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THE
TRUE
MEANING
OF
EASTER
by Pastor Greg Wilson
As a Bible-believing Christian, I stake my all upon the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Without it I would be, as the apostle notes: "of all
men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19). I cannot understand why some make
claim to Christianity, and yet deny the very cornerstone of the Christian
faith; i.e., the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For Christ and His resurrection I have everything, and to it, I owe
everything. But for the pagan festival of Easter, I have nothing but contempt!
One need not be a scholar or spend countless hours in research to ascertain
that this holiday is a thoroughly pagan ritual. It has no connection to
Biblical Christianity. A true child of God ought not observe it in any
positive way. Until this century, no Baptist, and many protestants would
have nothing to do with it. Baptists, and some protestants were persecuted
for their refusal to join in its festivities.
Under the definition for Easter in Webster's Dictionary (College
Edition) one finds: "originally the name of pagan vernal festival .
. . Eastre, dawn goddess." Further reading in an encyclopedia, or
most books on the holidays will identify this Eastre with the pagan
goddess known variously as Eostre, Ishtar, Semeramis, and Astarte. This
is the same Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," whose worship is condemned in
the Word of God (see Jeremiah Chapters 7 and 44).
The trappings of the modern Easter, and its associated days are all
pagan in origin. Lent is not found in the Bible as a Christian holiday.
It is rather borrowed from the 40 days of mourning for Tammuz, the lover/
husband/son of Astarte. God's Word condemns its observance in Ezekiel 8:14.
There is absolutely no Biblical authority for such days as Ash Wednesday,
Palm Sunday, or Maundy Thursday. "Good Friday" is the most bizarre of them
all. Any grade school child can see that the Lord could not have died and
been buried late Friday, spent three days and three nights in the tomb
(Matt. 12:40) and risen again Sunday morning!
The word Easter is mentioned but once in the Authorized (KJV)
Version of Scripture (Acts 12:4). There it is being observed by the pagan
King Herod not by any Christian.
Some who know the pagan origin of Easter seek to justify its observance
by calling it "Resurrection Sunday" rather than by its proper heathen name.
This, however, only succeeds in dishonoring all the other Sundays of the
year.
Truthfully, for the Christian, every Sunday should be resurrection Sunday!
The impact of the resurrection alone can adequately explain why the disciples,
who had observed a Saturday Sabbath all their lives, began meeting for
worship on the First Day of the week, as we see them doing in Scripture.
Dear Christian, heed God's admonition found in Jeremiah 10:2: "Learn
not the way of the heathen . . ."
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