Easter: What the Bible Says About It

Easter: What the Bible Says About It

It might surprise people to know that the Bible has absolutely nothing to say about Easter.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.

Okay, it’s true that the word Easter is found one time in the King James Version:

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quarternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

— Acts 12:4

However, check how the other English translations render Acts 12:4, and you’ll see something different.  No mention of Easter at all.  Instead, all of them have the word Passover in place of Easter.  For example, the English Standard Version:

And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

— Acts 12:4

Why do all of the English translations of the Bible talk of Passover in Acts 12:4 while only the King James Version mentions Easter?

No, the apostle Paul did not carry the 1611 with him.

No, the apostle Paul did not carry the 1611 with him.

Well, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the original Greek word in Acts 12:4 is pascha, which literally talks about the Jewish holiday of Passover.  So the more literal translation of the verse would mention Passover rather than Easter.

That being the case, why did the King James translators decide to render pascha as Easter?

Basically, it all boils down to a case of allowing a bias towards human traditions to take precedence over communicating a literal translation of the divinely inspired text.  Why do I say that?

Luke was inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:19-21; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17) to write the book of Acts at around A.D. 61-62, according to Wayne Jackson’s commentary The Acts of the Apostles.  As we have seen, he made no mention of Easter at all, in actuality referring to Passover while talking of Peter’s imprisonment of Herod.  This is because the idea of Easter – an annual religious celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ – was not something that was thought up until years later.

And it was not God who thought it up, by the way.  In fact, the New Testament doesn’t care too much for religious holidays.  Did you know that?  Check this out:

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?  You observe days and months and seasons and years!  I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

— Galatians 4:9-11

 

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ…These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

— Colossians 2:16-17, 23

Contextually in both of these passages, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell Christians that they did not need nor did he want them to observe religious holidays such as the ones the Jews had observed under the Old Testament.

  • Notice how he calls them “the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world” and “the shadow of the things to come,” while saying that the actual “substance” belongs to Christ.
  • Notice also how he told the Galatians while talking of their observance of religious holidays that he was afraid he may have labored over them “in vain.”
  • After warning them about the religious holidays of Judaism, he went on to warn the Colossians about people insisting that they also involve themselves in asceticism, worship of angels, visions, and regulations about what they should handle, taste, and touch (Col. 2:18, 21).
  • He calls it all – religious holidays included – “the elemental spirits of the world” (v. 20) and “human precepts and teachings” (v. 22).
  • Most tellingly, he said that these human precepts and teachings – which included teaching others to observe religious holidays – “have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion…but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (v. 23).  Think about that for a second.  If you decide that you’re going to come to church only because it’s Easter Sunday, is that really going to help you overcome the sin in your life?

So is it any surprise that we find no record in the New Testament of Christians being commanded to observe Easter, Christmas, or any other religious holiday?  Is it any surprise that we have no record of them observing the resurrection of Christ, or his death, or his birth, or any other event in his life, on an annual basis as a special religious holiday?  In fact, the only record we have of any observance they participated in was a weekly worship service on each Sunday during which they remembered Christ’s death through communion (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23ff).

We’re also told not to add to God’s Word (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:6; 1 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:6-9; Rev. 22:18).  Think about that for a second.  If we’re not to add to God’s Word, and God’s Word mentions nada about Christians observing a religious holiday known as Easter, but we go ahead and do it anyway…

Well, you get the picture…

A lot of people don’t, though.  The Bible talks about them, too.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.  And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

— Hosea 4:6

 

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

— 2 Timothy 4:3-4

 

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

— Acts 20:29-30

God knew that people, either through ignorance of his Word or through wanting to have their own way or both, would depart from what he actually commanded and come up with their own ideas, which in reality would be nothing but falsehoods.  That’s how the idea of Easter came about.

