Sunday, April 8, 2007
Easter or Resurrection Day?
The most important act that Jesus was to do, that proved and proves He was the Messiah was to be dead, as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, 3 days and 3 nights and then to be raised from the dead after this time period. Matthew 12:39-40
Now how could we ever arrive that Jesus was crucified on "Good Friday and raised on Sunday morning for this would be only 2 nights and one day. The significance of Jesus doing exactly as He said cannot be washed away by the traditions of men, for without him doing exactly as He said, He would not be the Messiah, He stated this was the only proof sign He would give Israel that He was who He said He was. All attempts to explain away, His statement are false. Good Friday and Sunday as 'the day of Resurrection' are the inventions and traditions of men,.
This time period, of 3 days and 3 nights was to be factual and historical.
How did we ever get to where we are today?
Jesus knows exactly how long a day and a night is. In John 11:9-10 He said, is there not 12 hours in a day -but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth. In Genesis 1:4,
Jesus declares, he divided the light from the darkness, and He called the light day and the darkness he called night. and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the first day..., and the evening and the morning were the second day...and the evening and the morning were the third day" The Word of God conclusivley proves the time needed to fulfill the 3rd day. It should be conclusive to all, that it was impossible for Christ to have been crucified on Friday and raised Sunday.
It is merely traditions of men that created this time period of Friday to Sunday, which if it were true would disapprove Christ as the Messiah.
The time period Jesus gave was as important as the fact that He was to be raised from the dead, less He not be the Messiah, and the sign not be true to Israel.
In Mark 8:31, Jesus, "began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things ...and be killed, and AFTER 3 days rise again". And in Mark 9:31; "they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day". And in Matthew 27:63 "After 3 days I will rise again". And in John 2:19-21; "destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". This day ended at sunset according to Bible reckoning - Lev. 23:32. Jesus cried out soon after the "ninth hour" or 3 o'clock in the afternoon on the preparation day - Matt. 27:46-50, Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46. Jesus was laid in the tomb just before this same day ended - just before sunset - Matt. 27:57-60. And John 19:42 adds, "There laid they Jesus Therefore because of the Jew's preparation day". The Jewish custom was all dead bodies had to be buried before the beginning of a new day, and, according to the Bible He was - just barely before sunset as the scriptures prove. This leads to an intriguing conclusion. Three full nights and three full days after that preparation day sunset, brings us to sunset. Which means the resurrection occurred at sunset not sunrise! If Jesus rose at any other time of day He could not have been 3 days and 3 nights in the grave and He would have failed to prove by the sign He gave, His Messiahship. The "preparation day" for the Sabbath is defined by John 19:14,31: "...for that Sabbath day was a high day...It was the preparation of the Passover". Any Jew can tell you what a "high day" is. There are seven each year - all called Sabbaths, and each year they fall on different days of the week. (Leviticus 16:31, 23:24, 26-32 and 39 refers to all these annual holy days as Sabbaths.) Matthew 26:2; "Ye know that after 2 days is the feast of the Passover and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified". All Bible texts say Jesus was crucified on the Passover. The Bible in Num.28:16-17, defines the Passover; "And in the 14th day of the first month [called Abib] is the Passover of Yahweh. And in the fifteenth day of the month is the Feast". The Hebrew calendar shows that in A.D. 31, the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of ABIB which was the Passover, which is always the preparation day for the annual high day Sabbath, was on Wednesday, and the High Sabbath was on Thursday.
There were 2 Sabbaths that week - the annual high Sabbath, and the weekly Sabbath which was the day of the resurrection. (Saturday using standard weekly Roman traditions.)
Jesus rose from the dead as He said He would in John 2:19, 3 days and 3 nights later, at or near sunset on the 2nd Sabbath of that week - to bring light into darkness. It was Saturday night, not Sunday morning.
I Corinthians 15:3-4; "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that the Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures".
If we look at a calendar for that year, it is quite easy to figure out that the preparation day; the crucifixion day was on Wednesday, and that 3 days and 3 nights after that, was near sunset on Saturday. It is also significant that as Daniel's prophecy in 9:24-27 says, Jesus was to be cut off "in the midst of the week". This prophecy uses the day for a year symbolism so that the "70 weeks" became a literal 7 years, with the Messiah being "cut off in the midst", (after only 3 1/2 years of teaching) and also in the middle day of a literal week.
There is one more final proof in the Bible.
In Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and her companions did not buy their spices to anoint Jesus until after the Sabbath was past. They could not prepare them until after this, yet after preparing the spices they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:56). These scriptures seem to contradict themselves unless you accept the possible explanation: After the annual high Sabbath, which was Thursday, the women purchased and prepared the spices on Friday, and then they rested on Saturday - the weekly Sabbath.
This fact would make it Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday (14th of ABIB, A.D. 31) and was resurrected on a Saturday (17TH of ABIB, A.D. 31), placed in the tomb near sunset, and rose out of the tomb near sunset on Saturday.
"Good Friday" and Easter Sunday, then must be pagan myths; traditions of men, adopted by the early Roman Christian church and accepted as "okay" by almost all Christians today.
Centuries old documents exist that evidence the Wednesday crucifixion and Saturday resurrection. A document entitled the "Didascalia Apostolorum", dating from around the year 200 A.D., mentions the last Passover Supper of Jesus and His disciples was on a Tuesday evening. It should be noted that the timing mentioned in the document also corresponds with the Biblical method of reckoning the week as starting with Sunday as the first day with the days beginning at sunset. The document states: "For when we had eaten the Passover on the third day of the week at even [Tuesday evening], we went forth to the Mount of Olives; and in the night they seized our Lord Yah'shua. And the next day, which was the fourth [day] of the week [Wednesday], He remained in the house [arrest] of Caiaphas the high priest".
From this one would conclude that He clearly was crucified that following Passover day of Wednesday.
The Hebrews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." John 19:31. This verse establishes that the day following (or beginning the sunset of) our Messiah's crucifixion was a "high day." That in turn established that it was Nisan fifteenth, the great Passover Sabbath, the day that God had designated as "the first day of unleavened bread." The Passover Sabbath was the greatest Hebrew Sabbath of the year. It was not only a day of rest and worship like Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath; but, unlike that day, this Thursday Passover Sabbath was a "high day." The fifteenth of Nisan fell on a different day each year, and that particular year it fell on Thursday as the Scriptural "time-points" clearly affirm.
I am not writing this to say that we must celebrate the Holy Days that are given, the many festivals, etc. exactly as they are. I am not a Sabbatarian, nor am I Judaic. I am not writing any of these things to call those that do what they do as far as the day they recognize makes them pagans. It doesn't, but it can surely be seen as honoring paganistic ideas of days and times.
What I do is write these things that truth may be the foundation of all our understanding of the Word and as a believer in the death and resurrection for us to realize these things as truth.
I believe it is very important for Christians to understand what they believe and why they believe it and what truth of God's word is versus the traditions of men. It is of most importance that we see how easily it is for men, the first church-state union Constantine's reign, later the ruler Theosidus and the developing Catholic church changed truth to encompass paganism into the church and how men have changed most of what is true to a lie.
We have typically stated the day of resurrection as Sunday because of verses like Mark 16:2-4
Simply because Mary Magdelene and Mary didn't discover that the tomb was empty until that Sunday morning, that He must have risen that morning, but the scripture doesnt say Sunday he arose, it just says that they found the tomb empty on this day.
Which also makes sense, as travel was limited on Saturday the normal Sabbath. Thus this is why they didn't find the tomb empty on Saturday, because they would not have walked to the tomb on a Saturday Sabbath. They were at rest, while Jesus was rising from the dead. This showing as well to the Jewish Sabbatarians with all their ridiculous rules and regulations of the Talmud, "that the Sabbath was created by Yahweh for men and not men for the Sabbath", this in my opinion is another reason I accept Saturday evening. For he didn't remain at rest, he was alive, risen from the grave as He promised come the ending of the Sabbath day, Saturday, the beginning of the evening before Sunday. He arose but it wasn't until the next morning that the tomb was empty.
So, taking the time periods as laid out by scripture, he must have had to stay in the grave 3 days, 3 nights just as He said he would as a sign, the only sign he would give to the Jews that proved he was Messiah and to us our Saviour.
So Saturday evening really had to be the time of His resurrection. Sunday, was the day it was discovered he had risen as promised.
It's not a significant importance what day "we choose to recognize" he was raised in that our salvation might depend on the day we honor, as much as we recognize how much the Catholic church changed things to fit the Roman calendar and Roman times and Roman days of importance. Constantine and Theosidus made significant changes to things eternal, the traditions of the Apostles laid on the foundation of Christ, to the traditions of men, just as the Jews did with creating the Talmud and all it's traditions above the Torah.
Men constantly work at trying to distort the Gospel. I have known men that couldnt accept the story of Christ crucifixion and resurrrection just because the recognized days traditionally do not fit the story or his promise of 3 days and 3 nights. So though it may not mean our salvation if we accept the traditions of men account over the truth, but it could mean the salvation of someone else, because of the inaccuracy of time these traditions have created.
