddrinking wine to remember Hisbroken body and shed blood)

– the night He was betrayedby Judas Iscariot, one of the 12

The Crucifixion

• According to tradition Jesus died on a Friday. • He was executed by crucifixion, the common form

of death for criminals in the Roman Empire.– Roman soldiers severely beat and whipped,

then mocked Him.– Then they nailed His hands and feet to a

wooden cross. Two other criminals werecrucified at the same time.

– Death usually came after a prolonged andagonizing time on the cross, even up totwo or three days.

– Jesus died after only six hours, not needing for His legs to be broken to hasten His death.

• The Bible says that Jesus’ death is sufficient payment as punishment for all mankind’s evil.

Good Friday

• the day Jesus died on a cross• Initially Christians celebrated the

Crucifixion and Resurrection as one event,but in the fourth century theybegan to focus on theCrucifixion separately and itgradually became known as“Good Friday.”

• It is good becauseGod kept His promise to removethe punishment of all people for evil and disobedience, through Christ and His death.

Burial

• Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, friends of Jesus, wrapped His body in a linen cloth and buried it that same afternoonin an above-ground grave(a cave) called a tomb.

Luke 24:1-8

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled awayfrom the tomb, but when theyentered, they did not find thebody of the Lord Jesus.While they were wonderingabout this, suddenly two menin clothes that gleamed like lightningstood beside them.

Luke 24:1-8 (continued)

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!Remember how He told you,while He was still with youin Galilee: ‘The Son of Manmust be delivered into the handsof sinful men, be crucified andon the third day be raised again.’”Then they remembered His words.

The Resurrection

• The Bible indicates that after three days Jesus rose physically and literally from the dead.

• Over the next several weeksHe showed Himself to Hisfollowers. His body had thesame physical features,including scars from thewounds He received at Hisdeath. He also had physicalcapacities, demonstrated whenHe ate while with them.

• But because of the Resurrection, He also had a “spiritual” body – one that would never die.

Good News of Forgiveness

• Jesus said that because of His death and Resurrection, people all over the worldcould now– be forgiven of their sins– establish a relationship

with God through Him– know that they would see God

and be with Him when they die(eternal life!)

Forgiveness

• This message of forgiveness is for anyone who would believe or put their confidence in Jesus Christ. It was good newsthen, and remains good newsfor people today.

• Forgiveness and relationshipwith God give Christians theirmotivation to spread the messageof Jesus Christ.

More Good News

• Forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus ascended from the earth and returned to Heaven.

• Details of these accountscan be found in the Bible in – Matthew (chapters 26-28)– Mark (14-16)– Luke (22-24)– John (18-21)– Acts (1:1-11)

Origin of the word “Easter”

• The word “Easter” is not in the Bible.• “Easter” comes from “Eostre,” the name of

a Teutonic (ancient Germanic) fertility goddess, and the festival, called “Eostur,” that celebrated her and the new life of Spring.

• When Christians came to Europe,they replaced this ancient festivalwith their Christian celebrationof the Resurrection of Jesus andkept the name of the old festival.

• In some countries, Christians use the same name for Easter as the Jewish holiday, Passover.

Easter Symbols

• Easter became both a Christian holiday and a more general celebration of Spring.

• Many North American Easter symbolscome from Europe and fromthe pre-Christian festival.

Symbols

• The Easter Bunny– Ancient Egypt - rabbit represented new life from birth, and

was a symbol of the moon• Lunar calendar, rabbit Easter symbol

– Germany – a woman hidEaster eggs for her childrenduring a famine. When the children found the eggs,a big rabbit hopped away,so they thought the rabbitbrought the eggs.

• Lily, a large white flower,symbol of the Resurrection– Flowers of all kinds are used to celebrate Easter and

Spring

Easter Eggs

• From very ancient times eggs have represented the new life that returns during the Spring. – Ancient Persians and Egyptians dyed

their eggs in spring colors andgave them to friends as gifts.

– Christians in Mesopotamia firstadopted this custom of coloringeggs as part of the Christiancelebration. They changed theirmeaning and used them to celebratenew spiritual life at Easter.

– Egg decoration colors and styles differ slightly from country to country.

