Table of Contents

Beyond Today Program - What Easter Doesn't Tell You

The resurrection of Christ: Hope for the ages

Easter vs. the Bible

How Easter replaced the biblical Passover

Three days and three nights

We need a Savior

What's the rest of the story about Easter?

If You Would Like to Know More...

Beyond Today Program - "What Easter Doesn't Tell You"

Something critical is missing in the story of Easter and it has everything to do with your salvation. Learn more.

Watch the Beyond Today program - http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/doctrinal-beliefs/what-easter-doesnt-tell-you

Watch "What Easter Doesn't Tell You" on YouTube - http://youtu.be/w7ogXe71iZk

[Darris] Could it be the Easter traditions leave something missing in the story of Jesus Christ? You may celebrate Easter customs to remember the resurrection of Jesus. But, there are Christians who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, without observing the Easter traditions. I happen to be one of them. Could it be that Easter does not tell you the whole story about Christ's life, death and resurrection?

If there is something missing - and there is - then it changes the entire story about Jesus Christ. What's missing and what you need to know is our topic on Beyond Today. Join us as we discuss "What Easter Doesn't Tell You."

[Announcer] Join our host Darris McNeely, and his guests, as they help you understand your future on Beyond Today!

[Darris] Did you know that Easter as a celebration has nothing to do with Jesus Christ?

The name itself does not mean "resurrection of Christ" like you may believe. The word "Easter" actually comes from the name of an anciently-worshipped fertility goddess. You can also go online and quickly learn the origins of Easter bunnies, colored eggs, hot cross buns and the sunrise service. You'll find these modern parts of the Easter celebration come from ancient, ungodly, pre-Christian religions. They were around a long time before the time of Christ, and they have nothing to do with the Bible record or the church.

Now, maybe that doesn't matter to you. Maybe you believe it's fun to do as part of the worship of Christ. Perhaps, it makes little difference to you. If that's the case, let me show you in this program from God's Word why you should care. Let's look to the Word of God to find out why it's important for you and for me.

Let's get down to the story.

The church Jesus founded had a very clear understanding of who He was and how to worship Him. But over many decades things changed. Early Christians got confused and then they lost the plain biblical teaching about God and Christ.

How could people who believed in God possibly let that happen? Well, we have a natural tendency to forget the things we learn. The early Church learned their true faith by the teachings of Christ and the apostles. But very early, we can tell from the writings of the New Testament Church that there was heresy. There was false teaching beginning to creep into the church.

Paul warned the church that they were flirting with a false gospel (Galatians 1:6). The apostle Peter warned that "…there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them…" (2 Peter 2.1)

Gradually through the years after the death of the original apostles, other teachings began creeping into the church. Among those false teachings was a changing of the truth about the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

Peter warned that there was a danger of "denying the Lord who bought them." That is, replacing the clear truth of Jesus Christ with a pagan myth and false teaching. It is exactly that denial. It denies the most important truth about salvation and eternal life. Yet despite Peter's clear warning Christians bought into the denial.

Easter evolved from a story based upon an ancient god named Tammuz. The story of Tammuz is at the heart of the pagan world - and at the heart of Easter. It's a story of a never-ending circle of life without meaning, direction or purpose. You see, Tammuz died every year at the beginning of winter and was "resurrected" in the spring by a goddess named Ishtar.

Did you hear that? Ish-tar? Does that name sound vaguely familiar?

That's because the word, Easter, comes from the name of this ancient false goddess, Ishtar. Lots of what Christians do today to celebrate Easter are customs that come directly from the way ancient people worshiped Ishtar.

Why and how did this happen? Well, people had been believing the Ishtar myth and other stories for centuries. In the decades following Jesus and the apostles, as Christianity spread across the world, local people started blending these myths into the true gospel story of Christ. Eventually, the fake stories replaced the true one. For the leadership of the church that was beginning to take hold at the time, and it was convenient to blend pagan myths into biblical truth to attract more local people to the church, so they could hold power over them. It is a recurring story told often in the Bible.

The life of Tammuz and others is meaningless when it comes to salvation and what God is really doing with human life. Only God coming to live in the flesh could open the door of salvation for the human creation. Borrowing from false pagan myths to create a Christian story does not work. It is empty, futile, empty tradition. And every year in the United States and other countries, there are parades and Easter sunrise services. Here in America, Easter egg rolling takes place annually on the White House lawn.