From Wikipedia:

The modern English term Easter derives from the Old English word Ēastre or Ēostre.[nb 2]

The word Easter is held by some to have originally referred to the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess, Ēostre.[nb 3] Easter is held by others to have originally referred to the name of a Babylonian goddess, Ishtar. [22] Others surmise that Eostre and Ishtar, pronounced identically, are two forms of the same word, referring to two forms of the same goddess, although the spelling differentiated through time and distance. [23]

So when you’re talking about Easter, you’re really talking about the name of some pagan goddess.  Did you know that?  I sure didn’t.

Also from Wikipedia:

The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar,[nb 4] and there is no direct evidence that they celebrated any specifically Christian annual festivals.[41] It was probably as an aspect of Passover that Jewish Christians, the first to do so, celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, dated close to Passover.[24]

Direct evidence for the Easter festival begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referencing Easter is a mid-2nd-century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[41] Evidence for another kind of annual Christian festival, the commemoration of martyrs, begins to appear at about the same time as evidence for the celebration of Easter.[42]

While martyrs’ days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[43]

The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of its custom, “just as many other customs have been established”, stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[44]

So it looks like Easter came about as a result of “customs,” particularly the customs the early Jewish Christians had of observing Jewish holidays like Passover…even though the Holy Spirit inspired Paul in Galatians and Colossians to tell them not to do that anymore.

And even though Jesus had this to say about human customs:

You hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

— Matthew 15:7-9

So why did the King James translators write Easter instead of the correct Passover while translating pascha in Acts 12:4?  Again, bias towards human tradition rather than what the inspired text actually said.

So what does the Bible actually say about Easter?  Nothing, zip, nada.

But what does the Bible say about Christians collectively observing religious holidays?  Quite a lot, as we’ve seen.  None of it good.

And what does the Bible say about adding to God’s Word?  Quite a lot, as we’ve seen.  None of it good.

Easter isn’t in the Bible.  Think about that if you’re thinking about observing it as a religious holiday…

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The Eternal Word or The Eternal Words

The Eternal Word or The Eternal Words

Many individuals misunderstand the Bible simply because they fail to notice the precise words God chose to be in the Bible. Every letter of every word on the tablets of stone were placed there by God. This is the nature of revelation and inspiration of His message to man. As the Old Testament was being written and completed, He had preserved the inspired word—including every jot and every tittle the prophets wrote (Matt. 5:18).

Every Word is Preserved.

Every Word is Preserved.

The same is true of the New Testament. Jesus affirmed that the New Testament would be kept intact. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Note that He did not say that His word would not pass away, but His words would not pass away. We do not in some generic way have the word of the Lord; we have His words. If one single word has been lost, then His statement is false.

Look at what He said again. There is absolutely no means by which His words would be lost. For those who ask how we know that in the copying and transmission of the text some of it has not been lost, here is God’s answer. There is no way that the words of the Lord have been lost. Worldly scholarship cannot be compared to Christ’s scholarship.

Jesus taught the same idea in the book of John. Read His words carefully. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). He had taught that His words were more permanent than the universe itself and implied their eternal nature by saying that men would reject His words—not just His word. When the last day comes, these will be the basis of the final judgment.

The last book of the Bible describes this judgment scene. In Matthew He promised that heaven and earth would pass away. John described One who sat on the great white throne and says, “…from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them” (Rev. 20:11). There is no place for heaven or earth after the judgment. Then notice John’s description of the basis of the judgment. Men were not judged by the Book of Life but by the things written in the books. All the books, all sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament will be opened. The fact they are there shows their eternal nature!

Read carefully Paul’s description of the accuracy of the revelation. “Which things also we speak, not in words man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combing spiritual things with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13). He has given us His words and they are eternal!

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On Being Offended

On Being Offended

We just “love” to be offended in our society.  Look around and see the great lengths to which we go to avoid offence: privacy policies, anti-religious judgments, racial tensions, anti-police demonstrations, economic protests, law suits.  We don’t like the feeling of being offended.  Being offended hurts!  We don’t want to hurt inside.  We want to be safe! So we regulate everyone else’s behavior to try to prevent a feeling that happens inside us.  How does that make sense?

Are you offended?

Are you offended?

