What’s Easter Got To Do With It?

For many people Easter is one of the most important holidays of the year because it represents the resurrection of Christ. But, what does Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, Easter baskets and new outfits have to do with our risen King? Unquestionably, Jesus was a Jew and observed Passover. Jesus never practiced an Easter holiday. So how was Passover changed into what is now celebrated as Easter?

For those who sincerely want to understand and learn truth, church history is a fascinating study. The means by which Passover was replaced with Easter is due to paganistic origins. After Constantine The Great came into power entered pagan gods. Easter was initially a celebration of Ishtar which is a fertility god. Now, I know many of you find church history a boring topic especially if you prefer motivational messages over sound doctrine. Hearing things that make us feel good is far less convicting than truth that makes us feel conviction. However, learning church history arms you with not only being deceived against false doctrine but to life out your faith in the proper context. With that being said, let’s learn some background on Constantine The Great.

From the time of the destruction of temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 until around 303 A.D. Christians were under tremendous persecution, but in 311 Galerius (one of the major persecution of Christians) issued the Edict of Toleration legalizing Christianity. With Galerius dead, Constantine The Great and Maxentius came forth to take the throne. While Constantine and his army were on the way to Maxentius he claims he saw a cross of light in the sky. He later claimed that Jesus appeared to him in a dream and showed him the cross he had previously seen in the sky thus he marked his soldiers shields with this sign and converted to Christianity. Long story short, Constantine won the battle against Maxentius and became the Emperor of Rome. When Constantine came to power, because he already Pagan he merged his pagan practices with Christianity. Thus, the traditional holiday “Easter” is based on pagan practices rather than the scriptures. The watershed of the gospel has created a time of year where both Christians and non-Christians can enjoy. For some the only time they attend church is on Easter Sunday. And, I’m not saying stop going, please continue to attend church because there is a greater chance of you hearing God’s voice every time you go that’ll cause you to give your life to Him. So, please don’t stop going even if you just attend only on Easter, because that’s not what I’m saying. Many churches advertise their services as Easter because that’s what most people are accustomed to. But it’s important that we learn our church history and our faith.

For more information on church history that will provide you a tremendous reference, I want to invite you to check out these links “The Five Watersheds of History & Theology” and “A Journey Through Church History.” Dr. Dana Carson, a systematic theologian and scholar is not a novice on the subject matter. He has written over 200 books on the Kingdom of God. These books are sure to bless your socks off if you are a serious student of the Word.