What does Easter have to do with Jesus?

Answer 1

• The Encyclopædia Britannica comments: "There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians."---(1910), Vol. VIII, p. 828.
• The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us: "A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. . . . The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility."---(1913), Vol. V, p. 227.
• Nowhere does the Bible indicate that early Christians observed either a weekly Sunday or a yearly Easter to commemorate Christ's resurrection.
• The night before he died, Christ ordered quite a different celebration. He served his disciples a simple meal of wine and bread and commanded them, "Keep doing this in remembrance of me."---Luke 22:19.
• It was thus Christ's death, not his resurrection, that Jesus wanted memorialized. Jesus served this meal on the night of the Jewish Passover meal---a yearly celebration of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. (Matthew 26:19, 20, 26-28) Obviously, Jesus intended to replace the Passover with a yearly serving of this memorial meal. Neither Easter nor any other celebration was commanded by Christ.
• From John's Gospel we learn that Jesus' body had to be quickly removed from the torture stake because the Passover was about to begin. The other Gospel accounts say that the Sabbath was about to begin (at sundown on Nisan the 14th). The prophecy was that the Messiah would die and then be raised on the third day. Christ died before the evening on which Passover/Sabbath was to begin and lay in the tomb for 2 nights, rising on the third.
• Later, the leaders of Christendom's churches established the (un-scriptural) tradition of "Easter". (Of course, most of these traditions like bunnies, eggs, and candy, have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus.)

Christendom's teachings:

• On "Good Friday", Jesus died on the cross. They (who?) said that in three days he would rise from the dead. On Sunday, a woman disciple of Jesus looked inside the burial tomb but Jesus' body was gone. Jehovah God resurrected him. Jesus' death freed us all from sin and death and so, every April 4 is a Sunday, Easter Sunday. (What???????)
• Fact - This year - 2011 - April 4th is a Monday .... Easter Sunday 2011 does not occur until April 24.) And this year, 2013, it is celebrated on March 31st.
• Easter has everything to do with Jesus. It is the celebration of His resurrection and victory over the grave. Jesus was born as the literal Son of God for a very specific and special purpose: to be a sacrifice for all mankind.
• Due to the Fall of Adam and Eve, all God's spirit children born into mortality are fallen beings, separated from God by physical death because we sin and are imperfect. Through the sacrifice and Atonement of Jesus Christ, however, we have the opportunity to be cleansed from our sin and to also have the hope of being raised from the dead.
• Before being crucified, Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins and infirmities of the world and of all humanity. He suffered every pain, sickness, loss, and trial that any human will ever go through on this earth. He did this so he could learn for himself how to succor his people. After taking upon himself the sins of the world, he was crucified and died for us all. As the literal Son of God, He was the only being capable of both taking upon himself all our sins and infirmities and willingly giving his life.
• We believe Jesus was half God (immortal) and half man (mortal); thus, he had the power to keep his life, but also the ability to die. (Huh???) He chose to die, but he didn't really die because he is God, but by dying and by so doing, gained power over the grave, because he also had the power to take his body up again. (What????) After three days in the tomb, Jesus' father in heaven took up his body again, to never again part with it. But 1 Corinthians 15:44,50 says that there are no physical bodies in heaven because "flesh & blood cannot inherit God's heavenly kingdom". He is now a resurrected being, with his "body" and spirit making up an eternal soul. (Huh?) He gained the keys of death and of the grave, and gives us all the gift of being resurrected one day.
• Thus, through the power of His Atonement, we have the opportunity to overcome both physical and spiritual death: physical death through resurrection and spiritual death through repentance and forgiveness. When we celebrate Easter, we celebrate both of these gifts. We celebrate that on the third day after His crucifixion, Christ's tomb was empty, because His body had been resurrected by his father. We also celebrate the gift he has given us and choose to repent from our sins and be cleansed and purified through his atoning sacrifice.Easter is a wonderful time to remember and be grateful that our Heavenly Father gave us the ultimate gift: the sacrifice of His SON, Jesus Christ, so that we may each return to live with Him again.

Answer 2

Easter is the day when Christians traditionally celebrate Jesus' resurrection. The name and date are actually pagan in origin, though it's something that many Christians don't know. The feast day of Ostara, also known as Eostre, pre-dates Christianity and is a celebration of the German goddess of spring. Since spring is also strongly associated with re-birth, it is interesting that Christians celebrate the resurrection on this days. Many other Christian holidays (e.g.Christmas, the Feast of All Hallows, and the Feast of the Assumption) are celebrated on days which have been used by pagans to honor certain deities and/or observe other theological concepts. Christmas falls on the same day as the traditional worship of many sun gods, the Feast of All Saints is the same time as Samhain (i.e. Halloween), and the Feast of the Assumption was actually based on the end of the Virgo (i.e. virgin) zodiac sign. Note that the last two holdidays, i.e. the Feast of all Hallows and the Feast of the Assumption, are almost exclusively observed by Catholics.

Answer 3

The short answer is absolutely nothing. The Pagans celebrated the Goddess Oestra, the goddess of fertility. She was celebrated in Spring, being the time of year that everything came to life in the fields. Eggs and rabbits were early symbols of fertility. When the Catholic church wanted to bring in the pagans they adopted many of the pagan symbols and celebrations to entice them. The goddess was linked to Mary (a link you could think of being the giver of life). The eggs and bunnies just came along for fun.

Not much, Easter is when Jesus was resurrected. Many say the egg was the shape of the Boulder trapping Jesus in the cave/grave so that's where that comes from. But no one really knows where the Bunny comes from (as far as I know). Probably because it hop's fast to "hide eggs", but I guess that's just another mystery for us to solve. From dsh

Answer 4

God has everything to do with Easter. Jesus is God and Jesus rose from the dead on Easter. Jesus was crucified on Good Friday (The Friday before easter). He died to save us from our sins so we could be with God when we die. If you want to accept Jesus, just pray for forgivness and accept Him.

Answer 5

Eggs are a symbol of new life. Just as eggs are laid in a nest before hatching, Jesus was laid in the tomb before rising again.

But, although eggs are similar in that aspect to Jesus' resurrection, they originated as a Pagan tradition (much like Christmas is from the Pagan holiday of Yule). Decorating eggs began as a way of worshiping nature. A very small minority of Christian churches actually condemn the practice of decorating eggs, but for the most part, it is accepted.

Answer 6

Easter has not a whole lot to do with Christ dying on the cross. Easter is a pagan festival that the Roman Catholic Church, under Constantine, bent to conform to the Feast of the First Fruits and to obliquely honor the Resurrection of Christ. The festival takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility. Rabbits and eggs figure into the celebration of fertility for fairly obvious reasons. See the link for details.

Answer 7

Easter is the most important Christian festival of the years - it's when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Christ died on the cross on a day called Good Friday. According to the Bible, Jesus was then resurrected and came back to life on Easter Sunday.