People dress in their finest and for many this is the one of perhaps two or three times a year they actually go into a church for a formal service. Easter services, even for a casual believer, eases their conscience. Easter services around the world are major events. Coupled with Good Friday, it becomes a long weekend of leisure and worship.

Now you may think, "All of this really doesn't matter because, well, I do it to honor God."

But it does matter. There is something missing in this story. What's missing is truth! What's missing is understanding of the way to eternal life through Jesus Christ the Son of God. Christ came in the flesh and showed us the Kingdom of God - through His death and His resurrection. He made possible the most awesome reality - the potential to become glorious sons in the family of God - entering eternity crowned with infinite glory and honor.

And this is the heart of the Bible's message to mankind. Christ tasted death for every man that God might give eternal life to those who call on His name. The festival that teaches this truth to us must do so in truth, not error or myth. Christ said those who worship Him will do it in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Do you want to do what Christ said? If so, then you need to learn what's missing in the Easter holiday.

You may be surprised to learn that Easter is not even found in the New Testament story of Jesus and His followers. The Book of Acts which tells the story of the apostles and the Church in its first decades, it has no account at all of Easter. The apostles, they constantly preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, they put the resurrection in the context of the festivals they already knew and observed.

These festivals were central to the life of the Church of God in the first century. As recorded in Acts (Acts 2:1), the Church was gathered on the day of Pentecost. Later in Acts, Luke referenced key events taking place during the Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 20:6). Another festival, the Day of Atonement, is also mentioned in Acts (Acts 27:9). The weekly Sabbath as well, it's featured several times as the apostle Paul went into the synagogues to preach to the Jews and to the gentiles (Acts 17:2).

On one occasion, Paul told the gentile church in the city of Corinth to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:8). He said keep these days with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Easter celebrations were nowhere in the picture during the early days of the Church. The resurrection as found in the Bible was.

Notice the first sermon that Peter gave on the day of Pentecost. Speaking of the prophecies about the Messiah that King David made, Peter said, "He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:31-32).

When he was called to task for healing a lame man, Peter was "filled with the Holy Spirit" and he said "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom god raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole" (Acts 4:8-10).

Paul preached to a city in Greece for three straight Sabbaths "that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ" (Acts 17:2-3). Again, throughout the New Testament, it's the resurrection of Jesus Christ that was taught. But it is never found in connection with an Easter service.

Christ's death and resurrection is clearly connected with the Passover and the Days of the Unleavened Bread festival. Jesus was killed as "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7). He was buried just as the Days of Unleavened Bread began in that year. Three days and three nights later He was resurrected during this seven-day festival. And He appeared to the disciples the morning after His resurrection and it was on that day that He was accepted by the Father.

All this was clearly understood by the Church. It was part of the "apostle's doctrine" or their "teaching" in the early days. Celebrating Easter was not part of the story and it - Easter - introduced doctrinal error!

To give you more information on this Easter story and God's truth on the subject, we have prepared a brand new booklet that we're offering for the first time today, Easter: The Rest of the Story. It goes into further detail on this topic and explains what is missing in the Easter traditions.

You can receive a free copy by calling: 1-888-886-8632. Again, that's 1-888-886-8632. You can also write to us at the address on your screen [Beyond Today, PO Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254]. Please note Easter: The Rest of the Story will be available in print for only a short time. Order your copy while our supplies last. After they are done, it will only be available on our website to read.

And, while you're thinking about today's topic, go right to our BeyondToday.tv website and do a search and read much more on this subject: What Easter doesn't tell you.

We just learned that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most important teaching that the apostles gave when they preached the gospel. But the holiday of Easter was nowhere to be found.

The story of how Easter inserted itself into the teachings about the resurrection is preserved for us though in history. About 200 years after Christ, the Christian faith was changing into something the original apostles would not have recognized. The false teachers that Peter warned about began to introduce false teaching about Christ's death and resurrection, and there was a great uproar in the church about it.

It is known in history as the Quartodeciman Controversy. Now that's a big word, but the name really means the fourteenth day of the month, the day when the Passover was kept. Some churches were beginning to keep an Easter tradition that they had borrowed from pagan myth instead of the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The controversy became so intense that some ministers were taking action to dismiss, or to excommunicate others who would not get with the times and begin keeping this new teaching about Easter. Listen from history to what happened next:

A bishop named Victor from Rome who was teaching Easter got so bold as to put out of the church another minister named Polycrates who was standing up for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Polycrates gave one of the most spirited and inspiring defenses of truth ever recorded. He was not about to abandon his conscience or faith for a pagan myth. At great cost, he rose in defense of the faith and his words are recorded for us.