Who controls our feelings? Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  Feelings come from our own beliefs, thoughts, and emotions.  Who causes those?  We do!  But rarely do we blame self for the source of our hurt.  We prefer the idea of blaming someone else while we puff out our chests with pride and preen at our own self-righteousness.

When are we going to learn that what we think, feel, and believe comes from within and cannot be blamed on others (Mark 7:20-23).  In fact, the feeling of being offended itself is our not knowing what to do with our own pride because pride is why we are offended in the first place.  So what all of us who are offended are really saying is that we are proud people who don’t like others disagreeing with our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and choices in life.  This is just narcissism run amok.  Since when has egoism been the standard for right and wrong, truth and error?  It isn’t, and never has been, but that is what we are reduced to when we seek to prevent being offended by blaming others.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).

God bless you, and I love you.

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By Whose Authority? Does any Man Change it?

By Whose Authority? Does any Man Change it?

Last article we noticed the impact of the question the Jewish council asked the apostles in Acts 4. “By what power or what name have you done this?” They understood that religious acts could not be done without God’s authority. Today we make application of this question by asking several questions.

The Lord’s Supper

Consider these Biblical facts. (1) The Lord commanded observing the Lord’s supper—do this in remembrance of Me.

By whose Authority do you live?

By whose Authority do you live?

(2) The Lord’s supper was given as the primary reason the church assembled on the first day of the week—it was even placed above the preaching of Paul (Acts 20:7). Paul also shows in 1 Cor. 11:29-33 that the first century church came together to eat the Lord’s supper, and the Greek and later translations show they came together every Sunday (1 Cor. 16:2).

Now here is the question. Jesus put the weekly Lord’s supper in the church. By whose authority or in what name have denominations changed it? Think about this!

Baptism by Immersion

The Bible clearly shows that in baptism one goes down into the water (Acts 8:38) and is baptized. Paul states in Romans 6:3-4 that when one is baptized he is buried in the water. After baptism he comes up out of the water (Acts 8:39).

Here is the question. Jesus, the One who has all authority, taught that every nation should be baptized (Matt. 28:19), and the Bible shows that baptism was a complete immersion in water. By whose authority or in what name have denominations changed this? Think about it!

Baptism Essential to Be Saved

The Bible affirms that for one to be saved he must be baptized. The saved person is one who believes and is baptized (Mark 16:16), and that in baptism one’s sins are washed away (Acts 22:16). Baptism saves us (1 Pet. 3:21).

Now here is the question. The One who has all authority revealed that for one to be saved he must be baptized. By whose authority have frail humans changed this and substituted a sinner’s prayer in its place? Think about this!

Take this principle and apply it to every doctrine which separates one religious body from another. When the church was established there were no denominations for they all taught what Jesus taught (1 Cor. 1:10; 4:17). Denominations would cease to exist if they dealt with this question. Jesus taught only one doctrine, and there was unity. By whose authority have mortals changed His teachings? Think about it!

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The Gift of the Holy Spirit (Part 4)

The Gift of the Holy Spirit (Part 4)

The Promise of the Gift of the Holy Spirit

There is another strong piece of evidence in Acts 2 as to the meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter states that the respondents to his sermon would receive the gift because, as verse 39 says, “[T]he promise is for you . . .” We know then that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a matter of biblical promise. That means that somewhere in the Bible’s text prior to Acts 2, God promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who obeyed the gospel.

There is only one Old Testament passage that could fulfill that demand: Joel 2:28-32.

  • Peter establishes that the events of Acts 2 are the direct fulfillment of the promise of Joel 2 (Acts 2:16-21).
  • It is the only Old Testament passage directly quoted and applied to Holy Spirit’s work in the church.
  • And Acts 2 is the last time any Bible prophet ever referred to the Old Testament to explain the Holy Spirit’s work.

Joel 2 is the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Further, there is another point that needs to be emphasized in this context. Those who believe the gift of the Holy Spirit is a non-prophetic blessing are caught in a bind regarding finding a promise of gift of the Spirit before Acts 2.

What was promised?

What was promised?