It is significant that we recognize just what RESURRECTION DAY is versus EASTER.
So let me lay down the facts about how the EASTER thing came about.
Now let us look at the true origins of the day and time we call Easter.
Origin of Easter - A Christian Commemoration
The origin of Easter, a holiday associated with the observance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is actually based on an ancient pagan celebration. Christians recognize this day as commemorating the culminating event of their faith, but like so many other "Christian" holidays, Easter has become commercialized and mixed with non-christian traditions like the Easter Bunny, Easter parades and hunting for Easter eggs.
How did this happen?
Origin of Easter - Its Pagan Roots
The origin of Easter dates back to ancient times, not long after the global Flood recorded in Genesis 6-9 of the Bible. Nimrod, a grandson of Noah, had turned from following his grandfather's God and had become a tyrannical ruler. According to the biblical record, as king, Nimrod created Babel, Ninevah, Asshur, Calla and other cities, all known for lifestyles that promoted unspeakable evil and perversion. When Nimrod died, his wife, Queen Semiramis, deified him as the Sun-god, or Life Giver. Later he would become known as Baal, and those who followed the religion Semiramis created in his name would be called Baal worshippers. They became associated with idolatry, demon worship, human sacrifice and other practices regarded as evil.
The origin of Easter involves the birth of Semiramis' illegitimate son, Tammuz. Somehow, Semiramis convinced the people that Tammuz was actually Nimrod reborn. Since people had been looking for the promised savior since the beginning of mankind (see Genesis 3:15), they were persuaded by Semiramis to believe that Tammuz was that savior, even that he had been supernaturally conceived. Before long, in addition to worshipping Tammuz (or Nimrod reborn), the people also worshipped Semiramis herself as the goddess of fertility. In other cultures, she has been called Ishtar, Ashtur and yes, Easter.
The origin of Easter goes back to the springtime ritual instituted by Semiramis following the death of Tammuz, who, according to tradition, was killed by a wild boar. Legend has it that through the power of his mother's tears, Tammuz was "resurrected" in the form of the new vegetation that appeared on the earth.
According to the Bible, it was in the city of Babel that the people created a tower in order to defy God. Up until that time, all the people on the earth spoke one language. The building of the tower led God, as recorded in Genesis 11:7, to confuse their tongues to keep them from being further unified in their false beliefs. As the people moved into other lands, many of them took their pagan practices with them.
Contemporary traditions such as the Easter Bunny and the Easter egg can also be traced back to the practices established by Semiramis. Because of their prolific nature, rabbits have long been associated with fertility and its goddess, Ishtar. Ancient Babylonians believed in a fable about an egg that fell into the Euphrates River from heaven and from which Queen Astarte (another name for Ishtar or Semiramis) was "hatched."
Origin of Easter - Resurrection Day for Christians
For Christians, the origin of Easter is simply the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus Christ, the true Messiah promised in the Old Testament, was crucified and resurrected at the time of the Jewish Passover. Since that awesome event took place, those who believe Christ is their Messiah have honored that day and often celebrated it with the traditional Passover. As the Gospel of Christ spread throughout non-jewish nations, among people who did not have a history of celebrating the Passover, the pagan rites of Easter gradually became assimilated into what the Christian church called "Resurrection Day." Compromising the commandments of God with the comfort of the world is as old as the nation of Israel itself.
So we see that the named day Easter is pagan in nature, and has all the roots of paganism, and ancient pagan worship. Thus, I too do not recognize the term Easter for the Day of Resurrection nor do I recognize the traditions associated with it. We are called to be separate from the world, in it but not of it. Thus it is important for us to understand the significance of the celebration and what it's true origins are. The word of God tells us to abstain from even the appearance of evil. To know the difference. To know truth from error. Surely Easter is evil and the Day of Resurrection is good.
The two must be separated for the Ekklesia so that truth will stand out like a light to a fallen world.
Jesus didn't die and raised again so the commercial marketers of the Babylonian system worldwide could obtain wealth off the purchases of Christians for Easter Eggs, and Bunny Rabbits and all that pagan garbage. It has lessened the significance of the resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So, for me, I abstain, you decide what to do with it.
Actually, American history teaches us that Easter was dismissed as a pagan holiday by the nation's founding Puritans and did not begin to be widely observed until just after the Civil War.
Now that you know the "rest of the story" and after reading the above which would you prefer?
Easter or Resurrrection Day?
Dr. J.
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