Polycrates wrote this,

"We, therefore, observe the genuine day; neither adding thereto nor taking there from. For in Asia great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again the day of the Lord's appearing, in which he will come with glory from heaven, and will raise up all the saints …"

The great lights in Asia that he was talking about were members of the first century church who first received the truth and kept it. They died in the faith and they await the resurrection of the just. Among those he mentioned was the apostle John and other early men and women.

Polycrates went on to say this:

"All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. Moreover, I, Polycrates, who am the least of all of you, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have followed. For there were seven, my relatives [who were] bishops, and I am the eighth; and my relatives always observed the day when the people threw away the leaven."

Here Polycrates mentions the Days of Unleavened Bread. He was the eighth generation to keep these days and he was not about to abandon what he knew to be biblical truth.

Listen to how he concludes,

"I, therefore, brethren, am now sixty-five years in the Lord, who having conferred with the brethren throughout the world, and having studied the whole of the sacred Scriptures, am not at all alarmed at those things with which I am threatened, to intimidate me. For they who are greater than I, have said, 'we ought to obey God rather than men.'"

This is an inspiring but little-known story about how one man stood up against the Easter traditions that crept into the Church of God and overturned the true faith. But, what does this matter? So many times on these issues we encounter the idea, "but if we have turned a pagan idea into a Christian idea isn't that acceptable to God?" And sometimes we hear: "Christ conquers paganism." It's a resignation that people make, and as time goes by and is so often repeated, it becomes accepted.

But this doesn't square with God and the hard-won truths He planted in time and reality. What Easter doesn't tell you is you are missing out on the wonderful meaning of Passover and the death and reconciliation of Jesus. Because Easter only focuses on the resurrection.

Christ suffered, died and was resurrected once for all time that men might have opportunity to enter into eternal life. Easter obscures the truth about that. Notice what we read in the book of Hebrews:

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Jesus entered once for all. He only needed to enter once. But the Easter traditions taken from ancient pagan myth commemorate a never-ending cycle of death and life, death and life. And it means nothing.

What do you need to know?

You need to know that Christ died according to the Scripture as our Passover Lamb, in fulfillment of the many Old Testament scriptures which foretold His coming, His suffering, His death and His resurrection.

You need to know that the New Testament Passover observance, instituted by Christ the night before He died, fills this need.

You need to know that the Days of Unleavened Bread show the life of the resurrected Christ and His power today. Because He was resurrected, we have the power to live a life of hope and meaning with the power of God in you. It is that spiritual power, the Holy Spirit, that can fill the void of despair you may sense and fill you with meaning and understanding in the midst of a crazy and confusing world. It is this festival that Paul taught the gentile world to observe. This festival of Unleavened Bread is what you can observe today to realize the full meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

You need to know that Easter misses all of this vitally important truth about Jesus Christ.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 that without Christ's resurrection we are of all people most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). The truth of the resurrection must be told according to what the Bible reveals. There is no room for error and myth in this most important event. Look at what you know, or what you think you know about the resurrection. The truth about the resurrection is a key to opening a relationship with Christ and the Father based on fact and truth.

Paul said, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Because Christ was resurrected from the dead and lives today, you have assurance that you too can enter eternal life. No humanly-devised holiday can tell you what God says through His Holy Days. You need to educate yourself with the full story.

Now we are going to discuss this further with the Beyond Today panel. But let me tell you about - again our free offer that we're offering today - the booklet available for a limited time in print, Easter: The Rest of the Story. We have prepared this booklet with material that expands on what I have been discussing today. Ask for your copy now while supplies last.

When you request this we will also send you a free subscription to The Good News magazine. Published six times a year, The Good News has in-depth articles on Christian living, Bible prophecy, mini-studies and other articles designed to help you understand the Bible and apply its teachings to your everyday life.

The Good News helps you sort through the conflicting messages of our culture. It provides a message of understanding, hope and encouragement to live a godly life. We offer it free. Period. Take us up on this offer and try a few issues to see if it does what we say it does.

Read Easter: The Rest of the Story and The Good News now online at BeyondToday.tv, or request a free copy to be sent to your home by calling: 1-888-886-8632. Again, 1-888-886-8632. You can also write to us at the address on your screen [Beyond Today, PO Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254].