Easter Eggs in the US

• Use dye, wax symbols or stickers to color and decorate hard-boiled eggs

• Buy or make chocolateor other candy eggs

• Fill hollow plastic eggs withjelly beans or other sweet treats

Easter Customs for Children

• Easter Baskets– given to children on Easter Sunday morning

filled with decorated eggs, chocolate rabbits, jelly beans or other candy

– Some parents say thatthe Easter Bunny deliveredthem and some parents saythey are giving them

Easter Customs for Children

• Easter Egg Hunt– Parents hide eggs in the yard or inside in the

rooms of the house.– Children are given baskets

and told to find as manyeggs as possible. The onewho finds the most eggs wins.

– These egg hunts are sometimesdone in large community groupsor at schools or churches. 

Special Food

• Hot cross buns– bread with the mark of a cross on the top.  These

also predate Christianity, but Christians in the Middle Ages used them to celebrate the Resurrection.  They were given to the poor, but now everyone enjoys them.

• Pretzels– A snack now eaten anytime, but

from the fifth to nineteenth centuriesthey were eaten only during the 40-dayfasting time (called Lent) before Easter.Common legends indicate the foldedpretzel's shape looks like the arm positions taken by monks in prayer and the three holes represent the Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

Easter Clothes

• In the early centuries of the church, people often became official members of the church through the ritual of baptism on Easter.– People would wear new white

clothes for their baptism anda few days following.  Later,everyone began to wear new clothes on Easter,but white was just for thosebeing baptized.  After the church service,everyone would go for a walk in their new clothes,a kind of parade.

Easter Clothes

• Today, people often wear new clothes for Easter, especially children who have outgrown last Spring's clothes.In some places it is importantfor a girl or woman to havea new Easter bonnet (hat).

• Some people join in a paradewith no religious significance.

Movies on the Life of Jesus

• Well-known movies are shown on TV or can be rented from video stores during the Easter season:– Jesus– Jesus of Nazareth– The Robe– Ben-Hur– The Greatest Story Ever Told– The Passion of the Christ

Easter Worship in Church

• Because Easter is a special day, most churches have a special church worship service. – usually have a lot of special music– may have guest musicians– churches are often

decorated with lilies• Churches may have an

additional service at sunrisecalling it a “Son-Rise” service.The Bible names Jesusthe Son of God (Luke 1:35) who would rise from the dead (Acts 17:3), and early in the morning is the time when people first saw the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

Easter Worship in Church

• Some churches have pageants during the week. These are dramas in which people act out the story of Holy Week and Easter.

• Some people go to churchon Easter (and Christmas)who don't usually go to church,so churches are full andguests are usual.

Summary

• Next is a brief summary from the book of the Bible called the Acts of the Apostles.In chapter 10, Peter,the first major teacherof the church, talkedto a group of peoplewho were not Jewish andwho wanted to know moreabout the event that Christiansnow celebrate as Easter.

Acts 10

Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn't play favorites.  Rather, whoever respects God and does what is right is acceptable to Himin any nation.  God sentHis word to the people ofIsrael and brought themthe Good News of peacethrough Jesus Christ.This Jesus Christis everyone's Lord.

Acts 10, continued

“You know what happened throughout Judea. Everything began in Galilee after John spread the news about baptism.  You know that Godanointed Jesus from Nazarethwith the Holy Spirit and withpower. Jesus went everywhereand did good things, such ashealing everyone who wasunder the devil's power.Jesus did these things because God was with Him.  We can testify to everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

Acts 10, continued

“People hung Him on a cross and killed Him, but God brought Him back to life on the third day. God didn't show Him to all the people. He showed Jesus to witnesses, apostles He had chosen.We apostles are those men

who ate and drank with Jesusafter He came back to life. Heordered us to warn the people,‘God has appointed Jesus to judge the living and the dead.’  In addition, all the prophets testify that people who believe in the one named Jesus receive forgiveness for their sins through Him.”

Hope

• The Bible says– “He has risen!”– The Resurrection of Jesus

is the center of theChristian message.

– That if Jesus is still deadand buried, His followershave no hope,nothing to believe.

More Hope

• Since no one has ever found Jesus’ body, the Resurrection is proof for His followers that the God of the Bible is true and real.

• Easter is the yearly celebrationof all that Jesus’ followershope for and believe.