Do Christians Really Need to Celebrate Easter?

The lofty significance of the celebration of Easter is universally shared amongst almost all Christian denominations. This day which may fall variously between some time in March or later in April each spring is considered the highest day on any Christian calendar. Christians, both true and nominal, attend many types of celebrations: masses, Sunrise services, morning worships, afternoon programs. Services on these days may include pageants, cantatas and plays. Indeed many who make no overt or active commitment to Christ will be found in some house of worship on Easter Sunday.

In the secular world Easter is also a significant day. For decades Easter has provided merchants with the opportunity to make huge profits. Clothing manufactures benefit from the sale of extravagant fashions; Christians and non-Christians alike have felt the need to celebrate the day with fancy new outfits. Confectioners flood stores with candies such as chocolate and marshmallow bunnies, jelly beans and cream filled eggs. Hundreds, indeed thousands of eggs are purchased for the fun of coloring them and hiding them for the traditional Easter egg hunts. Unlike the holiday of Christmas where nativity scenes and angels are among the paraphernalia that is sold throughout the season, nothing remotely religious is proffered during the corresponding time of year when Easter falls. The icons that represent Easter are bunnies, bonnets and eggs. What do these have to do with anything Christian? Perhaps the better question is, "What is Easter all about and why do Christians celebrate it at all?"

For Christians, Easter has come to represent the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. After having been crucified-mercilessly massacred-under the hands of the Romans in the early days of the first century, Christians believe after three days in the grave that God miraculously raised Jesus back to life. This resurrection from the dead is the basis of the Christian religion. Christians believe that they were sinners alienated from God and that by the death and resurrection of Jesus they have had their sins washed away, been reconciled back to God and have become His children. Thus the high significance of the day and the joyful celebrations associated with it in so many Christian churches.

While Christians have taken the celebration of Easter as a commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a closer look at the origins of the day might cause them much alarm. The celebration of Easter has its origins in pagan religion dating back to truly ancient history just after the time of the flood as recorded in the book of Genesis. Ishtar-pronounced "Easter" was the name for Queen Semiramis the wife of Nimrod an evil descendant of Noah and the mother of Tammuz who was believed to be Nimrod reborn. When Tammuz was killed by a wild boar his mother, Queen Semiramis, wept so profusely that he revived in the springing forth of vegetation. Thus springtime rituals commemorating this supposed resurrection began. Queen Semiramis also became an object of worship, revered as the Mother Goddess bringing blessings at springtime, blessing the crops as a "Mother Nature." Many vile and profane practices ensued in worship of these deities, including orgies, prostitution and human sacrifices. The egg and rabbit were both considered objects of fertility. Queen Semiramis was believed to have hatched from a huge mystical egg that had fallen into the river Euphrates. This was the origin of the Ishtar "Easter" Egg.

Some Christian groups, having educated themselves concerning the evil origins of Easter, have taken to calling that one Sunday in the spring, "Resurrection Sunday" in an attempt to dissociate from any connection with pagan beliefs and practices.

But what Christians might ask themselves is this: "What does Easter mean to me and what has God commanded that I do in response to this day?" The answers can be found in the pages of the New Testament scriptures. Christians, who take their direction and instructions from God, may note upon a careful study of the bible that God never instructed them to celebrate Easter, or for that matter Resurrection Sunday. The date of Resurrection Sunday is determined by calculating the first day of spring, the vernal equinox, then finding the next full moon which follows. The Sunday after this full moon is Resurrection Sunday, the day traditionally placed on the calendar in March or April as Easter. Easter or Resurrection Sunday often corresponds in date and time with Passover, a highlight in the Jewish calendar. It is significant that these events tend to overlap; the one representing the deliverance of the first born of Israel from death by the blood of a lamb placed on the door posts; the other representing the salvation of mankind through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. Christians believe that Christ's death was vicarious, that He took the penalty for their sins when He died on the cross. But God has given an ordinance for this commemoration in the communion ceremony. In a communion ceremony, Christians will eat a piece of bread or wafer and drink a little grape wine or juice. These emblems represent the body and blood of Jesus. What did Jesus, Himself, say about this practice? "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NASB The way a Christian can commemorate, indeed, proclaim the wonder of Christ's sacrifice is by and through partaking of the communion ceremony. In many churches this is done once a month, in some, once a week. While no directive has been given for the frequency of the ceremony, it would seem that more is better since it highlights and emphasizes the very foundation of our salvation.

Additionally there is the act of baptism. "And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" Acts 2:38 NASB In the act of baptism, an individual is submerged in a lake or pool of water and brought back up again. This is usually done by pastors or deacons to new believers who have made a profession of faith. This act is most often, in contemporary churches, performed in a baptismal pool located in the church building. In the ancient church, however, baptisms were done in the nearest lake or body of water. It was a public testimony by new believers that they had inwardly believed and accepted the gospel and would be forever identified with Christ and Christianity. It was this public act which caused many new believers to be ostracized and persecuted by the unbelieving population.

In these two ordinances, baptism and communion, we have a full, meaningful picture of salvation, of Christ's death and resurrection. More importantly we see the Christian's active embrace of the tenets of his faith. Each act requires the believer to affirm and reaffirm their belief in what Christ did for them when He died and rose again. Beyond these acts, shouldn't Christians be affirming and reaffirming the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ everyday of their lives? Have we ritualized and sterilized the remembrance of His death and resurrection be relegating it to one day each year? How much better it would be for the Christian to examine himself, as enjoined by the scripture, each time he partakes of the communion ceremony thus forcing a new remembrance and embrace of the sacrifice.

While it may be extreme to condemn the celebration of Easter by Christians given that so many of them worship on that day innocent and ignorant of the cloudy and dark origins of the day, perhaps it would be best to encourage more frequent introspection and self examination. If Christ died and rose for we Christians, how shall we now live? "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4 NASB