Thanks to the generous support of members of the United Church of God and our generous viewers, we provide all our materials absolutely free of charge. You can also read Easter: The Rest of the Story and The Good News magazine online at BeyondToday.tv.

I am now joined by our Beyond Today panel: Gary Petty and Steve Myers. We're talking today about Easter: The Rest of the Story. If a person is convicted to make a change from Easter, what is it that they then should do?

[Gary] You know the word conviction is a very powerful word.

[Darris] Yes it is.

[Gary] When the Creator God convicts you to do something, He expects a response. He expects us to respond to Him. And so if you see that Easter is something that you shouldn't do in your worship of God, then you need to give it up. But you have to replace it with something, and that's where you talk about the Passover. We are supposed to replace it with the worship, or days of worship that we find in the Scripture.

[Darris] The Passover really focuses upon that death, and the Days of Unleavened Bread then teach us a greater meaning.

[Steve] Yeah, I think that is an important thing, that if we are convicted that means we have got to act upon those convictions. So what are we going to do? It means you've got to get into your Bible. You've got to start reading. What does God expect of me? What should be my response to what the truth of the Word really is? And find that out. We have got materials that can help with those kinds of things. And so people need to make that change and look at it and decide that they are going to act on it.

[Darris] I don't think we can over emphasize too much the power of conviction. That when people do, become convicted, by what they hear on our program, read in our material, that they must act upon it. That the changes that you're looking for in their lives, require they act on that conviction.

[Gary] And that's coming from God!

[Darris] Yes.

[Gary] A response to God is what we are talking about here.

[Darris] Why is it necessary then for a Christian to observe the death of Jesus Christ?

[Gary] Well Darris, without the death of Jesus Christ, there is no Christianity. That is the foundation of Christianity - that we are dead in our sins, we are convicted by our sins before the Almighty Righteous God. And God supplied a way, a remedy, to pay the penalty for our sins. And so, Christ came from heaven to here to live a life as a human being and die to take the penalty for our sins. So without that, there is no hope.

[Steve] Absolutely. It even comes down to a command. That we are told we have to keep it. I mean if we claim to be Christians, Christ said that we keep the Passover and we proclaim His death till He comes. And so that's very specific. It's not like it's a nice observance, but He says we need to do it. And by keeping that Passover, we are proclaiming His death and so we recognize His sacrifice for sin in our life.

[Darris] And He said take, eat, this is my body…

[Gary] That's right.

[Darris] …which is broken for you. Without that there can be no reconciliation. There can be no hope. So, what about the resurrection? Where does that fit then in this whole matter of truth - in sprit and in truth - that Paul said to do in worshipping God?

[Gary] That's the second half of the plan. Christ died for us, but like Paul said, if He is still in the grave, we are still in our sins. 1 Corinthians 15. We are still in our sins. He had to be resurrected, go back to His place in heaven, and now God is using Him to actually remedy sin in human beings. So, that was part of God's equation all along.

[Darris] Easter focuses only on the resurrection. Let's kind of recap this for a moment. It really doesn't focus on the death of Christ. It's kind of passed over. But, the resurrection is a central part of the entire matter.

[Gary] If His death... if He's not resurrected, it's all meaningless.

[Steve] And it begins to show the plan. And that's what unique about God's Holy Days. Is that the Passover shows that we have a sacrifice for sin and so our sin can be forgiven. Now what are we going to do? Now, during the Days of Unleavened Bread is when Christ was resurrected. And now we can live a new life because of His resurrection. We can receive God's Spirit and we can be a new creation in Christ. And so, we recognize that resurrection and now it should change who we are. And how we live. And it should be reflected in the fact we've got God's spirit and now we are a new creation in Christ.

[Darris] And that new creation comes as a result of our putting sin out, by working on our lives and living a righteous life, and God helping us to accomplish that. I think that's the one thing that all the other holidays and celebrations, especially connected to Easter, doesn't really focus on the matter of putting sin out. The fact that we also must engage in that way and actively work on a righteous life.

[Gary] Christ didn't come just to supply forgiveness. He came to conquer sin in every one of us.

[Darris] So we're done looking then at the Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread. That's two key elements. The Passover begins the plan of God, the Days of Unleavened Bread, a full seven day festival then that really does focus on putting sin out of our lives, helps us to focus upon the life of Christ within us by which means we do that, and really completes and tells the whole story that something like Easter doesn't do.

Today, you've heard the truth of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Are you going to do anything with the biblical understanding that you're receiving? Are you changing how you live and removing non-Christian, un-biblical traditions? I hope you'll make a commitment to God for the sake of your future. It's up to you.