As discussed in earlier articles on this topic, Peter does not explain the nature of the gift. The most reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from that fact is that he expected his audience to understand the effect of a man’s receiving the Holy Spirit.

What Acts 2:39 necessitates is that the promise and understanding of the gift of the Spirit comes from a pre-existing biblical statement about the work of the Holy Spirit. So then, if the gift is “non-prophetic,” Peter’s argument demands that a non-prophetic experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit was known before Acts 2:38. The problem that truth creates for this view of the gift is:

If this non-prophetic indwelling existed among the Jews prior to Acts 2, how then could it be used as the identifying “seal” of the true people of God after Acts 2?

Many current proponents of an “ordinary” or non-prophetic indwelling claim that the indwelling produces no visible or demonstrable effects. But if it is true that the effect of indwelling from the gift of the Holy Spirit is only internal, then it cannot be evidentiary. That is especially true, if the Old Testament Jews also had this same indwelling. As the Judaistic teaching began to impact the church, how could the gift of the Spirit be used to identify the people of God? Both doctrines could simply claim to have experienced this non-demonstrable indwelling.

  • If the Jews had experienced and understood the Spirit’s non-prophetic indwelling to the degree that it did not need to be explained by Peter, would they not simply claim the continued possession of this indwelling after Acts 2?
  • If they could successfully make that claim, they would have nullified the apostles’ appeal to the seal of the Spirit among the early Christians.

Acts 2:39’s statement that the gift is a fulfillment of a promise of God demands that the gift of the Holy Spirit be of Old Testament origin. If the gift is of a non-prophetic nature its inclusion in the Old Testament ruins its ability to be used as evidence of a true Christian. Yet, if it is of a prophetic nature, the fact that the gift is demonstrable means its ability to be used as evidence continues. If after Acts 2:38-39, there were no “Jewish” prophets to counter the “Christian” prophets, the evidentiary impact of the gift would still have efficacy.

The fact that the gift is a part of Old Testament prophecy means that it must be prophetic.

Objections Considered

While it is impossible to anticipate every possible objection to this position, there are two objections that need a brief comment.

First, many would argue that Peter’s promise is universal in its nature and so if the gift is prophetic then all Christians must be prophets. In answer to that, we would simply agree. Yes, all the saints who receive the gift of the Holy Spirit are prophets. The New Testament is quite emphatic in its affirmation that the distribution of prophetic powers among the early saints was universal. Other of this author’s articles have examined the extent of the prophetic/miraculous powers in the early church. That material shows that the apostles aggressively spread the powers of the Spirit among the first-century Christians (see Acts 8, 19). Once that fact is seen, this particular objection has no merit.

Second, many would then argue that because Peter’s statement that the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit applies to “all who are far off” that it is an enduring promise. Further, as the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were temporary in nature, the gift of the Holy Spirit cannot be prophetic.

That objection arises from a misunderstanding of the phrase “far off.” This objection view the phrase “far off” as a statement of time. However, the Jews had a different use for this phrase. The Jews viewed the Gentile nations as being “far off” from God. Paul uses this language in Ephesians when he states that the Gentiles that were “far off” have now been “brought near by the blood of Christ” (2:13). The promise of Acts 2:39 is described as being for all nations, even the ones “far off.” Other than the fact that two generations are mentioned, “you and your children,” Acts 2:39 makes no specific mention of time.

The gift of the Holy Spirit was for all of God’s people for as long as the promise was active. Joel 2 was for all flesh, but it was not for all-time.

Conclusion

The gift of the Holy Spirit is simply the expression of the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32. God promised that “all flesh” who followed the Messiah would have the Holy Spirit poured out to them. Peter is stating that if one would respond to the gospel he would receive the Holy Spirit as God had promised. Understanding the nature of the gift is simple so long as one remembers that whenever the Holy Spirit comes upon, falls upon, fills, or is received by man in any way, the effect is prophetic in its nature. That is why after Acts 2, the references to “gift” and “Spirit” are always in prophetic contexts. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit and possession of Him as a gift made prophets of “all flesh” in the early church.

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