And, we would be happy to hear from you. We have hundreds of congregations across the United States and around the world.

We have qualified pastors and counselors who can help you in your Christian journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Go to BeyondToday.tv - click on the "Contact" tab and find a congregation near you. Call one of our pastors and share your story with us. We're here to help.

What does Easter not tell you? It fails to tell you the true path to eternal life through Jesus Christ the Son of God. Easter is based on a false myth of an idea of a man-god who died and rose year after year with no connection to a hope of immortality for mankind. Joining the truth of Christ's resurrection to such a myth turns the truth of God into a lie. Easter with all its traditions is a lie.

We challenge you to look into your Bible to see what God tells us about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead of keeping a humanly-devised day rooted in myth, why not keep the festival God gives us - a festival that explains the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in its entirety, a festival that explains the victory of life over death.

Thanks for watching us today and remember to join us in praying, "Thy Kingdom come." For Beyond Today, I'm Darris McNeely. Thanks for watching.

[Announcer] For the free literature offered on today's program, go online to BeyondToday.tv. Please join us again next week on Beyond Today!

The resurrection of Christ: Hope for the ages

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key historical and spiritual reality for a Christian. Without His resurrection, "your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Christ's resurrection is the culmination of the most important series of events of all time.

For a believer, the focus on Christ's resurrection is a central tenet of faith. What the disciples saw after three days and three nights was a tomb without a body and the risen Christ in recognizable bodily form. They saw and touched Him. Their mourning was indeed turned to joy. Christ was raised from the realm of the dead and appeared multiple times over the coming days before finally ascending to heaven. Because of this, Christians have the opportunity to receive eternal life.

It's surprising then, that the day most people celebrate to remember this most important of events actually obscures the truth of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection. As we'll see, Easter customs not only have non-Christian origins, they actually change the story and keep Christians from fully understanding the truth of salvation.

Truly understanding the history and life-changing significance of Jesus' life, death and resurrection requires us to place this event within the proper context of God's festivals. These are the same festivals God gave to Israel and that Christ and His disciples were observing when He died.

We'll also see that instead of observing the false traditions associated today with Easter, the early Church observed the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. These festivals and their meaning have the same relevance for Christians today that they had during the first century. The modern world has not moved beyond the need for the power of the resurrected Christ. When we observe the holy occasions God ordained, it helps us understand and appreciate Christ's atoning sacrifice. We become sensitive to His life in us and begin to live by His Word and Spirit. Not only is this a key to understanding the salvation process but it is the foundation for building a successful Christian life today.

Today there are many attacks on our faith and basic truths of the Bible. You can prove Christ's life, death and resurrection and in doing so gain insight into the most basic and essential needs of life. You can also prove the origins of the false traditions of Easter and see that God's biblical festivals hold the true meaning of salvation.

Easter vs. the Bible

For millions of professing Christians Easter is the most important day of the calendar year because it commemorates Jesus' resurrection. Easter sunrise services are considered the holiest assembly of the year—a time when Christians reaffirm that Jesus is risen and their hope in Him is true.

But if you look more closely at this holiday you'll see that, despite its Christian veneer, it has done much damage in obscuring the truth of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. It's a day built on a lie, not on the great truth of Jesus' atoning sacrifice. There are two main problems with the Easter celebration. The first is that its customs and practices are based in ancient paganism, not in the Word of God.

A day with unchristian origins

As with Christmas, we find that the popular customs associated with the Easter celebration—rabbits, Easter-egg hunts and sunrise services—have nothing to do with the biblical record of Jesus Christ's life, in this case His rising from the dead.

Where, then, did these practices originate?

The Encyclopaedia Britannica tells us, "As at Christmas, so also at Easter, popular customs reflect many ancient pagan survivals—in this instance, connected with spring fertility rites, such as the symbols of the Easter egg and the Easter hare or rabbit" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 605, "Church Year").

The word Easter appears once in the King James Version of the Bible, in Acts 12:4, where it is a mistranslation. Reputable scholars and reference works point out that the Greek word rendered "Easter" in this verse is actually pascha, meaning Passover. Modern translations correctly translate this word "Passover"—as even the King James Version does in other verses (see Matthew 26:2, Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:12; 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Notice what Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says about the term Easter here: "Pascha...mistranslated 'Easter' in Acts 12:4, KJV, denotes the Passover...The term 'Easter' is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Pasch [Passover] held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast...From this Pasch the pagan festival of 'Easter' was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity" (1985, p. 192, "Easter").

Easter's ancient history

The Chaldean deity Astarte is in fact mentioned in the Bible. She is referred to as "Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians" (2 Kings 23:13) and, as Vine's mentions, "the Queen of Heaven," whose worship God condemned (Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:24-28).

Francis Weiser, professor of philosophy at Boston College, provides these facts: "The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races...The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hare and rabbit were the most fertile animals our fore-fathers knew, serving as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season" (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, 1958, pp. 233, 236).

Fertility rites and customs were incorporated into religious practices early in history. After Adam and Eve rejected God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), humanity looked for other explanations for life. Forces of nature and seasons that could not be controlled began to be viewed as gods, goddesses and supernatural powers to be worshipped and feared. Man soon created his own gods, contradicting God's instruction against idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6; Deuteronomy 5:7-10).

"The pagan nations made statues or images to represent the powers they worshiped. Most of these idols were in the form of animals or human beings. But sometimes the idols represented celestial powers, like the sun, moon, and stars; forces of nature, like the sea and the rain; or life forces, like death and truth...

"In time an elaborate system of beliefs in such natural forces was developed into mythology. Each civilization and culture had its own mythological structure, but the structures were often quite similar. The names of the gods may have been different, but their functions and actions were often the same. The most prominent myth to cross cultural lines was that of the fertility cycle. Many pagan cultures believed that the god of fertility died each year during the winter but was reborn each year in the spring. The details differed among cultures, but the main idea was the same" (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, "Gods, Pagan," p. 508).

In pagan mythology the sun represented life. The sun supposedly died around the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Complementing the rebirth of the sun were spring fertility rites, whose surviving symbols thread their way throughout Easter celebrations.

In addition to rabbits and eggs, another popular Easter custom had pre-Christian origins: "Also popular among Europeans and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, p. 558, "Easter").

God isn't pleased with mixing pagan practices with true worship

It's easy to see and prove the pagan and unchristian origins of the traditions associated with Easter. The question is why Christians should care whether Easter is pagan in origin. A popular opinion is that as long as the day is kept in honor of Jesus and His resurrection, it trumps any past pagan associations. Is this true?

God inspired the prophet Jeremiah to take Israel to task for their mixture of true religion and pagan practices. "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile..." (Jeremiah 10:2-3).

This echoed God's command to Israel when they entered the Promised Land: "The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates" (Deuteronomy 12:29-31, New International Version).

When you consider the unchristian and unbiblical pagan origins of Easter traditions and remember God's command to not be involved in the ways that other religions worship their gods, it becomes clear that God isn't pleased with such customs in worshiping His Son and commemorating Jesus' resurrection.

The second reason Easter isn't a proper way to worship Jesus and remember His resurrection is that it entirely obscures the facts of His life, death and resurrection. When you celebrate Easter, you're allowing yourself to be removed from the Passover.

How Easter replaced the biblical Passover

Why did Easter replace the Passover? Though Easter was clearly pagan in origin, Christian leaders of the first two centuries after Christ's crucifixion employed the same philosophy in establishing the new holiday that they later applied to Christmas. Believing that people are free to select their own times and customs of worship, they went about gradually replacing the biblically commanded Passover with their humanly devised celebration of Easter.

It was easier to draw pagan worshippers into Christianity and maintain their devotion by identifying the time-honored spring resurrection feast of the pagan mystery religions with the resurrection of Christ.

Anti-Jewish prejudice also seems to have been a major factor in the church leaders' decision to make such changes. According to R.K. Bishop: "The early development of the celebration of Easter and the attendant calendar disputes were largely a result of Christianity's attempt to emancipate itself from Judaism. Sunday had already replaced the Jewish sabbath early in the second century, and despite efforts in Asia Minor to maintain the Jewish passover date of 14 Nisan for Easter [or, rather, the true Passover] (hence the name Quartodecimans [meaning 'Fourteeners']), the Council of Nicaea adopted the annual Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21)" (Walter Elwell, editor, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1984, "Easter").

Before A.D. 70, Christianity was "regarded by the Roman government and by the people at large as a branch of the Jewish religion" (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, 1954, p. 34). Christianity and Judaism shared the biblical feast days, although Christians observed them with added meanings introduced by Jesus and the apostles.

However, two Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, in 64-70 and 132-135, led to widespread persecution of Jews and suppression of Jewish religious practices. Jews were even driven from Jerusalem and forbidden to return on pain of death. As pressure mounted, some Christians began to abandon beliefs and practices perceived as being too Jewish. Over time many abandoned their weekly Sabbath day of rest and worship in favor of worship on Sunday, the pagan day of the sun, and abandoned the Passover in favor of Easter to distance themselves from Jews.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia explains: "Originally both observances [Passover and Easter] were allowed, but gradually it was felt incongruous that Christians should celebrate Easter on a Jewish feast, and unity in celebrating the principal Christian feast was called for" (1967, Vol. 5, p. 8, "Easter Controversy").

Three days and three nights

The choice of a Sunday date for Easter is based on the assumption that Christ rose from the grave early on a Sunday morning. The popular belief is that Christ was crucified on a Friday and rose on a Sunday. But neither of these suppositions is true. A close reading of the Bible makes that quite clear.

Matthew 12:38 shows some of the scribes and Pharisees asking Jesus for a sign to prove He was the Messiah. Jesus told them that the only sign He would give was that of the prophet Jonah: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

But can we fit "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" between a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection? The traditional view of the crucifixion and resurrection only allows for Jesus to have been entombed for a day and a half.

Some try to reconcile Christ's words with their belief in a Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection by rationalizing that Christ's "three days and three nights" statement does not require a literal span of 72 hours. They reason that a part of a day can be reckoned as a whole day. Hence, since Jesus died in the afternoon—around "the ninth hour" after daybreak, or about 3 p.m. (Matthew 27:46-50)—they think the remainder of Friday constituted the first day, Saturday the second and part of Sunday the third.

However, they fail to take into consideration that only two nights—Friday night and Saturday night—are accounted for in this explanation. After all, the Bible is clear that Jesus had already risen before the daylight portion of Sunday (John 20:1). Something is obviously incorrect in this common conclusion regarding when Christ was in the tomb.

Jonah 1:17, to which Christ referred, states specifically that "Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." We have no reason to think these days and nights were fractional. Nor is there any basis for thinking that Jesus meant only two nights and one day, plus parts of two days, when He foretold the length of time He would be in the grave. Such rationalization undermines the integrity of Jesus' words.

The reason that Friday is the day most think of as the day of Christ's crucifixion is that Mark 15:42 states that it was the preparation day (the day before the Sabbath). In the normal weekly Sabbath cycle, Friday is indeed the preparation day. But in this case, there were two Sabbaths during that week. The Sabbath referred to in Mark 15:42 was an annual Holy Day—the First Day of Unleavened Bread. John 19:31 confirms this by specifically stating that it was a high day, or annual Holy Day. Then two days later was the weekly Sabbath, which is the one referred to in Luke 23:56.

When did Jesus die and when was He resurrected?

Here's the timeline: Jesus was laid in the tomb in a hurry, as sunset (the beginning of the Holy Day) was approaching (Mark 15:42). Joseph of Arimathea, wanting to properly bury Jesus before the beginning of the high Holy Day, took down Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen. He then placed the body in the tomb (Luke 23:53; Mark 15:43). Luke's account then says Jesus' female disciples observed that He was buried as the Sabbath drew near (Luke 23:54-55).

After seeing Christ's body being laid in the tomb just before sunset, the women then "returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils [for the final preparation of the body]. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56). How could they have prepared these spices and oils in the very short time before sunset?

The wording of Mark 16:1-2 adds to the confusion some experience because it seems to suggest that the spices were purchased after the weekly Sabbath rather than before it on Friday? How is that possible?

By comparing details in both Gospels—where Mark tells us the women bought spices after the Sabbath and Luke relates that they prepared the spices before resting on the Sabbath—we can see that two different Sabbaths are mentioned. The first, as John 19:31 tells us, was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The second was the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. Mark did not mention this weekly Sabbath rest in his account, but Luke, who wrote his account of these events later, did.

Thus, the women returned after seeing the burial Wednesday afternoon. They rested on the high-day Sabbath Wednesday night and Thursday. They bought the spices either Thursday night or Friday morning. They prepared them on Friday prior to sunset and then rested on the weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

Then, early on Sunday, before dawn, "while it was still dark" (John 20:1), they went to the tomb to apply the embalming mixture. They discovered that Christ had already been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:1-3). The only plausible timeline for the events of the crucifixion week is that Christ was in the grave three full days and three full nights, from late on a Wednesday until late on a Saturday.

Now, consider Christ's promise that He would be in the grave for the same length of time that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish in conjunction with this historical record. What is the correct way to understand "three days and three nights" in both Matthew 12:40 and Jonah 1:17? It means three literal days and three literal nights—72 full hours.

Sign of the Messiah

If Jesus were in the tomb only from late Friday afternoon to sometime early Sunday morning, then the sign He gave that He was the prophesied Messiah was not fulfilled. The claim of His Messiahship rests on the fulfillment of His words—it's that serious a matter.

When we allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves, all four Gospel accounts accurately harmonize and attest to the validity of Jesus' promise that He would be in the grave three days and three nights—not just part of that time.

Several Bible translations recognize that more than one Sabbath is discussed in these events. In Matthew 28:1 some Bible versions, including Alfred Marshall's Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Ferrar Fenton's Translation and Green's Literal Translation, properly translate a phrase occurring here as "after the sabbaths." Young's Literal Translation and The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (1992, p. 1270) similarly acknowledge that multiple Sabbaths are intended here.

Some stumble over Mark 16:9, not taking into account that there is no punctuation indicated in the original Greek. Therefore, to be in harmony with the material presented in the other Gospels, a better translation of the verse would be: "Now having risen, early the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene..." So it's not saying that Jesus rose early on Sunday morning, but that He appeared early on Sunday morning to Mary Magdalene, having already risen some time earlier.

We can be assured that the duration of Christ's entombment before His resurrection, which He foretold as proof of His Messiahship, was precisely as long as He said it would be—equaling the "three days and three nights [Jonah was] in the belly of the great fish" (Matthew 12:40). Thus, Jesus rose late Saturday afternoon around sunset—not Sunday at sunrise—exactly three days and three nights after He was placed in the tomb just before sunset on Wednesday.

Christ's prophecy of the time He would be in the tomb was fulfilled precisely. Because most people do not understand the biblical high days kept by Jesus Christ and His followers, they fail to understand the chronological details so accurately preserved for us in the Gospels.

We need a Savior

A main theme in the Bible is sin, which is defined in the Bible as the violation of God's law (1 John 3:4, King James Version), and our need for forgiveness and reconciliation to God (the theme of the biblically commanded Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread). We must realize that our own personal sin is what necessitated Christ's death. And only by repenting of our sins and being reconciled to God by the death of Christ can we be assured of eternal life (Acts 2:38; John 5:29; John 11:25).

This is not to minimize the importance of Christ's resurrection. It, too, is a crucial step in the salvation process (1 Corinthians 15). After being reconciled to God the Father by the death of His Son, ultimately we are saved by Christ's life as He pleads for us in the role of our High Priest and lives in us through the Holy Spirit, helping us to overcome sin (Romans 5:10; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1; Galatians 2:20). The process of our coming out of sin is pictured in the biblical feast immediately following Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, during which Christ's resurrection occurred.

Yet the Bible nowhere instructs Christians to keep a special celebration of Christ's resurrection like Easter, nor is there a biblical record of early Christians doing so. Instead it's clear that both Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul expected Christ's followers to commemorate His sacrificial death on our behalf in a special ceremony (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28).

Nonetheless, the celebration of Easter prevailed. Those who remained faithful to Christ's example of keeping the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread decreased in number and were persecuted by those favoring Easter.

What's the rest of the story about Easter?

As we have seen, Easter and its customs did not come from the Bible, but from pagan fertility rites. It is a curious mixture of ancient mythological practices and arbitrary dating that obscures and discredits the proof of Jesus Christ's Messiahship and resurrection.

Having learned the sources and backgrounds of two major religious holidays, one might rightly wonder which days, if any, a Christian should observe. God in His Word shows a better way of life with better days of worship He has appointed for His people.

What's wrong with Easter traditions? They fail to tell you the true path to eternal life through Jesus Christ the Son of God. They obscure the truth of the Passover, which symbolizes Jesus' sacrifice through which we can be saved. Easter is based on false worship of ancient pagan deities. Its traditions celebrate physical rebirth and sexual rituals, not the spiritual reality of Jesus' life, suffering, death and resurrection. Joining the truth of Christ's resurrection to such a myth turns the truth of God into a lie. Easter with all its traditions is a lie.

We challenge you to look into your Bible to see what God tells us about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead of observing a humanly-devised holiday rooted in myth, why not keep the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread? These God-given festivals explain the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in full and proper context. These days give us hope in the redeeming power of Jesus' sacrifice in overcoming sin in our lives.

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